Vehicle seat, headrest and headrest control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11273745-B2
Application number	US-201916446963-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2019
Priority date	Jun 22, 2018
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

A vehicle seat attachable to a vehicle body, the vehicle seat including: a seat back; and a headrest configured to support a head of a seated occupant, the headrest including: a base portion fixed to the seat back; a slide portion slidable in a left-right direction in a state where the head is supported to the base portion; and an electric mechanism configured to slide the slide portion in the left-right direction, and in which the slide portion is configured to be moved by the electric mechanism in a moving direction in which the head moves in the left-right direction due to acceleration in the left-right direction applied when a vehicle moves, the electric mechanism being operated by a control device disposed in the vehicle body in response to a signal from a sensor disposed in the vehicle body, the sensor being configured to detect the moving direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle seat attachable to a vehicle body, the vehicle seat comprising:
a seat back configured to support an upper body of a seated occupant; and
a headrest configured to support a head of the seated occupant, the headrest including:
a base portion fixed to the seat back;
a slide portion slidable in a left-right direction of the seated occupant in a state where the head is supported to the base portion; and
an electric mechanism configured to slide the slide portion in the left-right direction, and

wherein the slide portion is configured to be moved by the electric mechanism in a moving direction in which the head moves in the left-right direction due to acceleration in the left-right direction applied when a vehicle moves, the electric mechanism being operated by a control device disposed in the vehicle body in response to a signal from a sensor disposed in the vehicle body, the sensor being configured to detect the moving direction.

2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor disposed in the headrest and configured to detect pressure at which the head abuts on a surface of the headrest, and
wherein the pressure sensor is configured to detect the moving direction by detecting a direction in which the pressure increases in the left-right direction.

3. The vehicle seat according to claim 2 ,
wherein the electric mechanism is configured to be operated by the control device so as to increase a slide amount of the slide portion as the pressure detected by the pressure sensor increases.

4. The vehicle seat according to claim 3 ,
wherein the electric mechanism is configured to be operated by the control device so as to slide the slide portion by a first slide amount in the left-right direction in a case where the pressure detected by the pressure sensor is equal to or larger than a first value and equal to or less than a second value, and slide the slide portion by a second slide amount larger than the first slide amount in the left-right direction in a case where the pressure detected by the pressure sensor is larger than the second value.

5. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sensor is a camera configured to detect a slide movement of the head in the left-right direction.

6. The vehicle seat according to claim 5 ,
wherein the electric mechanism is configured to be operated by the control device so as to increase a slide amount of the slide portion as a movement amount of the head detected by the camera increases.

7. The vehicle seat according to claim 6 ,
wherein the electric mechanism is configured to be operated by the control device so as to slide the slide portion by a first slide amount in the left-right direction in a case where the slide movement detected by the camera is equal to or larger than a first value and equal to or less than a second value, and slide the slide portion by a second slide amount larger than the first slide amount in the left-right direction in a case where the slide movement detected by the camera is larger than the second value.

8. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 ,
wherein a slide movement trajectory of the slide portion in the left-right direction projects forward as approaching end portions of the base portion in the left-right direction.

9. The vehicle seat according to claim 8 ,
wherein the slide movement trajectory projects downward as approaching the end portions of the base portion in the left-right direction.

10. A headrest attachable to a seat back which is configured to support an upper body of a seated occupant in a vehicle seat attachable to a vehicle body, and configured to support a head of the seated occupant, the headrest comprising:
a base portion fixed to the seat back;
a slide portion slidable in a left-right direction of the seated occupant in a state where the head is supported to the base portion; and
an electric mechanism configured to slide the slide portion in the left-right direction,
wherein the slide portion is configured to be moved by the electric mechanism in a moving direction in which the head moves in the left-right direction due to acceleration in the left-right direction applied when a vehicle moves, the electric mechanism being operated by a control device disposed in the vehicle body in response to a signal from a sensor disposed in the vehicle body, the sensor being configured to detect the moving direction.

11. A control system of a headrest attachable to a seat back which is configured to support an upper body of a seated occupant in a vehicle seat attachable to a vehicle body, wherein the headrest which is configured to support a head of the seated occupant includes:
a base portion fixed to the seat back;
a slide portion slidable in a left-right direction of the seated occupant in a state where the head is supported to the base portion; and
an electric mechanism configured to slide the slide portion in the left-right direction,
wherein the control system comprises:
a control device disposed in the vehicle body; and
a sensor disposed in the vehicle body and configured to detect a moving direction in which the head moves in the left-right direction due to acceleration in the left-right direction applied when a vehicle moves, and
wherein the control device is configured to operate the electric mechanism to move the slide portion in the moving direction in response to a signal from the sensor.

Assignees

• Toyota Boshoku Kk

Inventors

• Yano Komei
• Kawano Kenji
• Nagayasu Hidetaka
• Asano Makoto
• Kaneko Osamu
• Satou Hikaru

Classifications

• B60N2/868 Primary

  providing a lateral movement parallel to the occupant's shoulder line · CPC title

• B60N2/888 Primary

  with arrangements for protecting against abnormal g-forces, e.g. by displacement of the head-rest · CPC title

• B60N2/0268

  using sensors or detectors for adapting the seat or seat part, e.g. to the position of an occupant · CPC title