Vehicle Seat Backrest Floor Support Cam Track
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle seats with pivotable backrests are heavy and costly due to the need for a stable construction to absorb both vertical and horizontal forces, leading to suboptimal force distribution and high production costs.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat design featuring a backrest with a lower end that extends almost to the floor, connected to a cam track for guided movement, allowing for efficient force distribution and cost-effective production using less stable materials, with the backrest supported against the floor to dissipate forces directly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the backrest is pivotally connected to the seat part with a pivot axis below the seat cushion surface, then the backrest can be pivotable, but the seat becomes heavy and requires stable construction to absorb all forces
Solution Approach 1:
The seat is divided into two support systems: the seat part supports the front region and absorbs vertical forces, while the backrest with its lower end support element absorbs forces in the rear region. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, reducing the need for over-engineering the entire seat structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower end of the backrest acts as an intermediary support element that directly contacts the floor surface. This intermediary transfers forces from the backrest to the floor, reducing the load on the seat part and pivot axis, thereby enabling weight reduction in other components.
2Reliability
If the pivot axis is positioned below the seat cushion surface to ensure stability, then force absorption is improved, but production costs and material costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support function is segmented between the seat part (front region) and the backrest lower end (rear region). This allows the use of less stable, more cost-effective materials in the backrest and seat part, since the overall stability is maintained by the distributed support system rather than requiring high-stability materials throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables the use of less stable, cheaper materials in the backrest and seat part construction, as the critical stability function is provided by the lower end support element directly on the floor. This trade-off allows cost-effective production while maintaining necessary reliability.
3Force
If the backrest extends to the floor surface with a lower end support element, then force distribution is optimized, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the seat part support the entire seat structure from below, the backrest is designed to extend downward with its lower end supporting itself on the floor. This inverted approach allows direct force transfer from the backrest to the floor, optimizing force distribution while the cam track mechanism provides a simple guiding solution.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam track is designed as a curved path that guides the lower end of the backrest during pivoting movement. This curved guidance mechanism provides smooth force distribution and controlled motion while maintaining relatively simple construction compared to rigid mechanical linkages.
4Weight of moving object
If the lower end of the backrest is supported on the floor surface, then weight is reduced through better force distribution, but the pivoting mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cam track is designed as a curved path that naturally guides the lower end of the backrest through its pivoting range. This curved geometry converts the complex pivoting motion into simple sliding along the cam track, reducing the complexity of the pivoting mechanism while enabling weight reduction through optimized force distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam track acts as an intermediary element between the backrest lower end and the floor surface. It mediates the pivoting motion by providing a guided path, simplifying the mechanism compared to direct pivoting while enabling the weight-reducing configuration where the backrest lower end supports on the floor.
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 design achieves optimal force distribution and reduced weight by dissipating forces through the backrest's lower end, enabling simpler and cheaper production while maintaining structural integrity during pivoting movements.
Implementation Method 1
The lower end of the backrest is connected to a cam track means for sliding the support member along a cam track upon performing pivotal movement of the backrest relative to the seat portion
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3
AI summary
A seat portion (2) has seat surface (3) supported by floor surface (4) in region of front seat side (5). A backrest (7) is pivotally connected to seat portion by a pivot axis (9). The backrest is arranged at lower end of seat surface so that a support end (12a) of backrest is extended to floor surface. A support (7a) supports the seat in seat back portion (14) relative to floor surface. A cam track device (11) is provided in support end of backrest for sliding the support along a curve track at time of pivotal movement of backrest relative to seat portion in seat reverse direction.