Seat control system of air vehicle for urban air mobility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11891180-B2
Application number	US-202117494592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2021
Priority date	Apr 13, 2021
Publication date	Feb 6, 2024
Grant date	Feb 6, 2024

Abstract

A seat control system of an air vehicle for urban air mobility (UAM)UAM is provided. When the air vehicle turns strongly to one side during rotor failure of the air vehicle for UAM, side pads and air cells prevent the head and the body of a passenger seated on a seat in the air vehicle from being sharply tilted to the one side. Additionally, air bags of the side pads prevent and cushion impact energy applied to the head of the passenger at the moment when the air vehicle lands on the ground.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat control system of an air vehicle for urban air mobility (UAM), the air vehicle comprising multiple rotors, the seat control system comprising:
a seat mounted in the air vehicle for UAM;
a plurality of air cells embedded in the seat and formed to be expandable;
a first side pad connected to a left portion of a headrest of the seat, wherein the first side pad is configured to perform rectilinear reciprocating motion in left and right directions;
a second side pad connected to a right portion of the headrest, wherein the second side pad is configured to perform rectilinear reciprocating motion in left and right directions;
a first airbag embedded in the first side pad and formed to be unfoldable;
a second airbag embedded in the second side pad and formed to be unfoldable; and
a controller configured to perform expansion control for the plurality of air cells, moving control for the first side pad or the second side pad, and unfolding control for the first airbag or the second airbag.

2. The seat control system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of air cells includes:
a first air cell and a second air cell respectively embedded in left and right bolster portions of a seatback; and
a third air cell and a fourth air cell respectively embedded in left and right bolster portions of a seat cushion.

3. The seat control system of claim 2 , wherein an air pump is connected to the plurality of air cells, the air pump being configured to be operated by a command signal of the controller.

4. The seat control system of claim 1 , wherein a first actuator is embedded in a first side portion of the headrest and connected to the first side pad, the first actuator being configured to pull the first side pad toward a head portion of a passenger during rotor failure.

5. The seat control system of claim 1 , wherein a second actuator is embedded in a second side portion of the headrest and connected to the second side pad, the second actuator being configured to pull the second side pad toward a head portion of a passenger during rotor failure.

6. The seat control system of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes:
a rotor failure determination part configured to determine whether at least one of the multiple rotors is in a failure condition based on present flight information of the air vehicle;
a side pad position control part configured to determine a direction of turn of the air vehicle during rotor failure and to operate the first side pad or the second side pad to move toward a head portion of a passenger;
an air cell volume control part configured to output a command signal for expansion of each air cell to an air pump during rotor failure; and
an airbag unfolding control part configured to execute unfolding of the first airbag or the second airbag during an air vehicle emergency landing due to rotor failure.

7. The seat control system of claim 6 , wherein the rotor failure determination part is configured to determine that some rotors of the multiple rotors are in the failure condition, in response to determining that a steering angle for flight of the air vehicle is less than a reference steering angle, velocity of the some rotors of the multiple rotors is less than a reference value, and yaw rate of the air vehicle is greater than a reference.

8. The seat control system of claim 7 , wherein the side pad position control part is configured to adjust a drive amount of a first actuator for pulling the first side pad positioned at right of a head portion of the passenger to cause the first side pad to move in a left direction toward a right side of the head portion of the passenger, in response to the side pad position control part determining that the air vehicle turns to the left due to failure of any one of the multiple rotors.

9. The seat control system of claim 8 , wherein the side pad position control part is configured to determine a leftward moving distance (D R ) of the first side pad by a value obtained by multiplying a value (Avz/Avz max ) obtained by dividing present yaw rate by maximum yaw rate, gain (K Avz ), and a maximum moving distance (D max ).

10. The seat control system of claim 7 , wherein the side pad position control part is configured to adjust a drive amount of a second actuator for pulling the second side pad positioned at left of a head portion of the passenger to cause the second side pad to move in the right direction toward a left side of the head of the passenger, in response to the side pad position control part determining that the air vehicle turns to the right due to failure of any one rotor of the multiple rotors.

11. The seat control system of claim 10 , wherein the side pad position control part is configured to determine a rightward moving distance (D L ) of the second side pad by a value obtained by multiplying a value (Avz/Avz max ) obtained by dividing present yaw rate by maximum yaw rate, gain (K Avz ), and a maximum moving distance (D max ).

12. The seat control system of claim 7 , wherein the air cell volume control part is configured to receive a rotor failure signal from the rotor failure determination part to determine expansion pressure of first to fourth air cells in proportion to yaw rate, and to output a driving signal for expanding the first to fourth air cells to the air pump.

13. The seat control system of claim 12 , wherein the air cell volume control part is configured to determine the expansion pressure (P n ) of the first to fourth air cells by a value obtained by multiplying a value (Avz/Avz max ) obtained by dividing present yaw rate by maximum yaw rate, gain for tuning (K Pn ), and maximum air cell expansion pressure (P max ).

14. The seat control system of claim 7 , wherein the airbag unfolding control part is configured to receive a rotor failure signal from the rotor failure determination part to determine the moment of an air vehicle emergency landing, and operate the first airbag or the second airbag to be unfolded toward the head portion of the passenger.

15. The seat control system of claim 14 , wherein the airbag unfolding control part is configured to determine that a present point is the moment when the air vehicle performs an emergency landing, in response to determining that present yaw rate (Avz) is greater than preset reference yaw rate (Avz spin ), present rotary angular acceleration (Tz) is greater than preset reference rotary angular acceleration (Tz Threshold ), present angular acceleration jerk (ΔTz) is greater than preset reference angular acceleration jerk (ΔTz Threshold ), present lateral acceleration (Ay) is greater than preset reference lateral acceleration (Ay Threshold ), and present lateral acceleration jerk (ΔAy) is greater than preset lateral acceleration jerk (ΔAy Threshold ).

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Heo Jin Hyuck

Classifications

• B64C29/0025

  the propellers being fixed relative to the fuselage · CPC title

• B64D11/0647

  Seats characterised by special upholstery or cushioning features · CPC title

• B64D11/0646

  Seats characterised by special features of stationary arms, foot or head rests · CPC title

• B64D11/0619 Primary

  with energy absorbing means specially adapted for mitigating impact loads for passenger seats, e.g. at a crash · CPC title

• B64C27/08

  with two or more rotors · CPC title