Vehicle Seat Headrest With Nested Energy Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing active headrests for vehicle seats have a large constructional space, particularly in the longitudinal direction, which limits their compactness and efficiency in protecting occupants from whiplash injuries during accidents.
Innovation Solution
A headrest design featuring a compact energy storage device, such as a micro gas generator, and a trigger actuator that moves sub-pieces relative to each other to increase the volume of an expansion area, with sealing means to delimit this area, allowing for rapid deployment into a safety position to prevent whiplash injuries, while maintaining a small footprint and using standard components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If active headrest mechanisms are implemented to reduce space between head and headrest during accidents, then whiplash protection is improved, but constructional space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage device is arranged in the expansion area between the first and second sub-pieces, nesting the actuation mechanism within the existing headrest structure. This allows the headrest to achieve active movement capability without adding significant external volume, resolving the contradiction between whiplash protection and constructional space requirement
Solution Approach 2:
The headrest is designed with movable sub-pieces that can change position from a retracted state to an expanded state during accidents. The first sub-piece is movable relative to the second sub-piece, allowing the headrest to dynamically reduce the space between the head and headrest cushion, providing active protection while maintaining a compact form when not in use
2Reliability
If energy storage device and trigger actuator are added to enable active headrest movement, then safety performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy storage device and trigger actuator are integrated into a unified system arranged between the first and second sub-pieces. The trigger actuator is coupled to the energy storage device to directly actuate it, merging the control and power functions into a compact arrangement that reduces overall device complexity while maintaining safety performance
Solution Approach 2:
The trigger actuator serves as an intermediary component that couples the energy storage device to the first sub-piece, enabling controlled actuation. This intermediary mechanism allows for reliable safety performance while keeping the overall system design manageable and not excessively complex
3Reliability
If expansion area volume is increased during accident deployment, then protective effect is improved, but constructional space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The headrest expansion occurs primarily in the vertical dimension rather than the longitudinal dimension. The first sub-piece moves relative to the second sub-piece to increase the expansion area volume during accidents, while the overall longitudinal footprint remains compact, resolving the contradiction between protective effect and constructional space requirement in the longitudinal direction
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 headrest effectively reduces whiplash injuries during accidents by providing a compact, cost-effective, and modular solution that is comfortable in use and rapidly deployable, with enhanced structural integrity and prevention of inadvertent activation.
Implementation Method 1
the first sub-piece is able to be moved—relative to the second sub-piece—out of a use position into a safety position along a movement direction toward the head of the seat occupant as a result of an accident under the effect of a discharge of the energy storage device
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat headrest has a first sub-piece facing a seat occupant head, a second sub-piece and an energy storage device with a trigger actuator arranged between the first sub-piece and the second sub-piece. The first sub-piece is moveable relative to the second sub-piece out of a use position into a safety position along a movement direction towards the a seat occupant head as a result of an accident under the effect of a discharge of the energy storage device, which is actuated by the trigger actuator. The headrest is configured such that the volume of an expansion area is increased while the first sub-piece is moved relative to the second sub-piece as a result of an accident and by the effect of the discharge of the energy storage device. The headrest has a sealing device between the first sub-piece and the second sub-piece to delimit the expansion area.