Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-27
2001-06-05
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
C701S036000, C296S063000, C296S064000, C296S065010, C297S105000, C318S003000, C307S009100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06243635
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to vehicle seat control systems with advanced control, diagnostics, and functional features in the seat control system including motors and motor responsive sensors.
BACKGROUND ART
Increasing numbers of vehicles have an electrical motor driven, mechanical or pneumatic, multiple support adjustment seats with a controller system offering optional upscale features. Vehicle is herein construed as including car, truck, rail train, airplane, and the like. The features may include multiple displacements of several seat portions and incorporation of a seat lumbar support. In addition, a position sensor and a memory module for closed loop feedback positioning of various supports in the seat relative to the user seat position is selected by the user or automatically set by controller module memory settings. For example, this allows a person, identified as and with a controller # one, to various seat adjustment positions to an individual preference, and then set memory # one for these settings. When the recall position # one switch actuator is manipulated, for example, a recall button is pressed, the seat will return to the multiple adjusted preference settings set by driver # one.
Likewise, person # two may set memory # two and recall position # two, if the system is designed for additional personal settings. The basic seat lumbar adjustment control offers no lumbar position sensor. The optional system upgrade version typically includes a modular controller having the seat position memory feature which necessarily includes a seat position sensor system.
However, these previously known seating systems require sensor systems for precise displacement and positioning of the seat portions, and each movement may require its own set of input switches, limit switches, sensors or the like, as well as power supply for the sensors and the sensor responsive equipment. Such components can add a substantial amount of hardware, complexity and cost to the system and increase the size of the system and the time and the cost of production.
Although some previously known motor control systems have recognized that commutator pulses may be used to gauge motor rotation speed, such systems have not been readily applicable to seat assemblies. Motor brush or other dust may interfere with the detection of pulses, and may create false pulses. In addition, in-rush current at motor start-up and initial movement may interfere with detection of pulses that should have occurred. As a result, previously known pulse counting applications did not accurately gauge positioning of the components moved by a motor, or permit repeatability of positioning, for example in a seat mechanism, involving starting and stopping over time. As a result, separate sensor systems have been relied upon to control positioning.
Stepper motor controllers have been utilized by the machine industry for some time. An example would be indexing to position to place a part or remove a part. In addition, there is usually a feedback sensor as a redundant to verify the accuracy. However, these systems are far too expensive for adaptation to automotive implementation such as seating control features.
As a result, traditional seat control systems have grown in size, weight, complexity and cost due to increasing consumer demand for new features.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages by utilizing motor operation parameter detection or its simulation with adaptive algorithms to simplify a control system. The adaptive algorithms compensate for the interference with detection of pulses in previous pulse counting implementations and avoid error accumulation in the maintenance or adjustment of the position of a displacer. Preferably, the control system, for example, a modular system of seat control features, may be functionally improved without adding a wide variety of hardware and controls that was previously implemented for each new feature for vehicle seating system applications. As described in this application, the term motors is to be understood as generally referring to motion generators creating forces that can act upon displacers, regardless of whether the force generator is a rotary shaft motor or a linear actuator.
The preferred configuration uses commutator pulses and monitors the time between pulses for speed as well as position. Each time the motor brushes move past a commutator segment, the position can be determined and stored by the control based on the gear drive ratio of motor movement to linear movement. As a result, the displaced item's position is more accurately determined than with previous position sensors. The use of commutator pulses can be difficult because detection may be interfered with by missing commutator pulses, during startup, during shut down or due to noise conditions. As a result, a control according to the present invention includes compensation, for example, an algorithm within the microcontroller that identifies these conditions and makes the proper adjustments to the position record in the microcontroller memory, therefore maintaining high accuracy for the brush motor type systems. Moreover, the system reduces wire gauge requirements, for example, for power delivery to the motor and reduces requirements for signal communications.
The compensation may also be accomplished using a brush motor with an external sensor, such as a Hall effect or encoder that will provide pulses, as the motor assembly moves. However, although the external sensor provides the same type of information as the commutator pulses, such a sensor requires additional components.
Another embodiment for such compensation would be a stepper motor control, which is a brushless motor control. These brushless motors come in two forms, sensor feedback and sensorless. The brushless motor is different as it requires a control to provide a signal to one or more of multiple windings, which then instructs the motor to make a movement; i.e., the control will move the motor in increments based on controlling the energization of each of the windings. However, one disadvantage is some method needs to validate that the movement did occur since a control pulse or direction sent to the motor does not guaranty that the motor has turned. In the brush type motors, sensing the commutator pulse is a response that indicates the motor has moved. By using one of the windings not energized in the brushless motor, a pseudo commutator pulse will be generated by the magnetic field, which then will tell the control that the motor has turned.
An additional reduction of components and their corresponding space and weight may be achieved by utilizing a brush or brushless concept as outlined above, as well as integrating the electronics and motor in conjunction with a gear box. Preferably, the gear box eliminates the many motors previously required, and substitutes associated mechanical, electrical, electronic or pneumatic couplings selectively engageable with a single motor that can be used to position each of the individual features. By substituting the gear box for each individual motor, the system current draw is reduced, the number of motors is reduced to one, and wiring complexity and component packaging are reduced.
Complementary in-line modules incorporating monitoring and control algorithms cooperate with signal and power control as in previous application Ser. No. 08/936,479, entitled MASSAGE CONTROLLER MODULE (MCM) and incorporated herein by reference. As a result, desirable features such as massage control can be easily incorporated and provide numerous advantages to an existing seat control system by encouraging blood circulation, stretching and relaxing muscles, varying strain on skeletal members, varying strain on cartilage between articulating skeletal members and also producing a relaxed feeling without substantial changes to the system or its controls.
An in-line module interfaces and integrates with existing and future automotive seat control ha
Newman Todd
Perrin Randy
Swan Jeffery
Washeleski John
Beaulieu Yonel
Brooks & Kushman P.C.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Nartron Corporation
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