Vehicle seat assembly with front seat pan height adjustment mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11072265-B2
Application number	US-201916574915-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2019
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle seat assembly and a method of controlling a vehicle seat assembly are provided. The vehicle seat assembly has a frame, and a seat pan extending from a forward region to a rearward region, with the rearward region of the seat pan rotatably connected to the frame. A torque tube is supported for rotation by the frame and extends transversely across the seat pan. At least one cam is supported by the torque tube for rotation therewith, and the at least one cam extends outwardly from the torque tube to an associated cam surface. The cam surface supports the forward region of the seat pan and is shaped such that the forward region of the seat pan is raised relative to the rearward region in response to rotation of the torque tube.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a frame;
a seat pan comprising a forward region and a rearward region, the rearward region of the seat pan rotatably connected to the frame about a fixed axis of rotation in a rearward half of the frame;
a shaft supported by the frame for rotation and extending transversely to a fore and aft direction across the seat pan;
at least one cam supported by the shaft for rotation therewith, the at least one cam extending outwardly from the shaft to an associated cam surface, the cam surface supporting the forward region of the seat pan and shaped such that the forward region of the seat pan is raised relative to the rearward region in response to rotation of the shaft; and
at least one elongate rail connected to an underside of the seat pan and extending longitudinally therealong in the fore and aft direction, the cam surface of the at least one cam in contact with the at least one elongate rail.

2. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the cam surface is formed as an involute of a base circle.

3. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the cam surface is formed as an Archimedean spiral or a logarithmic spiral.

4. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 wherein one of the cam and the rail define a recess extending transversely therefrom, the other of the cam and the rail define a protrusion extending therefrom, the protrusion sized to be received within the recess to constrain movement of the seat pan along a vertical axis.

5. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
a gearset connected to the shaft to rotate the shaft and cam; and
an electric motor connected to the gearset to rotate in a first direction to raise the forward region of the seat pan relative to the rearward region, and to rotate in a second direction to lower the forward region of the seat pan relative to the rearward region.

6. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 5 further comprising:
a user interface to receive a user input requesting a height adjustment of the forward region of the seat pan; and
a controller in communication with the user interface and the electric motor to control the electric motor in response to the user input.

7. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 5 further comprising:
a controller in communication with the electric motor to control the electric motor to raise the forward region of the seat pan in response to receiving a signal from an active vehicle system with a sensor.

8. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 7 wherein the raised forward region of the seat pan provides a load path from an occupant to the seat in a longitudinal direction, and wherein the seat pan provides another load path from the occupant to the seat in a vertical direction.

9. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the cam surface is positioned aft of a forward edge of the seat pan by more than twenty five percent and less than fifty percent of a distance from the forward edge to a rearward edge of the seat pan.

10. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 1 further comprising another shaft supported by the frame for rotation and extending transversely across the seat pan, the shaft and the another shaft rotating about an axis of rotation; and
at least another cam supported by the another shaft for rotation therewith, the at least another cam extending outwardly from the another shaft to an associated another cam surface, the another cam surface supporting the forward region of the seat pan and shaped such that the forward region of the seat pan is raised relative to the rearward region in response to rotation of the another shaft.

11. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a frame;
a seat pan comprising a forward region and a rearward region, the rearward region of the seat pan rotatably connected to the frame about a fixed first transverse axis of rotation that is transverse to a fore and aft direction, first and second elongate rails connected to a lower surface of the forward region, the first and second elongate rails including first and second follower surfaces, and the first and second elongate rails extending longitudinally in the fore and aft direction;
a torque tube supported by the frame for rotation about a second transverse axis of rotation that is transverse to the fore and aft direction, the torque tube extending transversely across the seat pan;
first and second cams connected to the torque tube for rotation therewith and spaced apart from one another along the second transverse axis of rotation, the first and second cams extending outwardly to first and second cam surfaces, respectively, wherein the first and second cam surfaces support the forward region of the seat pan and are in contact with the first and second follower surfaces, respectively; and
an electric motor connected to the torque tube via a gearset to rotate the torque tube between a first angular position and a second angular position, the first and second cam surfaces moving the first and second follower surfaces in a direction substantially perpendicular to the second axis of rotation, wherein the first and second cam surfaces are shaped to continuously raise the forward region of the seat pan as the torque tube moves from the first position to the second position.

12. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 further comprising a controller to control the electric motor to rotate the torque tube and raise or lower the seat pan in response to receiving a signal indicative of a user request for a seat pan height adjustment.

13. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 further comprising a controller to control the electric motor to rotate the torque tube and raise the seat pan in response to receiving a signal indicative of an event from an active vehicle system.

14. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 wherein each of the first and second cam surfaces are formed as an involute of a base circle.

15. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 wherein an angle between the seat pan and a horizontal plane is raised by at least ten degrees by the torque tube being rotated from the first angular position to the second angular position.

16. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 wherein one of the first cam and the first follower surface defines a recess, and the other of the first cam and the first follower surface defines a protrusion, wherein the protrusion is sized to be received within the recess to constrain movement of the seat pan along a vertical axis as the first cam rotates.

17. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 11 further comprising further comprising a controller in communication with the electric motor to (i) control the electric motor and rotate the torque tube to raise the forward region of the seat pan in response to a first signal indicative of an event from an active vehicle system, and (ii) control the electric motor and rotate the torque tube to raise or lower the forward region of the seat pan in response to receiving a second signal indicative of a user request for a seat pan height adjustment.

18. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the controller is further configured to control the electric motor to operate at a first speed in response to receiving the first signal, and control the electric motor to operate at a second speed in response to receiving the second signal, wherein the first speed is greater than the second speed.

Assignees

• Lear Corp

Inventors

• Humer Mladen
• Keyser Mark R

Classifications

• B60N2/1842 Primary

  pivoting about an axis located in the rear · CPC title

• B60N2/1864

  Gear wheel driven mechanism · CPC title

• B60N2/1857

  Eccentric mechanism · CPC title

• B60N2/4279

  electric or electronic triggering · CPC title

• B60N2/42763 Primary

  with anti-submarining systems · CPC title