JP6547399B2 - Vehicle seat - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat that moves in the front-rear direction.

  Conventionally, a vehicle seat described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the vehicle seat of Patent Document 1, by releasing the lock, the seat assembly is pulled forward by a spring to move the entire seat assembly forward.

Patent No. 3532855 gazette

  When the occupant is sitting on the seat for a long time and driving the vehicle, the legs may swell and fatigue. At this time, if the seat is pulled forward by a spring, the load will be increased by the spring if the occupant pushes the seat backward and tries to extend the leg in a state where the lock is released.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to suppress the load applied to the leg when the occupant pushes and moves the seat backward.

  According to the present invention, the movement restriction of the seat in the longitudinal direction is released during automatic driving of the vehicle, and the seat is moved rearward by the occupant sitting on the seat extending the leg while pressing the foot against the vehicle body. The seat includes a load applying mechanism that applies a load to the leg of the occupant when the seat moves rearward, and a load reducing mechanism that reduces the load applied to the leg.

  According to the present invention, when the occupant moves the seat backward while stretching the leg and applies a load to the leg, the load is reduced by the load reduction mechanism, so it is possible to suppress an excessive load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole structure of the vehicle seat concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which moved the vehicle seat diagonally upwards backward with respect to FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an entire configuration view of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. The direction indicated by the arrow FR in the figure is the front of the vehicle. The vehicle on which the seat 1 is mounted is an autonomous driving vehicle that automatically performs acceleration / deceleration and steering. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the seat 1 has moved backward with respect to FIG.

  On the floor 3 of the vehicle body, there is provided an inclined guide rail 5 which is an inclined guide portion as a load applying mechanism in which the seat 1 slides. Two inclined guide rails 5 are provided corresponding to the vicinity of both sides of the seat 1 in the vehicle width direction. The two inclined guide rails 5 are supported on the vehicle front side by the front support member 7 and on the vehicle rear side by the rear support member 9 whose length in the vertical direction is longer than that of the front support member 7.

  Therefore, the two inclined guide rails 5 are inclined in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle such that the rear side of the vehicle is above the front side of the vehicle. The seat 1 moves in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle along the inclined guide rails 5 which are inclined.

  The seat 1 includes a seat cushion 11 and a seat back 13. In the seat cushion 11, slide brackets 15 are attached to lower portions on both sides in the vehicle width direction, and the slide brackets 15 slide along the inclined guide rails 5.

  The slide bracket 15 is restricted from moving in the forward direction of the vehicle by a stopper 17 provided at the front of the inclined guide rail 5. Between the slide bracket 15 and the mounting portion 19 provided at the rear end of the inclined guide rail 5, a tension coil spring 21 serving as an elastic member as biasing means is provided.

  The tension coil spring 21 applies a biasing force to the slide bracket 15 toward the rear of the vehicle away from the stopper 17. The state where the tension coil spring 21 applies a biasing force toward the rear of the vehicle is ensured while the seat 1 shifts from FIG. 1 to FIG.

  The lower part of the seat back 13 is connected to the rear of the seat cushion 11. Therefore, along with the slide movement of the seat cushion 11, the seat back 13 also moves integrally. The connecting portion between the seat back 13 and the seat cushion 11 is provided with a reclining mechanism (not shown) for changing the inclination angle of the seat back 13 in the front-rear direction.

  A lock mechanism 23 is provided between the inclined guide rail 5 and the slide bracket 15 for restricting the movement of the seat 1 in the front-rear direction. The lock mechanism 23 includes an engagement protrusion 25 provided substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction of the inclined guide rail 5 and an engagement recess 15 a provided on the slide bracket 15 side.

  A drive unit 27 such as an electromagnetic actuator is mounted on the lower side of the inclined guide rail 5 opposite to the seat 1. By the drive of the drive part 27, the engagement protrusion 25 moves forward and backward from the surface of the inclined guide rail 5 on the seat 1 side. When the slide bracket 15 is in contact with the stopper 17 as shown in FIG. 1, the locking protrusion 23 is locked by the engagement protrusion 25 projecting and engaging with the engagement recess 15 a.

  The drive unit 27 is drive-controlled by the control unit 29. The control unit 29 determines whether the vehicle is in automatic operation, and when it is determined that the vehicle is in automatic operation, the control unit 29 retracts the engagement projection 25 in the projecting state to release the lock of the lock mechanism 23. That is, when the control unit 29 determines that the vehicle is in automatic operation, and the automatic driving determination unit determines that the vehicle is in automatic operation, the seat 1 by the lock mechanism 23 is determined. And a lock release unit that releases the movement restriction in the front-rear direction of the lens.

