JP4604724B2 - Vehicle seat device and vehicle front and lower visibility securing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat device and a vehicle front-and-down visibility securing method that can secure a driver's front-and-bottom visibility in a scene where a vehicle passes by another road on a narrow road or a scene that is to be parked.

As a conventional vehicle seat, the front / rear position of the seat can be adjusted according to the physique of the driver, and by automatically adjusting the front / rear position of the steering wheel according to the front / rear position adjustment of the seat, There has been known one that can ensure a substantially constant angle with respect to the hood regardless of the physique position (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-38206 (page 4, FIG. 2)

  However, in such a conventional vehicle seat device, a small-sized driver who exceeds the allowable range of the front / rear and vertical adjustment functions of the seat simply slides the seat forward and lifts it to the top. Even if this is done, the viewpoint position is obstructed by the instrument panel or bonnet, making it difficult to visually recognize the vicinity of the front lower part of the vehicle.

  For this reason, when passing by other cars on a narrow road or when trying to park, a small driver needs to get out and visually check the front and lower side of the vehicle, and the weight is supported by the steering wheel at that time. As a result, driving operability is inferior and vehicle handling is deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle seat device and a vehicle front and lower view securing method that can raise an eyepoint without deteriorating driving operability in a driving scene that requires a front and lower view when the driver is small. Is to provide.

A vehicle seat device according to the present invention is a vehicle seat including a seat cushion installed on a vehicle body floor and a seat back connected to the seat cushion so as to be able to tilt forward and backward. A driving scene detecting means for detecting the driving scene, a physique detecting means for detecting the physique of the driver seated on the seat, and a specific physique of which the physique of the driver is smaller than the set physique and requires a front and lower view In the case of a running scene, a seat cushion forward tilting means for tilting the seat cushion forward to make the driver stand in a seating posture is provided , and the seat cushion forward tilting means synchronizes with the forward tilt of the seat cushion. The main feature is that it has a seat cushion shortening means that shortens the front end of the cushion.

The method for securing the front and lower visibility of the vehicle according to the present invention is the case where the physique of the driver seated on the seat is smaller than the set physique and the specific driving scene that requires the front and lower visibility. The cushion is tilted forward to make the driver stand in a sitting posture, and the front end of the seat cushion is shortened in synchronization with the forward tilt of the seat cushion .

  According to the vehicle seat device and the vehicle front lower view securing method of the present invention, in a specific traveling scene that requires a front lower view when the driver's physique is smaller than the set physique, the seat cushion is By tilting forward and making the driver stand in a sitting position, the eye point of the small driver can be raised, and the weight is supported by the seat cushion, which adversely affects the driving operation. It can prevent giving.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 9 show an embodiment of a vehicle seat device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view showing a seat configuration of the vehicle seat device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a drive system of the vehicle seat device. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a flowchart for executing a control procedure for securing a front / lower view by the vehicle seat device, and FIG. 4 (a) shows a seat state in a normal driving scene set by the driver in FIG. FIG. 5A is a side view showing a seat state set in a driving scene that requires a view, and FIG. 5A is a driver's posture state in a normal driving scene set by the driver in FIG. FIG. 6 is a control map showing the relationship between the slide position of the seat cushion and the driver's physique, and FIG. 7 is a driving scene. Tabular classification Control map, Figure 8 showing a diagram showing a flow chart for performing a control of the driving means, FIG. 9 is a time chart showing the behavior of the sheet each unit to be performed based on the determination signal of the travel scene.

  A vehicle seat device 100 according to the present embodiment is applied to a driver's seat 10 as a vehicle seat. The driver's seat 10 includes a seat cushion 11 and a seat back 12 as shown in FIG. 1, and the seat cushion 11 is a seat slider. A front lifter 15 is provided between the front end portions of the seat slider 13 and the seat cushion 11, and a rear lifter 16 is provided between the rear end portions. .

  The front lifter 15 is configured by pivotally connecting upper and lower links 15a and 15b that are rotatably connected to the seat cushion 11 and the seat slider 13, and the bending angle of the upper and lower links 15a and 15b is set to the front. The front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 is moved up and down by being changed by the portion lifter driving means 110.

  Further, the rear lifter 16 is configured by pivotally attaching the inclined link 16a to the seat cushion 11 and the seat slider 13, and the inclination angle of the inclined link 16a is changed by the rear lifter driving means 113. The rear end part 11b is moved up and down.

