ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINT FOR A VEHICLE SEAT
First Claim
1. An active head restraint system comprising:
- an actuator adapted to be mounted to a vehicle seat for actuating a head restraint;
a sensor for detecting a position of an occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; and
a controller in communication with the actuator, the sensor, and a triggering element for detecting a current or impending impact event, the controller comprising computer executable instructions to;
receive the impact signal;
receive the position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint;
actuate the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head; and
control head restraint actuation in response to the impact signal and the position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint to optimize movement of the head restraint as the head restraint moves proximate to the occupant'"'"'s head.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An active head restraint system is disclosed with an actuator, a sensor, and a controller. The controller receives an impact signal from a triggering element, receives the position of an occupant'"'"'s head, actuates the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head, and controls actuation to optimize head restraint movement as the head restraint moves proximate to the occupant'"'"'s head. In another embodiment, the controller also manipulates head restraint velocity to optimize the velocity toward the occupant'"'"'s head. Also presented is a method for actuating an active head restraint system for a vehicle seat. The method includes sending an impact signal to a controller, receiving the position of an occupant'"'"'s head, transmitting the received position of the occupant'"'"'s head to a controller, actuating the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head, and controlling head restraint actuation to optimize head restraint movement as it moves proximate to the occupant'"'"'s head.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An active head restraint system comprising:
-
an actuator adapted to be mounted to a vehicle seat for actuating a head restraint; a sensor for detecting a position of an occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; and a controller in communication with the actuator, the sensor, and a triggering element for detecting a current or impending impact event, the controller comprising computer executable instructions to; receive the impact signal; receive the position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; actuate the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head; and control head restraint actuation in response to the impact signal and the position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint to optimize movement of the head restraint as the head restraint moves proximate to the occupant'"'"'s head. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. An active head restraint system comprising:
-
an actuator adapted to be mounted to a vehicle seat for actuating a head restraint; a sensor for detecting a position of an occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; and a controller in communication with the actuator, the sensor, and a triggering element for detecting a current or impending impact event, the controller comprising computer executable instructions to; receive the impact signal; receive the position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; actuate the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head; and manipulate a velocity of the head restraint during actuation in response to the position of the occupant'"'"'s head to optimize the velocity of the head restraint toward the occupant'"'"'s head. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method for actuating an active head restraint system for a vehicle seat, the method comprising:
-
sending an impact signal to a controller in response to a current or impending impact event; receiving a position of an occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint; transmitting the received position of the occupant'"'"'s head relative to the head restraint to a controller; actuating the head restraint to move towards the occupant'"'"'s head; and controlling head restraint actuation in response to the impact signal and the position of the occupant'"'"'s head to optimize movement of the head restraint as the head restraint moves proximate to the occupant'"'"'s head. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification