Seat Back Pad Groove Structure for Rear-Impact Neck Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seats do not adequately allow the upper body of an occupant to subside into the seat back during a rear-end collision, leading to insufficient shock absorption for the neck and potential damage to the seat back pad from exposed tuck-in wires.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat design featuring a seat cushion, seat back with embedded tuck-in wires, and a pressure-receiving member that moves rearward with the seat back pad, incorporating grooves and holes to enhance adhesion and allow deep submersion of the upper body into the seat back, along with a connecting wire system that acts as torsion springs to increase the rearward motion stroke and stabilize the pressure-receiving member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pressure-receiving member is made to move rearward to allow deep submersion of the upper body into the seat back, then shock absorption to the neck is improved, but the adhesion between tuck-in wires and seat back pad deteriorates due to wire exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The seat back pad is divided into a central portion and side portions, with grooves formed at the borders between them. Holes are created along these grooves to allow differential movement. Tuck-in wires are embedded along the grooves and connect through the holes, segmenting the structural integrity from the adhesive bonding, allowing the pad to move rearward while wires remain anchored.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the seat back pad have different properties: the central portion is designed to move rearward freely for shock absorption, while the side portions are constrained by the tuck-in wires embedded in grooves. The grooves and holes create localized flexibility zones that allow differential movement between central and side portions, maintaining adhesion where needed while enabling movement where required.
2Reliability
If the seat back pad is made flexible to allow rearward motion, then head tilting-back is suppressed, but the structural integrity of the seat back pad deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tuck-in wires are pre-embedded in the seat back pad along grooves formed at the borders between central and side portions. This preliminary embedding creates predetermined paths for force transmission and structural reinforcement, allowing the pad to flex rearward in a controlled manner while maintaining overall structural integrity through the wire framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat back pad combines flexible cushioning material with rigid tuck-in wires embedded in grooves. This composite structure allows the flexible portion to deform for shock absorption while the wire framework maintains structural integrity. The grooves and holes create a hybrid structure that integrates both flexibility and strength.
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
Effectively suppresses head tilting-back and absorbs shock to the neck by ensuring deep submersion of the upper body into the seat back, while improving adhesion between the tuck-in wires and seat back pad to prevent damage.
Implementation Method 1
a connecting wire system that acts as torsion springs to increase the rearward motion stroke and stabilize the pressure-receiving member
Implementation Method 2
a pressure-receiving member connected rearward-movably to a seat back frame... the pressure-receiving member moves rearward to cause the upper body of the occupant to subside into the seat back
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A seat back pad 70 has a groove 73 for tucking a skin material therein, formed at borders between a central portion 71 and side portions 72. A hole (slot hole 74) is formed in a bottom of the groove 73 along the groove 73. A tuck-in wire 76 for tucking the skin material in includes a plurality of tuck-in portions 76A provided along the groove 73, and a connecting portion (detour portion 76B) detouring around the hole and connecting the tuck-in portions 76A. With this configuration, when an upper body of an occupant P subsides into a seat back S2 in a rear-end collision of a vehicle, the central portion 71, defined by the groove 73 as a border, is easily and sufficiently moved rearward relative to the left and right side portions 72. Furthermore, the tuck-in wire 76 is not exposed through the hole, and thus adhesion between the seat back pad 70 and the tuck-in wire 76 can be improved.