Chairs and seats – Crash seat – Bottom and back interconnected for relative concurrent movement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-09
2001-11-06
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Crash seat
Bottom and back interconnected for relative concurrent movement
C297S216200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312050
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a seat structure intended to improve the safety of a passenger in a vehicle. The invention relates, in particular, to a seat structure that includes a means for generating a forward pivoting of the backrest when a collision or the like occurs, usually because the carrying vehicle has been involved in a collision or similar circumstance.
A BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Crash safety is an important and much discussed area in the development of modern cars. Attempts at improving passenger safety are being made in many different ways. Among these is the provision of bar structures and bodyworks with crumple zones, active seat belts and airbags. These structures have been designed to absorb and spread, by means of controlled deformations, the energy impulse which the vehicle, together with the driver and passengers, are subjected to during a collision. A seat has traditionally been mounted in the vehicle in a fixed manner and has not been designed to absorb and spread the energy impulse or force in any defined way. In order to further improve safety, constructions have therefore recently been proposed in which energy absorbing elements are added to the seat structures; these elements being configured absorb energy in a controlled manner when the seat is subjected to an energy impulse in the event of a collision.
A serious problem in collisions is the risk of neck injuries, also referred to as whiplash injuries to passengers of the crashed vehicle. These injuries can also occur when collisions take place at relatively low speeds and with relatively low energy. The risk of injuries occurring increases when the passenger is not sitting directly against the backrest and headrest. During the course of a rear-end collision, the occupant is flung forwards even if that occupant is wearing a seat belt. When the restrictive limits of the seat belt are reached (the passenger presses against the seat belt and the seat belt becomes taught), then the occupant, in reaction to hitting the limiting seat belt, is flung backward against the backrest and headrest. The risk of injures is increased by the lack of ways to coordinate between these movements of the occupant and the movement of the back rest and the headrest.
Another problem in collisions is the risk of the passenger slipping forwards. This means that during a collision the passenger tends to slip forwards on the seat, and the passenger's knees risk hitting the front structure causing injury. A way of reducing the risk of slipping forwards is described in International Patent Application WO 93/01950 in which the seat structure allows the seat-cushion to move along a controlled, predetermined trajectory which is configured so that the front part of the seat moves upwards and forwards in a front-end collision. This means that the passenger, in order to slip forwards, has to do so along an upward slope. As the passenger moves along the upward slope, the normal force between the passenger's body and the seat is greater than it is in the case where the upward slope is not present. This causes the friction between traveler and the seat to be greater, and therefore the force component in the direction of movement is less. Both of these phenomena contribute to reducing the risk of the passenger slipping forwards. In addition, energy-absorbing members can be mounted on the seat structure and they contribute to the absorption of energy when the seat is moving along the predefined trajectory.
Seat structures like those described in WO 93/01950, however, have the following problems: The seat structure is mounted in a frame construction with milled-out tracks. This construction causes the total weight of the seat structure to be relatively high. Since great efforts are being made to reduce the weight of vehicles in order to achieve better economic operation and reduce impact on the environment, it is not acceptable for parts included in the vehicle to be made heavier than is necessary. In addition, seat structures according to WO 93/01950 have no movement trajectory for cases where the collision occurs from behind in a rear-end impact collision. This means that the risk of neck injuries occurring in rear impact collisions is not benefitted by this type of structure. Another disadvantage of seat structures according to WO 93/01950 is that the backrest does not include any function for increasing adaptability or coordination between the passenger and the backrest in the event of a collision, which among other things reduces the risk of whiplash injuries in a rear impact collision.
In view of the above described deficiencies associated with conventionally designed vehicular carried chair structures, the present invention has been developed. These enhancements and benefits are described in greater detail hereinbelow with respect to several alternative embodiments of the present invention.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention in its several disclosed embodiments alleviates the drawbacks described above with respect to conventionally designed chair structures for vehicles and incorporates several additionally beneficial features.
In one aspect, the invention provides an improved seat structure for a vehicle which reduces the above problems or disadvantages of other seat designs. The seat structure is designed to permit adaptability or compensation between the passenger's movement and movement of the backrest and headrest of the seat structure in the event of a collision or the like. In particular, the seat structure includes means or mechanisms for generating a forward pivoting of the backrest assembly when a collision occurs. This reduces the risk of the passenger suffering neck injuries.
The invention contemplates a seat structure having a backrest, a seat portion that includes a front part and a rear part, a stand that supports the seat structure in the vehicle and which includes a means or arrangement for securing the stand in a vehicle. The invention is characterized by the included feature of a means or mechanism for generating a forward pivoting of the backrest when a collision or the like occurs.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the seat structure includes an articulated arm construction designed so that when the seat is displaced forwards relative to the vehicle and from its initial position, the front part of the seat moves upwards and the rear part of the seat moves downwards. Using this articulated arm construction, instead of a construction comprising a frame with milled-out tracks, the seating arrangement is made considerably lighter, while also maintaining passenger safety. The articulated arm construction also allows the movement of the articulated arm to be transformed in a functional manner into pivoting movement that pivots the backrest of the seat forwards in order to improve adaptability (conformance) between the backrest and the occupant; a functional feature that contributes to reducing the risk of passenger neck injuries.
The beneficial effects described above apply generally to the exemplary devices, mechanisms and methods disclosed herein for vehicular chair structures. The specific structures through which these benefits are delivered will be described in detail hereinbelow.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3953068 (1976-04-01), Porsche et al.
patent: 4257626 (1981-03-01), Adomeit
patent: 4349167 (1982-09-01), Reilly
patent: 5823619 (1998-10-01), Heilig
patent: 5882071 (1999-03-01), Föhl
patent: 6019424 (2000-02-01), Ruckert et al.
patent: 6076887 (2000-06-01), Andersson
Brown Peter R.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Volvo Car Corporation
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