Vehicle Seat Back Structure for Lumbar Adjustment and Trunk-Through
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat back devices for vehicles lack the ability to adjust the angle of the seat back and simultaneously provide a trunk-through function, which is essential for passenger comfort and accommodating long items of luggage.
Innovation Solution
A seat back device with a movable portion for the lumbar region, a forwardly collapsible portion, an angle adjusting mechanism, and a trunk-through mechanism that allows the vehicle cabin and trunk room to communicate, featuring a frame member with an open portion, an angle adjusting mechanism that adjusts the movable portion to a predetermined angle, and a trunk-through mechanism that collapses the movable and forwardly collapsible portions, ensuring both comfort and luggage accommodation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the seat back is made forwardly collapsible to provide trunk-through function, then the vehicle cabin and trunk room can communicate, but the angle adjusting mechanism may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting the state of the angle adjusting mechanism before the trunk-through operation is executed. The control unit checks whether the movable portion is in a safe position (fully extended or at a safe angle) before allowing the forward collapsing action to proceed, thereby preventing damage to the angle adjusting mechanism while enabling the trunk-through function when safe
2Ease of operation
If the movable portion is adjusted to a predetermined angle for lumbar support, then passenger comfort is improved, but the forward collapsing function is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the availability of the forward collapsing function dependent on the real-time state of the movable portion. When the movable portion is at a predetermined angle, the forward collapsing function is restricted; when it is fully extended or at a safe position, the function becomes available. This dynamic control allows the system to adapt between comfort mode and trunk-through mode
3Adaptability or versatility
If both angle adjustment and trunk-through functions are integrated in one seat back, then both comfort and luggage accommodation are achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the seat back device to perform multiple functions: angle adjustment for lumbar support and forward collapsing for trunk-through operation. The control unit intelligently manages these functions based on the state of the movable portion, allowing one device to serve both comfort and luggage accommodation needs without requiring separate independent systems
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a seat back device including: a seat back that is placed on a rear side of a vehicle cabin and has a movable portion that is movably disposed in correspondence to a lower back region of a seated passenger and a forwardly collapsible portion that is forwardly collapsibly disposed on a vehicle upper side of the movable portion; a frame member that is disposed inside the seat back and in which is formed an open portion that has a size including the movable portion and the forwardly collapsible portion and that makes the vehicle cabin and a luggage compartment communicate; an angle adjusting mechanism which adjusts the movable portion about an axis along a vehicle width direction to a predetermined angle; and a trunk-through mechanism which forwardly collapses the movable portion and the forwardly collapsible portion from the seat back and opens the open portion.