  It is determined based on the traveling state of the vehicle used as vehicle information and information from various sensors whether the vehicle is in automatic driving. The various sensors include an automatic driving start switch (not shown) operated by the occupant to start automatic driving. After turning on the automatic driving start switch, it may be determined whether the automatic driving is performed according to the traveling condition such as the speed of the vehicle or the steering angle.

  A footrest 31 on the vehicle body side is provided on a floor 3 on the vehicle front side of the seat 1 or a lower portion of a dash panel (not shown). The dash panel is a partition member that separates the vehicle compartment 33 from an engine compartment located in front of the vehicle compartment 33 and housing an engine or the like (not shown).

  The footrests 31 are disposed on the floor 3 near the side of a floor tunnel extending in the longitudinal direction at the center of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction and on the inside of the vehicle in front of a front door (not shown). That is, the footrest 31 is disposed on both the left and right sides with pedals such as an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal (not shown) depressed by the occupant M interposed therebetween.

  The footrest 31 on the floor tunnel side, which is located at the back of the paper in FIG. 1, places the left foot of the occupant M seated on the seat 1 of the right driver's seat. The footrest 31 on the front door side located on the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 1 places the right foot of the occupant M. Since the right foot of the occupant M needs to step on the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, the case where the right foot is placed on the footrest 31 is when the vehicle is driving automatically.

  Next, the operation will be described. In the following description, a normal driving state in which the vehicle is not automatically driven is referred to as a normal driving mode, and a state in which the vehicle is automatically driving is referred to as an automatic driving mode.

  In the normal operation mode, the control mechanism 29 causes the lock mechanism 23 to be in the locked state by engaging the engagement protrusion 25 with the engagement recess 15a, and the seat 1 is attached to the inclined guide rail 5 at the position shown in FIG. Movement is restricted. In the normal operation mode, the occupant M grips and operates the steering wheel 35 by hand and depresses and operates the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal with the right foot. The left foot is placed on the left footrest 31 as appropriate.

  When the occupant M shifts to the automatic driving mode by, for example, turning on the automatic driving switch in the normal driving mode, the control unit 29 determines that the vehicle is in automatic driving. The control unit 29 that has determined that the vehicle is in automatic driving controls the drive unit 27 to retract the engagement projection 25 and release the lock. Basically, the driver M in automatic driving does not have to operate the steering 35 or the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal (not shown), and therefore, the left and right feet can be placed on the footrest 31.

  When the vehicle shifts to the automatic driving mode and, for example, the time of the automatic driving state becomes long, the occupant M may develop swelling and the like in the leg and may fatigue. Here, when the passenger M tries to extend the leg with the foot on the footrest 31 as shown in FIG. 1, a load pressing on the footrest 31 acts, and the reaction force of the applied load is the back and waist of the passenger M Act on the sheet 1 through. That is, the seat 1 receives a load directed by the occupant M toward the rear of the vehicle.

  The seat 1 which has received a load directed to the rear of the vehicle slides toward the rear and obliquely upward along the inclined guide rail 5 via the slide bracket 15 to be in the state of FIG. When the seat 1 moves rearward, the slide bracket 15 is pulled rearward by the rearward biasing force of the tension coil spring 21.

  Therefore, when the occupant M stretches the leg and moves the seat 1 rearward, the load can be reduced by the amount of rearward biasing force of the tension coil spring 21. That is, the tension coil spring 21 constitutes a load reducing mechanism that reduces the load by the load applying mechanism. Therefore, when the occupant M stretches the leg and moves the seat 1 rearward to apply a load to the leg, it is possible to prevent the load from becoming too large. Such an effect is effective for crews with weak muscles.

  Assuming that the biasing force of the tension coil spring 21 corresponds to the weight of the sheet 1 (including the weight of the slide bracket 15, the same applies hereinafter), the load can be reduced by the weight of the sheet 1. In this case, the occupant M applies an almost load equivalent to his or her weight to the leg at the beginning of the operation of extending the leg. As the sheet 1 moves rearward, the rearward biasing force of the tension coil spring 21 decreases, so the load on the legs gradually increases.

  Here, the weight of the sheet 1 means that the sheet 1 disposed on the inclined guide rail 5 together with the slide bracket 15 in the state of not using the tension coil spring 21 hangs forward in the moving direction when the sheet 1 slides by its own weight. It is a load.

  It is assumed that the weight of the occupant M is 52.6 kg and the weight of the seat 1 is 15 kg. In this case, when the load is reduced by the weight of the sheet 1 by the tension coil spring 21, a load reduction effect of about 22.2% can be obtained with respect to the total weight of 67.6 kg. If it is not necessary to reduce the load by the weight of the sheet 1 and only a portion of the total weight is to be reduced, the biasing force (tensile force) of the tension coil spring 21 may be reduced. Conversely, the biasing force of the tension coil spring 21 may slightly exceed the weight of the sheet 1.