  Further, the front end portion 11 a of the seat cushion 11 is extended and contracted in the front-rear direction within a predetermined range L by the seat cushion front end driving means 116.

  Furthermore, the reclining device 17 can adjust the reclining angle (tilting angle) in the front-rear direction of the seat back 12, and the reclining device 17 is provided with a seat back driving means 107. The tilt angle can be automatically adjusted.

  The vehicle seat device 100 according to the present embodiment is a seat cushion particularly in a driving scene in which it is necessary to ensure the front and lower visibility when the driver is small enough to ensure the front and lower visibility. 11, driving scene detection means 117 for detecting a specific driving scene that requires a front and lower visual field as shown in FIG. 2, and a driver seated in the driver's seat 100 The physique detection calculation unit 103 as a physique detection means for detecting the physique of the vehicle and the seat cushion 11 in the case of a specific traveling scene in which the physique of the driver is smaller than the set physique and requires a front lower view And a seat drive determination unit 102 as a seat cushion forward tilting unit that tilts the driver to stand in a seating posture.

  In addition, the vehicle front-rear view securing method of the present embodiment is a case where the physique of the driver seated on the driver's seat 10 is smaller than the set physique and a specific traveling scene that requires the front-lower view. Further, the seat cushion 11 is tilted forward to make the driver stand in a sitting position.

  That is, the entire system configuration of the vehicle seat device 100 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration includes a seat drive calculation unit 101 and the seat drive determination unit 102 as shown in FIG. The physique information of the driver calculated by the physique detection calculation unit 103 and the travel scene information detected by the travel scene detection unit 117 are input to the seat drive determination unit 102 and the seat back drive control unit 105 Information is exchanged among the front lifter drive control unit 108, the rear lifter drive control unit 111, and the seat cushion front end drive control unit 114.

  The physique detection calculation unit 103 determines the physique of the driver from the slide position in which the driver's seat 10 is initially set based on information from the seat slide state detection means 104 that detects the front / rear slide position of the seat slider 13. It has become.

  Here, when a driver with a different physique sits on the driver's seat 10, the driver first adjusts the seat slider 13 and the lifters 15 and 16 according to his / her physique. The slide position is set to the forefront, and the physique detection calculation unit 103 determines from the slide position at this time that the driver is small.

  The seat back drive control unit 105 drives the seat back drive means 107 (see FIG. 1) for tilting the seat back 12 back and forth to change the tilt amount (reclining amount) of the seat back drive means 107. The amount of tilt is detected by the seat back state detecting means 106 and fed back to the seat back drive control unit 105.

  The front lifter drive control unit 108 drives the front lifter driving means 110 (see FIG. 1) for moving up and down the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 to move the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 up and down. Is detected by the front lifter state detection means 109 and fed back to the front lifter drive control unit 108.

  The rear lifter drive control unit 111 drives the rear lifter driving means 113 (see FIG. 1) that moves up and down the rear end portion 11b of the seat cushion 11 to move the rear end portion 11b of the seat cushion 11 up and down. Is detected by the rear lifter state detection means 112 and fed back to the rear lifter drive control unit 111.

  The seat cushion front end drive control unit 114 drives a seat cushion front end drive means 116 (see FIG. 1) that expands and contracts the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 to expand and contract the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 at this time. Is detected by the seat cushion front end state detection means 115 and fed back to the seat cushion front end drive control unit 114.

  The travel scene detection means 117 detects a scene that passes by another vehicle on a narrow road (narrow road) or a scene that is to be parked. The travel scene detection means 117 of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the map information using navigation obtained from the map information providing means 118, the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle speed detecting means 119, the gear position obtained from the gear range detecting means 120, and the proximity object detecting means 121 are obtained. The proximity object detection information is input and determined.

  Hereinafter, the control for executing the driver's visibility assistance by the vehicle seat device 100 will be described with reference to the seat movement conceptual diagram of FIG. 4 and the driver posture change conceptual diagram of FIG. .

  That is, in the flowchart, first, in step S20, the driver adjusts the seat slider 13, the front lifter 15 and the rear lifter 16 of the driver's seat 10 in consideration of the physique and sense of each person, and the optimum seat position is obtained. Set. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the driver's seat 10 has a front / rear slide position and front / rear lifters 15 and 16 positions according to the physique of the driver, and as shown in FIG. 5 (a). In addition, the driver D takes a driving posture according to the physique.

