Chairs and seats – Headrest
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-26
2001-04-24
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Headrest
C297S284600, C297S284900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220667
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an adjusting method for a vehicle seat via a drive wherein a seat component is movable throughout a range of positions, at least one pressure sensor arranged at or in the component and in controlling communication with the drive.
A method of this type is known in the case of a vehicle seat with a side wall adjustment from German Patent Document DE 196 05 779 A1. In that case, only the two seat side walls are adjusted upon an arbitrarily given switching command. Starting from a wide initial position, in which the two side walls are in their extreme position, they are moved toward one another upon the switching command until a defined contact pressure of the user is determined by an integrated pressure sensor. The side walls are then fixed in this position. The relevant switching value of the pressure sensor is always constant.
As a rule, such an adjustment takes place only once by the user at the beginning of the drive. The known method is based on the consideration that, relative to his body width, every user wants to be supported by means of the shaping-out and cushioning in the same manner in any driving situation. It is not provided that, starting from the then reached position, the side walls be adapted again to a new user or to the present user according to his desire. On the contrary, the preparatory adjusting of the starting position is required for this purpose.
The known adjusting method may be advantageous for the two seat side walls. Because of the described movement sequence, specifically the preparatory adjustment of the extreme position and the subsequent closing of the seat component to the desired position, the method cannot be applied to other seat components or can be applied only with a considerable loss of comfort. For example, if the seat back rest is considered, this back rest would first be situated in a position in which it is extremely tilted to the rear and would then have to be adapted to the respective user's requirements with respect to comfort, by a raising of the back rest.
Corresponding disadvantages also occur involving the longitudinal seat adjustment. The seat would be situated in an extreme position suitable for a tall vehicle user. A short vehicle user would have to be changed into the sitting position fitting him and would have to reach this position in a first try. If he were to exceed this position and therefore sit too closely to the steering wheel, he would have to go back into the initial position and then try to adjust his sitting position again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an adjusting method of the initially mentioned type which is also suitable for other seat components and which clearly improves the comfort.
The invention achieves this object by adjusting a seat component by starting with the seat component in an arbitrary starting position anywhere in the range of positions, sensing a contact pressure of an occupant of the seat via the at least one pressure sensor, comparing the sensed contact pressure with a predetermined desired contact pressure, adjusting the seat component from the arbitrary starting position directly in a direction such that the sensed contact pressure approaches the predetermined desired contact pressure, and terminating the adjusting step when the sensed contact pressure reaches the predetermined desired contact pressure.
The movement direction of the drive now depends on the actual necessity of changing the adjustment of the seat starting from the adjustment of the seat components for the previous user. Only those adjusting movements are still carried out which correspond to the difference between the adjustments for the previous and for the current user. Thereby the adjusting paths, as a rule, become significantly shorter than in the case of a closing movement from an extreme starting position.
Deviating from the initially mentioned document, the pressure sensor is also used for determining the adjusting direction of the drive. If the contact pressure at the beginning of the adjustment is higher than the pressure relevant to a comfortable adjustment, the drive is controlled into a direction which is opposite to the direction which the drive assumes in the case of a pressure which is lower than the comfortable contact pressure. In each case, the adjusting direction of the drive is such that the contact pressure is changed from the initial value, which is not equal to zero, in the direction of the comfortable contact pressure until it is equal to that value.
On the whole, the interaction between the drive, the seat component and the pressure sensor is completely different from that of German Patent Document DE 196 05 779 A1. There, the pressure sensor will block the drive at most if the contact pressure is equal to or higher than the pressure reached in the case of a comfortable side wall adjustment. Otherwise, the pressure sensor has no influence on the movement direction, particularly at the beginning of the adjustment.
As known per se from German Patent Document DE 196 05 779 A1, the end of the adjusting movement can be determined. by a defined contact pressure. The contact pressure is also determined by the pressure sensor.
However, as an alternative or in addition, the end of the adjustment can also be determined arbitrarily. The vehicle user is therefore permitted to adapt the adjustment of the seat components also subsequently according to his feelings of comfort.
For this purpose, it is known per se to activate the adjusting movement by means of a command generator. According to the invention, the adjusting movement is now carried out in a direction which depends on the ratio of the actual contact pressure determined by means of the pressure sensor to the contact pressure decisive for a comfortable seat adjustment. If the seat user wants to have the seat component adjusted into a position which is wider than the previous one, he only needs to increase the contact pressure on the seat component. The contact pressure will then be higher than the pressure for obtaining a comfortable seat adjustment. The drive will then be controlled into the “wider” direction. Inversely, he can also cause an adjustment of the seat component in the “narrower” direction in that he reduces the contact pressure and thereby generates a contact pressure which is lower than that needed for a comfortable seat adjustment.
For adaptations to users of very different body sizes, two pressure sensors may also be provided in the area of the back rest and are arranged above one another and operate selectively or jointly corresponding to the body size. By means of the contact pressure determined by means of the two pressure sensors, it can automatically be recognized whether a tall or a short vehicle user is involved and the effectiveness of the two pressure sensors can be switched correspondingly.
In the case of the method known from German Patent Document DE 196 05 779 A1, only the user's body width when the user first sits down is taken into account as an adjusting criterion. Changes of the body geometry, which occur particularly on longer drives and during longer stays in the seat, are not taken into account. In addition, the adjusting method is not suitable for carrying out a new adjustment of the vehicle seat components particularly during a drive. For this purpose, it would be necessary that the two components first take up their extremely wide position again in order to then close the two components again. This would result in a loss of the vehicle occupant's lateral support which takes place by means of the vehicle seat. Particularly an adaptation of the vehicle seat during a drive is therefore impossible in the case of the known method.
It is therefore another object of the invention to be able to adapt the vehicle seat component(s) to the actual comfort and safety needs of the vehicle occupant also during a drive.
This is achieved by the seat component is a back rest and at least two of the pressure sensors are ar
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Cuomo Peter M.
Evenson, McKeown, Edwards & Lenahan P.L.L.C.
Vu Stephen
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