Powered Vehicle Seat with Gesture-Actuated Slide Mover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seats require manual effort to overcome frictional and gravitational forces for movement, which can be cumbersome and inefficient, especially in scenarios like cargo loading or passenger entry where quick adjustments are needed.
Innovation Solution
A powered vehicle seat system with a slide mover and gesture-adjustment system that uses sensors and a controller to detect user inputs, allowing for automatic sliding and pivoting of the seat based on gentle pushes or pulls, and recognizing specific gestures to adjust the seat position and orientation accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual effort is used to move the vehicle seat, then the structure remains simple, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to frictional and gravitational forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical manual sliding system with an electromechanical system. A slide mover comprising a motor and drive mechanism is introduced to provide powered movement of the seat bottom along the track. This substitution eliminates the need for users to manually overcome frictional and gravitational forces, thereby improving ease of operation while accepting increased system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat motion system incorporates sensors that detect user gestures (such as pushing or pulling on the seat back) and automatically activate the slide mover to assist movement. The system serves itself by detecting the need for adjustment and autonomously providing powered assistance, reducing the manual effort required from the user.
2Ease of operation
If powered means are added to enable gentle pushing or pulling, then the ease of operation improves, but the use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slide mover is designed to provide partial powered assistance rather than complete automation. The system activates only when sensors detect user gestures indicating the need for movement assistance, and it provides just enough force to enable gentle pushing or pulling. This partial action approach reduces energy consumption compared to continuous powered operation while still significantly improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts operational parameters based on detected user gestures and seat position. The controller modulates the motor output power according to the detected gesture intensity and the current frictional and gravitational conditions, optimizing energy usage while maintaining ease of operation across different operating conditions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If gesture-based inputs are implemented, then the adaptability improves for different scenarios, but the device complexity increases due to sensors and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The gesture-adjustment system is designed to handle multiple functions through a unified sensor and controller architecture. The same sensors detect various gesture types (pushing, pulling, tapping patterns), and the controller interprets these gestures to determine the desired seat adjustment based on the current vehicle mode (transit, passenger entry, cargo loading). This multi-functional approach achieves high adaptability while minimizing the increase in device complexity compared to having separate systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where sensors continuously monitor user gestures and seat position, and the controller adjusts the slide mover operation accordingly. The feedback mechanism enables the system to adapt to different vehicle modes and user intentions dynamically, improving versatility while managing complexity through intelligent control algorithms that process sensor data in real-time.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat includes a seat bottom adapted to slide along a floor, a seat back coupled to the seat bottom, and powered means for rearranging the vehicle seat by sliding the seat bottom along the floor and/or pivoting the seat back relative to the seat bottom.