LIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLE SEAT

The present invention is related to a lightweight vehicle seat.

According to the invention, in order to better understand the positioning of the different parts involved in a vehicle according to the invention, the description is made by referring to a direct orthonormal reference system XYZ attached to a vehicle in which a seat according to the invention would be mounted. Here, X is a longitudinal axis directed towards the rear of the vehicle, Y is a transverse axis directed towards the right side of the vehicle, and Z is a perpendicular axis directed upwards.

In fact, the structure of vehicle seats has many disadvantages:

• It requires metallic parts that are heavy and difficult to handle,

• It makes it difficult to design heated and cooled seats due to the Pll content,

• It makes post-sales interventions expensive,

• It can be dangerous if a short circuit occurs because the metallic parts that make it up could conduct the electricity thus produced, with significant risks of electrocution, particularly for a person who would be sitting on said seat.

According to the invention, a seat provides the opportunity to overcome the main disadvantages that arise in previous techniques regarding seats.

The invention aims to provide a vehicle seat comprising a backrest component structure and a seat component structure.

According to the invention, both the backrest component structure and the seating component structure contain a frame made of expanded thermoplastic material, and multiple unidirectional strips containing fibers integrated into a thermoplastic matrix pass through each of the frames. According to the invention, a seat is lightweight yet has good mechanical strength due to the fact that the metallic fixtures commonly found in current vehicle seats have been largely removed and replaced with thermoplastic fixtures. From an advantageous perspective, the frame of the backrest component structure is closed and has four segments/columns that are parallel in pairs. The frame of the backrest component structure preferably has a rectangular shape. Preferably, the frame of the seat component structure is open and has three segments, two of which are parallel to each other and the third segment connects these two parallel segments perpendicularly. The frames can be solid or hollow. The unidirectional strips arrange gaps between each frame's segments in a way that they create a separate (discontinuous) wall by connecting them to each other. The unidirectional strips are lightweight and also have good mechanical strength. When the seat is fully assembled, the unidirectional strips can be covered by a foam or fabric material. According to another configuration of the invention, these unidirectional strips are not covered with any filling material and they form the parts of the seat that will come into direct contact with the body of a person sitting on the seat. According to the invention it is not excluded that a seat retains some metal parts, for example to ensure its fixation in a vehicle and/or to ensure the pivoting of the backrest structure on the seating structure. The integration of these metal parts can be achieved by plastic over molding of the metal fixing interfaces.

According to a possible aspect of the invention, the frame of the seat component structure and the frame of the backrest component structure are manufactured from a porous thermoplastic material. The porosity of the material allows a seat according to the invention to be slightly lighter, providing good mechanical resistance.

According to a possible aspect of the invention, the frame of the seat component structure and the frame of the backrest component structure are manufactured from expanded polypropylene. The use of this type of material is easy and well-controlled.

According to a possible feature of the invention, the fibers of the unidirectional strips are selected from carbon fibers or glass fibers.

According to a possible feature of the invention, the unidirectional strips define bars that are parallel within the same frame. Thus, the seat component structure and the backrest component structure are well-structured and therefore have homogeneous and equally distributed mechanical resistance. The distance separating two consecutive unidirectional strips is preferably fixed.

According to a possible feature of the invention, the backrest component structure can be adjusted in a sloping manner above the seat component structure about a turning axis, and all bars of the seat component structure and the backrest component structure are parallel to the turning axis. When the seat is installed in a vehicle, all the bars of the backrest structure and the seat structure will extend in a transverse axis of the vehicle (Y).

According to a possible feature of the invention, a polyurethane layer covers the bars of the seat structure frame and the backrest structure frame. This polyurethane layer is advantageously in the form of a foam molded onto the bars of each frame and allows comfortable conditions for a person sitting on the seat.

According to a possible feature of the invention, a woven material covers the bars of the seat structure frame and the backrest structure frame. This type of weaving can, for example, be a fabric weave or a leather weave.

According to a possible feature of the invention, the bars protrude from/flush with the backrest structure frame and the seat structure frame in a way that allows direct contact with a person's body sitting on the seat. For this configuration, a person sitting on the seat is in direct contact with the bars of the seat structure frame and the bars of the backrest structure frame.

According to a possible feature of the invention, the seating frame and/or backrest frame have air channels designed to be connected to a vehicle's temperature control system to modulate the seat's temperature. According to the invention, despite its expanded thermoplastic structure of the seat can be temperature-adjusted due to the presence of these channels, which are directly connected to a temperature control system, such as an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning) system.

