Backrest-Integrated Leg Rest Assembly for Rear Seat Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Occupants of rear seats in vehicles are often unable to fully extend their legs due to the presence of the forward seat, limiting comfort and overall riding experience.
Innovation Solution
A seat assembly with a rotatable leg rest assembly that includes a panel mounted to a support member via hinges, with a tab cooperating with a curved track to limit rotation, allowing the panel to move between stowed and deployed positions, providing a leg rest for passengers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a leg rest is added to allow rear seat occupants to extend their legs, then passenger comfort is improved, but the seat structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The leg rest panel is nested within the backrest opening when stowed, and deploys outward when needed. The panel fits inside the opening defined by the backrest frame, utilizing the existing space rather than adding external protrusions, thus providing leg rest functionality while maintaining a compact form.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg rest panel is made movable through hinges and rotation mechanisms, transitioning between stowed and deployed positions. This dynamic design allows the leg rest to adapt between providing comfort (deployed) and maintaining a compact profile (stowed), resolving the contradiction between comfort and structural simplicity.
2Ease of operation
If a rotatable panel is added to provide leg rest functionality, then passenger comfort is improved, but the seat profile increases
Solution Approach 1:
The leg rest panel is nested within the backrest opening when stowed, utilizing the existing opening space. The panel's width is designed to fit within the opening dimensions, ensuring that when stowed, it does not increase the overall seat profile or width beyond the existing backrest frame.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg rest panel rotates forward from a vertical position within the opening to a horizontal deployed position. This dimensional transition allows the panel to provide leg rest functionality in the horizontal dimension while maintaining its compact vertical profile when stowed, effectively using spatial transformation to resolve the profile issue.
3Ease of operation
If a rotatable panel is added to provide leg rest functionality, then passenger comfort is improved, but aesthetic appearance is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
When stowed, the leg rest panel is completely contained within the backrest opening, maintaining a clean and uninterrupted aesthetic appearance. The panel's edges are positioned within the frame opening, ensuring no protruding elements that would compromise the visual simplicity and aesthetic quality of the seat design.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg rest panel transitions dynamically between stowed and deployed states. When stowed, it maintains aesthetic appearance by being hidden within the opening; when deployed, it provides comfort functionality. This temporal separation of aesthetic and functional states resolves the contradiction between appearance and comfort.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances passenger comfort by allowing rear seat occupants to extend their legs, improving the overall riding experience by providing a dedicated leg rest without increasing the seat's profile or compromising aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
a panel rotatable about a hinge mounted to the frame
Implementation Method 2
A tab extends from the hinge into cooperation with the curved track. The tab moves along the curved track as the panel is moved between the stowed position and the deployed position, cooperation between the tab and the curved track prevents over rotation of the panel
Data Source
AI summary
A seat assembly including: a base; a back defining an opening extending through the back; and a leg rest assembly mounted to the back, the leg rest assembly including a panel rotatable between a stowed position and a deployed position, in the stowed position the panel is within the opening, and in the deployed position the panel is rotated in a forward direction from the stowed position toward the base to expose the opening and provide a leg rest for a person’s leg extending through the opening.