Conveyance Seat Neck Load Adjustment for Occupant-Specific Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyance seats fail to effectively reduce the load applied to a occupant's neck during rear impacts, as existing mechanisms do not consider individual body shape and sex, leading to inadequate load mitigation.
Innovation Solution
A conveyance seat unit with a support portion, state adjustment mechanism, and control device that acquires occupant information to adjust the neck load adjustment portion, such as a headrest or rear-moving portion, to minimize neck load based on body shape and sex, using sensors and image processing to optimize the position and deformation of these components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the state of a predetermined portion of the seat is changed to reduce neck load, then the load on the occupant's neck is reduced, but the effectiveness varies according to body shape and sex, leading to inadequate load mitigation for individual occupants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the state parameters of the neck load adjustment portion (position, deformation amount, stiffness) based on acquired occupant information such as body shape and sex. The control device adjusts these parameters dynamically to optimize neck load reduction for each individual occupant, resolving the contradiction between load reduction effectiveness and adaptability to different body types.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat unit autonomously acquires occupant information and automatically adjusts the neck load adjustment portion without requiring manual input from the occupant. The system serves itself by using sensors and control mechanisms to detect occupant characteristics and independently optimize the protective state, eliminating the need for manual configuration while achieving personalized protection.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a state adjustment mechanism is added to adjust the neck load adjustment portion based on occupant information, then adaptability to different occupants is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seat unit integrates multiple functions into a single system: the acquisition portion detects various occupant characteristics (body shape, sex, position), the control device processes this information, and the state adjustment mechanism executes appropriate adjustments. This multi-functional integration reduces the need for separate specialized mechanisms for each function, thereby managing complexity while achieving high adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms with a control device that uses sensors and electronic control to adjust the neck load adjustment portion. By substituting mechanical systems with sensor-based detection and electronic control, the system achieves high adaptability with reduced mechanical complexity and easier programmability.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyance seat unit lessens a neck load applied to an occupant based on body shape, sex, or the like of the occupant when a rear load acts on a conveyance. The conveyance seat unit includes: a seat having a support portion that supports the occupant from behind; a state adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a state of a neck load adjustment portion, of the support portion, that affects the neck load applied to the occupant when the rear load acts on the conveyance; and an electronic control unit (ECU) that controls the state adjustment mechanism. The ECU acquires occupant information on the body and the sex of the occupant and controls the state adjustment mechanism according to the acquired occupant information to change the state of the neck load adjustment portion, which has been adjusted by the state adjustment mechanism, according to the content of the occupant information.