Tubular Foam Spring Seat Cushion for Impact Support and Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle seat cushions face challenges in providing both stable support during impacts and comfort during normal operation, as existing solutions often require additional reinforcements or different foam densities, which increase complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat cushion design featuring a cushion pad with tubular-shaped foam springs embedded within, where the foam springs have varying stiffness and reinforcement ribs to distribute compression forces evenly, eliminating the need for metal springs or multiple foam densities, and allowing for production efficiency and cost reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional reinforcements or different foam densities are used to provide stable support during impacts, then support stability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The foam spring features localized reinforcement ribs positioned at specific locations along the spring body. These ribs increase density and stiffness only where needed to prevent lateral bulging during compression, while other areas maintain lower density for comfort. This local differentiation provides impact support stability without requiring the entire structure to be complex or uniformly dense.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam spring is constructed as a composite structure with regions of different foam densities integrated into a single component. The reinforcement ribs contain higher density foam material embedded within the lower density foam body, creating a composite material structure that simultaneously provides both support stability during impacts and comfort during normal operation, eliminating the need for separate reinforcement components.
2Reliability
If additional reinforcements or different foam densities are used to provide stable support during impacts, then support stability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reinforcement ribs are integrated directly into the foam spring manufacturing process rather than being added as separate components. The higher density foam regions are formed in-situ during the foam expansion and curing process, merging the reinforcement function with the spring structure itself. This eliminates the need for separate manufacturing steps, assembly operations, and additional fastening hardware, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining support stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam spring structure is designed to self-reinforce through its own internal geometry and material distribution. The reinforcement ribs are formed as an integral part of the foam spring during a single manufacturing process, allowing the structure to provide its own support stability without requiring external reinforcements or post-manufacturing assembly. This self-contained approach simplifies manufacturing and reduces cost.
3Loss of substance
If holes are added to the tubular foam spring to reduce material usage, then material cost is reduced, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Holes are strategically positioned in specific regions of the foam spring where they provide benefits such as weight reduction, foam expansion control, or manufacturing advantages, while the reinforcement ribs are placed in critical load-bearing areas to maintain structural strength. This local differentiation allows material reduction in non-critical areas while preserving strength where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam spring combines regions with holes (reducing material usage) with regions containing reinforcement ribs (maintaining structural strength). This composite approach allows the structure to achieve both material efficiency and adequate strength by distributing different material configurations to different functional zones of the spring.
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
The design achieves stable support during impacts and comfort during driving by evenly distributing compression forces, reducing material costs and production complexity, while maintaining the elastic properties of the foam, and enhancing resilience and durability.
Implementation Method 1
each of the foam springs (108) has a tubular resilient body (580) made of foam
Implementation Method 2
The reinforcement ribs assist to prevent the foam from bulging out side ways when compressed under load
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A vehicle seat cushion (100) includes a cushion pad (102) and a plurality of tubular-shaped foam springs (108) that are embedded into the cushion pad (102).