Vehicle Seat Storage Mechanism for Space Conversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-purpose vehicles with four-row seats face challenges in achieving sufficient space due to the additional row of seats, making it difficult to balance passenger and luggage space requirements effectively.
Innovation Solution
A storage apparatus for vehicle seats that utilizes a hinge structure with multiple links and elastic members to fold and adjust the seat, allowing it to be stored in a recessed floor space, thereby converting passenger space into luggage space and vice versa, eliminating the need for separate slide rails and enhancing space utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a fourth row seat is added to increase passenger capacity, then the vehicle can accommodate more passengers, but the available luggage space is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The fourth row seat is designed with dynamic mobility, allowing it to be moved forward along the floor and folded into the accommodation portion. This dynamic configuration enables the seat to transition between occupying passenger space and being stored to maximize luggage space, resolving the contradiction between passenger capacity and luggage space availability
Solution Approach 2:
The seat storage mechanism utilizes the vertical dimension by folding the seat into a recessed accommodation portion in the floor. This dimensional transition allows the seat to be stored without occupying horizontal luggage space, effectively increasing available luggage volume while maintaining passenger capacity
2Ease of operation
If separate slide rails are used to move the seat, then the seat can be easily repositioned, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The seat moving function is merged with the existing floor structure by integrating the accommodation portion directly into the floor panel. This eliminates the need for separate slide rail mechanisms, reducing device complexity and manufacturing cost while maintaining ease of seat repositioning through simple manual movement
Solution Approach 2:
The slide rail mechanism is extracted and removed from the design. Instead, the seat moves directly on the floor surface using the recessed accommodation portion as its resting position, simplifying the overall structure while preserving the essential function of seat repositioning
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
The apparatus effectively increases available space by allowing seamless conversion between seating and luggage modes, reduces unit costs, and improves assembly efficiency and durability through stress distribution and aesthetic design modifications.
Implementation Method 1
An elastic member returns the seat to an original position thereof by adjusting the storage state of the seat
Data Source
AI summary
A storage apparatus for a seat of a vehicle, in which the seat is stored in a storage space formed therebelow, so that it is possible to secure a wider luggage space as compare with the related art and reduce unit cost without using a separate slide rail. In addition, the storage apparatus variously uses the space of a back seat when shifted between a passenger space (seating mode) and a luggage space (luggage mode) of the multi-functional back seat, which is vertically movable and foldable.