Automotive Seat Back with Indented Lower Side Portions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automotive seats for first responders, such as law enforcement personnel, are overly constraining due to the variety of gear worn, limiting access to equipment and arm movement, while also posing safety concerns during rapid reactions.
Innovation Solution
A seat design featuring a seat bottom and back with a wider upper portion than lower portion, including gaps between the seat back and bottom for increased arm mobility and access to gear, while maintaining safety through secure attachment mechanisms and adjustable features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional seats with protruding side portions are used, then lateral support and constraint are improved, but access to gear and arm motion range are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The seat back is divided into three distinct portions (upper, middle, lower) with different lateral widths. The upper portion maintains greater width for support, while the middle and lower portions are narrowed to create gaps, segmenting the continuous side support into controlled zones that accommodate gear access while preserving lateral restraint where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the seat back are given different lateral widths tailored to specific functional needs. The upper portion provides broader support for safety, while the middle and lower portions are locally narrowed to allow access to gear worn at the waist and hips, creating localized zones of freedom without compromising overall support.
2Reliability
If conventional seats with protruding side portions are used, then lateral constraint is improved, but range of arm motion is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous side support is segmented into upper and lower portions with different widths. The upper portion maintains constraint for safety, while the lower portion creates gaps that allow greater arm motion range, enabling first responders to reach for gear and operate controls without excessive restriction.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat design creates dynamic clearance zones through the narrowed middle and lower portions, allowing the occupant's arms and torso to move more freely within the gaps while the upper portion maintains static lateral constraint for safety during rapid reactions.
3Reliability
If conventional seats are used, then safety constraint is improved, but access to equipment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The seat back is designed with local variations in lateral width where the middle and lower portions are narrowed to create access gaps for equipment worn at the waist and hips, while the upper portion maintains broader width for safety constraint, providing localized access without compromising overall safety.
Data Source
AI summary
A seat for an automotive vehicle includes a seat bottom and a seat back. The seat bottom includes a first frame and a seating surface, and the seat back includes a second frame. A first attachment mechanism is configured to secure the first frame of the seat bottom to the automotive vehicle. The seat back includes an upper portion, and a lower portion, and a middle portion between the upper portion and the lower portion. A second attachment mechanism is configured to connect the seat back and the seat bottom. The seat bottom and seat back being configured such that a lateral width of the upper portion of the seat back is greater than a lateral width of the lower portion of the seat back, a lateral width of the seat bottom is greater than the lateral width of the lower portion of the seat back, and a gap is located between the upper portion of the seat back and a rear portion of the seat bottom at a right side and/or a left side of the seat back.