The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 28, 2022
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2019
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Miga Technologies, Llc, Silverton, OR (US);
Umesh N. Gandhi, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Brian J. Pinkelman, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Ryohei Tsuruta, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Mark A. Gummin, Silverton, OR (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Miga Technologies. LLC, Silverton, OR (US);
Abstract
A vehicle seat can be configured to selectively provide support to a vehicle occupant in conditions when lateral acceleration is experienced. An actuator can be located within the vehicle seat. When activated, the actuator cause a portion of the seat to morph into an activated configuration. The actuator can be activated based on vehicle speed, steering angle, and/or lateral acceleration. The actuator can include end members connected by a shape memory material connecting member. Actuator blocks with sliding surfaces can be located between the end members. The actuator can be configured such that, in response to an activation input, the shape memory material connecting member contracts, which draws the end members toward each other and causes corresponding sliding surfaces of the plurality of actuator blocks to engage and slide relative to each other. In this way, the actuator morphs into an activated configuration in which its overall height increases.