Vehicle Seat Adjustment Drive Collision Energy Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adjustment drives for motor vehicle seats face challenges in effectively managing high stresses during collisions, leading to undesired seat displacements and increased risk of injury, as they often require oversized blocking apparatuses to absorb forces, resulting in higher weight, larger installation space, and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
An adjustment drive with a control pinion rigidly connected to a torsion bar, where the torsion bar's free end is integrated into the control pinion's drive in a rotationally fixed manner, allowing the torsion bar to deform and absorb energy during collisions, thereby reducing the stress on the seat structure and adjustment drive.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a blocking apparatus is provided to prevent seat displacement during collision, then safety is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the energy absorption function from a separate blocking apparatus and integrates it into the adjustment drive itself. The adjustment drive is designed to automatically block at a predetermined breaking point during collision, eliminating the need for additional blocking components while maintaining safety functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment drive is designed to perform multiple functions: normal seat adjustment during operation and automatic blocking/energy absorption during collision. By making the adjustment drive multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for separate blocking apparatus, reducing device complexity and weight while maintaining safety.
2Reliability
If a blocking apparatus is provided to prevent seat displacement during collision, then safety is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the need for separate blocking apparatus by extracting the blocking function and integrating it into the adjustment drive mechanism itself. This integration eliminates additional components and their associated weight, while the predetermined breaking point provides the necessary safety function.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment drive is designed to serve dual purposes: normal adjustment operation and collision protection through automatic blocking. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate safety components, thereby reducing overall system weight while maintaining safety performance.
3Strength
If rigid connection is used in adjustment drive, then structural strength is improved, but energy absorption during collision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dynamic element into the adjustment drive through the predetermined breaking point. During normal operation, the connection is rigid for strength, but during collision when forces exceed the breaking point, the connection allows controlled deformation. This dynamic behavior enables energy absorption while maintaining structural integrity during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical properties of the connection at the predetermined breaking point. The connection is designed with specific strength parameters that allow it to remain rigid under normal loads but deform plastically when collision forces exceed a threshold. This parameter change enables the structure to absorb energy during collision while maintaining strength during normal operation.
4Reliability
If oversized blocking apparatus is used to absorb collision forces, then safety is improved, but installation space increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment drive is designed to perform both adjustment and blocking functions within the same compact structure. By making the adjustment drive multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for separate blocking apparatus that would require additional installation space, while maintaining the safety function through the predetermined breaking point mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the blocking function from a separate apparatus and integrates it into the adjustment drive. This integration eliminates the need for additional space-d-consuming blocking components, as the same adjustment drive mechanism provides both adjustment and collision protection functions within its existing footprint.
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 enables targeted energy reduction during collisions by converting rotational energy into deformation energy of the torsion bar, allowing for controlled energy absorption without transmitting excessive forces to the drive apparatus, thus protecting the seat structure and adjustment drive from deformation.
Implementation Method 1
The torsion bar is thus elastically and/or plastically deformed due to the forces which act on the hollow shaft from the control arms, thus reducing the momentum which acts on the vehicle seat from the collision.
Implementation Method 2
The torsion bar is thus elastically and/or plastically deformed due to the forces which act on the hollow shaft from the control arms
Implementation Method 3
During a collision, the forces which act on the control arms from the seat are so large that the predetermined breaking point between the ring and the torsion bar breaks, so that the end of the torsion bar facing the height adjustment pump is no longer connected to the hollow shaft. The rigid connection to the hollow shaft is maintained at the other end of the torsion bar. The torsion bar is thus elastically and/or plastically deformed due to the forces which act on the hollow shaft from the control arms
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustment drive of a motor vehicle seat is provided, the adjustment drive, having a control pinion. The control pinion, in the event of a collision, is subjected to a torque which acts from the structure of the motor vehicle seat. Overload protection is provided for an adjustment drive of a motor vehicle seat against forces which act in the event of a collision, using a simple device. This is achieved by the control pinion being rigidly connected to a torsion bar, and the control pinion is situated in an extension of the rotational axis of the control pinion, and free end of the torsion bar being integrated into a drive of the control pinion in a rotationally fixed manner.