Patent Application
20070241595
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to haptic seats of the type used in vehicles, such as automobiles
2. Background Art
A haptic vehicle seat is configured to impart sensations to an occupant thereof. The sensation may include vibrations, pulses, shakes, or some other inducement that involves the occupants sense of touch.
One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to haptic vehicle seat. The seat may include a seat cushion for supporting an occupant, an impulse distribution arm in communication with the seat cushion, an actuator attached to the arm and configured to vibrate the arm such that at least a portion of a vibration induced in the arm travels through the seat cushion to be felt by the occupant.
The seat cushion may include a support material and the impulse distribution arm may rest on a top side of the support material. Optionally, the impulse distribution arm may rests within a trench on the top side of the support material.
The seat cushion may include a support material and the impulse distribution arm is may be embedded within the support material.
The seat cushion may include a trim lining attached to a trim bracket such that the trim bracket forms at least a portion of the impulse distribution arm.
The actuator may include a motor, rotor, and eccentric weight such that the motor configured to rotate the eccentric weight in order to vibrate the arm. Optionally, the actuator includes a housing surrounding the motor, weight, and rotatable shaft, with an outer portion thereof including a fastener for attaching the actuator to the arm such that the arm is vibrated without directly connecting to the motor, weight, or shaft.
The seat may further include at least one additional impulse distribution arm and actuator, with each actuator being attached to different impulse distribution arms.
The seat cushion may include a connecting feature for connecting to a seat track mounted on a vehicle floor.
The seat cushion may be part of seat bottom or seat back, each of the seat bottom and seat back having a generally rectangular shape, wherein the arm mimics the generally rectangular shape of the seat bottom or seat back.
One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to a haptic seating system for use with a vehicle. The system may include a controller configured to issue a warning signal as a function of vehicle operating parameters, a vehicle seat having a seat for supporting an occupant, an impulse distribution arm in communication with the seat, and an actuator in communication with the controller. The actuator may be attached to the arm and configured to vibrate the arm in response to receipt of the warning signal such that at least a portion of a vibration induced in the arm travels through the seat to be felt by the occupant.
One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to an actuator configured to induce a vibration within an impulse distribution arm. The actuator may include a motor configured to rotate a shaft, an eccentric weight connect to the shaft such that rotation of the shaft cause the eccentric weight to vibrate the motor, and a housing attached to and surrounding the motor. Optionally, an outer portion of the housing including a fastener for attaching to the impulse distribution arm such that the impulse distribution arm is vibrated without directly connecting to the motor, weight, or shaft.
The above features and advantages, along with other features and advantages of the present invention, are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, other features of the present invention will become more apparent and the present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompany drawings in which:
The system 10 generally includes a haptic seat 14 and controller 16, such as vehicle system controller. The controller 16 may be configured to monitor vehicle operating parameters and to generate a warning/seat control signal as a function thereof. The signal may be used to control vibrations within the seat 14, and thereby, alerting of the passenger. The controller 16 may vary the characteristics and/or instructions embedded within the signal in order to control the type, frequency, amplitude, and other characteristics of the seat vibration.
For example, if the vehicle is an automobile, the controller 16 may be configured to determine lane departures, impending rear/side/front impacts, and drowsy driver conditions as a function any number of vehicle operating parameters. In more detail, the automobile may include video and/or other features for detecting lane departures, video/radar and/or other features to detect impending rear/side/front impacts, video and/or other features to monitor driver drowsiness (i.e., a driver response to visual indicators, posture, head positioning, etc. may be used to indicate drowsiness).
Of course, the controller 16 may monitor and process any number variables for use in controlling seat vibrations and the present invention is not intended to be limited to the foregoing. In particular, the present invention fully contemplates the use of any number of parameters for determining conditions under which it may be advantageous to alert the passenger. Moreover, the present invention fully contemplates varying or otherwise adjusting the vibrations as a function of the severity of the alert and any number of other parameters.
The seat 14 may include a bottom seat cushion 20 and back seat cushion 22 such that a bottom trim lining 24 and back trim lining 26 may be arranged over top of the seat cushions 20-22 to protect the seat cushions 20-22 and to provided variable surface amenities and textures. The seat cushions 20-22 and linings 24-26 may comprise any suitable material. For example, the seat cushions 20-22 may comprise a foam material and the seat linings 24-26 may comprise a cloth or leather material.
The seat 14 may include a connecting feature 30 for connecting to a seat track (not shown) of a vehicle floor (not show). The connecting feature 30 may include any number of elements, devices, fasteners, actuators, and other members commonly employed with vehicle seating to facilitate attachment of the seat 14 to the seat track such that the position of the seat may be adjusted by adjusting its positioning with respect to the seat track, as one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate.
The seat 14 may include one or more impulse distribution arms 34-36 and actuators 38-40 resting on top of the bottom seat cushion 20 and the back seat cushion 22. The actuators 38-40 are attached to the impulse distribution arms 34-36 and configured to vibrate the arms 34-36 such that at least a portion of a vibration induced in the arms 34-36 travels through the seat 14 to be felt by the occupant. This vibration may be used to provided the haptic alert function described above.
The impulse distribution arms 34-36 and actuators 38-40 shown in
As shown, the impulse distribution arm 34 extends around a portion of a perimeter of the bottom seat cushion 20 such that it mimics the shape of the bottom seat cushion 20. This can be advantageous in evenly spreading out the vibrations induced to the seat cushion 20 so that the passenger feels a uniform vibration over a larger portion of the seat cushion 20. Of course, the present invention is not intended to be limited to any particular arrangement of the impulse distribution arm 34 and fully contemplates any number of other shapes and contours for the same.
Similar to the impulse distribution arm 34 and actuator 38 shown in
The embedded impulse distribution arms 34-36 are covered by the foam or other material comprising the seat cushions 20-22. Optionally, the impulse distribution arms 34-36 may be included within a mold used to foam the seat cushions 20-22 such that the foam or other seat cushion material is molded around the impulse distribution arms 34-36. An opening or other relief may be similarly including within the mold to permit insertion of the actuators 38-40 after injection molding the seat cushions 34-36.
As one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, rotation of the shaft 64 cause the eccentric weight 66 to impart variable forces on the motor 62. These forces cause the motor 62 to emit vibrations and other impulse, which are then transferred to the impulse distribution arms 34-36 for generating the haptic sensations described above. Optionally, the controller 16 may control the operation of the motor 62 in order to control the sensations imparted by the actuator.
The enclosure of the motor 62 and other accessories associated with generating the vibration is advantageous in preventing damage and wear to other seat system components that may come in contact with these moving elements if left uncovered. Likewise, this enclosure protects the motor 62 from exposed debris and other particulate contaminations that may influence its ability to operate over a prolonged period of time.
The attachment of the impulse distribution arm 34 to the housing 72 allows the present invention to distribute the vibrations of the housing 72 over a greater distance. For example, without the impulse distribution arm 34, the vibrations induced by the actuator 38 are localized to a relatively small and specific area of the seat 14 such that multiple actuators would be required to vibration as large an area as that which is vibrated with the impulse distribution arm 34 of the present invention.
The fasteners 74-76 used to attach the impulse distribution arm 34 to the housing 72 are press-fit type fasteners such that the impulse distribution arm 34 may be simply press-fit into the fasteners 74-76 for securing. Of course, the impulse distribution arm 34 may be attached to the housing 72 with fasteners 74-76 of any number of other suitable configurations and components.
The impulse distribution arms 34-36 described in
The present invention also contemplates the use of existing wires, frames, and other support features included within the seating system 10 so as to eliminate the need to include the impulse distribution arms 34-36 as add-on features. For example, as one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the seat cushions 20-22 may be supported on springs or other relatively rigid wires such that the actuator 38 may be similarly attached to these wires and the wires themselves used as the distribution arms.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
