Vehicle Seat Spring Structure for Adjustable Hardness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat devices in vehicles, particularly tilting vehicles, are not adjustable to accommodate different users' preferences for seat hardness due to varying body proportions and weights, requiring costly and complicated exchanges of the seat device.
Innovation Solution
A seat device with a planar padding unit and a hard-shelled trough element, featuring a spring unit and adjustable spring elements that can be secured between the padding unit and trough element, allowing for adjustable spring force and seat hardness without exchanging the components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the seat device uses a fixed foam hardness design, then the manufacturing is simple and cost-effective, but the seat hardness cannot be adjusted to accommodate different users
Solution Approach 1:
The seat device is divided into separate functional components: a hard-shelled trough element, a padding unit, and independent spring units. This segmentation allows the spring units to be adjusted or replaced without replacing the entire seat bench, enabling hardness adjustment while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces adjustable spring units with variable spring forces between the padding unit and trough element. This dynamic element allows the seat hardness to be adjusted according to different user requirements, transforming a static foam hardness design into a dynamically adjustable system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the seat device allows hardness adjustment for different users, then the adaptability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring units are pre-configured with different spring forces and are stored ready for installation. When adjustment is needed, the appropriate spring unit can be quickly installed without complex adjustment procedures, maintaining ease of operation while enabling user accommodation.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring units are designed as replaceable, relatively simple components that can be easily exchanged. This allows different spring units with different characteristics to be used for different users without investing in a complex adjustment mechanism.
3Reliability
If the spring elements are securely fixed in the trough element, then the reliability of spring force application is improved, but the ease of adjustment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The receptacle design separates the spring element retention function from the trough element structure. The spring element can be independently inserted and secured in the receptacle, allowing reliable fixation while maintaining ease of replacement through simple insertion and removal actions.
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
Enables simple and cost-effective adjustment of seat hardness to suit different users by allowing the spring force between the padding unit and trough element to be adjusted, accommodating various user preferences without replacing the padding unit or trough element.
Implementation Method 1
a spring unit which can be arranged or is arranged between the padding unit and trough element and at least one spring element which can be arranged or is arranged between the padding unit and trough element
Data Source
AI summary
A seat device for a vehicle, in particular a tilting vehicle, has at least one flat padding unit which forms a seat surface for a user of the vehicle on a surface facing the user of the vehicle, at least one wall element with at least sections that are hard-shelled, on which the padding unit is secured, and at least one spring unit arranged between the padding unit and the wall element. The spring unit has at least one spring element which is arranged between the padding unit and the wall element, which can be detachably secured in or on the wall element, and with which a spring force acting between the padding unit and the wall element can be adjusted, with the force vector thereof running parallel or oblique to a spring direction extending transverse to the seat surface.