Daimler Chrysler Ag

Daimler-benz Ag

Mercedes-benz Aktiengesellschaft

Eberhard Faust

Karl Pfahler

Josef Klink

Lothar Kassing

Kurt Niethammer

Rudolf Andres

Rolf Krugener

Hermann Moller

Ulrich Maier

Guntram Huber

Emil Dinkel

Lothar Renner

Gunter Gmeiner

Volker Speck

Wolfram Judenhahn

Otto Ohlhausen

Reiner Renz

Heinz Bossert

Gerald Jank

Ulrich Ebbeskotte

Markus Witzmann

Karl Pfhaler

Frank Bayer

Carsten Mibus

Adam Mazzon

Norbert Polifke

Harald Decker

Peter Strache

Ute Maurer

Bernd Hansmann

Helge Schmidt

Wolfram Qullmalz

Gunter Stellmach

Ludwig Hammer

The invention relates to a seat, particularly a vehicle seat, having a cushion support and a cushion which is supported on the cushion support. The cushion has a seat surface and an edge area surrounding this surface and is composed of a cubical cushion body which encompasses the seat surface and of a foamed-to-shape edge part which rests on the lateral surfaces of the cushion body and fills the edge area. This provides optimal seat pressure distribution and the air-conditioned sitting comfort, while reducing the required proportion of manual work. The cushion support, which accommodates the cushion body as well as the edge part, is constructed in an air-permeable manner and the other hand, the cushion body consists of an air-permeable nonwoven material, while the edge part is manufactured of polyurethane foam or another material having the same characteristics, and is connected with cushion body.

Seat, especially a vehicle seat

A cushioning for a vehicle seat has a cushioning layer and a ventilation layer which covers this cushioning layer and through which air flows. A plurality of air ducts completely penetrate the cushioning layer and are open on the backside of the cushioning layer and in which one miniature fan respectively is arranged for blowing air into the ventilation layer. For ventilating cushioning areas which, because of sitting aids arranged in the cushioning layer, are not suitable for a direct ventilation, the end of the air ducts assigned to these cushioning areas which faces the ventilation layer is constructed such that a portion of the air flow penetrating the air duct enters into the open cross-sectional surface of the ventilation layer.

Cushioning for a vehicle seat

A vehicle seat has a cushion integrated into a seat part and/or a seat back. The cushion has a ventilation layer through which air can flow and a cushion cover stretched over the cushion surface facing the seated individual. A plurality of electrically driven miniature fans which are located in air channels to blow air into the ventilation layer that terminate at the underside and rear of the cushion facing away from the cushion cover are provided. The air channels extend up to the ventilation layer. To optimize the ventilation efficiency of the seat ventilation, exhaust air channels are provided in the cushion that extend from the ventilation layer up to the underside or rear of the cushion and terminate freely there.

Vehicle seat

A vehicle seat has a cushion integrated in a seat part and/or in a backrest. The cushion has a ventilation layer, through which air can flow, and an air-permeable cushion cover which spans the cushion surface. At least one electrically driven ventilator blows air into the ventilation layer. In order to optimize efficiency and rapidity of seat ventilation when cooling heated seat surfaces and achieve a compact seat construction without any space demands under the cushion of the seat part and behind the cushion of the backrest, the ventilator is constructed such that it takes air in axially and blows air out at least radially and is arranged in the ventilation layer itself. The intake opening of the ventilator is exposed on the side of the cushion facing away from the cushion cover.

A method and a system for quantitative determination of the seat climate of a seat cushion is provided. For this purpose, the seat surface is subjected, during realistic mechanical loading of the seat cushion to be tested, to a flow of moisture from a climate mat. Any moisture stagnation at the seat surface is measured. For this purpose, the seat cushion, covered with a flexible multilayer climate mat, is loaded realistically via an anthropomorphically shaped seat testing punch. The climate mat consists of the following layers: a plurality of flat moisture sensors; a trouser material layer with low moisture uptake; a distribution layer that is readily permeable to air and has a noncompressible structure; a fleece layer that can be moistened and replaced as the moisture storage medium; an electrically insulating vapor barrier; and an electrically heatable heating mat that can be set to a specific temperature.

