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US 11,884,192 B1Granted
Deformable vehicle seat
AssigneeZoox, Inc.
InventorsPaul Choin, Anthony Iannone
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle seat comprises a controllable deformable material and control apparatus is provided for controlling the state of a controllable deformable material. The control apparatus is configured to generate a signal to cause a control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material to change the characteristic of the controllable deformable material and thereby change the state of the controllable deformable material. The controllable deformable material is controllable to change state from a first state to at least a second state and is controllable to change state from at least the second state to the first state, the controllable deformable material being more deformable per unit force in the second state than in the first state.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising a vehicle seat having a seat frame, at least one seat cushion mounted to the seat frame and control apparatus,
- wherein the seat cushion comprises a controllable deformable material that has a controllable resistance to deformation, the control apparatus being configured to control a variation in the resistance to deformation,
- wherein the control apparatus is configured to reduce the resistance to deformation of the controllable deformable material based at least in part on detecting a trigger indicating occupancy or an anticipated occupancy of the vehicle seat and to increase the resistance to deformation of the controllable deformable material based at least in part on at least one of:
- an indication that the cushion has been deformed by a threshold amount;
- or
- an indication that a time period has expired, and
- wherein the control apparatus is further configured to reduce the resistance to deformation of the controllable deformable material based at least in part on detecting, by a perception and prediction component of the vehicle, an anticipated collision event, whereby to allow compression of the seat cushion by weight of an occupant in anticipation of the collision event to improve management of coupling of a mechanical force imparted to the seat frame from the occupant during the collision event.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- controlling a vehicle seat comprising a controllable deformable material, to change a state of the controllable deformable material from a first state to at least a second state and to change the state from at least the second state to the first state by changing a characteristic of the controllable deformable material, the controllable deformable material being more deformable per unit force in the second state than in the first state, and
- wherein said controlling the vehicle seat to change the state of the controllable deformable material from a first state to at least a second state comprises reducing the resistance to deformation of the controllable deformable material based at least in part on detecting a trigger indicating occupancy or an anticipated occupancy of the vehicle seat, and
- wherein said controlling the vehicle seat to change the state from at least the second state to the first state comprises increasing the resistance to deformation of the controllable deformable material based at least in part on at least one of:
- an indication that the cushion has been deformed by a threshold amount, or an indication that a time period has expired.
1 more element
A system comprising:
- a vehicle seat comprising a controllable deformable material, the controllable deformable material being controllable to change state from a first state to at least a second state and being controllable to change state from at least the second state to the first state by changing a characteristic of the controllable deformable material, the controllable deformable material being more deformable per unit force in the second state than in the first state;
- and
- a control apparatus configured to control the state of the controllable deformable material of the vehicle seat, the control apparatus comprising one or more processors and a control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material, the one or more processors being configured to generate a signal to cause the control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material to change the characteristic of the controllable deformable material and thereby change the state of the controllable deformable material,
- wherein the control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material comprises one or more of:
- (i) a light source configured to apply a light intensity to the controllable deformable material, (ii) a temperature source configured to control a temperature of the controllable deformable material, or (iii) a source of electrical current to cause a current to flow through the controllable deformable material, and
- wherein the control apparatus is configured to:
- (i) cause the control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material to cause at least one of the light intensity, the temperature or the current to increase and thereby to cause the controllable deformable material to change to the second state;
- and (ii) cause the control element in proximity to the controllable deformable material to cause at least one of the light intensity, the temperature or the current to decrease and thereby to cause the controllable deformable material to change to the first state.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.