Vehicle Seatback Bending Mechanism to Minimize Back Slip
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Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicle seat devices with a vertically divided seatback, passengers experience discomfort due to pressure and slipping when the upper section is tilted, as the rotational center of the tilting motion is not aligned with the passenger's spinal column, causing the seatback outer layer to move independently of the passenger's back.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle seat device is designed with a center bending mechanism that positions the rotational center of the upper-side frame ahead of the seatback outer layer, allowing it to tilt in synchronization with the passenger's spinal column, reducing slip and discomfort by aligning the tilting motion with the passenger's natural bending motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the center bending mechanism tilts the upper-side frame about a rotational center at the coupling section with the lower-side section, then the tilting motion is achieved, but the seatback outer layer slips relative to the passenger's back causing discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the position parameter of the rotational center from the coupling section to a location ahead of the seatback outer layer. This parameter change aligns the rotational center with the passenger's spinal column, allowing the seatback outer layer to follow the passenger's back movement and eliminate slip-induced discomfort.
2Reliability
If the rotational center is positioned at the coupling section between lower-side and upper-side frames, then the center bending mechanism functions, but the moving amount of the seatback outer layer cannot follow the movement of the passenger's back
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions the rotational center parameter from the coupling section to a location ahead of the seatback outer layer. This adjustment enables the seatback outer layer's movement to precisely follow the passenger's back motion, achieving motion synchronization while maintaining mechanism reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat device includes a seat cushion frame and a seatback frame including a lower-side frame supported at a lower end portion thereof to be tiltable relative to a rear end portion of the seat cushion frame, an upper-side frame arranged at an upper portion of the lower-side frame, and a center bending mechanism coupling the lower-side frame and the upper-side frame to be bendable forward, wherein the center bending mechanism bends the upper-side frame about a rotational center that is ahead of a seatback outer layer covering a front surface of the seatback frame. The movement of the upper-side frame when tilted comes close to the movement of the passenger who bends forward. The slip between the seatback outer layer and the back of the passenger can be minimized, and thus, it becomes possible to lessen an uncomfortable feeling of a passenger.