Method and system for quantitative determination of seat climate on seat

A seat testing body measures vibration on seats. The body has simulated buttocks, which point downwards in the testing position and can be placed on a seat cushion of a seat to be tested, and a simulated back which is connected therewith and in the testing position can be placed against the backrest cushion of a seat to be tested. The seat testing body, with respect to its underside shape and the softness to this extent, with respect to its weight and the resulting sitting pressure distribution, corresponds approximately to the respective criteria of a person of an average weight. In order to realistically simulate with such a seat testing body the vibration action of human beings independently of the seat construction and the seat position, particularly to be able to quantitatively correctly reflect that reality in the higher-frequency range, a three-dimensionally vibratory spring damper mass system is mounted on the seat testing body. At least one vibrating mass is surrounded by a spring damper medium such that it can vibrate in all three directions in space.

Seat testing body for vibration measurements on seats

A cushioning for a seat part and/or a backrest of a vehicle seat, having a ventilation layer through which air can flow and which comprises an air-permeable and water-permeable top and bottom layer. Elastically bendable, mutually spaced spacing webs or threads hold these layers at a distance and connect them with one another. Fans or ventilators blow air into the ventilation layer. For ensuring an intensive ventilation of the entire cushioning surface of the vehicle seat provided for the seat user, specifically also when the fan outputs available for the ventilation are limited, the density of the spacing webs or threads is selected to be larger in the longitudinal direction of the cushioning than in the width direction of the cushioning. Thereby, the air is distributed over the entire seat width and backrest width before flowing widely in the longitudinal direction of the seat part or of the backrest along under the cushioning surface.

Cushioning for a seat part and/or a backrest for a vehicle seat

A retaining device having an elastic annular collar as a retainer for mounting a vibrating part to obtain, in a constructionally simple manner, good outward encapsulation, for fitting it into a soft part. The retaining device is a retaining ring which surrounds the vibrating part at a radial distance and has longitudinal slots which are distributed around the circumference and run in the circumferential direction. Pins are provided adjacent to and perpendicular to the slots, on which the elastic annular collar is mounted, such that the elastic annular collar does not come into contact with the retaining ring.

Retaining device for mounting a vibrating part

A vehicle seat has a cushion integrated in a seat part and/or a backrest, which cushion has a ventilation layer, through which air can flow, and an air-permeable cushion cover spanning the cushion surface. The seat also has at least one ventilator arranged below the cushion for blowing air into the ventilation layer. In order to provide a ventilated vehicle seat construction at reasonable cost for vehicles of the medium to lower price range, the ventilation layer is constructed as an air-permeable cushion support which rests on a cushion carrier only by way of intermediate placement of an air-impermeable pressure distribution layer. The pressure distribution layer has at least one inflow opening for the ventilation air on which the ventilator is arranged below the air distribution layer.

A seat test body is provided for vibration measurements. In order to be able to obtain, during vibration measurements in the whole spectral range, measuring results which can be compared at least qualitatively with corresponding test person measurements, the buttocks imitation and the back imitation of the seat test body are each formed by padded hard parts. The hard parts of the buttocks imitation and those of the back imitation imitate true to life the corresponding bone structure of a human skeleton at least with respect to the portion of the skeleton which is loaded during sitting. With respect to the layer thickness, the softness, the elasticity and the damping behavior as well as the local distribution of these parameters, the padding of the hard parts anthropomorphically imitates the soft parts in the buttocks area and the back area. For achieving the required sitting weight of the seat test body, a passive ballast in the form of several weights is placed on the interior side into the buttocks imitation and/or is placed on shelf-type consoles on the interior side of the back imitation. Relative to the buttocks imitation, the back imitation is disposed to be swivellable within a limited angular space about the hip joint point and is elastically prestressed in the sense of a stretched position of the back part and the buttocks part.