  Next, the physique of the driver D is detected in step S21. The physique of the driver D is detected from the front and rear positions of the seat slider 13 attached to the vehicle body floor 14 so that the seat cushion 11 can be moved back and forth. Is used by the physique detection calculation unit 113 to make a determination.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle is designed, the minimum physique (small), central physique, and maximum physique (large) of the height distribution are set. 13 is set at the front and rear ends.

  Accordingly, in the present embodiment, since the purpose is to assist the visual field in the front and lower direction, the forward tilt drive of the seat cushion 11 of the present invention is performed on the basis of the design central physique, and the visual assistance is performed in the case of the physique or less. Execute. However, since the physique and necessity of assisting visibility depend on the height of the design central physique, a threshold value for assisting visibility may be set according to the height.

  Then, after estimating the extension of the driver D from the position of the seat slider 13 in the step S21, it is determined in step S22 whether the driver's physique is smaller than a predetermined physique set in advance and visibility assistance is required.

  If it is determined that the physique needs assistance in the field of vision, the process proceeds to the next step S23, where the seat position set by the driver himself / herself is memorized while it is determined that the physique does not require assistance in the field of vision. Ends control.

  When the vehicle enters the traveling state, the information from the map information providing means 118, the vehicle speed detecting means 119, the gear range detecting means 120, and the proximity object detecting means 121 is taken into the traveling scene determining means 117 in step S24, and the information is shown in step S25. Using the map shown in Fig. 7 to determine whether the driving scene is in a narrow road (passing scene) or a specific driving scene in a state of parking (parking scene) The process proceeds to step S26, but if not, the process returns to step S24 to repeat the determination of the scene information.

  The seat drive determination unit 102 is configured to increase the forward drive speed of the series of seat cushions 11.

  Therefore, if it is determined by the scene information that the traveling scene is a passing scene or a parking scene, the driver D operates the seat lifter switch and the front / rear lifters 15 and 16 are driven in step S26. After confirming that there is not, the drive speed of the front / rear lifters 15 and 16 is set to a speed higher than the speed at the time of adjusting the lifter by the normal driver D in step S27.

  The driving speed of the front / rear lifters 15 and 16 can be increased by outputting a command such as increasing the drive current value output to the front lifter driving means 110 and the rear lifter driving means 113.

  By the way, in the passing scene and the parking scene, visibility assistance for the front and lower visibility of the driver D is performed. This visibility assistance is basically performed by the seat drive determination unit 102 by tilting the seat cushion 11 forward. The seat drive determination unit 102 keeps the absolute angle of the seat back 12 with respect to the vehicle body floor 14 substantially constant simultaneously with the forward tilt of the seat cushion 11. The seat back 12 is tilted backward by the seat back drive control unit 105 as the seat back backward tilting means.

  In addition, the seat drive determination unit 102 of the present embodiment tilts the seat cushion 11 forward by lowering the front lifter 15 that lifts and lowers the vehicle front portion of the seat cushion 11.

  Further, the seat drive determination unit 102 includes the seat cushion front end drive means 116 as a seat cushion shortening means for shortening the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 in synchronization with the forward tilt of the seat cushion 11.

  Accordingly, in step S28, the seat back 12 is tilted backward by a predetermined amount, in step S29, the front lifter 15 is driven downward, in step S30, the rear lifter 16 is driven upward, and in step S31, the front end of the seat cushion 11 is driven. 11a is shortened.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the driver seat 10 has the front portion of the seat cushion 11 relatively moved downward and the rear portion relatively moved upward, so that the seat cushion 11 is inclined forward as a whole. At the same time, by tilting the seat back 12 backward, the absolute angle of the seat back 12 with respect to the vehicle body floor 14 can be maintained substantially constant regardless of the forward tilt of the seat cushion 11.

  Therefore, when the seat cushion 11 is tilted forward as described above, the small driver D becomes in a state where the horizontal angle of the thigh is tilted forward from the backward tilt as shown in FIG. It will be a relaxed posture.

  Further, since the small driver D has a short leg, the driver D tends to interfere with the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 when in a standing posture, but even in this case, the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 is By shortening, the reaction force from the seat cushion 11 received on the thigh of the driver D can be reduced and the pressure due to weight shift can be prevented, so that a standing posture can be easily taken without impairing the posture comfort. Can do.

  The series of driving operations performed by the seat driving determining unit 102 is configured to return to the seat state before driving after a specific traveling scene that requires a front lower view is completed.

