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:
Sep. 12, 2023
Filed:
Mar. 28, 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 provide support to a vehicle occupant in conditions when lateral acceleration is experienced. Shape memory material members can be operatively positioned with respect to a seat portion of the vehicle seat. The shape memory material members can be selectively activated by an activation input. When activated, the shape memory material members can engage a seat pan so as to cause the seat pan to tilt in a respective lateral direction. As a result, a seat cushion supported by the seat pan can also tilt in the respective lateral direction. The seat cushion can be tilted in a lateral direction that is opposite to the direction of the lateral acceleration. Thus, the effects of lateral acceleration felt by a seat occupant can be reduced. The shape memory material members can be selectively activated based on vehicle speed, steering angle, and/or lateral acceleration.