This patent application claims priority from Italian patent application no. 102021000029159 filed on Nov. 18, 2021, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a seat for a vehicle.
The seat of a vehicle consists of a seat cushion having a substantially horizontal arrangement and of a backrest having a substantially vertical arrangement.
From a constructive point of view, the seat of a vehicle comprises a frame (typically made of metal or composite material), which is fixed to the floorboard of the vehicle, a bearing structure, which is mounted on the frame and is elastically yielding, and an upholstery, which covers the bearing structure and makes up the aesthetic and tactile interface to the outside (the upholstery can be made of fabric or leather).
Manufacturers recently suggested manufacturing the bearing structure of a seat by means of a net-like structure, which is built with 3D printers (namely, through additive manufacturing).
Patent U.S. Ser. No. 10/272,800B2 discloses a seat for a car having a main cushion, which is coupled to a shield, which surrounds at least part of the lateral sides of the main cushion and is made of a foam that is less compressible (namely, harder) compared to the main cushion.
The object of the invention is to provide a seat for a vehicle, which offers high comfort combined with reduced weight and small sizes.
According to the invention, there is provided a seat for a vehicle as claimed in the appended claims.
The appended claims describe preferred embodiments of the invention and form an integral part of the description.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing some non-limiting embodiments thereof:
In
The seat 1 consists of a seat cushion 2 having a substantially horizontal arrangement and of a backrest 3 having a substantially vertical arrangement; together, the cushion 2 and the backrest 3 give the seat 1 an “L” shape. The backrest 3 ends, at the top, with a headrest 4, which is included in the backrest 3 (namely, forms one single indivisible body with the backrest 3).
From a constructive point of view, the seat 1 comprises a frame (typically made of metal or composite material), which is fixed to the floorboard of the vehicle, a bearing structure 5 (better shown in
According to a preferred embodiment, the upholstery 6 covering the bearing structure 5 has two twins through windows 7, which are arranged at a given distance from one another, expose the bearing structure 5 lying underneath and are arranged in the area of the backrest 3; in particular, each through window 7 has an oblong shape (namely, has a length that is significantly greater than the width) arranged vertically.
The bearing structure 5 of the seat 1 is obtained by means of a polyurethane foam having a net-like structure, which is built with 3D printers (namely, through additive manufacturing). As described more in detail below, the bearing structure 5 does not feature an even bearing capacity (namely, the same bearing capacity everywhere), but it has a differentiated bearing capacity changing from zone to zone.
The bearing capacity (or compression resistance) of a foam is a measure of the load resistance (namely, of the compression resistance) thereof: the higher the value of the bearing capacity, the stiffer and harder (namely, more rigid) the foam and vice versa. The bearing capacity is usually measured in KPa for it is measured as pressure needed to obtain a predetermined deformation of the foam. In particular according to the IOS 1798 method corresponding to the UNI 6351 regulation, the bearing capacity of a foam is equal to the pressure (measured in KPa) needed to obtain a deformation value corresponding to 40% of a sample (having a surface of 323 square centimetres) subjected to compression (namely, the pressure needed to obtain a deformation that reduces by 40% the initial value of the thickness of the sample subjected to compression).
According to
The bearing structure 5 of the cushion 2 comprises an insert 10, which is completely arranged within the inner zone 9, is at the centre of the cushion 2 and has a third bearing capacity P3 (ranging from 5.4 to 6.6 kPa) smaller than the bearing capacity P2. According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing capacity P3 ranges from 75% to 90% of the bearing capacity P2. According to a preferred embodiment, the insert 10 at least partially has the shape of a truncated cone, which reduces its size moving away from the cushion 2; in particular, the insert 10 has a rear part with a rectangular shape, which is arranged at the back of the cushion 2 (namely, in the area of the backrest 3), and a front part (joined to the rear part without gaps) with a trapezoidal shape, which is arranged at the front of the cushion 2.
According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing structure 5 of the cushion 2 comprises two twin inserts 11, which are separate from one another, are arranged next to one another completely within the inner zone 9, are located between the insert 10 and the backrest 3 (remaining at a given distance other than zero both from the insert 10 and from the backrest 3), and have a bearing capacity P4 (ranging from 3.6 to 4.4 kPa) smaller than the bearing capacity P3. According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing capacity P4 ranges from 60% to 72% of the bearing capacity P2. According to a preferred embodiment, each insert 11 has a rectangular shape.
According to a preferred embodiment, the outer zone 8 comprises two separate twin ribs 12, which extend within the inner zone 9 and flank part of the insert 10.
In the embodiment shown in
According to
According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing structure 5 of the backrest 3 includes the headrest 4, which completely belongs to the outer zone 14 and, hence, has the bearing capacity P6.
According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing structure 5 of the backrest 3 comprises an insert 16, which is arranged at the centre within the outer zone 14 and above the inner zone 15 and has the bearing capacity P2 smaller than the bearing capacity P6.
According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing structure 5 of the backrest 3 comprises two twin inserts 17, which are separate from one another, are arranged on the two opposite sides of the inner zone 15 between the inner zone 15 and the outer zone 14 and have the bearing capacity P2 smaller than the sixth bearing capacity P6.
According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing structure 5 of the backrest 3 comprises two twin inserts 18, which are separate from one another, are arranged on the two opposite sides of the inner zone 15 between the inner zone 15 and the outer zone 14, are located above the inserts 17 and have the bearing capacity P3 smaller than the bearing capacity P2. According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing capacity P2 ranges from 75% to 90% of the bearing capacity P3.
In the alternative embodiment shown in
Furthermore, in the alternative embodiment shown in
Finally, in the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the outer zone 8 is not provided with the two separate twin ribs 12, which extend within the inner zone 9 and flank part of the insert 10.
In the alternative embodiment shown in
In the alternative embodiment shown in
In the alternative embodiment shown in
Even in the embodiment shown in
The embodiments described herein can be combined with one another, without for this reason going beyond the scope of protection of the invention.
The seat 1 described above has numerous advantages.
First of all, the seat 1 described above offers passengers a very high comfort, though featuring reduced weight and small size.
Furthermore, the seat 1 disclosed above can completely be customized so as to adjust to the actual anthropometric features of the end user.
Finally, the seat 1 described above can be manufactured in a relatively simple and quick fashion using a marketed 3D printer.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102021000029159 | Nov 2021 | IT | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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2841508 | Jan 2004 | FR |
Entry |
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Italian Search Report for Application No. 102021000029159 completed Jul. 1, 2022. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230150408 A1 | May 2023 | US |