Abstract: There are provided a monitor for monitoring a human condition of a driver, and an awakening device for awakening a driver, which starts operation when received a predictive signal for fall-asleep being a signal for energy metabolism transition from an active state into a sleep state. The awakening device is structured to stimulate a pressure sense of the driver by reclining a seat back of a driver seat forward or rearward to thereby cause a shift force. Accordingly, without regard to an alarm reaction level to an alarm sound, it is possible to stimulate the driver and whereby awaken the driver more surely.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a seat which is applicable to a vehicle seat, and the seat comprises a seat material whose rear end side is connected to a rear end side of a frame for a sitting portion by way of an elastic member, a plate-like member suppressing deformation of the seat material at a time of sitting, and a fabric-like member suppressing downward sinking of a front portion of the seat material by a tension acting in accordance with sitting.

Abstract: A vehicle seat allowing to improve a vibration absorption characteristic, securing a stable seating posture, having high vehicle operability, and allowing to alleviate fatigue due to long time seating. In a seat cushion of a vehicle seat, a first human body support portion having a center at a position corresponding to a substantially center between the pair of ischial tuberosities of a human body, and a second human body support portion corresponding to the vicinities of femoral bases of a human body and having a center at a position located forward at a horizontal distance of 100 mm along a longitudinally center line of the seat cushion from the first human body support portion are regarded respectively as spring elements, and static spring constants and dynamic spring constants thereof are set to a predetermined relationship. Thus, stability and vibration absorbency during static seating are improved.

Abstract: A load body state is judged from time series data of an emphasis displacement inclination obtained by collecting displacement signal data of the load body state using a displacement signal collection sensor, determining a rate of change for every arbitrary interval of an original waveform as an original waveform displacement inclination at an operating unit, and at the same time, determining time series data of an average displacement inclination for every prescribed time period range from a plurality of original waveform displacement inclinations, and by determining an emphasis displacement inclination through slide calculation of time series data of the average displacement inclination for every prescribed sampling time.

Abstract: To promote bloodstream and reduce fatigue, a seat structure makes a slight sitting posture change by adding a minute body motion with no necessity of moving a cushion frame or a seat frame although it realizes a supporting pressure change at a wide area, not locally, in a seat cushion or a seat back. The seat structure includes a cushioning member for a seat cushion stretched across the cushion frame, and a cushioning member for a seat back stretched across the back frame. The seat structure includes: a lower cloth spring of a seat cushion or a cloth spring of a seat back stretched across the cushion frame or the back frame via a torsion bar; and a cloth spring adjusting member to change a supporting pressure by both cushioning members by adjusting tension of the lower cloth spring or the cloth spring.

Abstract: A fatigue degree measurement device includes a living body signal peak value detecting step to detect the peak values of respective cycles of the original waveform of the living body signal data; a power value calculating step to calculate the difference between a peak value on the upper limit side and a peak value on the lower limit side for every prescribed time period from respective peak values obtained by the living body signal peak value detecting step to set the difference as a power value; and a power value inclination calculating step to determine the inclination of the power value, to calculate an integral value by absolute value treatment of the time series signals of the inclination of the power values to determine the integral value as the degree of fatigue.

Abstract: A cushioning material 8 is stretched over a frame 6 by engaging only front and rear edges of the cushioning material 8 with the frame 6, thereby applying a tension to the cushioning material 8 substantially only in the longitudinal direction thereof.

Abstract: In order to improve seating comfort and vibration absorbency, a structure including a first torsion bar unit 70 disposed in the rear of a seat cushion, and a second torsion bar unit 80 disposed in the front of the seat cushion, and a base net 60 stretched between a rear supporting frame 74 of the first torsion bar unit 70 and a front supporting frame 84 of the second torsion bar unit 80, is provided. Owing to the elastic force of a front torsion bar 81 of the second torsion bar unit 80 positioned in the front of the seat, a sense of stroke at the time of seating is enhanced. Owing to the elastic force of a rear torsion bar 71 of the first torsion bar unit 70 positioned in the rear of the seat, similarly to the conventional structure, a load of a seated person can be sufficiently received and a stable seating comfort can be obtained.

