Vehicle Seat Positioning System with Proximity Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle seat positioning systems fail to effectively maintain a sufficient distance between seats when occupants attempt to move their seats rearward, leading to reduced space availability in vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat positioning system that includes a seat occupancy sensor and a seat proximity sensor, which work in conjunction with a vehicle seat position controller to command the seat to move forward or away from another seat when the proximity distance falls below a threshold, ensuring a minimum distance is maintained between seats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a seat is moved rearward to increase legroom for the occupant, then the occupant's comfort is improved, but the space available between that seat and the seat behind it is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of seat proximity using sensors before allowing rearward seat movement. When the system detects that a seat is too close to the seat behind it, it automatically commands the rearward seat to move forward to maintain proper spacing, preventing the space reduction problem before it occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the distance between adjacent seats using proximity sensors and provides real-time feedback to the seat control system. This feedback mechanism allows the system to dynamically adjust seat positions to maintain optimal spacing while still permitting occupant comfort adjustments, resolving the contradiction between comfort and space utilization.
2Volume of moving object
If sensors are added to limit seat movement and maintain distance between seats, then space utilization is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs sensors that serve multiple functions: detecting occupant presence, measuring proximity to adjacent seats, and providing data for automated seat positioning control. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated sensors for each function, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving the goal of maintaining proper seat spacing.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat positioning system includes a seat occupancy sensor that generates a signal indicating the presence or absence of an occupant in each of a first vehicle seat and a second vehicle seat, a seat proximity sensor that generates a seat proximity signal indicating a distance between the first vehicle seat and an occupant of the second vehicle seat, and vehicle seat position controller configured to command the first vehicle seat to move away from the second vehicle seat in response to a signal from the seat occupancy sensor indicating absence of an occupant in the first vehicle seat and the presence of an occupant in the second vehicle seat and a signal from the seat proximity sensor indicating a distance between the first vehicle seat and the occupant of the second vehicle seat is less than a predetermined threshold distance.