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US 10,549,659 B2Granted
Seating arrangements in a vehicle
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsRichard M. Sullivan, Danil V. Prokhorov, Paxton S. Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various seating arrangements for a vehicle are described. Generally, the vehicle includes an electromagnetic array featured on a floor of the vehicle. The chair includes base having a plurality of magnets featured thereon. The vehicle generates signals for the electromagnetic array to generate a wave and impart a force on the chair in a determined direction via the plurality of magnets.
Claims20
A seating system in a vehicle, comprising:
- a floor featuring an electromagnetic array configured to output a magnetic field having a first polarity;
- a chair including a base adjacent to the floor, the base featuring one or more magnets configured to have a shared second polarity that is opposite the first polarity;
- a processor operatively connected to the electromagnetic array;
- and
- memory operatively connected to the processor, the memory storing:
- an array control module including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to i) determine where to direct a wave in the magnetic field to impart a force on the chair in a determined direction, and ii) generate one or more control signals for the electromagnetic array to produce the wave in the magnetic field that moves across the electromagnetic array in the determined direction and thereby imparts the force on the chair via the one or more magnets in the determined direction.
3 more elements
A method of controlling a chair in a vehicle, the method comprising:
- in a vehicle including a chair and a floor featuring an electromagnetic array, levitating the chair above the electromagnetic array using a magnetic field output by the electromagnetic array;
- identifying a target destination for the chair within the vehicle;
- and
- generating one or more waves in the magnetic field, the one or more waves moving towards the target destination, thereby imparting a force on the chair causing the chair to be located at the target destination.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.