Abstract: A reclining adjuster has a lower bracket fixed to a seat cushion; an upper bracket fixed to a seatback and connected to the lower bracket so as to be rotatable about a shaft; a lock mechanism capable of having a locked state where rotation of the upper bracket relative to the lower bracket is locked and a released state where the lock is released; and an emergency lock mechanism for preventing relative rotation between the lock mechanism and the upper bracket when it occurs. In the emergency lock mechanism, when a cam projection of an outer toothed ring gear is pressed in the circumferential direction by a cam pin of a disk member by the relative rotation therebetween, the outer toothed ring gear meshes with both inner teeth of the lower bracket and inner teeth of the upper bracket.

Abstract: A seat height adjusting device includes first and second brackets spaced away from each other, an arm disposed between the first and second brackets and having first and second ends pivotally mounted on the first bracket and a seat support, a spur gear operable to rotate the arm, first and second latches engageable with the spur gear, and a handle rotatably mounted on the first or second bracket. One of the first and second brackets is joined to a seat frame. When the seat is raised, the handle is operated to intermittently engage the first latch with the spur gear, thereby rotating the spur gear in a first direction to drive the arm. To lower the seat, the handle is operated to intermittently engage the second latch with the spur gear, thereby rotating the spur gear in a direction opposite the first direction to drive the arm.

Abstract: The present invention makes it possible to easily perform judgment of a mental-and-physical state, and distinction between a person and a thing. A load body state is judged from time series data of an emphasis displacement inclination obtained by collecting displacement signal data of the load body state using a displacement signal collection sensor 10, determining a rate of change for every arbitrary interval of an original waveform as an original waveform displacement inclination at an operating unit 20, and at the same time, determining time series data of an average displacement inclination for every prescribed time period range from a plurality of original waveform displacement inclinations, and by determining an emphasis displacement inclination through slide calculation of time series data of the average displacement inclination for every prescribed sampling time.

Abstract: A flat spring member (40) mainly serving as a vibration absorptive function at a normal use is engaged with a supporting frame member (130) which displaces backward along with deformation of a seat back (20) by backward moment applied to the seat back (20), and the other end is engaged with a front edge frame (102) disposed in the vicinity of the front edge of a cushion frame. Therefore, when an impact force from front or back equal to or more than that prescribed is applied, the flat spring member (40) increases in tension by backward moment applied to the seat back (20), and serves as a function to increase again the intensity of the backward moment of the seat back (20), which was once lowered by deformation of the side frame (101) of the cushion frame.

Abstract: A vehicle seat is provided with a pair of left and right seatback side frames comprising a seatback frame. The seatback frame is connected to the rear end of a seat portion frame via a reclining mechanism. The vehicle seat is further provided with a torsion bar that is an elastic body between the reclining mechanism and the seatback frame. When the seatback frame displaces and falls forward relative to the seat portion frame, the torsion bar deforms and resists the displacement of the seatback frame. The torsion bar is arranged at the upper region of the seat occupant's pelvis.

Abstract: A seat structure which can ameliorate fatigue of a sitting person in accordance with a long period of sitting is provided. In a vehicle seat 10, a back edge side of a lower layer sheet 50 of a cushion material 20, of which a front edge side is fixed to a front edge side of a sitting portion frame 14, is resiliently connected to a back edge side of the sitting portion frame 14 via a movable frame 34 and a torsion bar 46, which is a resilient member. The cushion material 20 has a spring zero characteristic in which a spring constant of a portion that supports a protrusion portion of the sitting person is smaller than a spring constant of other portions. This vehicle seat 10 makes smaller the energy of vibrations which are transmitted to a spinal column portion of the sitting person through the sitting portion frame 14, and peripheral portions thereof convert vibrations corresponding to fluctuations in the body and transmit these through the sitting portion frame 14.

