Monolithic Seat Cushion Lattice With Integrated Air Bladder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current seat assemblies face challenges in providing adjustable comfort settings while maintaining a desired seat profile, often requiring complex and labor-intensive assembly processes that can lead to stack-up issues and offset hip points.
Innovation Solution
A seat assembly with a cushioned component featuring a lattice matrix and integrated air bladder, where the lattice matrix has varying density profiles and a non-porous outer casing, allowing for adjustable comfort through inflation and deflation, and manufactured using additive techniques to form a monolithic structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional separate-component assembly is used for cushioned components with air bladders, then assembly complexity and labor intensity increase, but manufacturing precision and stack-up accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The air bladder and lattice matrix are merged into a single integrated component manufactured as one monolithic structure using additive manufacturing. This eliminates the need for separate assembly operations, reducing labor intensity while maintaining precise dimensional control and eliminating stack-up errors that occur when assembling multiple separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional mechanical assembly processes to additive manufacturing processes, fundamentally changing the manufacturing parameter space. This allows for direct digital-to-physical fabrication of integrated structures with precise geometric control, eliminating the accumulation of tolerances inherent in multi-step assembly processes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable comfort settings are added to seat assemblies, then comfort adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The air bladder is integrated directly within the lattice matrix structure, combining the support function and comfort adjustment function into a single unified component. This reduces device complexity by eliminating separate mounting structures, fasteners, and alignment mechanisms that would otherwise be required to attach an air bladder to a seat cushion.
Solution Approach 2:
The lattice matrix serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support, defines the seat profile, and houses the air bladder for comfort adjustment. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying the overall assembly while maintaining adaptability through pneumatic control.
3Adaptability or versatility
If air bladders are integrated into cushioning materials, then comfort adjustability improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses additive manufacturing to create complex internal geometries that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods. The lattice matrix with varying density profiles and the integrated air bladder are fabricated in a single process, transforming the manufacturing approach from assembly of simple components to direct fabrication of complex integrated structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The lattice matrix features varying density profiles in different regions, with higher density areas providing structural support and lower density areas providing cushioning. The air bladder is strategically positioned within specific regions of the lattice matrix to provide targeted comfort adjustment, creating local variations in properties that optimize both structural integrity and comfort functionality.
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 solution provides adjustable comfort settings without affecting the seat's profile, simplifying assembly and maintaining accurate hip point alignment, while integrating a flexible air bladder within the lattice matrix to enhance support and resilience.
Implementation Method 1
cushioned components with cushioning materials that include integrated air bladder assemblies
Implementation Method 2
deflectable lattice matrix
Data Source
AI summary
A seat assembly includes a cushioned component having a lattice matrix, wherein the lattice matrix includes a first portion defined by a first pattern of interconnected links which defines a first set of cells, and a second portion defined by a second pattern of interconnected links which defines a second set of cells. The first portion of the lattice matrix includes a density profile that is different than a density profile of the second portion of the lattice matrix. An air bladder is disposed within a core portion of the lattice matrix and includes a non-porous outer casing surrounding an interior cavity. The outer casing of the air bladder and the lattice matrix are integrated components comprised of a common material to define a monolithic structure created using an additive manufacturing process.