JPH035161B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a seat for a vehicle, etc., in which the feeling or body pressure distribution of an occupant is controlled by pneumatic pressure, and in particular, the present invention relates to a seat for a vehicle, etc., in which the feeling or body pressure distribution of an occupant is controlled by pneumatic pressure, and in particular, the above-mentioned pneumatic pressure control device is equipped with a suitable pressure control means. Regarding formula sheets.

Vehicle seats with various adjustment functions include recliners, tilters, lifters, etc.
There are those that can adjust the position and posture of the occupant, and those that are equipped with thigh supports, side supports, ramp supports, etc., and that can mainly adjust the occupant's feeling and body pressure distribution. These are further classified into those in which adjustment is performed manually and those in which adjustment is performed by external power.

The present invention particularly relates to a seat for a vehicle, etc., in which the distribution of the feeling body pressure of an occupant can be adjusted by external power made of air pressure.

<Prior art> Most of the conventional vehicle seats of this type have a power element consisting of a motor, gears, etc. installed in each target area as an adjustment mechanism to operate a mechanical adjustment mechanism. Moreover, they were large, heavy, complex, and therefore expensive. A method using air pressure as a power element was also considered, but the structure was complicated because a pressure regulating valve was required to reduce the air pressure from the air pressure source to the desired pressure. However, there was an inconvenience that the manufacturing cost rose.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, the main object of the present invention is to apply a desired pressure to each of a plurality of airbags embedded in a seat without using a pressure regulating valve. An object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatically controlled seat that can be filled with air.

<Means for Solving the Problems> According to the present invention, in a vehicle seat of the type in which the feeling or body pressure distribution of a sitting person is controlled by air pressure, a plurality of air bags, an air pressure source, a pipe line connecting each of the air bags and the air pressure source, an on-off valve provided in the middle of each of the connection pipes for each air bag, and an on-off valve for each of the air bags; an exhaust valve connected to an upstream pipe line; a pressure sensor connected to a pipe line upstream of the on-off valve;
control means connected to the air pressure source, the opening/closing valve, the exhaust valve, and the pressure sensor; It is characterized by comprising means for selectively opening and closing the valve and the exhaust valve, respectively, and means for stopping the operation of the valve opening means based on a comparison result between the output signal of the pressure sensor and the set value. This is achieved by providing a pneumatically controlled seat.

In particular, it is preferable to store the upper limit of the air pressure to be filled into each air bag as one of the air pressure settings.

<Function> As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to fill each air bag with air at a desired pressure without using a special air pressure regulating valve. Moreover, since the pressure sensor for controlling the air pressure of each air bag is provided upstream of the on-off valve of each air bag and is common to all air bags, only one pressure sensor may be provided. Furthermore, by storing the upper limit value of the air pressure to be filled into each air bag as one of the set values, a relief valve or safety valve for determining the upper limit value of the air pressure to be supplied to each air bag becomes unnecessary.

<Examples> Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the entire pneumatically controlled seat according to the invention. The vehicle seat 1 has side support bags 2 for left and right bags,
3. Lumbar support bags 4 to 6, side support bags 7 and 8 for left and right cushions, and thigh support bags 9 are embedded, and each air bag is connected to a valve unit 11 by a pipe line 12. A pressure sensor 13 and an electric air pump 10 are attached to the valve unit 11, and the air pump 10, the valve unit 11, and the pressure sensor 13 are controlled by a control unit 14 having a keyboard 15.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The discharge side of the air pump 10 is connected to a pipe line 12, and each air bag 2 to 9 has a
2-port 2-position solenoid valve 1 spring biased in the closing direction
It is connected to this conduit 12 via 6-21. Furthermore, this conduit 12 is also connected to an exhaust valve 22 consisting of a two-port, two-position valve which is also spring-biased in the closing direction. Further, the output end of a pressure sensor 13 provided to detect the pressure in the pipe line 12 is connected to a control unit 14.

