Active Suspension Seat and Vehicle Operation Interlocks

• US 20130275006A1
• Filed: 04/17/2012
• Published: 10/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ClearMotion Acquisition I LLC
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Ystueta, Linda
• Granted Patent: US 8,744,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0244 with logic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0252 with relations between different adjustments, e.g. height of headrest following longitudinal position of seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0264 characterised by the type of electrical connection, e.g. wiring, plugs or USB
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/14 rotatable, e.g. to permit easy access B60N2/10 , B60N2/2869 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/146 characterised by the locking device
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/501 actively controlled suspension, e.g. electronic control
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/502 attached to the base of the seat B60N2/504 takes precedence

Abstract

An active suspension seat for use in a vehicle incorporates a swivel enabling the active suspension seat to be rotated about a vertical axis towards and away from a position appropriate for use in driving the vehicle, and incorporates a seat controller operating a brake to prevent such rotation away from that appropriate position in response to an indication that the vehicle is in motion, and limiting the active suspension to being enabled only when the seat is in the appropriate position for use in driving.

Claims

1. A seat comprising:

a swivel enabling the seat to be rotated towards and away from an appropriate position for the seat to be used by a person when driving a vehicle;

a brake; and

a seat controller coupled to the brake to cause the brake to prevent the seat from being rotated away from the appropriate position in response to receiving an indication that the vehicle is in motion.

2. The seat of claim 1, wherein the seat is an active suspension seat that further comprises at least one actuator coupled to the seat controller and operated by the seat controller to actively suspend the seat to isolate the seat from a jolt along at least one axis.

3. The seat of claim 2, wherein:

the axis is a vertical axis;

the swivel enables the seat to be rotated about the vertical axis; and

the swivel is interposed between a floor of the vehicle and the at least one actuator.

4. The seat of claim 3, wherein the seat controller ceases to operate the at least one actuator to actively suspend the seat in response to the seat being rotated away from the appropriate position.

5. The seat of claim 1, wherein the swivel comprises a slip ring to convey electric power from the vehicle to another portion of the seat.

6. The seat of claim 5, wherein the slip ring further conveys a wired network of the vehicle to the seat controller.

7. The seat of claim 4, wherein the other portion is one of a set consisting of the brake and an actuator to actively suspend the seat.

8. The seat of claim 1, wherein the swivel comprises a tube-in-tube slip fitting to convey pressurized gas from the vehicle to another portion of the seat.

9. The seat of claim 1, wherein:

the seat further comprises an accelerometer carried by a portion of the seat fixed to structure of the vehicle;

the seat controller comprises a processing device and a storage storing a sequence of instructions executed by the processing device;

wherein the processing device is caused by the sequence of instructions to monitor the accelerometer to detect an acceleration consistent with the vehicle being in motion; and

wherein the indication that the vehicle is in motion is the acceleration consistent with the vehicle being in motion.

10. The seat of claim 1, wherein:

the seat controller comprises a network interface, a processing device, and a storage storing a sequence of instructions executed by the processing device;

wherein the processing device is caused by the sequence of instructions to operate the network interface to monitor a network of the vehicle for data from a component of the vehicle indicative of the vehicle being in motion; and

wherein the indication of the vehicle being in motion is the data from a component of the vehicle indicative of the vehicle being in motion.

11. A method comprising:

awaiting an indication that a vehicle is in motion; and

in response to receiving the indication, operating a brake of an active suspension seat to prevent the seat from rotating on a swivel of the seat away from an appropriate position for use of the seat while driving the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein awaiting the indication comprises monitoring an accelerometer carried by a portion of the seat fixed to structure of the vehicle to detect an acceleration consistent with the vehicle being in motion.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein awaiting the indication comprises operating a network interface of a seat controller of the active suspension seat to monitor a network of the vehicle for data from a component of the vehicle indicative of the vehicle being in motion.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring a sensor to detect whether the seat is currently in the appropriate position for use in driving; and

in response to receiving the indication and detecting that the seat is not currently in the appropriate position for use in driving, disabling provision of active suspension by the seat by ceasing to operate at least one actuator employed in providing active suspension.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring a sensor to detect whether the seat is currently in the appropriate position for use in driving; and

in response to receiving the indication and detecting that the seat is not currently in the appropriate position for use in driving, operating a component of a user interface to provide one of a set of alerts consisting of an audible alert that the seat is not in the appropriate position and a visual alert that the seat is not in the appropriate position.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring a sensor to detect whether the seat is currently in the appropriate position for use in driving; and

in response to receiving the indication and detecting that the seat is not currently in the appropriate position for use in driving, operating a network interface to signal a component of the vehicle to provide one of a set of alerts consisting of an audible alert that the seat is not in the appropriate position and a visual alert that the seat is not in the appropriate position.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring a sensor to detect whether the seat is currently in the appropriate position for use in driving;

operating a network interface to monitor a network of the vehicle for data from a component of the vehicle indicative of a manually-operable control of the vehicle being operated to cause the vehicle to be in motion; and

in response to receiving data indicative of a manually-operable control of the vehicle being operated to cause the vehicle to be in motion and detecting that the seat is not currently in the appropriate position for use in driving, operating the network interface to signal a component of the vehicle to act to prevent the vehicle from being caused to be in motion.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising signaling a television carried within the vehicle to refrain from displaying entertainment channels in response to receiving the indication.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising signaling the television to display an image provided by a camera disposed on the vehicle and providing a view to the rear of the vehicle. in response to receiving the indication.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a swivel enabling the apparatus to be rotated towards and away from an appropriate position for the apparatus to be positioned during travel of a vehicle;

at least one actuator; and

a controller coupled to the at least one actuator to provide active suspension of a plant supported by the apparatus during travel of the vehicle to isolate the plant from a jolt along at least one axis arising from travel of the vehicle while the apparatus is rotated towards the appropriate position and to cease to provide active suspension while the apparatus is rotated away from the appropriate position.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

the axis is a vertical axis;

the swivel enables the apparatus to be rotated about the vertical axis; and

the swivel is interposed between a floor of the vehicle and the at least one actuator.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

the apparatus further comprises a brake; and

the controller is coupled to the brake to cause the brake to prevent the apparatus from being rotated away from the appropriate position in response to receiving an indication of the vehicle being in motion.