  Therefore, each information of the traveling scene is always determined even during the forward tilt control of the seat cushion 11 in the steps S28 to S31, and when it is determined in step S32 that the passing scene or the parking scene is finished. In step S33, each drive unit of the driver's seat 10 is returned to the seat position of the driver's seat 10 stored in step S23.

  In the control according to the flowchart, the seat back drive control unit 105, the front lifter drive control unit 108, the rear lifter drive control unit 111, and the seat cushion front end drive control unit 114 shown in FIG. The drive control is executed by outputting drive signals to 107, 110, 113, and 116 and inputting the signals of the respective state detection means 106, 109, 112, and 115. Control at this time The flow of this is shown in FIG.

  That is, in the control flowchart of the drive control unit, as shown in FIG. 8, the target value of the driven state is set by the drive control unit in step S40, and the drive signal is sent to the drive means, so that in step S41 Activating the drive means.

  In step S42, the state detection value detected by the state detection unit is constantly monitored, and the driving means is driven until the target value is reached. This flow is performed by all the drive control units 105, 108, 111 and 114 are common.

  9 shows the vertical position of the rear lifter 16, the vertical position of the front lifter 15, the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal angle of the seat cushion 11, the vertical angle of the seat back 12, the inclination angle of the seat back 12, and the seat. The time chart which shows the expansion-contraction position of the front-end part 11a of the cushion 11, respectively is shown.

  Therefore, as shown in the time chart, when a specific traveling scene is detected (point A), a drive signal is output from each of the drive control units 105, 108, 111, 114, but the actual drive means 107, 110 are output. , 113 and 116 are slightly delayed (time lag).

  Similarly, when the specific travel scene ends (point B), a driving signal is output after the end determination, and the seat position before driving is returned to cause a slight time lag. Therefore, as described above, the reason why the drive speed is increased as compared with the normal posture setting is to minimize the lime lag.

  Therefore, according to the vehicle seat device 100 and the vehicle front lower view securing method of the present embodiment, a specific traveling scene that requires a front lower view when the physique of the driver D is smaller than the set physique. Then, the eye cushion of the small driver D can be raised by tilting the seat cushion 11 forward to make the driver D stand in a sitting posture, and the weight is supported by the seat cushion 11. Since it is a state, it can prevent having a bad influence on driving operation.

  By the way, when the seat cushion 11 is tilted forward in this way, pedals (not shown) such as an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, or a clutch pedal are moved, and the relative position between the pedals and the seat cushion 11 changes. It is desirable to prevent this.

  Further, in this embodiment, in addition to the above-described effects, the specific traveling scene detection means 117 detects a scene that passes by another vehicle on a narrow road or a scene that is to be parked. Visual assistance can be executed in passing scenes and parking scenes that require the vehicle to safely perform passing driving and parking driving, and in other specific traveling scenes, driving can be performed in a normal sitting posture.

  Furthermore, since the specific traveling scene detection means makes the determination based on the map information using the navigation, the vehicle speed, the gear position, and the proximity object detection information, it accurately detects the passing scene and the parking scene on the narrow road. be able to.

  Furthermore, the physique detection calculation unit 103, which is a physique detection means, determines the physique of the driver D based on the front and back positions of the seat slider 13 that attaches the seat cushion 11 to the vehicle body floor 14 so as to be movable back and forth. Judgment can be made easily and accurately.

  In addition, the seat drive determination unit 102, which is the seat cushion forward tilt means, increases the drive speed of the forward tilt of the series of seat cushions 11, so that when changing the posture following a change in a specific traveling scene, By reducing the time lag, it is possible to quickly obtain an appropriate driving posture, and thus it is possible to perform safe vehicle handling.

  Further, the seat drive determination unit 102 includes a seat back drive control unit 105 that tilts the seat back 12 backward so that the absolute angle of the seat back 12 with respect to the vehicle body floor 14 is kept substantially constant simultaneously with the forward tilt of the seat cushion 11. As a result, when the seat cushion 11 is tilted forward, the back of the driver D is not pushed by the seat back 12 and the proper driving posture can be maintained, so that the vehicle can be handled safely. .

  Furthermore, the seat drive determination unit 102 tilts the seat cushion 11 forward by lowering the front lifter 15 that lifts and lowers the front part of the vehicle of the seat cushion 11. Since the weight of the driver D can be used in addition to the driving force, the forward tilting operation of the seat cushion 11 can be further accelerated.

