Seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11272789-B2
Application number	US-202017005253-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 27, 2020
Priority date	Jul 5, 2018
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

A seat includes a backrest, and a fan that is installed on the backrest at a position corresponding to a height of a head of a sitter sitting on the seat and generates an airflow flowing from a front toward a rear of the backrest. The seat may further include a sitter detector that detects the height of the head of the sitter, a lifting-and-lowering motor that adjusts a height of the fan, and a lifting-and-lowering controller that controls the lifting-and-lowering motor. The lifting-and-lowering controller may control the lifting-and-lowering motor to adjust the height of the fan to the height of the head of the sitter detected by the sitter detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat comprising:
a backrest; and
a fan that is installed on the backrest at a position corresponding to a height of a head of a sitter sitting on the seat and generates an airflow flowing from a front toward a rear of the backrest, wherein
the backrest has a front surface, a rear surface opposite the front surface, a left side face between the front surface and the rear surface, and a right side face between the front surface and the rear surface, and
the fan is installed on either the left side face of the backrest or the right side face of the backrest.

2. The seat according to claim 1 ,
wherein the fan is a first fan,
the seat further includes a second fan, the second fan being installed on the other of the left side face of the backrest or the right side face of the backrest, and
the first and second fans are installed at the same height and spaced apart in a right and left direction of the backrest.

3. A seat comprising:
a backrest;
a fan that is installed on the backrest at a position corresponding to a height of a head of a sitter sitting on the seat and generates an airflow flowing from a front toward a rear of the backrest;
a sitter detector that detects the height of the head of the sitter;
a lifting-and-lowering motor that adjusts a height of the fan; and
a lifting-and-lowering controller that controls the lifting-and-lowering motor,
wherein the lifting-and-lowering controller controls the lifting-and-lowering motor to adjust the height of the fan to the height of the head of the sitter detected by the sitter detector.

4. The seat according to claim 3 , wherein the sitter detector includes sensors that detect presence of an object within a predetermined distance in a horizontal direction; and
the sensors are arranged in an up-and-down direction to detect a front side of the backrest of the seat, and a height of an uppermost one of sensors detecting the object is detected as the height of the head of the sitter.

5. A seat comprising:
a backrest;
a fan that is installed on the backrest at a position corresponding to a height of a head of a sitter sitting on the seat and generates an airflow flowing from a front toward a rear of the backrest;
a rearward detector that detects a position of a head of an object person located behind the seat;
an angle motor that serves to adjust an angle of the airflow generated by the fan; and
an angle controller that controls the angle motor,
wherein the angle controller controls the angle motor such that the fan generates the airflow that is not directed to the position of the head of the object person detected by the rearward detector.

6. The seat according to claim 5 , wherein the angle motor adjusts an angle in an up-and-down direction; and
the angle controller controls an angle of the airflow in the up-and-down direction on the basis of the height of the head of the object person detected by the rearward detector.

7. A seat comprising:
a backrest;
a fan that is installed on the backrest at a position corresponding to a height of a head of a sitter sitting on the seat and generates an airflow flowing from a front toward a rear of the backrest;
an acquiring unit that acquires an attribute of the sitter from a sitter identification tag, the sitter identification tag being carried by the sitter and used to identify the attribute of the sitter;
an identifying unit that identifies the attribute of the sitter acquired by the acquiring unit; and
an output controller that causes the fan to generate the airflow if the identifying unit determines that the attribute of the sitter is a predetermined attribute.

8. The seat according to claim 7 , wherein the acquiring unit further acquires an attribute of a nearby person approaching the seat from a nearby person identification tag, the nearby person identification tag being carried by the nearby person and used to identify the attribute of the nearby person;
the identifying unit further identifies the attribute of the nearby person; and
the output controller causes the fan to generate the airflow if the identifying unit determines that the identified attribute of the sitter and the identified attribute of the nearby person are a predetermined combination of identified attributes.

9. The seat according to claim 8 , wherein as the attribute of the sitter, sitter information indicating whether the sitter is infected with an airborne disease is recorded in the sitter identification tag;
as the attribute of the nearby person, nearby person information indicating whether the nearby person is a pharmacist is recorded in the nearby person identification tag; and
the output controller causes the fan to generate the airflow if the identifying unit determines from the sitter identification tag that the sitter is infected with an airborne disease and determines from the nearby person information that the nearby person is a pharmacist.

10. A seat comprising:
a backrest that has a first surface, a second surface opposite the first surface, and a side face between the first surface and the second surface;
a support that is connected to the first surface; and
a fan that is disposed on the side face and generates an airflow flowing from a first region in contact with the first surface to a second region in contact with the second surface,
wherein the fan has a cylinder that allows the airflow to pass therethrough; and
a first distance between the support and a point of intersection between a central axis of the cylinder and a plane containing the first surface is greater than a second distance between the support and a lower end of a face of a person sitting on the support, and smaller than a third distance between the support and a top of a head of the person.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Tanaka Shinji

Classifications

• A47C7/40

  for the back · CPC title

• A47C31/007 Primary

  Anti-mite, anti-allergen or anti-bacterial means · CPC title

• A61G15/10

  Parts, details or accessories (A61G15/14 takes precedence; dental instruments A61C) · CPC title

• A47C7/744 Primary

  with active means, e.g. by using air blowers or liquid pumps · CPC title