Patent Application
20190039526
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle seating assembly, and more particularly to a vehicle seating assembly having a bin therein.
Vehicles that include modular seating designs provide increased comfort and value to the consumer.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle seating assembly is disclosed. The vehicle seating assembly includes a support structure defining a bin. A subassembly is disposed over the support structure and includes a cushion. The subassembly defines a void within the cushion. The void has a larger cross-sectional area than the bin. A seat insert is disposed within the void and disposed over the bin.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a seating assembly for a vehicle is disclosed. The seating assembly includes a support structure defining first and second bins. A subassembly is operably coupled to the support structure and includes a seat cushion. First and second seat inserts are operably coupled to the support structure and are disposed over the first and second bins. A bottom portion of the first and second seat inserts have a larger cross-sectional area than the bin.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle seating assembly is disclosed. The vehicle seating assembly includes a support structure defining a bin having a first access area. A subassembly is disposed over the support structure and defines a void having a second access area. The second access area less than the first access area. A seat insert is disposed within the void and has a bottom portion having a larger area than the bin first access area.
These and other aspects, objects, and features will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
As required, detailed examples of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed examples are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to a detailed design and some schematics may be exaggerated or minimized to show function overview. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
In this document, relational terms, such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like, are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
As used herein, the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.
Referring to
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Coupling members 54 may be disposed around a perimeter 56 of the bin 14. According to some examples, the coupling members 54 may include a magnetically attractive material, such as iron or other magnetic material, which is mounted around the perimeter 56 of the bin 14. The insert 22 may include one or more magnets 84 (
With reference to
Referring again to the examples shown in
Referring to the examples shown in
In some examples, the seat insert 22 may be a specialized vehicle seat cushion 18 such that the seat insert 22 includes thigh supports such as thigh bolsters, thigh tilts, thigh extensions, cushion extensions, or other inserts such as a climate control system, and/or split-leg supports. Moreover, the seat insert 22 may be easily removable such that one seat insert 22 may be removed and replaced with a seat insert 22 having a different or additional functionality. This allows manufacturers of the vehicle seating assembly 10 to easily customize vehicle seating assemblies 10 based on consumer's desires. Additionally, it also allows consumers to upgrade the functionality of the vehicle seating assembly 10 even after the vehicle 24 is purchased and used by the consumer.
Referring to the examples shown in
The circuit board 72 may be configured as a printed circuit board (PCB) that is operably coupled with a controller including control circuitry including LED drive circuitry for controlling activation and deactivation of the light source 86. The controller may be disposed in the vehicle 24 and/or within the seating assembly 10. The circuit board 72 may be configured in any fashion known in the art including, but not limited to, any flexible PCB and/or rigid PCB. The controller may activate the light source 86 based on a plurality of inputs and may modify the intensity of the emitted wavelengths of emitted light by pulse-width modulation, current control, and/or any other method known in the art. According to various examples, multicolored light sources, such as Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) LEDs that employ red, green, and blue LED packaging may be used to generate various desired colors of light outputs from a single light source according to known light color mixing techniques.
In the illustrated example, a position sensor 74, or proximity sensor, shown and described herein as capacitive sensor 76, can be provided within the bin 14 or in close proximity to the seat insert 22. The capacitive sensor 76 provides a sense activation field 78 that encompasses a portion of the seat insert 22 and can detect capacitive changes resulting from a conductor, such as the seat insert 22, being within the sense activation field 78 of the capacitive sensor 76 (e.g. within the void 20). The capacitive sensor 76 may be positioned in a predefined position such that the sensor may detect whether the seat insert 22 is disposed within the void 20. In some examples, if the capacitive change meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold level indicating that the seat insert 22 has moved to the removed position, the light source 86 can be prompted to activate accordingly. While the proximity sensor is shown and described herein as capacitive sensor 76, it should be appreciated that additional or alternative types of proximity sensors can be used for detecting various other signal changes, such as, but not limited to, inductive sensors, optical sensors, temperature sensors, resistive sensors, the like, or a combination thereof. Moreover, any other position-detecting device may be utilized in conjunction with, or in lieu of, the proximity sensor.
With further reference to
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Use of the present disclosure may offer a variety of advantages. For instance, use of the seating assembly may provide additional concealed storage compartments within the vehicle. Moreover, the storage compartment may be placed in a locked state when items are stored within the storage compartment. The cushion may be readily replaced with other seat inserts employing a variety of features therein. The storage compartment provided herein may also reduce the weight of the vehicle by reducing hinge assemblies and/or other compartment components from the vehicle. The seating assembly may include any or all of the features provided herein and still be manufactured at low costs when compared to other seating assemblies.
According to various examples, a vehicle seating assembly is provided herein. The vehicle seating assembly includes a support structure defining a bin. A subassembly is disposed over the support structure and includes a cushion. The subassembly defines a void within the cushion. The void has a larger cross-sectional area than the bin. A seat insert is disposed within the void and disposed over the bin. Examples of the vehicle seating assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
Moreover, a method forming a bin within a vehicle seating assembly is provided herein.
The method includes forming a support structure defining a bin therein. A subassembly is disposed over the support structure including a cushion, wherein the cushion defines a void, the void having a larger cross-sectional area than the bin. A seat insert is disposed within the void and over the bin.
According to some examples, a seating assembly for a vehicle is provided herein. The seating assembly includes a support structure defining first and second bins. A subassembly is operably coupled to the support structure and includes a seat cushion. First and second seat inserts are operably coupled to the support structure and are disposed over the first and second bins. A bottom portion of the first and second seat inserts have a larger cross-sectional area than the bin. Examples of the seating assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
According to other examples, a vehicle seating assembly is provided herein. The vehicle seating assembly includes a support structure defining a bin having a first access area. A subassembly is disposed over the support structure and defines a void having a second access area. The second access area less than the first access area. A seat insert is disposed within the void and has a bottom portion having a larger area than the bin first access area. Examples of the vehicle seating assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described invention and other components are not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary examples of the invention disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
Furthermore, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Some examples of operably couplable include, but are not limited to, physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components. Furthermore, it will be understood that a component preceding the term “of the” may be disposed at any practicable location (e.g., on, within, and/or externally disposed from the vehicle) such that the component may function in any manner described herein.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the invention as shown in the exemplary examples is illustrative only. Although only a few examples of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary examples without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present invention. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
