Vehicle seat assembly and subassemblies thereof

An assembly or system comprising:

• a) a valve body sized for translation within a fluid chamber, a pair of opposed seals oriented on the valve body to seal a pair of ports, and a linear actuator mounted on the valve body to actuate the valve body;
• b) a valve body formed from a polymeric material, sized for translation within a fluid chamber spring formed integrally with the valve body, extending from the valve body to bias the valve body in one direction, and a linear actuator mounted on the valve body to actuate the valve body and compress the fluid chamber spring;
• c) a housing with a fluid chamber formed therein with a first port, a second port, and a third port in fluid communication with the fluid chamber, wherein the first port or the third port is formed at a distal end of the fluid chamber, and a valve oriented in the fluid chamber for translation to:
• an inflate position whereby fluid passes from a source of pressurized fluid into the first port, through the fluid chamber and out of the second port to inflate a fluid bladder, while the third port is sealed from the fluid chamber, and a deflate position whereby fluid passes from the fluid bladder into the second port, through the fluid chamber and out of the third port to deflate the fluid bladder, while the first port is sealed from the fluid chamber;
• d) a housing with a matrix of fluid chambers, a plurality of gate valves, each provided in one of the matrix of fluid chambers, a plurality of inflate pressure inlets, each in fluid cooperation with a subset of the fluid chambers and a first source of pressurized fluid, a plurality of control pressure inlets, each in fluid cooperation with one fluid chamber of each subset of the fluid chambers and a second source of pressurized fluid, a plurality of ports, each in fluid cooperation with one of the matrix of fluid chambers to inflate a fluid actuator when pressurized fluid is conveyed through a corresponding inflate pressure inlet of the plurality of inflate pressure inlets and a corresponding control pressure inlet of the plurality of control pressure inlets of a corresponding fluid chamber of the matrix of fluid chambers, and to deflate the fluid actuator when pressurized fluid is not conveyed through at least one of the corresponding inflate pressure inlet and the corresponding control pressure inlet of the corresponding fluid chamber, and a controller in communication with the first source of pressurized fluid and the second source of pressurized fluid so that a first subset of the plurality of gate valves is operated in a constant inflation position, and a second subset of the plurality of gate valves is operated in a constant deflation position;
• e) a piston body with a rectangular cross section, and a seal oriented about the piston body to engage an inner wall of a fluid chamber;
• f) a first valve having a first valve element, a second valve having a second valve element, the second valve positioned adjacent to the first valve, and a first actuator with an actuator member movable between a first actuator position and a second actuator position, the actuator member coupled to each of the first valve element and the second valve element for movement therewith;
• g) a pump, a first rail connected to the pump via at one or more control valves, a second rail connected to the pump via the one or more control valves, wherein the one or more control valves control fluid flow from the pump to one of the first rail and the second rail, a series of first valves, each first valve having a first port with an associated first valve element and an associated second valve element, and a vent line, the first port of each of the first valves receiving pressurized fluid from the first rail via the first valve element, a series of first bladders, each first bladder fluidly coupled to the first port of one of the first valves, a series of pairs of second valves, each second valve having a second port with an associated third valve element, the second port of each of the second valves receiving pressurized fluid from the second rail, a series of second bladders, each second bladder fluidly coupled to the second port of one of the second valves, and a series of pairs of actuators, one of the actuators in each pair of actuators coupled to the first valve element and third valve element of one of the second valves in each pair for movement therewith, and the other of the actuators in each pair of actuators coupled to the second valve element and third valve element of the other of the second valves in each pair for movement therewith;
• h) a first number of pneumatic massage actuators, an air pump, and a pneumatic valve network to distribute air from the air pump to any one of the pneumatic massage actuators, the one pneumatic massage actuator selected based on states of a second number of binary electrical signals, wherein no air from the air pump is routed to any of the actuators of the first number of pneumatic massage actuators except the one selected pneumatic actuator, and the first number exceeds the second number;
• i) a first number of pneumatic massage actuators, an air pump, a pneumatic valve network to distribute air from the air pump to various subsets of the pneumatic massage actuators and only to that subset, the subset selected based on states of a second number of binary electrical signals wherein the first number exceeds the second number, and a first number of NOT-type valves, each NOT-type valve to vent a corresponding one of the pneumatic massage actuators in response to an input line of the corresponding pneumatic massage actuator being unpressurized;
• j) a first number of pneumatic massage actuators, an air pump, and a pneumatic valve network to distribute air from the air pump to various subsets of the pneumatic massage actuators and only to that subset, the subset selected based on states of a second number of binary electrical signals wherein the first number exceeds the second number, and vent air from all of the pneumatic massage actuators not in the selected subset;
• k) a massage actuator adapted to be attached to a seat cushion, an air pump, and a valve comprising:
• a pressure port fluidly connected to the air pump, at least one outlet port fluidly connected to the massage actuator, a vent port, a spool to slide within a bore, at least one spring to bias the spool toward a neutral position in which the at least one outlet port is isolated from both the pressure port and the vent port, and a solenoid to move the spool to a first position in response to an electrical current in a first direction and to move the spool to a second position in response to an electrical current in a second direction, the at least one outlet port being fluidly connected to the pressure port when the spool is in the first position and fluidly connected to the vent port when the spool is in the second position;
• l) A pressure port, at least one outlet port, a vent port, a spool to slide within a bore, at least one spring to bias the spool toward a neutral position in which the at least one outlet port is isolated from both the pressure port and the vent port, and a solenoid to move the spool to a first position in response to an electrical current in a first direction and to move the spool to a second position in response to an electrical current in a second direction, the at least one outlet port being fluidly connected to the pressure port when the spool is in the first position and fluidly connected to the vent port when the spool is in the second position;
• and/or
• m) a massage actuator adapted to be attached to a seat cushion, an air pump, and a valve comprising:
• a pressure port fluidly connected to the air pump, at least one outlet port fluidly connected to the massage actuator, a vent port, a spool to slide within a bore, at least one spring to bias the spool toward a holding position in which the actuator is maintained in its current state of inflation, and a solenoid to move the spool to an inflation position in response to an electrical current in a first direction and to move the spool to a deflation position in response to an electrical current in a second direction, air being routed from the air pump to the massage actuator when the spool is in the inflation position and air being routed from the massage actuator to an environment via the vent port when the spool is in the deflation position.