Pneumatic massage intensification for a vehicle seat

A vehicle seat comprising:

• a frame;
• a back foam configured to provide a backrest;
• a plurality of adjustable pneumatic bladders positioned within the vehicle seat on an A-surface of the back foam;
• a source of pressurized air;
• a plurality of control valves, wherein each control valve is independently controllable to control whether the pressurized air is provided from the source to a respective bladder to allow for individual control of inflation of each bladder of the plurality of adjustable pneumatic bladders;
• and
• an electronic processor coupled to the plurality of control valves to independently control each of the control valves, wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
• control the plurality of control valves to operate in a first manner to inflate a left first bladder and a right first bladder on the back foam for a first period of time,
• in response to the first period of time elapsing, control, for a second period of time that is shorter than the first period of time, the plurality of control valves to operate in a second manner to stop inflating one of the left first bladder and the right first bladder while continuing to inflate the other of the left first bladder and the right first bladder,
• in response to the second period of time elapsing, control, for the second period of time, the plurality of control valves to operate in a third manner to stop inflating the other of the left first bladder and the right first bladder and inflate the one of the left first bladder and the right first bladder,
• repeatedly control the plurality of control valves to operate in the second manner for the second period of time and in the third manner for the second period of time in an alternating manner for a predetermined amount of repetitions,
• in response to determining that the repeated control of the plurality of control valves in the alternating manner has repeated the predetermined amount of repetitions, control the plurality of control valves to operate in the first manner for a third period of time that is shorter than the first period of time and longer than the second period of time,
• in response to the third period of time elapsing, control, for a fourth period of time, the plurality of control valves to operate in a fourth manner to inflate a left vertically adjacent bladder that is vertically adjacent to the left first bladder and a right vertically adjacent bladder that is vertically adjacent to the right first bladder on the back foam and to stop inflating the left first bladder and the right first bladder,
• in response to the fourth period of time elapsing, control, for the second period of time, the plurality of control valves to operate in a fifth manner to stop inflating one of the left vertically adjacent bladder and the right vertically adjacent bladder while continuing to inflate the other of the left vertically adjacent bladder and the right vertically adjacent bladder,
• in response to the second period of time elapsing, control, for the second period of time, the plurality of control valves to operate in a sixth manner to stop inflating the other of the left vertically adjacent bladder and the right vertically adjacent bladder and inflate the one of the left vertically adjacent bladder and the right vertically adjacent bladder,
• repeatedly control the plurality of control valves to operate in the fifth manner for the second period of time and in the sixth manner for the second period of time in the alternating manner for the predetermined amount of repetitions, and
• in response to determining that the repeated control of the plurality of control valves in the alternating manner has repeated the predetermined amount of repetitions, control the plurality of control valves to operate in the fourth manner for a fifth period of time that is shorter than the fourth period of time and longer than the second period of time.

A vehicle seat comprising:

• a frame;
• a back foam configured to provide a backrest;
• a plurality of adjustable pneumatic bladders positioned within the vehicle seat on an A-surface of the back foam;
• a source of pressurized air;
• a plurality of control valves, wherein each control valve is independently controllable to control whether the pressurized air is provided from the source to a respective bladder to allow for individual control of inflation of each bladder of the plurality of adjustable pneumatic bladders;
• and
• an electronic processor coupled to the plurality of control valves to independently control each of the control valves, wherein the electronic processor is configured to:
• control the plurality of control valves to operate in a first manner to inflate a first subgroup of bladders on the back foam for a first period of time, wherein the first period of time is at least two seconds, and wherein the first subgroup of bladders includes a right bladder and a left bladder,
• in response to the first period of time elapsing, control the plurality of control valves to operate in a second manner to repeatedly, for a predetermined amount of repetitions and in an alternating manner, (i) inflate the left bladder and stop inflating the right bladder for a second period of time and (ii) stop inflating the left bladder and inflate the right bladder for a third period of time, wherein the second period of time is between and inclusive of 0.2 seconds and 0.3 seconds, and wherein the third period of time is between and inclusive of 0.2 seconds and 0.3 seconds, and
• in response to determining that the repeated control of the plurality of control valves in the alternating manner has repeated the predetermined amount of repetitions, control the plurality of control valves to operate in a third manner to inflate the first subgroup of bladders on the back foam for a fourth period of time, wherein the fourth period of time is at least one second;
• wherein the electronic processor is configured to control the plurality of control valves in the first manner, the second manner, and the third manner to provide a wave toggle or a step toggle starting on a first vertical portion of the back foam and moving in a direction up or down to a second vertical portion of the back foam;
• wherein the electronic processor is configured to control the plurality of control valves such that the wave toggle or the step toggle continues moving in the direction by controlling the control valves to inflate additional subgroups of bladders located in another vertical portion of the back foam.