阅读说明：本技术 车辆用座椅 (Vehicle seat ) 是由 大野光由 关塚诚 铃木宏行 于 2019-07-31 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种车辆用座椅,具有：座椅主体,具备座椅座垫和座椅靠背,座椅靠背连结于座椅座垫的座椅后方侧的端部,并且能够相对于座椅座垫在座椅前后方向上转动；及升降装置,使座椅主体在座椅上下方向上移动,在座椅靠背的后倾角度比规定角度大且座椅主体比规定高度低的情况下,利用升降装置使座椅主体向座椅上方侧移动。(The invention provides a vehicle seat, comprising: a seat main body including a seat cushion and a seat back that is coupled to a seat rear side end portion of the seat cushion and is rotatable in a seat front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion; and a lifting device for moving the seat body in the seat up-down direction, wherein the lifting device moves the seat body in the seat up-down direction when the backward tilting angle of the seat back is larger than the predetermined angle and the seat body is lower than the predetermined height.)

1. A vehicle seat has:

a seat main body including a seat cushion and a seat back that is coupled to a seat rear side end portion of the seat cushion and is configured to be rotatable in a seat front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion; and

a lifting device for moving the seat body in the up-and-down direction of the seat,

when the reclining angle of the seat back is greater than a predetermined angle and the seat body is lower than a predetermined height, the seat body is moved upward by the lifting device.

2. The seat for a vehicle according to claim 1,

the reclining angle when the seat body is moved upward relative to the seat by the lifter is greater than a range set during normal driving.

3. The seat for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2,

the greater the reclining angle of the seat back is, the greater the height of the seat main body is raised by the lifting device.

4. The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

an occupant detection sensor for detecting or estimating a height of a head of an occupant seated on the seat body,

when the height of the head of the occupant detected or estimated by the occupant detection sensor with respect to the seat body is lower than a predetermined height, the threshold value of the backward tilting angle when the lifter is operated is made smaller than when the height of the head is higher than the predetermined height.

5. The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

when the reclining angle of the seat back is larger than a predetermined angle, the lifting device can move the seat body further upward than when the reclining angle of the seat back is smaller than the predetermined angle.

6. The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

when the reclining angle of the seat back is smaller than a predetermined angle and the seat body is higher than a predetermined height, the seat body is moved downward by the lifting device.

7. The seat for a vehicle according to claim 4,

the occupant detection sensor includes a body weight sensor that is provided inside the seat cushion and is capable of detecting the body weight of an occupant seated on the seat main body,

the height of the head of the occupant is estimated from the weight of the occupant detected by the weight sensor.

8. The seat for a vehicle according to claim 4,

the occupant detection sensor includes a seat slide sensor capable of detecting a seat slide amount of the seat main body toward a vehicle rear side,

when the amount of seat sliding toward the vehicle rear side detected by the seat slide sensor is small, it is estimated that the size of the occupant is small.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat.

Background

International publication No. 2015/011866 discloses a vehicle driving support device including a caster angle control unit that controls a caster angle of a driver seat so that the caster angle of the driver seat is larger in an automatic driving mode than in a manual driving mode.

Further, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2008-290529 discloses a vehicle airbag device including a side airbag body and a curtain airbag body, in which the curtain airbag body has a shape into which the side airbag body can be fitted in an expanded state of both the airbag bodies. Further, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2017-132383 discloses a configuration for calculating a position posture (comfortable posture) of a relaxed position from a body shape of a driver. Further, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2017-136898 discloses a structure in which a seat back is laid down and a seat cushion is tilted in a case where a manual driving state is changed to an automatic driving state. Further, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2017-170942 discloses a structure for changing the relative displacement amount of each part of the seat between the automatic driving state and the manual driving state. Further, japanese patent laid-open No. 2016-.

In the case of automatic driving of the vehicle, it is conceivable that the seat back is tilted rearward and brought into a tilted rearward state as compared with the driving. In this case, since the head of the occupant is positioned lower than during driving, there is room for improvement in terms of ensuring the protection performance of the head of the occupant by an occupant protection device or the like for protecting the head of the occupant during a side collision.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure takes the above-described circumstances into consideration, and aims to obtain a vehicle seat that can ensure the protection performance of the head of an occupant even in a reclined state.