According to the invention, a seat benefits from being lightweight due to the use of recyclable materials, while maintaining good mechanical resistance and some functionality that can be encountered in existing seats, such as temperature control.

The detailed description of a preferred configuration of a seat according to the invention is given below based on the following figures:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a seat in the prior art.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a seat according to the invention.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the seat in Figure 2 from the perspective of the bottom seat portion. Figure 4 shows a simplified sectional view of a first configuration of a seating structure or backrest/support structure according to the invention.

Figure 5 shows a simplified sectional view of a second configuration of a seating structure or backrest/support structure according to the invention.

Figure 6 shows a simplified sectional view of a third configuration of a seating structure or backrest/support structure according to the invention.

Figure 7 shows a simplified sectional view of a fourth configuration of a seating structure or backrest/support structure according to the invention.

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a seating structure according to the invention, with schematic airflow channels shown.

PRIOR ART

1. Seat

2. Backrest structure

3. Seating structure

4. Lower short segment

5. Upper short segment

6. 7. Long segment

8. Headrest

11. Transverse segment

12. Cylindrical rod

13. Pivot axis

14. 15. Sliding rail

16. Foot THE INVENTION

100. Seat

102. Backrest structure

103. Seating structure

104. Lower short segment

105. Upper short segment

106, 107. Long segment

109,110. Longitudinal segment

111. Transverse segment

112. Cylindrical rod

114, 115. Sliding rail

116. Foot

120. Unidirectional strips

121. Foam

122. Textile

123. Air circulation channels

Y. Transverse axis of the vehicle

Figure 1 shows a previous art, seat (1) that has a backrest structure (2) and a seating structure (3), both made of metal. The backrest structure (2) is schematically shown in the form of a closed frame containing two parallel and horizontal short segments (4, 5) and two long segments (6, 7) that reflect the inclination of the support. The two short segments (4, 5) consist of a lower short segment (4) and an upper short segment (5), with the upper short segment (5) being placed above the lower short segment (4). A headrest (8) extends above the upper short segment (5) and can be adjusted in height above the upper short segment (5). The seating structure (3) is schematically shown in an open frame form comprising two parallel longitudinal segments (9, 10) and a transverse segment (11 ) that connects said two longitudinal segments (9, 10) that are perpendicular to each other. In particular, the transverse segment (11 ) connects the two front ends of the longitudinal segments (9, 10) to give the frame a U-shaped profile. A cylindrical rod (12) connects the two rear ends of the longitudinal segments (9, 10). The frame that creates the backrest structure (2) is mounted so as to rotate on the seating structure (3) around a pivot axis (13) that is parallel to the cylindrical rod (12) and located above it. This allows the backrest structure (2) to be adjusted in terms of inclination on the seating structure (3). Two feet (16) among these four feet (16) are fixed to a longitudinal segment (9) of the seating structure (3), and the other two feet (16) are fixed to the other longitudinal segment (10) of the seating structure (3). The feet (16) are placed between the seating structure (3) and the sliding rails (14, 15) are fixed to the seating structure (3), allowing the chair (1 ) to be slid along the longitudinal axis (X) of the vehicle by means of the sliding rails (14, 15) for the purpose of adjusting its position in the vehicle.

In state of the art, seats (1 ) should be considered in view of the fact that the seating structure (3) and backrest structure (2) are mostly made of metal and have a number of disadvantages, including the following:

• Significantly increase the weight of the seat (1 );

• Difficult to recycle;

• In case of an accidental short circuit in the seat, it can conduct electricity and cause injury to a person sitting on the seat (1 );

• Make the design of heated or cooled seats (1) more challenging.

According to the Figures 2 and 3; the invention, in order to eliminate all of the aforementioned disadvantages, a seat (100) comprises a backrest structure (102) and a seating structure (103) and, it is made from an expanded thermoplastic material, and multiple unidirectional strips (120) containing fibers integrated into a thermoplastic material matrix pass through each of the two structures (102, 103).

The backrest structure (102) is shown schematically in the form of a closed frame consisting of two parallel and horizontal short segments (104, 105) and two long segments (106, 107) that reflect the inclination of the backrest. The two short segments (104, 105) consist of a lower short segment (104) and an upper short segment (105), with the upper short segment (105) placed above the lower short segment (104). For advantageous purposes, a headrest (8) extends above the upper short segment (105).