  In addition, since the seat drive determination unit 102 shortens the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 by the seat cushion front end driving means 116 in synchronization with the forward tilt of the seat cushion 11, the seat cushion 11 tilts forward. When the driver D feels standing, the reaction force that the lower limb of the driver D receives from the front end portion 11a of the seat cushion 11 is reduced to prevent the compression due to weight shift and to stand without impairing the posture comfort. You can take a simple posture.

  Further, the series of driving by the seat drive determining unit 102 requires the front and lower view because the seat state before the drive is restored after a specific traveling scene that requires the front and lower view is completed. After the specific travel scene is completed, the driver D automatically returns to the driving position initially set, and safe normal travel becomes possible.

  By the way, although the vehicle seat device of the present invention has been described by taking the above embodiment as an example, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various other embodiments can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention. In addition, information other than map information, vehicle speed, gear position, and proximity object sensor can also be used for discrimination between a passing scene and a parking scene on a narrow road.

It is a side view showing the seat composition of the vehicular seat device in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the drive system of the vehicle seat apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flowchart which performs the control procedure of the front lower view ensuring by the vehicle seat apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a seat state in a normal driving scene set by a driver in (a) and a seat state set in a driving scene that requires a front and lower view in (b) in an embodiment of the present invention. is there. In one embodiment of the present invention, the driver's posture state in a normal driving scene set by the driver in (a) and the driver's posture set in a specific driving scene that requires a front and lower view in (b). It is a side view which shows a state, respectively. It is a control map which shows the relationship between the slide position of the seat cushion and driver | operator's physique in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a control map which shows the discrimination classification of the driving scene in one Embodiment of this invention in a table | surface form. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flowchart which performs control of each drive means in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart which shows the behavior of each part of a sheet performed based on the discrimination signal of the running scene in one embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Driver's seat (vehicle seat)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Seat cushion 11a Front end part of seat cushion 12 Seat back 13 Seat slider 14 Vehicle body floor 15 Front lifter 16 Rear lifter 100 Vehicle seat apparatus 102 Seat drive judgment part (seat cushion forward tilting means)
103 physique detection calculation unit (physique detection means)
107 Seat back driving means 110 Front lifter driving means 113 Rear lifter driving means 116 Seat cushion front end driving means 117 Traveling scene detection means

Claims (9)

In a vehicle seat comprising: a seat cushion installed on a vehicle body floor; and a seat back connected to the seat cushion so as to tilt forward and backward.
Driving scene detection means for detecting a specific driving scene that requires a front-lower view;
Physique detection means for detecting the physique of the driver seated on the seat;
Seat cushion forward tilting means that leans the seat cushion forward to make the driver stand in a sitting position in the case of a specific traveling scene in which the driver's physique is smaller than the set physique and requires a forward and downward view And ,
The seat cushion forward tilting means includes a seat cushion shortening means for shortening a front end portion of the seat cushion in synchronization with the forward tilt of the seat cushion .   The vehicle seat device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling scene detecting means detects a scene passing by another vehicle on a narrow road or a scene to be parked.   The vehicle seat device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the traveling scene detection means makes a determination based on map information using navigation, vehicle speed, gear position, and proximity object detection information.   The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the physique detection means determines the physique of the driver based on a front and back position of a seat slider that attaches the seat cushion to the vehicle floor so as to be movable back and forth. apparatus.   The vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the seat cushion forward tilting means increases a forward drive speed of the series of seat cushions.   The seat cushion forward tilting means includes seat back backward tilting means for tilting the seat back backward so as to keep the absolute angle of the seat back with respect to the vehicle body floor substantially constant simultaneously with the forward tilt of the seat cushion. The vehicle seat device according to any one of 1 to 5.   The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the seat cushion forward tilt means tilts the seat cushion forward by lowering a front lifter that lifts and lowers the vehicle front portion of the seat cushion. Sheet device. Series of drive of the seat cushion forward inclination means is any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that to return the seat state before driving after a certain running scene that requires forward and downward visibility is completed The vehicle seat device described in 1. When the physique of the driver seated on the seat is smaller than the set physique, and in a specific driving scene that requires forward and downward visibility, the seat cushion is tilted forward and the driver is standing in a standing position In addition, a front lower view securing method for a vehicle, wherein the front end portion of the seat cushion is shortened in synchronization with the forward tilt of the seat cushion .

Images