Adaptive seating system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An automatic seating comfort control system, comprising:
- a seat having a plurality of bladders disposed therein;
a fluid pressure control system for controlling passage of a fluid into and out of selected ones of the plurality of bladders;
at least one pressure transducer for transducing fluid pressure within the fluid pressure control system into at least one corresponding pressure signal; and
a controller for receiving the pressure signal and for estimating seat occupant dimension information as a function of the received pressure signal, the occupant dimension information including at least one of occupant height and weight information;
the controller generating seating control signals as a function of the seat occupant dimension information and outputting the seating control signals to the fluid pressure control system to automatically control seating comfort.
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Abstract
Adaptive seating comfort control automatically senses occupation of a seat, estimates attributes of the seat occupant, and generates and issues seating comfort control commands in response to the occupant attributes to provide for maximum seating comfort and to provide for a desired interaction with other control systems. Comfort control commands take the form of desired pressure commands for at least one fluid filled bladder within the seat and may be updated periodically during a period of seat occupation to account for change in position of the seat occupant or to reduce occupant muscle fatigue.
108 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An automatic seating comfort control system, comprising:
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a seat having a plurality of bladders disposed therein; a fluid pressure control system for controlling passage of a fluid into and out of selected ones of the plurality of bladders; at least one pressure transducer for transducing fluid pressure within the fluid pressure control system into at least one corresponding pressure signal; and a controller for receiving the pressure signal and for estimating seat occupant dimension information as a function of the received pressure signal, the occupant dimension information including at least one of occupant height and weight information; the controller generating seating control signals as a function of the seat occupant dimension information and outputting the seating control signals to the fluid pressure control system to automatically control seating comfort. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for controlling firmness of an automotive vehicle seat having a plurality of fluid-filled bladders disposed therein and having a fluid pressure control system for varying the fluid pressure in individual ones of the plurality of fluid-filled bladders in response to pressure control commands, comprising the steps of:
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transducing pressure within the fluid pressure control system into corresponding pressure signals; periodically sampling the pressure signals; sensing presence of an occupant within the seat; upon sensing the presence, estimating attributes of the occupant as a function of the sampled pressure signals, the attributes including at least one of height and weight of the occupant; generating desired pressure values for at least one of the plurality of fluid-filled bladders as a function of both the sampled pressure signals and the estimated attributes of the occupant; determining pressure control commands as a function of the desired pressure values; and controlling pressure within at least one of the plurality of fluid-filled bladders in accordance with the determined pressure control commands. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification