JP2003002094A - Occupant supporting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To always put a side support function arranged in a seat into an effective operation without requiring any complicated operation. SOLUTION: A control circuit 2 detects a radius of curvature in all the curves existing within a predetermined detection area including a present position during vehicle travel and computes a side support quantity necessary for the side support part of a driver's seat according to the computing based on the radius of curvature of the curve and a traveling speed of the vehicle before the vehicle starts taking the curve. When the vehicle starts taking the curve, the control circuit 2 gives a side support control signal to a drive mechanism 14 in a side support mechanism part 16 for giving a command so that the side support quantity by the side support part becomes the computed value, and consequently, control is carried out so that the side support quantity in the driver's seat is conditioned suitably for the curve radius of curvature and the vehicle traveling speed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant support device mounted on a vehicle having a seat provided with side support portions on both left and right sides of a seat back.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a driver's seat (and a passenger's seat) of an automobile is provided with a side support portion for supporting an occupant's body when a lateral acceleration is applied during cornering. There is. Such side support portions are provided at least on the left and right sides of the seat back in a state of being projected forward, and are also provided on the left and right sides of the seat cushion as necessary. Also, since the required amount of side support by the side support varies depending on the physique, preference and running method of the occupant, a seat with a structure in which the side support can be adjusted manually, that is, a seat with a side support adjuster is provided. There is.

[0003]

When driving a vehicle equipped with a seat having a side support adjuster as described above, for example, during so-called sports driving or traveling on a winding road which is known in advance, the amount of side support is increased. Is adjusted to a larger value and the side support amount is adjusted to a smaller value during normal traveling. However, even during normal traveling, when the vehicle travels on a curve at a relatively high speed, or when traveling on a curve with a small radius of curvature even at a relatively low speed, the side support amount is increased to securely support the occupant's body. However, in reality, it is difficult to know in advance whether there is such a curve, and even if it is possible to know in advance whether there is such a curve, the side support amount can be manually operated one by one. The adjustment itself is not realistic, and it is hard to say that the side support amount adjustment function is effectively used.

In addition, when traveling on a straight road or a road having a radius of curvature close to this, even during sports traveling or winding roads, the side support amount is reduced to reduce the support feeling acting on the occupant to an appropriate level. Is desirable for improving the driving environment. However, conventionally, in order to deal with the above demand, the side support amount must be manually adjusted each time, which is difficult to deal with in practice.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable a side support function provided on a seat to always effectively work without a troublesome operation. To provide a support device.

[0006]

According to the vehicle occupant support system described in claim 1, when the vehicle is running,
The acquiring unit acquires the radius of curvature of the vehicle traveling path, and the detecting unit detects the traveling speed of the vehicle. Further, the calculation means calculates the side support amount required for the side support portion based on the radius of curvature of the vehicle traveling path and the vehicle traveling speed thus obtained, and the driving means calculates the side support portion based on the calculation result. Increases or decreases the amount of side support. As a result, it becomes possible to automatically control the side support amount by the side support portion provided on the seat so as to be in an optimum state according to the condition of the road on which the vehicle actually travels. In addition, the side support function through the side support section can always be effectively used without troublesome operations.

According to another aspect of the vehicle occupant support device of the present invention, the vehicle occupant support device includes a position acquisition unit for acquiring the current position of the vehicle and a data storage unit for storing road map data. Since the radius of curvature of the vehicle traveling path is detected based on the vehicle current position acquired by the position information acquisition means and the road map data read from the data storage means, these are all provided in a general car navigation device. It can be realized by using the functions that are provided.

According to the vehicle occupant support device of the third aspect, the side support amount required for the side support portion is calculated before the vehicle approaches the vehicle running path having a radius of curvature or less, and the calculation result is obtained. Based on the above, the drive means controls the side support amount by the side support portion, so that the side support portion can surely perform the side support at a necessary time. As a result,
The side support amount can be automatically controlled at the optimum timing.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the vehicle occupant support system according to the present invention is realized by utilizing a car navigation system, and the overall electrical configuration is schematically shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, a car navigation device 1 (corresponding to the acquisition means in the present invention)
The position detector 3 (corresponding to position information acquiring unit), the map data input unit 4, and the external memory 5 with respect to the control circuit 2 (corresponding to arithmetic unit and output unit) having a function of controlling the navigation operation. , Display device 6, operation switch group 7,
The audio output device 8 and a remote controller sensor 10 for detecting a signal from the remote controller 9 are connected.

In addition to the above, the control circuit 2 is connected with the following respective constituent elements. That is, the vehicle speed sensor 11 (corresponding to detection means) is configured to generate a pulsed vehicle speed signal according to the traveling speed of the vehicle,
The vehicle speed signal is given to the control circuit 2.
The turn signal sensor 12 is configured to generate either a left turn detection signal or a right turn detection signal when the turn signal switch for the vehicle is turned on (when the turn signal is operated). The turn detection signal is applied to the control circuit 2. Rudder angle sensor 13
Is configured to generate a steering angle signal indicating an operation angle (steering wheel turning angle) of the steering wheel, and the steering angle signal is given to the control circuit 2.

The drive mechanism 14 (corresponding to drive means) drives the side support mechanism portion 16 for, for example, a driver's seat (shown by reference numeral 15 in FIG. 2) in response to a command from the control circuit 2. And these drive mechanisms 1
4, the driver's seat 15 and the side support mechanism 16 will be described later with reference to FIG.

In the car navigation system 1, the control circuit 2 is configured as a microcomputer, and includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O interface, a bus connecting these (not shown). I have it. Of these, the ROM stores a program for car navigation and the like, and the RAM stores processing data at the time of executing the program and the map data input device 4
The road map data and the like acquired from are temporarily stored.

The position detector 3 includes a geomagnetic sensor 17 for detecting an absolute azimuth, a gyroscope 18 for detecting a yaw angular velocity (yaw rate), a distance sensor 19 for detecting a traveling distance of a vehicle, and an artificial GPS device. The GPS receiver 20 receives signals from satellites, and is a part for calculating current position information and traveling direction information of the vehicle. The position detector 3 is configured to perform highly accurate position detection while interpolating the detection errors, because each constituent element has a detection error having a different property. However, the current position is detected with the required detection accuracy. If it can be calculated, it is not necessary to include all the components. Further, the position detector 3 may be configured by combining the steering angle sensor 13 and a wheel sensor that detects the rotation of each tire.

The map data input device 4 is, for example, a CD-RO.
Large-capacity information recording medium 21 such as M or DVD-ROM
It is for reading data from (corresponding to data storage means). In this case, in the information recording medium 21, in addition to the map drawing / map matching data including a well-known node data file, intersection data file, etc., a facility name database in which facility names are arranged in the order of Japanese syllabary, this facility name database Facility database covering specific information (facility name, genre name indicating division such as occupation, facility location data (latitude and longitude data), etc.) about each facility in the facility, telephone number database indicating correspondence between telephone numbers and facilities Various databases are stored.
A hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a large capacity memory card or the like can be used as the information recording medium 21.

The external memory 5 is composed of a flash memory card or the like, and is used for storing, for example, program software for dealing with information recording media of other standards and for storing and calling specific data. It is provided in. The display device 6 includes, for example, a color liquid crystal display for displaying a map screen,
It is installed near the driver's seat of the vehicle. The operation switch group 7 is
A mechanical switch arranged around the display device 6 and a touch switch formed on the color liquid crystal display of the display device 6 are provided to provide the control circuit 2 with operation inputs such as various data and setting items. Has been. The remote controller sensor 10 is also provided as an operation input means, and receives an operation input from the remote controller 9 and gives it to the control circuit 2. Audio output device 8
Is equipped with a voice synthesizing circuit, an amplifier, a speaker, etc., and can generate an arbitrary voice output in response to a command from the control circuit 2.

Here, the control circuit 2 has a basic function of executing a map matching process for locating the current position on the map, and also uses the operation switch group 7 and the remote controller 9 to obtain point data such as a destination and a waypoint. When is input, the route search operation from the current position to the destination is performed based on the point data using, for example, the Dijkstra method, and the guide route corresponding to the route search result is displayed on the map screen. It has well-known navigation support functions such as a calculation function (including a so-called reroute search function) and a route guidance function that provides various guides by voice or display based on the guide route obtained by this function.

In addition to this, the control circuit 2 has the following functions related to the gist of the present invention. That is, the control circuit 2 performs a calculation based on the map drawing / map matching data and the current position information of the vehicle obtained by the position detector 3 to calculate a plurality of nodes existing within a predetermined range including the current position of the vehicle. It has a function of detecting the radius of a virtual circle forming a substantially circular arc formed by connecting the above, that is, the radius of curvature of a curve on the vehicle traveling path. Further, the control circuit 2 calculates the side support amount required for the driver's seat 15 based on the detection signal indicating the radius of curvature of the curve, the vehicle traveling speed indicated by the vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor, and the calculated result. The drive mechanism 14 is provided with a function of increasing or decreasing the side support amount of the driver's seat 15.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the driver's seat 15. In FIG. 2, the seat cushion 22 (seat surface) and the seat back 23 of the driver's seat 15 are
Side support portions 22a and 23a are provided on both left and right sides, and at least the side support portion 23a of the seat back 23 among them has a drive mechanism 14 for adjusting the front side support amount.
(See FIG. 1) is provided, and the side support mechanism portion 16 described above is configured by the drive mechanism 14 and the side support portion 23a. This drive mechanism 14
It is configured by using a motor or an air chamber, and is configured to adjust the side support amount by the side support part 23a by controlling the amount of protrusion of the side support part 23a to the front. If necessary, the side support portion 2 of the seat cushion 22
The same drive mechanism may be provided in 2a.

Now, the flow chart of FIG. 3 shows a processing routine for the side support automatic adjusting function related to the gist of the present invention in the control contents of the control circuit 2. This will be described below together with the related operation. To do. It should be noted that FIG. 3 is simplified to the extent that the gist of the present invention can be grasped, and actually the control contents are more complicated or different from those shown in the drawing. Further, in this embodiment, the processing routine of FIG. 3 is shown as being executed in the background of the main program, but it is also possible to incorporate it in the foreground processing.

That is, in the processing routine of FIG. 3, the user makes a setting for activating the side support automatic adjusting function in advance through, for example, the operation switch group 7 or the remote controller 9 (or a dedicated selection switch (not shown)). In this case, the road condition detection processing routine A1 is first executed. In the processing routine A1, the current position of the vehicle is calculated by calculation based on the current position information of the vehicle obtained by the position detector 3 and the map drawing / map matching data read from the information storage medium 21 through the map data input device 4. A radius of a virtual circle forming a substantially arc formed by connecting a plurality of nodes existing within a predetermined detection range including a position (for example, a circle having a radius of about 1 km centering on the current position), that is, on a vehicle traveling road The curvature radius of the curve is detected, and the detection result is accumulated and stored in the internal RAM as curvature radius data. In this case, when the route guidance function of the car navigation device 1 is activated, it is possible to detect the virtual circle radius (curvature radius of the curve) for the node on the guidance route.

The radius of curvature corresponding to the intersection node is
The number of the intersections will be detected according to the form and shape of the intersection. The detection of the radius of curvature of the curve can be performed by calculation using the coordinate position of each node and the coordinate positions of at least two nodes adjacent to it, but the virtual circle for each node in the node data file. The radius of is previously stored in association with the node,
The configuration may be performed by reading the radius of the virtual circle. Further, the detection of the radius of curvature is sequentially performed as the detection range changes according to the movement of the vehicle, and the curvature radius data of the curve outside the detection range is sequentially erased. .

Next, the next node to which the traveling vehicle arrives is predicted by calculation based on the current position information and traveling direction information of the vehicle obtained by the position detector 3 and the map drawing / map matching data ( Step A2), it is determined whether or not the curvature radius data stored corresponding to the node is equal to or less than a predetermined control target value (step A3). It should be noted that this control target value is a value corresponding to the radius of curvature of a relatively large curve that makes it unnecessary to control the side support amount of the driver seat 15 even when the vehicle traveling speed is relatively high.

If "NO" is determined in step A3, the process returns to step A1. If "YES" is determined, it is determined whether or not the predicted node corresponds to the intersection ( Step A4). When the node is not an intersection (when it is a straight road curve), the process proceeds to the side support amount calculation processing routine A6 as it is, but when it is an intersection, a left turn detection signal from the winker sensor 12 Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the right turn detection signal is input (step A5). When the turn detection signal is not input, the process returns to step A1. When the turn detection signal is input, that is, when the vehicle turn signal switch is turned on for turning left or right, the side support amount Arithmetic processing routine A
Go to 6.

In the side support amount calculation processing routine A6, when the vehicle travels on the corresponding curve by the calculation based on the vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor 11 (that is, the traveling speed of the vehicle) and the curvature radius data corresponding to the predicted node. The lateral G acting on the vehicle (lateral acceleration) is calculated, and the side support amount required for the driver seat 15 is calculated based on the lateral G. If the curve to be calculated is an intersection, the turn signal sensor 12 is used to calculate the lateral G.
The radius-of-curvature data for the traveling direction indicated by the left turn detection signal or the right turn detection signal will be used.

In this case, when the side support amount is calculated based on the lateral G, preset vehicle weight information, tire pressure information by the air pressure sensor, vehicle height information by the vehicle height sensor, preset user weight / height data. It may be configured to add user setting information and the like. Specifically, when the vehicle weight is large, the tire pressure is low, and the vehicle height is high, the roll of the vehicle with respect to the lateral G is relatively large, and therefore the side support amount is corrected to be large. Further, when actually changing the side support amount of the driver's seat 15, the forward protrusion amount of the left and right side support portions 23a of the seat back 23 is adjusted. However, the protrusion amount and the side support amount for the user are adjusted. The relationship with and changes depending on the body type of the user (particularly the degree of obesity). That is,
When the forward protrusion amount of the side support portions 23a is increased in order to increase the side support amount of the driver seat 15, the dimension between the side support portions 23a is reduced due to the structure of the driver seat 15, so the degree of obesity is increased. For a user with a large width (a user with a large width), a sufficient side support force acts even if the protrusion amount of the side support portion 23a is small. Therefore, a method of predicting the obesity degree of the user based on the weight / height data in the user setting information and correcting the side support amount based on the prediction result can be adopted. When the weight data in the user setting information is large, the centrifugal force acting on the user increases in accordance with the lateral G. Therefore, the side support amount may be corrected to increase based on the weight data.

After the side support amount calculation processing is executed,
It is determined whether the side support amount obtained by the calculation is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value (step A7). The threshold value is set to zero or a value close to zero. Therefore, the state determined to be “YES” in step A7 corresponds to a state in which the side support control by the side support portion 23a is unnecessary, and in this state. Step A1
Return to. On the other hand, when it is determined to be “NO” in step A7, the vehicle waits until the vehicle approaches the curve immediately before (step A8), and when the standby state ends (when the vehicle approaches the curve). Outputs a side support control signal to the drive mechanism 14 of the side support mechanism section 16 for the driver's seat 15 (step A9).

The side support control signal is a signal for instructing the side support amount by the side support unit 23a to be a calculated value in the side support amount calculation processing routine A6, and the side support unit 23 is based on this signal.
The amount of protrusion of a toward the front is controlled through the drive mechanism 14,
In response to this, the side support amount by the side support portion 23a is adjusted so as to be in a state corresponding to the curvature radius of the curve and the vehicle speed.

After that, it is judged whether or not the traveling of the curve is completed based on, for example, a steering angle signal from the steering angle sensor 13 (a signal indicating an operation angle of the steering wheel (a steering wheel turning angle)) (step). A10), "YES"
If it is determined that the condition is satisfied, the process returns to step A1. In this case, the determination as to whether or not the traveling of the curve is completed may be made by calculation based on the map drawing / map matching data and the current position information of the vehicle obtained by the position detector 3.

The processing routine of FIG. 3 is configured to be immediately stopped when the activation setting of the side support automatic adjustment function is canceled by the user, and thus the execution of the processing routine is stopped. In this case, the control circuit 2 is configured to perform control for returning the side support amount by the side support mechanism section 16 to the initial state (or a preset state).

According to the configuration of this embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained. That is, when the vehicle is running, all curves (including intersections) existing within a predetermined detection range including the current position of the vehicle are controlled by the control circuit 2 constituting the car navigation device 1.
Is detected, and before the vehicle approaches the curve, the side support amount required for the side support portion 23a is calculated by calculation based on the curvature radius of the curve and the traveling speed of the vehicle. Like Further, the control circuit 2 instructs the drive mechanism 14 of the side support mechanism portion 16 so that the side support amount by the side support portion 23a becomes the value calculated as described above when the vehicle approaches a curve. A control signal is given, and accordingly, the side support amount of the driver's seat 15 is controlled so as to be in a state suitable for the radius of curvature of the curve and the vehicle traveling speed.

