Vehicle Seat Air Bellows Guide Element
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seat designs with inflatable air bellows experience irregular shape changes and movements during inflation and deflation, leading to inconsistent adjustments in seat size to accommodate occupants of different thigh lengths.
Innovation Solution
The integration of guide elements, such as C-shaped guide jaws and T-shaped bearing supports, to maintain the geometric shape of air bellows, ensuring a constant change in seat surface extent with a constant air supply, preventing uncontrolled wall overlap and ensuring uniform movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If air bellows is inflated to adjust sitting surface extent, then the sitting surface extent can be increased, but irregular shape changes and uncontrolled movements occur
Solution Approach 1:
A guide element is introduced as an intermediary component between the air bellows and the sitting part element. This guide element constrains the movement of the air bellows during inflation and deflation, ensuring that the sitting part element moves only in the intended longitudinal direction without irregular shape changes or uncontrolled movements. The guide element acts as a mediator that translates the volumetric expansion of the air bellows into controlled linear displacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The air bellows is constructed using flexible plastic film walls that can expand and contract to adjust the sitting surface extent. The flexibility of these thin film walls allows the air bellows to change volume smoothly while the guide element ensures this volume change translates to controlled movement without irregular folding or collapsing of the walls.
2Speed
If air is supplied at constant rate to air bellows, then adjustment speed is maintained, but irregular movements occur due to wall lying on one another
Solution Approach 1:
The guide element serves as a mediator that decouples the constant rate air supply from the resulting motion. By constraining the air bellows within the guide element, the system ensures that constant air flow produces consistent linear movement rather than irregular folding and collapsing of the bellows walls. This mediator converts the pneumatic actuation into precise mechanical guidance.
3Adaptability or versatility
If air bellows is used for seat depth adjustment, then adaptability to different occupant sizes is improved, but device complexity increases due to pneumatic system
Solution Approach 1:
The air bellows system is designed to be self-contained and self-actuating. The air bellows automatically expands and contracts based on air supply without requiring external mechanical linkages, motors, or complex actuation mechanisms. The guide element provides passive geometric constraint that requires no active control, allowing the system to adapt to different occupant sizes through simple pneumatic pressure changes.
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
This solution allows for a technically simple and cost-effective adjustment of the sitting surface's longitudinal extent, ensuring a consistent and controlled movement of the seat elements, eliminating irregular movements and maintaining the vertical alignment of air bellows, thus adapting to various occupant sizes without irregular shape changes.
Implementation Method 1
an air bellows which is able to be inflated by an air pump... During inflating of the air bellows and during discharging of air from the air bellows
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat, in particular for a motor vehicle, is provided. The vehicle seat includes a sitting part with a sitting surface, at least one air bellows arranged in the sitting part for altering the extent of the sitting surface in longitudinal direction of the vehicle seat and a back part. At least one guide element is arranged on the air bellows and is connected with the air bellows, and the guide element is movably mounted on at least one bearing part.