The seating structure (103) is schematically shown in an open frame form consisting of two parallel longitudinal segments (109, 110) and a transverse segment (111 ) that connects the two longitudinal segments (109, 110) perpendicular to them. Specifically, the transverse segment (111 ) connects the two front ends of the two longitudinal segments (109, 110) and allows the frame to have a U-shaped profile. A cylindrical rod (112) connects the two rear ends of the two longitudinal segments (109, 110). The frame that makes up the backrest structure (102) is mounted on the seating structure (103) around a rotation axis (113) that is parallel to the cylindrical rod (112) and located above it. When the seat (100) is mounted in a conventional position in a vehicle, the cylindrical rod (112) and the rotation axis (113) extend along the transverse axis of the vehicle (Y). This allows the inclination of the backrest structure (102) to be adjusted relative to the seating structure (103).

Preferably, the frame forming the seating structure (103) and the frame forming the backrest structure (102) are made of a porous thermoplastic material, preferably an expanded polypropylene. Each of these frames (102, 103) has multiple unidirectional strips (120) containing fibers integrated into a thermoplastic matrix, passing through them. The fibers are preferably glass fibers or carbon fibers. These unidirectional strips (120), more commonly known as "UD tapes," pass through the frames in parallel. Therefore, parallel unidirectional strips (120) connect the two long segments (106, 107) of the backrest structure (102) to each other perpendicular to them (or parallel to the two short segments (104, 105)). Similarly, parallel unidirectional strips (120) connect the two longitudinal segments (109, 110) of the seating structure (103) to each other perpendicular to them (or parallel to the transverse segment (111 )). In summary, the unidirectional strips (120) within the frame forming the seating structure (103) and the unidirectional strips (120) within the frame forming the backrest structure (102) are parallel. When the seat (00) is mounted in a vehicle, the unidirectional strips (120) extend along a transverse of the vehicle axis (Y). The seating structure (103) is mounted onto two sliding rails (114, 115) placed on the vehicle floor through four feet (116), with two feet (116) fixed to one longitudinal segment (109) of the seating structure (103) and the other two feet (116) fixed to the other longitudinal segment (110) of the seating structure (103). The feet (116) are placed between the seating structure (103) and the sliding rails (114, 115) which allow the seat (100) to slide along a longitudinal axis (X) of the vehicle for adjustment of its position.

Referring to Figure 4, according to the invention and in a preferred first configuration of a seat (100), a foam (121 ) in the form of a covering is molded onto the unidirectional strips (120) and onto the frames that creates the seat structure (103) and backrest structure (102). This way, the foam (121) will create an air cushion over the frames (102, 103) and the unidirectional strips (120), making the contact between a person's body sitting on the seat (100) and the seat (100) itself more acceptable.

Referring to Figure 5, according to a second preferred embodiment of a seat (100) according to the invention, the unidirectional strips (120) are placed at one end of the width of each of the two frames (102, 103), so as to be flush with the frame (102, 103) or slightly protruding from it. For this configuration, no covering is provided and a person will then sit directly on said unidirectional strips (120).

Referring on Figure 6, according to a preferred third embodiment of a seat (100) according to the invention, the unidirectional strips (120) are placed at one end of the width of each of the two frames (102, 103), so as to be flush with or slightly protruding from the frame (102, 103). A covering in the form of a textile (122) (woven material) is placed over the unidirectional strips (120) and then secured to them by any means necessary. In this way, for example, the textile (122) that can be made of fabric or leather will make the contact between the body of a person sitting on the seat (100) and the seat (100) itself more acceptable.

Referring on Figure 7, according to a preferred fourth configuration of the invention, a covering in the form of foam (121 ) is molded onto frames (102, 103) with unidirectional strips (120) embedded (inserted) into the foam. In the first configuration, polyurethane foam (121) is molded onto unidirectional strips (120), while in the preferred fourth configuration, the unidirectional strips (120) are embedded into the foam (121 ).

Based on Figure 4, air circulation channels (123) can be structured within the frames that make up the backrest structure (102) and the seating structure (103) to enable temperature control of the seat (100). These channels (123) can be designed to be in fluid communication/transfer with a vehicle temperature control system, which can be of the HVAC type, for example. These channels (123) can be completely embedded within the frames (102, 103) and closed in a way that they cannot be visible from outside the seat (100). According to another configuration variant of the invention, these channels (123) can be open within the frames (102, 103) that make up the backrest and the seating structure (103), and can be covered with a coating, which can be a textile (122) or a polyurethane foam.