The control unit 14 includes a CPU 30 consisting of a microprocessor, and its data bus 26
And address bus 27 has RAM 28 and ROM.
29 are connected. The CPU 30 controls the drive unit 25 via the input/output port 24 based on the pressure signal digitized by the AD converter 23 and the instruction signal input from the keyboard 15.
The air pump 10 and solenoid valves 16 to 22 are operated through the air pump 10 and the solenoid valves 16 to 22.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the main routine programmed into the CPU 30. This main routine is repeated periodically so that it can always be detected that any of the 16 keys (Fig. 9) provided on the keyboard 15 have been pressed, and it specifies the airbag to be adjusted. Steps to determine whether a key has been pressed
35-40, and steps 41-46 for generating a signal to open the corresponding solenoid valve when it is detected in these steps that the corresponding key has been pressed. Therefore, for example, when the key "LUM1" is pressed, the solenoid valve 17 corresponding to the lumbar support bag 4 is opened.

Further, in step 47, if it is detected that the "UP" key has been pressed, the subroutine UP is activated (step 48). This subroutine UP is
The flowchart is shown in FIG. 4, and at the start of this subroutine (step 67), the motor of the pump 10 is started (step 68). Next, in step 70, the pressure value being supplied to the air bag is measured by the pressure sensor 13,
In step 1, this measured value 71 is compared with the upper limit value stored in the ROM 29, that is, the safety pressure, and if the measured value is lower than this upper limit value, the "UP" key is pressed in step 72. It is determined whether the button is still being pressed. If the "UP" key continues to be pressed, the process returns to step 70, during which time the motor of the air pump 10 continues to operate and air is continuously supplied to the air bag. This measured air pressure value has reached a stable pressure or is “UP”.
If the key is released, the air pump motor is stopped in step 73. Next, the steady pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 13 is again stored in the RAM 28 in step 75, and the process returns to the main routine in step 76.

Again in Figure 3, in step 49,
If it is detected that the "DOWN" key is pressed, subroutine DOWH is activated (step 50). This subroutine DOWN starts, as shown in FIG. The pressure of the connected airbags 2-9 is reduced. As before, as long as the "DOWN" key is pressed, steps 79 and 80 are repeated, and the exhaust valve 22 continues to be opened. If the "DOWN" key is released, the exhaust valve is closed in step 81. Next, the steady pressure value measured by the pressure sensor 13 is stored in the RAM 28 (step 83), and the process returns to the main routine from step 84.

After manually adjusting the pressure value of each air bag to the desired value in this way, “MAN1~
Press one of the “MAN3” keys to access RAM2.
After specifying the storage location of 8 (steps 51 to 58),
By pressing the “MEMO” key (step 57),
Subroutine MEMO is started (step 58),
As shown in Figure 7, the specified RAM
A set pressure value is implemented in the area of 28.
Press the “MEMO” key to display the subroutine MEMO.
is activated (step 58) and the following steps are performed for each airbag.

At the start of this subroutine (step 89), first, an index N for identifying an airbag is initialized (step 90).

For air bags whose pressure has already been adjusted, the pressure value is stored, but for air bags whose pressure has not been adjusted, the pressure setting value is stored.
Not stored in RAM. So step 91
In this step, it is determined whether there is temporary memory or not, and if there is no temporary memory, the solenoid valve corresponding to the air bag is turned on (step 92), and the air in the air bag is led to the pipe 12, and its pressure value is measured. Measure (Step 93). Next, the solenoid valve that has been turned on is closed (step 94), and the measured pressure value is stored in the corresponding RAM (step 95). In this way, it is confirmed whether the pressure setting values for all the air bags have been memorized or not, and the pressure values of the air bags for which the values have not been memorized are measured as described above, and the pressure values of all the air bags are stored in the RAM 28 (step 96). , 97).
The process then returns to the main routine from step 98.

If you want to reproduce the pressure value stored in this way, press any of the “MAN1” to “MAN3” keys and then press the “RE-ME” key.
A desired preset air pressure can be reproduced. That is, by pressing the "RE-ME" key (step 59), the subroutine RECALL is activated (step 60). Then, as shown in FIG. 8, in the subroutine RECALL started at step 100, first, at step 101, N is
= 1, and the solenoid valve of the corresponding air bag is turned on (step 102). Then, the pressure in the pipe line 12 is measured (step 103), the difference from the target pressure is determined (step 104), and if the measured value is higher than the target pressure value based on the judgment criteria in step 105, the process proceeds to step 106.
At , the exhaust valve is opened and the procedure from step 103 is repeated again. If the measured value is lower than the target pressure, the pump motor is started in step 107 (and the exhaust valve is closed at the same time), the pressure is measured again (108), and the difference from the target value is determined (step 109). Depending on the level, the pump motor is continuously turned on or the exhaust valve is opened to obtain a desired pressure value, and in step 111, the corresponding solenoid valve is closed and the motor is turned off. It is determined in step 112 whether this procedure has been executed for all airbags, and if there is any airbag that has not been executed, in step 113 the procedure from step 102 is repeated again with N=N+1. In this way, if the target pressure and the measured pressure value match within the predetermined tolerance range for all airbags, the process returns to the main routine from step 114.