A vehicle seat according to a first aspect includes: a seat main body including a seat cushion and a seat back that is coupled to a seat rear side end portion of the seat cushion and is rotatable in a seat front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion; and a lifting device that moves the seat body in a seat up-down direction, wherein the lifting device moves the seat body toward a seat up side when a reclining angle of the seat back is larger than a predetermined angle and the seat body is lower than a predetermined height.

In the vehicle seat according to the first aspect, the seat main body includes a seat cushion and a seat back. The seat back is rotatably coupled to a seat rear side end portion of the seat cushion. In addition, the seat main body is moved in the seat up and down direction by the operation of the lifting device. When the reclining angle of the seat back is larger than the predetermined angle and the seat body is lower than the predetermined height, the seat body is moved upward by the lifting device. Thus, for example, even when the seat back is tilted backward in the automatic driving mode as compared with the driving mode, the seat body is moved upward by the lifting device. Then, the position of the head of the occupant moves toward the seat upper side. As a result, the head of the occupant can be positioned in the protection range of the protection device that is deployed to protect the head of the occupant during a side collision.

A vehicle seat according to a second aspect is the vehicle seat according to the first aspect, wherein a backward tilting angle when the seat body is moved to the seat upper side by the lifter device is an angle larger than a range set during normal driving.

In the vehicle seat according to the second aspect, even when the reclining angle of the seat back is changed during normal driving, the lifter device does not operate, and the annoyance felt by the occupant can be suppressed.

In the vehicle seat according to the third aspect, in the first or second aspect, the height of the seat body is increased by the lifter as the reclining angle of the seatback is increased.

In the vehicle seat according to the third aspect, the head of the occupant can be positioned at an appropriate height corresponding to the reclining angle, as compared to a case where the seat main body is moved (raised) to a predetermined height toward the seat upper side at once. The phrase "the height of the seat main body is changed according to the reclining angle" used herein is not limited to the case where the relationship between the reclining angle and the height of the seat main body is linear. For example, the concept broadly includes a structure in which the height of the seat main body increases in stages as the reclining angle increases.

A vehicle seat according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle seat according to any of the first to third aspects, further comprising an occupant detection sensor capable of detecting or estimating a height of a head of the occupant seated on the seat main body, wherein when the height of the head of the occupant detected or estimated by the occupant detection sensor with respect to the seat main body is lower than a predetermined height, the threshold value of the backward tilting angle when the lifter is operated is made smaller than when the height of the head is higher than the predetermined height.

In the vehicle seat according to the fourth aspect, when an occupant with a low head height, such as a small-sized occupant, is seated, the seat body is raised by the lifter even when the reclining angle is relatively small. Thus, even when a short occupant is seated, the head of the occupant can be prevented from being out of the protection range of the occupant protection device or the like at the time of a side collision, and the head protection performance can be ensured.

A vehicle seat according to a fifth aspect is the vehicle seat according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the lifting device is configured to move the seat main body upward when the reclining angle of the seat back is larger than a predetermined angle, as compared with when the reclining angle of the seat back is smaller than the predetermined angle.

In the vehicle seat according to the fifth aspect, when the backward tilt angle is larger than the predetermined angle, the range of movement by the lifting device is expanded upward. This makes it possible to prevent the seat body from moving excessively upward in normal use such as driving, and to move the head of the occupant upward when the reclining angle is large.

A vehicle seat according to a sixth aspect is the vehicle seat according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the seat body is moved to a seat lower side by the lifter when a backward tilting angle of the seat back becomes smaller than a predetermined angle and the seat body is higher than a predetermined height.

In the vehicle seat according to the sixth aspect, when the seat back is raised from the reclined state, the seat body moves (descends) toward the seat lower side, and thereby the seat body can smoothly shift to the position during driving.

As described above, according to the vehicle seat of the present disclosure, the head protection performance of the occupant can be ensured even in the backward tilted state.

Drawings

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view schematically showing a main part of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle seat according to a first embodiment,

fig 2A is a side view of the vehicle seat in a state before the lifter operates,

FIG. 2B is a side view of the vehicle seat in a state where the seat back is tilted backward and the lifter device is operated,

fig. 3 is a graph showing the relationship of the reclining angle of the seat back of the first embodiment to the height of the seat,

fig 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware structure of the ECU,

fig 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the seat up processing of the first embodiment,

fig. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the reclining angle of the seat back and the seat height in the modification of the first embodiment,

fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of the seat lowering process of the modification,

FIG. 8 is a schematic view schematically showing a main part of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle seat according to a second embodiment,

fig. 9A is a graph showing the relationship between the reclining angle of the seat back and the seat height in the case of a short-sized occupant,

fig. 9B is a graph showing the relationship between the reclining angle of the seat back and the height of the seat in the case of a tall occupant,

fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the threshold value changing process according to the second embodiment.

Detailed Description

< first embodiment >

A vehicle seat 10 of a first embodiment is explained with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, arrows FR and UP, which are appropriately marked, indicate the front direction and the upward direction of the seat, respectively. Hereinafter, when only the front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions are used for description, unless otherwise specified, the front-rear in the seat front-rear direction, the up-down in the seat up-down direction, and the left-right in the seat front direction are shown.

As shown in fig. 1, a vehicle seat 10 is provided in an operator's seat in a vehicle 11 according to the present embodiment. In addition, a roof side rail 12 extends in the vehicle front-rear direction in an upper portion of the vehicle 11.

A curtain airbag 14 is housed inside the roof side rail 12 in the vehicle width direction. The curtain airbag 14 is configured to be deployed between the occupant P and the side portion of the vehicle in a curtain shape by supplying gas from an inflator, not shown, at the time of a side collision of the vehicle 11, thereby protecting the head H of the occupant P. In fig. 1, the curtain airbag 14 in the deployed state is depicted by a two-dot chain line.

A steering wheel 16 is provided on the vehicle front side of the vehicle seat 10, and an unillustrated driver's seat airbag is housed in a center pad portion 16A in a center portion of the steering wheel 16. The driver seat airbag is configured to be inflated and deployed toward the vehicle seat 10 by gas supplied from an inflator, not shown, at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle 11, thereby restraining the occupant P inertially moving toward the vehicle front side.

Next, the vehicle seat 10 of the present embodiment will be described. The vehicle seat 10 mainly includes a seat body 18 and a lifter 20, and the seat body 18 includes a seat cushion 22 and a seat back 24. In the present embodiment, the seat front side coincides with the vehicle front side, and the seat width direction coincides with the vehicle width direction.

The seat cushion 22 is configured to be able to support the thighs and the buttocks of the occupant P from the seat lower side, and a seat back 24 is connected to an end portion of the seat cushion 22 on the seat rear side. Also, the seat back 24 is rotatable in the seat front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion 22. Specifically, a reclining mechanism 28 is provided at a connecting portion between the seat cushion 22 and the seat back 24, and the seat back 24 is rotated (reclined) relative to the seat cushion 22 by the reclining mechanism 28. Further, a headrest 26 capable of supporting the head H of the occupant P from the seat rear side is provided at an upper end portion of the seat back 24.

The lifting device 20 includes a front side link 20A and a rear side link 20B. The lower end portion of the front link 20A is rotatably attached to the vehicle body side, and the upper end portion is rotatably attached to the front side of the frame of the seat cushion 22. On the other hand, the rear link 20B is located behind the front link 20A with respect to the seat, and the lower end portion is rotatably attached to the vehicle body side. Further, the upper end portion of the rear link 20B is rotatably attached to the rear side of the frame of the seat cushion 22. In the present embodiment, a pair of left and right links are provided for each of the front link 20A and the rear link 20B, and the seat body 18 is movable in the seat up and down direction by these 4 links. The rear link 20B is coupled to a driving unit such as a motor via a lifting gear not shown, and is configured to be rotated via the lifting gear by the driving of the driving unit to move the seat body 18 up and down.

Here, the vehicle 11 is provided with an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 30 as a Control Unit, and the vehicle seat 10 is electrically connected to the ECU 30.

As shown in fig. 4, ECU30 mainly includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 32, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 34, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 36, a Memory 38, a collision detection Unit 40, a backward tilting control Unit 42, an angle detection Unit 44, an elevation control Unit 46, a height detection Unit 48, and an airbag control Unit 50. The respective structures are connected to each other via a bus 52 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

The CPU32 is a central processing unit that executes various programs to control the respective units. That is, the CPU32 reads out the program from the ROM34 or the memory 38, and executes the program with the RAM36 as a work area. The CPU32 performs control of the above-described configurations and various arithmetic processes in accordance with programs recorded in the ROM34 or the memory 38.

The ROM34 stores various programs and various data. The RAM36 temporarily stores programs and data as a work area. The memory 38 is constituted by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores various programs including an operating system and various data.

The collision detecting portion 40 detects or predicts a collision of the vehicle 11. Specifically, the collision of the vehicle 11 is detected or predicted by receiving signals from a plurality of sensors provided in the vehicle 11. At this time, it is also determined whether the collision mode of the vehicle 11 is a frontal collision or a side collision.

The reclining control unit 42 controls the reclining mechanism 28 of the vehicle seat 10, detects an operation of a lever, a button, or the like by the occupant P, and changes the reclining angle of the seat back 24. In addition, the angle detection portion 44 detects the reclining angle of the seat back 24.

The elevation control unit 46 controls the elevation device 20, detects an operation of a lever, a button, or the like by the occupant P, and changes the height of the seat body 18. The height detection unit 48 detects the height of the seat body 18 with respect to a reference.

The airbag control unit 50 controls each airbag device mounted in the vehicle 11 to inflate and deploy an airbag corresponding to the collision mode detected or predicted by the collision detection unit 40. Specifically, an inflator of the airbag device is operated to generate gas, and the gas is supplied to the airbag to inflate and deploy the airbag.

In the present embodiment, the ECU30 is configured to move the seat body 18 toward the seat upper side by the lifter device 20 when the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is larger than the predetermined angle and the seat body 18 is lower than the predetermined height. The flow of the seat raising process will be described with reference to fig. 2, the graph of fig. 3, and the flowchart of fig. 5. In the following description, as shown in θ 1 and θ 2 in fig. 2, the angle at which the seat back 24 is tilted backward with respect to the vertical direction, out of the angles formed by the seat cushion 22 and the seat back 24, is referred to as a "tilt-back angle".

In step S102 of fig. 5, the CPU32 detects the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 by the angle detection unit 44 (see fig. 4). Next, in step S104, the CPU32 determines whether the detected reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is greater than 30 °.

Here, in the present embodiment, the relationship between the reclining angle of the seat back 24 and the height of the seat main body 18 is set based on the graph of fig. 3, and the control is performed so as not to enter the region of the hatched portion. The threshold value of the backward tilting angle for controlling the lifting device 20 is set to 30 °. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, in step S104 in fig. 5, the CPU32 determines whether the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is greater than the threshold value, that is, 30 °. The CPU32 proceeds to the process of step S106 when the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is greater than 30 °, and ends the process when the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is 30 ° or less.

In fig. 2A, the reclining angle θ 1 of the seat back 24 is set to an angle between 20 ° and 30 °. This is the range of caster angle set during normal driving. In such a case, in step S104 of fig. 5, the process ends because the reclining angle θ 1 of the seat back 24 is 30 ° or less. That is, the lifting device 20 is not operated.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 2B, in the case where the back rake angle θ 2 is larger than 30 °, the CPU32 proceeds to the process of step S106. In step S106, the CPU32 detects the seat height H of the seat main body 18 by the height detection unit 48. As shown in fig. 3, for example, the reference height HS is set to 0mm, and the seat height is a positive value when it is higher than the reference height HS, and a negative value when it is lower than the reference height HS. In the present embodiment, the seat height can be moved in a range of-30 mm (the lowest position) to +30mm (the highest position).

In step S108 of fig. 5, the CPU32 determines whether the detected seat height H is lower than a predetermined height. For example, when the reclining angle is 35 ° in the graph of fig. 3, if the seat height is lower than-10 mm, the seat enters the area of the diagonal line portion. Thus, in step S108, in the case where the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is 35 °, the CPU32 determines whether the seat height H is lower than-10 mm. When the seat height H is lower than-10 mm, the process proceeds to step S110, and when the seat height H is equal to or greater than-10 mm, the process ends. Although the case where the caster angle is 35 ° is described as an example here, the predetermined height in step S108 is changed based on the graph of fig. 3 when the caster angle is different.

In step S110 in fig. 5, the CPU32 operates the lifting device 20 to raise the lifting position. That is, the height of the seat main body 18 is raised.

Here, a description will be given of a case where the seat back 24 is tilted backward from the state of fig. 2A to the state of fig. 2B. In fig. 2A, as described above, the reclining angle θ 1 of the seat back 24 is smaller than the threshold value, that is, 30 °. The height H1 of the seat body 18 is lower than the reference height HS and therefore has a negative value.

When the seat back 24 is tilted backward from this state to the state of fig. 2B, the tilt backward angle θ 2 is 30 ° or more of the threshold because it is an angle between 40 ° and 50 °. In this case, the flow proceeds from step S104 to step S106 in fig. 5. In addition, since the height of the seat main body 18 does not change if only the seatback 24 is tilted backward, the seat height H1 of the seat main body 18 has a negative value as shown in fig. 2A. Therefore, the relationship between the reclining angle and the seat height enters the region of the hatched portion of the graph of fig. 3. That is, it is determined that the seat height H1 is lower than the predetermined height, and the seat body 18 is raised by the lifter device 20. Then, the seat body 18 is raised to a position where the relationship between the reclining angle and the seat height is deviated from the region of the hatched portion in fig. 3, and the process is ended. In fig. 3, when the reclining angle is 45 ° or more, the seat height is maintained at +30mm (highest position).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the height of the seat main body 18 is controlled to be higher as the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is larger. In the present embodiment, 30 ° which is the threshold value of the back-tilt angle is an angle larger than the range set during normal driving. That is, the angle is set when the occupant P is in a comfortable posture, such as during autonomous driving.

(action)

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the vehicle seat 10 of the present embodiment, when the reclining angle of the seatback 24 is larger than the predetermined angle and the seat body 18 is lower than the predetermined height, the seat body 18 can be moved toward the seat upper side by the lifter device 20.

Here, for example, as shown by the two-dot chain line in fig. 1, when the seat back 24 is tilted backward and is in a tilted backward state during automatic driving as compared to during driving, it is assumed that the height of the head H of the occupant P is out of the protection range of the curtain airbag 14 if the lifter 20 is not operated. In the present embodiment, as shown by the solid line in fig. 1, the lifter 20 is operated to move the seat main body 18 to the seat upper side, and the position of the head H of the occupant P is moved to the seat upper side. As a result, the head H of the occupant P can be positioned within the protection range of the curtain airbag 14. That is, the protection performance of the head H of the occupant P can be ensured even in the backward tilted state.

In the present embodiment, the threshold value of the backward tilting angle for operating the lifting device 20 is set to an angle that is larger than the angle during normal driving and that provides a comfortable posture. Thus, even when the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is changed during normal driving, the lifter device 20 does not operate, and the annoyance of the occupant P can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, by changing the height of the seat main body 18 in accordance with the reclining angle of the seat back 24, the head H of the occupant P can be positioned at an appropriate height corresponding to the reclining angle, compared to the case where the seat main body 18 is raised to a predetermined height at once. That is, as shown in the graph of fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the seat height is set to be higher as the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is larger. Thus, the seat main body 18 can be gradually raised as the seat back 24 is reclined.

In the present embodiment, the seat height is made movable in the range of-30 mm to +30mm, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be controlled as shown in the graph of the modification shown in fig. 6, for example.

(modification example)

As shown in fig. 6, in the present modification, the seat body 18 is configured to be movable to a position higher than +30mm in seat height under predetermined conditions.

Specifically, during normal driving, the lifting device 20 is locked so as not to move to a position higher than +30 mm. When the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is larger than 40 °, the locked state of the lifter device 20 is released, and the seat body 18 can be moved further upward. That is, the lifter device 20 is configured to be able to move the seat body 18 to a position higher than +30mm only when the reclining angle is larger than 40 °.

In the present modification, when the reclining angle is smaller than the predetermined angle and the seat body 18 is higher than the predetermined height, the seat body 18 is moved to the seat lower side by the lifter device 20. The flow of the seat lowering process will be described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 7.

In step S202 in fig. 7, the CPU32 detects the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 by the angle detection unit 44 (see fig. 4). Next, in step S204, the CPU32 determines whether the detected reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is greater than 40 °. When the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is greater than 40 °, the process proceeds to step S206, and when the reclining angle θ of the seat back 24 is 40 ° or less, the process ends.

In step S206, the CPU32 detects the seat height H of the seat main body 18. Then, in step S208, the CPU32 determines whether or not the detected seat height H is equal to or greater than a predetermined height. For example, in the graph of fig. 6, when the back-rake angle is 45 °, the seat height is set to a range of +30mm to +50 mm. Therefore, in step S208, when the reclining angle of the seat back 24 is 45 °, the CPU32 determines whether the seat height H is +50mm or more. When the seat height H is +50mm or more, the process proceeds to step S210, and when the seat height H is lower than +50mm, the process ends.

In step S210, the CPU32 operates the lifting device 20 to lower the lifting position. That is, the height of the seat main body 18 is lowered.

By lowering the height of the seat main body 18 in this manner, the seat main body 18 moves to the seat lower side when the seat back 24 is raised from the reclined state, and therefore, the seat can smoothly shift to the position during driving.

In addition, when the back-rake angle is within the range set during normal driving, the seat height can be suppressed from becoming higher than +30 mm.

< second embodiment >

Next, a vehicle seat 60 according to a second embodiment will be described. The same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

As shown in fig. 8, a vehicle seat 60 is provided in an operator's seat in a vehicle 61 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle seat 60 mainly includes a seat body 18 and a lifter 20, and the seat body 18 includes a seat cushion 22 and a seat back 24. In the present embodiment, the seat front side coincides with the vehicle front side, and the seat width direction coincides with the vehicle width direction.

The seat cushion 22 is configured to be able to support the thighs and the buttocks of the occupant P from the seat lower side, and a seat back 24 is connected to an end portion of the seat cushion 22 on the seat rear side. Further, a weight sensor 62 as an occupant detection sensor capable of detecting the weight of the occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 60 is provided inside the seat cushion 22.

An optical camera 64 as an occupant detection sensor is provided on the vehicle front side of the steering wheel 16 of the vehicle 61, and the optical camera 64 is configured to be able to photograph the vehicle interior including the vehicle seat 60. The body weight sensor 62 and the optical camera 64 are electrically connected to the ECU 30. The ECU30 has the structure shown in fig. 4, as in the first embodiment.

Here, in the present embodiment, the CPU32 detects or estimates the height of the head H of the occupant P seated in the vehicle seat 60 relative to the seat main body 18 using at least one of the weight sensor 62 and the optical camera 64. The threshold value of the reclining angle of the seat back 24 when the lifter device 20 is operated is changed according to the detected or estimated height of the head H of the occupant P. The flow of the threshold value changing process will be described with reference to the graph of fig. 9 and the flowchart of fig. 10. The threshold value of the caster angle before the change is set to 30 °.

In step S302 of fig. 10, the CPU32 detects the height of the head H of the occupant P. Here, the height of the head H with respect to the reference height is detected by the optical camera 64, and the weight sensor 62 is used for the auxiliary purpose of estimating the height of the head H. That is, the height of the head H of the occupant P is estimated from the weight of the occupant P detected by the weight sensor 62.

In step S304, the CPU32 determines whether the height of the head H of the occupant P is lower than a predetermined first height. The first height is a preset value and is a threshold value for determining whether or not a passenger seated in the vehicle seat 60 is short. When the height of the head H is lower than the first height, the process proceeds to step S308. On the other hand, if the height of the head H is equal to or greater than the first height, the process proceeds to step S306.

When the process proceeds to step S308, the CPU32 determines that the occupant P is short, and changes the threshold value of the reclining angle of the seat back 24 when the lifter device 20 is operated to 25 °. Then, the process is ended.

As shown in fig. 9A, when the threshold value is changed to 25 °, the seat height is controlled to be higher even at the same reclining angle than when the threshold value is 30 °. That is, when the threshold value is 30 °, as shown in fig. 3, the seat height becomes +30mm when the back rake angle is 45 °. In contrast, when the threshold is 25 °, as shown in fig. 9A, the seat height becomes +30mm when the reclining angle is 40 °.

In step S306 of fig. 10, the CPU32 determines whether the height of the head H of the occupant P is higher than a predetermined second height. The second height is a predetermined value and is a value higher than the first height. The second height is a threshold value for determining whether or not the occupant seated in the vehicle seat 60 is tall. If the height of the head H is higher than the second height, the process proceeds to step S310. On the other hand, if the height of the head H is equal to or less than the second height, the process proceeds to step S312.

When the process proceeds to step S310, the CPU32 determines that the occupant P is tall, and changes the threshold value of the reclining angle of the seat back 24 when the lifter device 20 is operated to 40 °. Then, the process is ended.

As shown in fig. 9B, when the threshold value is changed to 40 °, the seat height is controlled to be lower even at the same reclining angle than when the threshold value is 30 °. That is, when the seat height is-30 mm, the lifter device 20 does not operate until the reclining angle becomes 40 °.

In step S312 of fig. 10, since the height of the head H of the occupant P is a height between the first height and the second height, the threshold value of the caster angle is not changed. I.e. the threshold is maintained at 30 °.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the detected or estimated height of the head H of the occupant P relative to the seat body 18 is lower than the predetermined first height, the CPU32 reduces the threshold value of the reclining angle when the lifter device 20 is operated, as compared to when the height of the head H is higher than the first height. Further, when the detected or estimated height of the head H of the occupant P relative to the seat body 18 is higher than the predetermined second height, the CPU32 increases the threshold value of the reclining angle when the lifter device 20 is operated, as compared to when the height of the head H is lower than the second height.

(action)

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the vehicle seat 60 of the present embodiment, when an occupant P having a low head H, such as a small occupant, is seated, the seat body 18 is raised by the lifter device 20 even when the reclining angle is relatively small. Thus, even when a short-sized occupant P is seated, it is possible to prevent the head H of the occupant P from being out of the protection range of the occupant protection device such as the curtain airbag 14 at the time of a side collision, and to ensure the protection performance of the head H.

Although the first and second embodiments have been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, when the caster angle is between 30 ° and 45 °, the relationship between the caster angle and the height of the seat main body 18 is linear, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Specifically, the height of the seat body 18 may be increased in stages as the reclining angle increases. In this case, the seat height increases in a stepwise manner as the reclining angle increases. For example, the seat height may be controlled to rise by 10mm when the reclining angle is increased by 2.5 °. In this case as well, the height of the seat body 18 is changed according to the reclining angle.

In the above-described embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 8, the configuration including curtain airbag 14 has been described as a protection device for protecting head H of occupant P at the time of a side collision, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a vehicle including a protection device that protects the head H of the occupant P by inflating and deploying from the vehicle body side, such as a door trim or a pillar garnish, toward the occupant P.

In the above embodiment, the threshold value of the backward tilting angle when the lifting device 20 is operated is set to 30 °, but the threshold value is not limited to this, and may be set to another threshold value.

In the second embodiment, the threshold value of the reclining angle is changed to 25 °, 30 °, and 40 ° according to the height of the head H of the occupant P, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the threshold may be set to other angles. The threshold may be set to either 25 ° or 30 °.

In the second embodiment, as shown in fig. 8, the configuration in which the body weight sensor 62 and the optical camera 64 are provided as the occupant detection sensor for detecting or estimating the height of the head H of the occupant P has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the height of the head H may be estimated by estimating the body of the occupant P based on a set value of a seat slide sensor or the like provided in the vehicle seat 60. That is, the larger the seat sliding amount of the vehicle seat 60 to the vehicle rear side, the larger the size of the occupant P can be estimated to be. Conversely, the smaller the seat sliding amount of the vehicle seat 60 toward the vehicle rear side, the smaller the size of the occupant P can be estimated to be. Further, a pressure sensor may be built in the headrest 26, and the height of the head H of the occupant P may be detected or estimated by inputting a load from the head H to the pressure sensor.

In the above embodiment, the elevating device 20 is controlled by the ECU30 provided in the vehicle 11 or the vehicle 61, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a control device may be separately provided in the vehicle seat 10 or the vehicle seat 60, and the lifting device 20 may be operated by the control device.