Seat Frame Waist Support Member Local Quality Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to reduce the weight of a seat frame while maintaining the functionality of a waist portion supporting member, which is essential for stabilizing the occupant during rear surface collisions, and improving shock absorption properties.
Innovation Solution
The seat frame design includes a waist portion supporting member with a coupling region that is downsized by making the coupling region shorter than the supporting region, allowing for a wider surface area to support the occupant, and incorporating bent portions and reinforcing regions to enhance rigidity and shock absorption, while also optimizing space utilization and weight distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of stationary object
If the waist portion supporting member is downsized to reduce weight, then the weight of the seat frame is reduced, but the ability to stably support the waist portion of the occupant deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different functional regions within the waist portion supporting member: a coupling region with smaller cross-sectional area for weight reduction and a supporting region with larger cross-sectional area for stable occupant support. This spatial differentiation of structural properties allows the member to simultaneously achieve weight reduction and reliable support functionality.
2Weight of stationary object
If the coupling region is made smaller to reduce weight, then the weight of the seat frame is reduced, but the strength of coupling to the lower frame deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling region is designed with optimized local structural properties including specific cross-sectional area, thickness, and positioning that provide sufficient coupling strength to the lower frame while maintaining overall weight reduction. The local quality of this region is tailored specifically for attachment functionality rather than full support functionality.
3Reliability
If the waist portion supporting region is made wider to improve support stability, then the shock absorption property is improved, but the weight of the seat frame increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting region is designed with locally optimized properties including increased cross-sectional area and strategic positioning to maximize shock absorption and support stability. By concentrating material where it is most needed for shock absorption rather than uniformly distributing it, the design achieves improved reliability without proportional weight increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the supporting region by extending it in the seat width direction rather than uniformly increasing the member throughout. This dimensional approach allows the supporting region to provide enhanced shock absorption coverage across the waist area without proportionally increasing the overall weight of the supporting member.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention is to disclosure describes a seat frame including a waist portion supporting member which is capable of being having a smaller size while stably supporting a waist portion of an occupant. A vehicle seat frame F1 serving as a frame for a vehicle seat S includes a seat cushion frame 20 forming a frame of a sitting part of the vehicle seat S, a seatback frame 10 forming a frame of a backrest part of the vehicle seat S, and a waist portion supporting member 100 coupled to a lower frame 13 which is included in the seatback frame 10. The waist portion supporting member 100 has a coupling region 110 extending in the seat width direction, the coupling region being coupled to the lower frame 13, and a waist portion supporting region 120 extending from the coupling region 110 toward the seat cushion frame 20 and supporting a waist portion of an occupant. The waist portion supporting region 120 is longer in the seat width direction than the coupling region 110.