As a result, the side support amount by the side support portion 23a provided on the driver's seat 15 is
The vehicle is automatically controlled so as to be in an optimum state according to the condition of the road on which the vehicle actually travels, and as a result, the side support function through the side support portion 23a is always effectively worked without troublesome operation. Will be possible.
Especially when the vehicle is approaching an intersection, the side support amount is controlled only when the vehicle turn signal switch is turned on for turning left or right, so there is no need for side support amount when the vehicle goes straight through the intersection. Control can be prevented. Further, when the side support amount is calculated, the correction according to the vehicle weight information, the tire pressure information, the vehicle height information and the user setting information is added, so that the side support amount can be accurately controlled according to the actual situation.

Further, since the function of detecting the radius of curvature of the curve is realized by utilizing the function provided in the car navigation device 1, there is no need to add a new component for that function. Further, before the vehicle approaches a curve having a radius of curvature or less corresponding to a predetermined control target value, the side support amount required for the side support portion 23a is calculated, and the side support amount is controlled based on the calculation result. Since it is performed, the side support by the side support portion 23a can be surely performed at a necessary time. As a result, the side support amount can be automatically controlled at the optimum timing.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but the following modifications or expansions are possible. When controlling the side support amount of the driver's seat 15,
It may be configured to reflect information indicating the attributes of the road (highway, highway rampway, etc.) obtained from the map drawing / map matching data. Further, a change in acceleration / deceleration G of the vehicle (corresponding to a change in accelerator opening) is monitored by, for example, an acceleration sensor, and it is determined whether or not so-called sports running is performed based on the magnitude of the change. It can also be reflected in the control of the side support amount. While traveling on a curve, the steering wheel operation angle (steering wheel turning angle) obtained from the steering angle sensor 13 is monitored, and the driver seat 15 is operated according to the operation angle.
It is also possible to control the side support amount of in real time. Although the example in which the side support amount is controlled for the driver seat 15 has been described, the same control can be performed for the passenger seat. Further, a configuration may be added in which the side support amounts by the side support portions 22a provided on the left and right sides of the seat cushion 22 of the driver's seat 15 are controlled in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

An embodiment has been described in which the radius of curvature of the curve on the vehicle traveling path is acquired by calculation based on the map drawing / map matching data and the current position information of the vehicle obtained by the position detector 3, but other acquisitions have been described. It may be configured to be acquired by means (for example, a means for acquiring data indicating a radius of curvature of a curve on a vehicle traveling path from a beacon provided on the road side). Further, although the position detector 3 is used to acquire the current position information of the vehicle, for example,
It is also possible to use means for acquiring the current position information of the vehicle from the beacon provided on the road side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a driver's seat

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control contents.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a car navigation device (acquisition means), 2 is a control circuit (calculation means, output means), 3 is a position detector (position detection means), 11 is a vehicle speed sensor (detection means), and 14 is a drive mechanism (drive means). , 15 is a driver's seat, 16 is a side support mechanism section, 21 is an information recording medium (data storage means), 23 is a seat back, and 23a is a side support section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An occupant support device for a vehicle, comprising: a seat having at least left and right side portions of a seat back provided with side support parts capable of adjusting side support amounts; and an acquisition unit for acquiring a radius of curvature of a vehicle traveling path, Detecting means for detecting a traveling speed of the vehicle; and calculating means for calculating a side support amount required for the side support part based on the radius of curvature of the vehicle traveling path acquired by the acquiring means and the vehicle traveling speed detected by the detecting means. A vehicle occupant support device comprising: a driving unit that adjusts a side support amount of the side support unit based on a calculation result of the calculation unit. 2. A position information acquisition unit for acquiring current position information of a vehicle, and a data storage unit for storing road map data, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the current position of the vehicle acquired by the position information acquisition unit and The vehicle occupant support device according to claim 1, wherein the radius of curvature of the vehicle traveling path is detected based on the road map data read from the data storage means. 3. The vehicle occupant support system according to claim 2, further comprising output means for outputting a detection signal indicating a radius of curvature of the vehicle before the vehicle approaches a vehicle traveling path having a radius of curvature or less. The calculation means calculates a side support amount required for the side support portion based on the detection signal output from the output means and the detection output by the detection means, and gives the calculation result to the drive means. Vehicle occupant support device.