Seat test body

A vehicle seat having seat and backrest cushions includes a ventilation device for ventilating the cushions as well as a heating device for heating the cushions. A desirable sitting climate providing high comfort is produced by eliminating both a seat user's perspiration and overcooling. The desirable sitting climate is assured by a control unit which is connected on an input side with a temperature sensor arranged in a cushion and on an output side with the electric circuits of the ventilation unit and the heating unit. The control unit is adjusted such that, at cushion surface temperatures measured by the temperature sensor which are above an indicated value, it switches on the ventilation device or changes it to a higher power stage and/or switches off the heating device or changes it to a lower heating capacity. At cushion surface temperatures which are below the indicated value, the control unit switches off the ventilation device or changes it to a lower power stage and/or switches on the heating device or changes it to a higher power stage. The control unit may also operate based on an output from a moisture sensor.

Vehicle seat with temperature and ventilation control and method of

A vehicle seat has an upholstery which is integrated in both eat part and in the backrest. A ventilation layer is provided through which air can flow, and an air-permeable upholstery cover spans the surface facing the sitting person, as well as having devices for ventilating the ventilation layer. For improving the sitting climate comfort, which also includes a rapidly effective cooling of the seat surfaces heated by sun radiation when the vehicle is entered and the removal of the transpiration moisture, and also for avoiding disturbing air connection hoses between the vehicle seat and the air-conditioner, the ventilation layer is arranged on an upholstery layer. Devices for ventilating the ventilation layer have a plurality of electrically driven miniature fans integrated in the upholstery layer. One miniature fan respectively is arranged in an air duct penetrating the upholstery layer from the underside to the ventilation layer. The distribution of the air ducts takes place so that a uniform, area-wide ventilation of the ventilation layer is ensured.

Ventilated vehicle seat with a plurality of miniature ventilators

A method is provided for quantitative determination of the pressure comfort of a seat cushion. For this purpose, the sitting surface of the seat cushion to be tested is loaded mechanically in a manner that corresponds to a normal individual sitting in it, and the seat distribution is then determined with an interposed measuring mat. The signals from the individual pressure sensors of the measuring mat are summarized in accordance with anthropomorphically determined loading ranges with different pressure sensitivity thresholds groupwise and evaluated separately for the individual areas. For this purpose, the pressure measurement signals are multiplied by a factor or a pressure-dependent progressively increasing evaluation function and the product function is integrated. The pressure sensitivity threshold is assigned a value of 1. Depending on the difference between the respective pressure measurement value and the pressure sensitivity threshold (p.sub.0) the quality factor increases approximately parabolically or in geometric stages with increasing difference. The sum of the integral values obtained for the product functions is output as a rating number for the pressure comfort of the cushion. The comfort investigation can be performed with subjects of different sizes or seat testing punches of different sizes (5%, 50%, and 95% percentile), with an average or total value for all the results being used as a rating number for pressure comfort.

Method for quantitative determination of the pressure comfort of a seat

A seat testing punch is provided with an upholstered pressure element that can be used as a suitable aid in comfort comparison testing of different test seats to be performed according to strict test criteria, with which seat testing punch various test seats can be loaded in a realistic and reproducible manner as often or for as long as desired. For this purpose, the shape of the pressure element is made to simulate the pelvis and thighs, including the hip joints, of a human skeleton, at least as regards the underside. The upholstery of the pressure element likewise simulates anthropomorphically the soft parts in the area of the buttocks in terms of local distribution of thickness and softness. In particular, the two sitting pressure points of human buttocks and their immediate environment are simulated as naturally as possible in terms of shape, position, hardness, and local hardness distribution.

Seat testing punch

A method and a device for determining the surface contour of an elastic seat cushion deformable under load are provided. Through the use of a measuring mat placed on the seat cushion, after the load is relieved, the resultant deformed state corresponding to the deformed surface of the cushion is preserved by applying a vacuum to the measuring mat. The three-dimensional surface contour of the measuring mat fixed in its deformed state is measured with a multicoordinate measuring device in known fashion. The measuring mat consists of two vacuum-tight material webs, especially plastic films, connected vacuum-tight with one another to form a pocket having a vacuum connection, with the pocket being filled with a granulate, preferably a foam granulate.

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Stuttgart, Germany

Eberhard Faust