  By extending the legs as shown in FIG. 2 from the state of FIG. 1, the occupant M extends the muscles of each part of the legs and improves the blood flow by the muscle pump action, and can improve the swelling of the legs for a long time . Further, by extending the legs, the occupant M makes the contact state of the thighs with the seat cushion 11 more uniform as compared to the state of FIG. 1, so the pressure concentration on the buttocks is reduced.

  The load applying mechanism of the present embodiment includes an inclined guide rail 5 in which the seat 1 is moved such that the vehicle rear side is at an upper position than the vehicle front side. For this reason, with a simple structure in which the inclined guide rails 5 simply inclined with respect to the horizontal plane are provided as the load application mechanism, fatigue caused by swelling of the legs of the occupant M during automatic operation can be improved.

  When returning the seat 1 to the state of FIG. 2 from FIG. 2, the occupant M releases the load application to the footrest 31. As a result, the seat 1 easily moves the inclined guide rail 5 diagonally forward and downward against the urging force of the tension coil spring 21 rearward by its own weight. The seat 1 which has moved the inclined guide rail 5 forward is in a state of being in contact with the stopper 17 by its own weight. Therefore, even if the lock mechanism 23 is released with the seat 1 moved forward as shown in FIG. 2, the occupant M does not move the seat 1 backward while the leg portion is not extended. it can.

  The load reducing mechanism of the present embodiment is an urging force applying means for applying an urging force to the seat 1 rearward of the vehicle. For this reason, the occupant M can reduce the load when extending the leg portion with a simple structure in which the seat 1 is simply applied with a biasing force to the rear of the vehicle.

  The biasing force applying means of the present embodiment is an elastic member. Therefore, a drive mechanism such as an actuator is not necessary, and a biasing force can be applied to the seat 1 rearward of the vehicle at a simple and low cost.

  The elastic member of the present embodiment is a tension coil spring 21. Therefore, the urging force can be applied to the seat 1 rearward of the vehicle at a simpler and lower cost.

  The inclined guide rail 5 is different from a general seat slide rail which moves the vehicle seat back and forth depending on the physique and preference of the driver. Therefore, the inclined guide rail 5 may be mounted on the seat slide rail via the front support member 7 and the rear support member 9. In this case, the inclined guide rail 5 moves back and forth on the seat slide rail.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiments are only the examples described in order to make an understanding of this invention easy, and this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific technical matters disclosed in the above embodiments, but also includes various modifications, alterations, and alternative technologies that can be easily derived therefrom.

  For example, by using a constant load spring as the tension coil spring 21, a constant load reduction margin can be always ensured while the sheet 1 is shifted from the state of FIG. 1 to the state of FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the sheet 1 is biased rearward by the tension coil spring 21. However, instead of the tension coil spring 21, an actuator such as an air cylinder may be used. By using the actuator, the reduction amount of the load can be adjusted according to the muscle strength of the occupant, and the convenience is improved.

  Further, as the elastic member, rubber may be used instead of the tension coil spring 21.

1 Seat 5 Inclined guide rail (inclined guide section, load application mechanism)
21 Tension coil spring (spring, elastic member, biasing means, load reduction mechanism)
23 Lock mechanism 29 Control unit (automatic operation determination unit, lock release unit)
31 Footrest (car body)

Claims (6)

A seat mounted on a vehicle and moving in the longitudinal direction;
A lock mechanism for restricting movement of the seat in the longitudinal direction;
An automatic driving determination unit that automatically performs acceleration / deceleration and steering and the vehicle determines that the vehicle is in automatic operation;
A lock release unit configured to release the forward and backward movement restriction of the seat by the lock mechanism when the automatic driving determination unit determines that the vehicle is being driven automatically;
In a state where the lock release unit has released the movement restriction of the seat, when the occupant sitting on the seat pushes the foot against the vehicle body to stretch the leg and move the seat backward, a load is applied to the leg A load applying mechanism to apply
And a load reducing mechanism for reducing the load on the legs by the load applying mechanism.   The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the load applying mechanism includes an inclined guide portion which is inclined so that the vehicle rear side is higher than the vehicle front side and the seat moves.   The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the load reduction mechanism is an urging force application unit that applies an urging force to the seat rearward.   The vehicle seat according to claim 3, wherein the biasing force applying means is an elastic member.   The vehicle seat according to claim 4, wherein the elastic member is a spring.   The vehicle seat according to claim 3, wherein the biasing means is an actuator.

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