In this way, the pressure values set for each of the "MAN1" to "MAN3" keys are stored in the RAM 28, but it is preferable to store typical combinations of pressure values in the ROM in advance. For example, “L-SIZE”, “M-SIZE” or “S-SIZE”
Typical combinations of air bag pressure values are stored in the ROM 29 to correspond to each key, and can be reproduced by pressing the corresponding keys. That is, if it is detected that any of these keys has been pressed in any of steps 61 to 63 in the main routine, the corresponding subroutines S-SIZE,
M-SIZE or L-SIZE is started and the ROM is loaded in step 86 based on the procedure shown in FIG.
The set values stored in step 29 are output, and the subroutine RECALL is activated in step 87 based on the set values thus recalled. Once the predetermined pressure value is obtained in this way, proceed to step 88.
Return to the main routine.

In this manner, the pressure in each air bag can be adjusted to a desired value by operating each of the keys on the keyboard shown in FIG. That is, press the key corresponding to each airbag, then
By pressing the ON or DOWN key, the pressure of the corresponding air bag can be adjusted to the desired value, and the setting state can be changed to “MAN1”~
By pressing any of the "MAN3" keys, the corresponding pressure value pattern can be stored. Also, as a typical pressure pattern for the device, “L”
By providing patterns corresponding to the "-SIZE" to "S-SIZE" keys, the effort required to set a desired pressure value can be reduced.

<Effects> As described above, according to the present invention, each air bag can be filled with air at a desired pressure based on the CPU program without using a special pressure regulating valve. Furthermore, since only one pressure sensor is required, not only the parts cost is reduced, but also the pressure control system can be simplified. Therefore, the device is extremely simplified and its reliability is increased.
Manufacturing costs are reduced. Furthermore, by setting the upper limit pressure value allowable for each air bag as part of the program, overfilling of each air bag can be effectively avoided without using a relief valve or the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire pneumatically controlled seat according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main routine in the CPU of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of subroutine UP in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of subroutine DOWN in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of routine L-SIZE, M-SIZE, or L-SIZE in FIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of subroutine MEMO in FIG. 3. Figure 8 is the subroutine in Figure 3.
This is a flowchart showing the procedure of RECALL. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the surface of the keyboard of FIG. 1 in detail. 1... Seat, 2, 3... Side support bag for backpack, 4-6... Lumbar support bag, 7, 8... Side support bag for cushion, 9... Thigh support bag, 10... Air bag, 11... Valve. Unit, 12... Pipeline,
13...Pressure sensor, 14...Control unit, 1
5... Keyboard, 16-22... Solenoid valve, 23
...AD converter, 24...Input/output port, 2
5... Drive unit, 26... Data bus, 27
...Address bus, 28...RAM, 29...
ROM, 30...CPU, 32-98, 100-1
14...Step.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A seat for a vehicle, etc., in which the feeling or body pressure distribution of a sitting person is controlled by air pressure, comprising: a plurality of air bags embedded in the seat; an air pressure source; each of the air bags and the air bag; a pipe line connecting the air pressure source; an on-off valve provided in the middle of the connection pipe for each of the air bags; an exhaust valve connected to the pipe line upstream of the on-off valve; a pressure sensor connected to a conduit on the upstream side of the valve; and a control means connected to the air pressure source, the on-off valve, the exhaust valve, and the pressure sensor, and the control means is configured to fill the air bag. means for storing a set value of the pressure to be used; means for selectively opening and closing the on-off valve and the exhaust valve; and the valve opening means based on a comparison result between the output signal of the pressure sensor and the set value. A pneumatically controlled seat characterized by comprising means for stopping the action of the pneumatically controlled seat. 2. The pneumatically controlled seat according to claim 1, wherein the set value includes an upper limit value of the pressure with which each air bag should be filled.