Active vehicle seat architecture for inertial compensation in motor vehicles

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body defining a passenger compartment with a base plate;
• an occupant chair including a backrest portion, a seat portion connected to the backrest portion, and a pair of glide rails connected to the seat portion;
• a 3-axis accelerometer configured to detect motion of the occupant chair and output signals indicative thereof;
• an automated platform subjacent the seat portion, the automated platform including:
• a pitch plate with a pair of seat tracks slidably mated with the glide rails to thereby movably mount thereon the seat portion of the occupant chair;
• a roll plate interposed between the pitch plate and the base plate such that the pitch plate is mounted on the roll plate and the roll plate is mounted on the base plate;
• a four-bar pitch linkage pivotably coupling the pitch plate to the roll plate such that the pitch plate is pivotable about first and second pitch axes mutually parallel to a lateral axis of the vehicle body;
• a four-bar roll linkage pivotably coupling the roll plate to the base plate such that the roll plate is pivotable about first and second roll axes mutually parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle body;
• an electronically actuable linear pitch actuator connected to and configured to selectively pivot the pitch plate about the first and second pitch axes;
• and
• an electronically actuable linear roll actuator connected to and configured to selectively pivot the roll plate about the first and second roll axes;
• and
• an on-board controller communicatively connected to the 3-axis accelerometer, the pitch actuator, and the roll actuator, the on-board controller being operable to respond to a motion signal from the accelerometer indicative of an inertial motion disturbance to the occupant chair and output a control signal to one or both of the pitch and roll actuators to selectively pivot one or both of the pitch and roll plates and thereby counteract the inertial motion disturbance.

A method of constructing an active vehicle seat assembly for a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle having a vehicle body with a base plate, the method comprising:

• providing an occupant chair including a backrest portion and a seat portion attached to the backrest portion;
• attaching a motion sensor to the occupant chair, the motion sensor being configured to detect motion of the occupant chair and output signals indicative thereof;
• attaching an automated platform to the seat portion, the automated platform being configured to movably mount to the vehicle body, the automated platform including:
• a pitch plate movably mounted to the seat portion, the pitch plate being configured to pivot relative to the lateral axis;
• a pitch actuator connected to and configured to selectively pivot the pitch plate;
• a roll plate pivotably mounted to the pitch plate, the roll plate being configured to pivotably mount to the base plate and pivot relative to the longitudinal axis;
• and
• a roll actuator connected to and configured to selectively pivot the roll plate;
• and
• a four-bar roll linkage with first and second roll actuation plates and first and second sets of roll pivot joints, the first set of roll pivot joints being configured to pivotably couple first ends of the first and second roll actuation plates to the base plate of the vehicle body, and the second set of roll pivot joints pivotably coupling second ends of the first and second roll actuation plates to the roll plate;
• and
• communicatively connecting an on-board controller to the motion sensor, the pitch actuator, and the roll actuator, the on-board controller being operable to respond to a motion signal from the motion sensor indicative of an inertial motion disturbance to the occupant chair and output a control signal to one or both of the pitch and roll actuators to selectively pivot one or both of the pitch and roll plates and thereby counteract the inertial motion disturbance.