On-demand furniture

• US 10,682,931 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2018
• Issued: 06/16/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Rowe, Michael Paul, Prokhorov, Danil V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Morrow, Jason S
• Application Number:
  US16/124,955
• Publication Number:
  US 20200079245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 648 Days
• Field of Search: 296 6501, 296 64, 296 66, 296 69
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/005 Arrangement or mounting of seats in vehicles , e.g. dismountable auxiliary seatsB60N2/02 takes precedence ; for railway vehicles B61D1/04
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0244 with logic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0248 with memory of positions
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/067 by linear actuators, e.g. linear screw mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/22 the back-rest being adjustable B60N2/2878 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3081 Seats convertible into parts of the seat cushion or the back-rest or disapppearing therein, e.g. for children
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/32 convertible for other use
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/919 Positioning and locking mechanisms B60N2/16, B60N2/18, B60N2/22, B60N2/225 take precedence

Abstract

A vehicle includes a body and a furniture module. The body defines a passenger compartment, and the furniture module includes a framing system mounted to the body in the passenger compartment and a surfacing system mounted to the framing system. The furniture module is operable to shift between a body-like form factor and a furniture form factor. In the body-like form factor, the furniture module is flattened along the body, with the framing system collapsed along the body, and the surfacing system spatially arranged along the body with the framing system. In the furniture form factor, the furniture module extends beyond the body to render on-demand furniture including a furniture frame and an overlying furniture surface, with the framing system expanded beyond the body to establish the furniture frame, and the surfacing system spatially arranged beyond the body to establish the overlying furniture surface.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a body defining a passenger compartment; and

a furniture module for rendering on-demand furniture including a furniture frame and an overlying furniture surface, the furniture module including a framing system mounted to the body in the passenger compartment and a surfacing system mounted to the framing system, and operable to shift between a body-like form factor and a furniture form factor using actuators;

wherein

in the body-like form factor, the furniture module is flattened along the body such that the passenger compartment is unoccupied by the on-demand furniture, with the framing system collapsed along the body, and the surfacing system spatially arranged along the body with the framing system; and

in the furniture form factor, the furniture module extends beyond the body to render the on-demand furniture such that the passenger compartment is occupied thereby, with the framing system expanded beyond the body to establish the furniture frame, and the surfacing system spatially arranged beyond the body to establish the overlying furniture surface.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein:

the framing system includes rigid actuators mounted to the body in the passenger compartment and the surfacing system includes soft-bodied surfacing elements mounted to the rigid actuators;

in the body-like form factor, the rigid actuators are retracted toward the body, and the surfacing elements are in lowered positions along the body; and

in the furniture form factor, a composition of the rigid actuators is extended beyond the body to form an array of extended rigid actuators that establishes the furniture frame, and an associated composition of the surfacing elements are in lifted positions beyond the body to form an array of lifted surfacing elements that establishes the overlying furniture surface.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein:

as part of the operability of the furniture module to shift from the body-like form factor to the furniture form factor using actuators, the composition of the rigid actuators is operable to coordinately extend to form the array of extended rigid actuators that establishes the furniture frame, and thereby coordinately carry the associated composition of the surfacing elements to the lifted positions to form the array of lifted surfacing elements that establishes the overlying furniture surface; and

as part of the operability of the furniture module to shift from the furniture form factor to the body-like form factor using actuators, the rigid actuators are operable to coordinately retract, and thereby coordinately carry the associated surfacing elements to the lowered positions.

4. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein:

among the surfacing elements, the surfacing system includes soft actuators;

in the body-like form factor, with the surfacing elements in the lowered positions, the soft actuators exhibit general-purpose tactile conditions; and

in the furniture form factor, with the associated composition of the surfacing elements in the lifted positions to form the array of lifted surfacing elements that establishes the overlying furniture surface, resident soft actuators exhibit supplemental tactile conditions to establish a tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the supplemental tactile conditions are differentiated from the general-purpose tactile conditions by at least one of:

the soft actuators exhibiting at least one of flattened shapes and collapsed sizes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions, and the resident soft actuators exhibiting at least one of domed shapes and expanded sizes as part of the supplemental tactile conditions, whereby the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a spatial enhancement therefor;

the soft actuators exhibiting non-vibratory constant shapes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions, and the resident soft actuators exhibiting vibratory shape cycles as part of the supplemental tactile conditions, whereby the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a spatial-temporal enhancement therefor; and

the soft actuators exhibiting relative firmnesses as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions, and the resident soft actuators exhibiting relative softnesses as part of the supplemental tactile conditions, whereby the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a resiliency enhancement therefor.

6. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the soft actuators include hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators.

7. On-demand furniture, comprising:

a furniture frame established by an array of extended rigid actuators; and

an overlying furniture surface established by an array of lifted soft-bodied surfacing elements carried by the rigid actuators, including resident soft actuators coordinately exhibiting supplemental tactile conditions to establish a tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface;

wherein

the rigid actuators are operable to coordinately retract, and thereby coordinately carry the surfacing elements, including the resident soft actuators, to lowered positions; and

in association with coordinately moving to the lowered positions, the resident soft actuators are operable to coordinately exhibit general-purpose tactile conditions different from the supplemental tactile conditions.

8. The on-demand furniture of claim 7, wherein the supplemental tactile conditions are differentiated from the general-purpose tactile conditions by at least one of different spatial properties, different spatial-temporal properties and different resiliency properties.

9. The on-demand furniture of claim 7, wherein:

the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a spatial enhancement therefor;

the resident soft actuators exhibit at least one of domed shapes and expanded sizes as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the spatial enhancement for the overlying furniture surface; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit at least one of flattened shapes and collapsed sizes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

10. The on-demand furniture of claim 7, wherein:

the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a spatial-temporal enhancement therefor;

the resident soft actuators exhibit vibratory shape cycles as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the spatial-temporal enhancement for the overlying furniture surface; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit non-vibratory constant shapes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

11. The on-demand furniture of claim 7, wherein:

the tactile enhancement for the overlying furniture surface is a resiliency enhancement therefor;

the resident soft actuators exhibit relative softnesses as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the resiliency enhancement for the overlying furniture surface; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit relative firmnesses as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

12. The on-demand furniture of claim 7, wherein the resident soft actuators include hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators.

13. On-demand furniture, comprising:

a seat frame established by an array of extended rigid actuators; and

an overlying seat surface established by an array of lifted soft-bodied surfacing elements carried by the rigid actuators, including resident soft actuators coordinately exhibiting supplemental tactile conditions to establish a tactile enhancement for the overlying seat surface;

wherein

the rigid actuators are operable to coordinately retract, and thereby coordinately carry the surfacing elements, including the resident soft actuators, to lowered positions; and

in association with coordinately moving to the lowered positions, the resident soft actuators are operable to coordinately exhibit general-purpose tactile conditions different from the supplemental tactile conditions.

14. The on-demand furniture of claim 13, wherein the tactile enhancement for the overlying seat surface is at least one of a lower leg support, a lumbar support and a side bolster.

15. The on-demand furniture of claim 14, wherein:

the resident soft actuators exhibit at least one of domed shapes and expanded sizes as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the at least one of a lower leg support, a lumbar support and a side bolster; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit at least one of flattened shapes and collapsed sizes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

16. The on-demand furniture of claim 13, wherein the tactile enhancement for the overlying seat surface is a massage function.

17. The on-demand furniture of claim 16, wherein:

the resident soft actuators exhibit vibratory shape cycles as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the massage function; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit non-vibratory constant shapes as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

18. The on-demand furniture of claim 13, wherein the tactile enhancement for the overlying seat surface is cushioning.

19. The on-demand furniture of claim 18, wherein:

the resident soft actuators exhibit relative softnesses as part of the supplemental tactile conditions to establish the cushioning; and

the resident soft actuators exhibit relative firmnesses as part of the general-purpose tactile conditions.

20. The on-demand furniture of claim 13, wherein the resident soft actuators include hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators.