Vehicle Seat Locking Member Stability Against Airbag Force
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing vehicle seat designs with locking members lack stability, particularly when an airbag expands and pushes the seat cover, causing the locking member to be excessively pulled outward, leading to potential detachment from the seat pad.
Innovation Solution
The locking member is designed with a flat base portion buried in the seat pad and a locking portion that can bend at a fragile point, scattering the pull force and maintaining stability by keeping the base portion buried, and featuring additional locking portions for balanced locking and bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the locking member is fixed to the seat pad with a simple base portion structure, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the mounting stability is insufficient when the seat cover is excessively pulled outward
Solution Approach 1:
The base portion is divided into multiple segments (first base portion, second base portion, third base portion) connected by fragile parts. This segmentation allows the locking member to maintain simplicity in manufacturing while enabling controlled deformation to absorb excessive pull forces, thereby improving mounting stability without complicating the overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking member transitions from a rigid structure to a dynamic one with fragile parts that can break. When excessive pull force occurs, the fragile parts break in a controlled manner, allowing the base portion to deform and absorb the force, preventing complete detachment while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
2Reliability
If the locking member uses a rigid base portion to maintain stability, then the mounting stability is improved, but the locking member cannot absorb excessive pull force and may detach during airbag expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The locking member incorporates fragile parts that transform the structure from rigid to dynamically adaptive. During normal operation, the rigid base portions maintain stability, but when excessive pull force occurs during airbag expansion, the fragile parts break in a controlled manner, allowing the structure to deform and absorb the force without complete detachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The fragile parts are designed in advance to break at specific points, providing beforehand cushioning against excessive pull forces. This pre-planned weakness allows the locking member to absorb extreme forces during airbag expansion while maintaining stability during normal use.
3Reliability
If the locking portion is positioned to securely lock the seat cover, then the locking effectiveness is improved, but the locking member is more prone to detachment when pulled outward
Solution Approach 1:
The base portion is segmented into multiple parts connected by fragile parts. This segmentation allows the locking portion to maintain strong locking effectiveness while the fragile parts provide a failure mechanism that absorbs excessive pull forces, reducing detachment risk during airbag expansion.
Solution Approach 2:
The fragile parts are positioned to break before the locking portion detaches, providing beforehand cushioning against excessive pull forces. This ensures that the locking effectiveness is maintained during normal operation while preventing catastrophic detachment during airbag expansion.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat. A locking member is displaceable between a first state, in which a locking portion is used to hold part of a seat cover while a base portion is buried and fixed to a seat pad, and a second state, in which part of the seat cover is pulled more strongly toward the outside of the seat than in the first state, so that the base portion is bent gradually toward a direction away from the seat pad as toward a fragile part from an end of the first part and an end of the second part.