Pedal adjustment system and method

• US 20080047770A1
• Filed: 10/26/2007
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Vehicular Sciences LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Incorporated
• Inventors: Breed, David, DuVall, Wilbur, Morin, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,650,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/273
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/06 Disposition of pedal
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 1/405 infinitely adjustable

Abstract

System and method for adjusting at least one pedal for a driver in a vehicle in which a determining system determines one or more morphological characteristics of the driver, a motor is coupled to the pedal(s) and is at least automatically controllable without manual intervention to move the pedal(s) relative to a floor of the vehicle and thus adjust the position of the pedal(s) relative to the driver, and a control circuit is coupled to the determining system and the motor for automatically controlling the motor based on the determined morphological characteristic(s) of the driver. The pedal may be an accelerator pedal and/or a brake pedal of the vehicle.

Claims

1. An apparatus for adjusting at least one pedal for a driver in a vehicle, comprising

a determining system arranged to determine at least one morphological characteristic of the driver;

a motor coupled to the at least one pedal, said motor being at least automatically controllable without manual intervention to move the at least one pedal relative to a floor of the vehicle and thus adjust the position of the at least one pedal relative to the driver; and

a control circuit coupled to said determining system and said motor for automatically controlling said motor based on the determined at least one morphological characteristic of the driver.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one pedal is an accelerator pedal and/or a brake pedal of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a location determining system arranged to determine a location of the driver, said control circuit being further coupled to said location determining system for automatically controlling said motor based on the determined location of the driver.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said determining system comprises weight measuring means associated with the driver seat for measuring the weight applied onto the driver seat and generating an output representative of the measured weight applied onto the seat, further comprising:

at least one wave sensor for receiving waves from an area of the driver seat of the vehicle and generating an output representative of the waves received by said at least one wave sensor; and

a processor for

receiving the outputs from said at least one wave sensor and said weight measuring means;

evaluating the seated-state of the seat based thereon to determine whether the seat is occupied by an object and when the seat is occupied by an object, to identify or ascertain the identify of the object in the seat based on the outputs from said wave-receiving sensor and said weight measuring means; and

based at least on the identification or identity of the object in the seat, directing said motor to adjust the at least one pedal.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a transmitter arranged to transmit waves into the passenger compartment toward the seat.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said processor comprises a microcomputer into which a function correlating the outputs from said at least one wave sensor and said weight measuring means and the seated-state of the seat is incorporated.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said processor comprises a neural network which generates a function correlating the outputs from said at least one wave sensor and said weight measuring means and the seated-state of the seat and executes the function using the outputs from said at least one wave sensor and said weight measuring means as input to determine the seated-state of the seat.

8. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a seat track position detecting sensor for determining the position of a seat track of the seat and generating an output representative of the position of the seat track of the seat, said processor being arranged to receive the outputs from said at least one wave sensor, said weight measuring means and said seat track position sensor and evaluate the seated-state of the seat based thereon.

9. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a reclining angle detecting sensor for determining the reclining angle of the seat back and generating an output representative of the reclined angle of the seat back, said processor being arranged to receive the outputs from said at least one wave sensor, said weight measuring means and said reclining angle detecting sensor and evaluate the seated-state of the seat based thereon.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said determining system comprises:

first measurement means for measuring a first morphological characteristic of the driver and generating a first signal based on said first measured morphological characteristic; and

second measurement means for measuring a second morphological characteristic of the driver different than said first morphological characteristic and generating a second signal based on said second measured morphological characteristic, the apparatus further comprising

a processor for determining an optimum position of the at least one pedal based on said first and second measured morphological characteristics, said processor providing a control signal to said motor to adjust the at least one pedal to the optimum position.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first and second morphological characteristics are each selected from a group consisting of the weight of the occupant, the height of the occupant from a bottom of the seat, the length of the occupant'"'"'s arms, the length of the occupant'"'"'s legs and the inclination of the occupant'"'"'s back relative to the seat.

12. A method for adjusting at least one pedal for a driver in a vehicle, comprising:

coupling a motor to the at least one pedal which moves the at least one pedal forward and rearward relative to the driver;

determining at least one morphological characteristic of the driver which can be related to the driver'"'"'s ability to reach the at least one pedal; and

automatically controlling the motor to move the at least one pedal relative to a floor of the vehicle and thus adjust the position of the at least one pedal relative to the driver,

the step of automatically controlling the motor comprising automatically controlling the motor based on the determined at least one morphological characteristic of the driver and without manual intervention.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one pedal is an accelerator pedal and/or a brake pedal of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising detecting a change in the occupant of the seat and determining the at least one morphological characteristic only when a change in the occupancy of the seat is detected.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining a location of the driver on the seat, the step of automatically controlling the motor further comprising automatically controlling the motor based on the determined location of the driver.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of determining at least one morphological characteristic of the driver comprises measuring the weight applied onto the driver seat and generating an output representative of the measured weight applied onto the seat, further comprising:

receiving waves from an area of the driver seat of the vehicle and generating an output representative of the received waves; and

evaluating the seated-state of the scat based on the outputs representative of the received waves and the measured weight applied onto the seat, said step of evaluating the seated-state of the seat comprising determining whether the seat is occupied by an object based on the outputs representative of the received waves and measured weight applied onto the seat, and when the seat is occupied by an object, identifying or ascertaining the identity of the object in the seat based on the outputs representative of the received waves and measured weight applied onto the seat,

the motor being controlled automatically based on the identification or identity of the object.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining the position of a seat track of the seat and generating an output representative of the position of the seat track of the seat; and

evaluating the seated-state of the seat based on the outputs representative of the received waves, the measured weight and the determined position of the seat track.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining the reclining angle of the seat and generating an output representative of the reclined angle of the seat; and

evaluating the seated-state of the seat based on the outputs representative of the received waves, the measured weight and the determined reclining angle of the seat.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising selecting the at least one morphological characteristics from a group consisting of the weight of the occupant, the height of the occupant from a bottom of the seat, the length of the occupant'"'"'s arms, the length of the occupant'"'"'s legs and the inclination of the occupant'"'"'s back relative to the seat.

20. An apparatus for adjusting at least one pedal for a driver occupying a driver seat in a vehicle, comprising:

a measuring system arranged above the driver seat to measure the height of the driver from the driver seat in the vehicle;

a motor coupled to the at least one pedal and arranged to move the at least one pedal forward and rearward relative to the driver seat; and

a processor coupled to said measuring system and arranged to receive the measured height of the driver, determining a position of the at least one pedal based on the measured height of the driver and automatically control said motor without manual intervention to move the at least one pedal to the determined position of the at least one pedal when the determined position is different than the actual position.