Vehicle seat with restraint system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12024112-B1
Application number	US-202318326211-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 31, 2023
Priority date	May 31, 2023
Publication date	Jul 2, 2024
Grant date	Jul 2, 2024

Abstract

An assembly includes a seat bottom, a rear bladder, a front bladder, and a check valve. The seat bottom includes a rear seat cushion and a front seat cushion in a seat-forward direction from the rear seat cushion. At least one of the rear seat cushion or the front seat cushion is vertically movable relative to the other one of the rear seat cushion or the front seat cushion. The rear bladder supports the rear seat cushion. The front bladder supports the front seat cushion. The check valve fluidly connects the front bladder and the rear bladder. The check valve is oriented to permit fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the front bladder and block fluid from passing from the front bladder to the rear bladder.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly comprising:
a seat bottom, the seat bottom including a rear seat cushion and a front seat cushion in a seat-forward direction from the rear seat cushion, at least one of the rear seat cushion or the front seat cushion being vertically movable relative to the other one of the rear seat cushion or the front seat cushion;
a rear bladder supporting the rear seat cushion;
a front bladder supporting the front seat cushion; and
a check valve fluidly connecting the front bladder and the rear bladder, the check valve oriented to permit fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the front bladder and block fluid from passing from the front bladder to the rear bladder.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the check valve is switchable between a closed state blocking fluid from passing from the rear bladder to the front bladder and an open state permitting fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the front bladder.

3. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the check valve is pyrotechnically activatable to switch from the closed state to the open state.

4. The assembly of claim 2 , further comprising a computer communicatively coupled to the check valve, the computer being programmed to, in response to data indicating detection of an impact of a certain type to a vehicle, instruct the check valve to switch from the closed state to the open state.

5. The assembly of claim 4 , wherein the certain type includes certain impending impacts to the vehicle.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the front seat cushion is a left front seat cushion, the front bladder is a left front bladder, the seat bottom including a right front seat cushion in the seat-forward direction from the rear seat cushion and in a seat-right direction from the left front seat cushion, the assembly further comprising a right front bladder supporting the right front seat cushion.

7. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the check valve is a left check valve, the assembly further comprising a right check valve fluidly connecting the right front bladder and the rear bladder, the right check valve oriented to permit fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the right front bladder and block fluid from passing from the right front bladder to the rear bladder.

8. The assembly of claim 7 , further comprising a computer communicatively coupled to the left check valve and right check valve, the left check valve is switchable between a closed state blocking fluid from passing from the rear bladder to the left front bladder and an open state permitting fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the left front bladder, the right check valve is switchable between a closed state blocking fluid from passing from the rear bladder to the right front bladder and an open state permitting fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the right front bladder, and the computer is programmed to instruct the left check valve to switch from the closed state to the open state independently of the right check valve and to instruct the right check valve to switch from the closed state to the open state independently of the left check valve.

9. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the right front bladder is fluidly isolated from the left front bladder.

10. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the rear bladder, the left front bladder, and the right front bladder form a fluidly closed system.

11. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the rear seat cushion is vertically movable with a change in volume of the rear bladder.

12. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the front seat cushion is vertically movable with a change in volume of the front bladder.

13. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the rear seat cushion and the front seat cushion are vertically movable independently of each other.

14. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a track engaging the rear seat cushion and the front seat cushion together, wherein the rear seat cushion and the front seat cushion are slidable relative to each other along the track.

15. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a seat back coupled to the seat bottom in a seat-rearward direction from the rear seat cushion.

16. The assembly of claim 15 , further comprising an airbag supported by the seat back and inflatable to an inflated position above the seat bottom.

17. The assembly of claim 16 , wherein the seat back has a top half, and the airbag extends from the top half in the inflated position.

18. The assembly of claim 17 , wherein the seat back has a bottom half at the seat bottom and a midpoint dividing the top half and the bottom half, and the airbag extends below the midpoint in the inflated position.

19. The assembly of claim 16 , wherein the check valve is switchable between a closed state blocking fluid from passing from the rear bladder to the front bladder and an open state permitting fluid to pass from the rear bladder to the front bladder, and the airbag is configured to inflate together with the check valve switching from the closed state to the open state.

20. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seat bottom includes a bottom panel supporting the rear bladder and the front bladder.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Kadam Mangesh
• Malapati Srinivas Reddy
• Zhao Yuqin

Classifications

• B60N2/42763

  with anti-submarining systems · CPC title

• B60N2/914

  Hydro-pneumatic adjustments of the shape · CPC title

• B60N2/4221

  due to impact coming from the front · CPC title

• B60N2/4279

  electric or electronic triggering · CPC title

• B60R21/23138

  specially adapted for side protection (B60R21/23184, B60R21/232 take precedence) · CPC title