Abstract: A seat includes a seat frame, and a cushion material supported by the seat frame and having a three-dimensional knitted fabric which is formed by joining, with connecting threads, a pair of ground knit fabrics which are disposed so as to be separated from one another. The cushion material includes a first region whose elastic compliance when a reaction force is applied to an extending side of the cushion material when an occupant is seated on the seat is substantially equivalent to an elastic compliance of a portion of the occupant's body pressing the cushion material and a second region whose elastic compliance is larger than that of the first region. Accordingly, a thin and light seat can be provided, load concentration on the occupant's tuber ishiadicum bottom portion when seated for a long period of time can be mitigated, and vibration-transmitting characteristics can be improved.

Abstract: A seat includes a back part frame which is elastically deformable in a direction such that right and left side part frames are brought closer to, or moved away from, each other, and a tensile structural element which is stretched between the right and left side part frames so as to configure a backrest. Further, a headrest is provided at an upper part of the back part frame. In addition, the tensile structural element is stretched over the back part frame so as to configure a backrest, and is configured such that the back part frame is deformed so that the headrest is moved forward due to a tensile force resulting from a load imparted on the backrest.

Abstract: In order to provide a lumbar support which conforms to the curve of the spinal column so as not to give a feeling of incompatibility or other unpleasant feeling, and is easily adjusted to meet a user's preference, a lumbar support 10 of the present invention is structured such that a bulging member 30 provided with two housing parts 31 and 32 to house a cushioning material for adjustment 34 is fixed on the back surface of a flexible plate 20, which is incorporated so that the front surface of the flexible plate 20 is positioned to the front surface side of a back cushion 120. Accordingly, the curvature of the two housing parts 31 and 32 does not affect a feeling of contact with the waist as it is, but works as a feeling of contact with larger curvature owing to the flexible plate 20, which results in suppression of pressure on the nervous system between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae.

Abstract: A human condition evaluation system, of which bio-signal analysis means includes a bio-signal peak value detection means for detecting a peak value for each cycle of an original waveform of a bio-signal data, and a power value calculation means for calculating a difference between the peak value at an upper limit side and the peak value at a lower limit side for every prescribed time range using respective peak values obtained by the bio-signal peak value detection means to thereby set the difference as a power value, is structured to determine a predictive signal for falling asleep from an active state into a sleep state. Different from conventional human condition evalution based simply on a Lyapunov exponent as an indicator, a new human condition evaluation system based on a functional status of an energy generation system of the living body is provided.

Abstract: In order to promote bloodstream and reduce fatigue, a device of the present invention makes a slight sitting posture change by adding a minute body motion with no necessity of moving a cushion frame or a seat frame though it realizes a supporting pressure change at a wide area, not locally, in a seat cushion or a seat back. It includes a cushioning member (30) for a seat cushion stretched across the cushion frame (10), and a cushioning member (40) for a seat back stretched across the back frame (20). The seat structure of the present invention includes: a lower cloth spring (31a) of a seat cushion or a cloth spring (41) of a seat back stretched across the cushion frame (10) or the back frame (20) via a torsion bar (11); and a cloth spring adjusting member (50) to change a supporting pressure by the cushioning member (30) for the seat cushion and the cushioning member (40) for the seat back through adjusting tension of the lower cloth spring (31a) or the cloth spring (41).

Abstract: There is provided a bio-signal detector to detect a heart rate and a respiratory rate so that the determination of a kind of a seat load placed on a seat can be made. That is, whether the seat load is a human or an object is determined, and if it is the human, then the physique size is determined to be small or large (the level of the physique size is determined). Accordingly, as compared with the means based only on a weight of the seat load, the determination result is highly reliable. Besides, with the use of the bio-signal detector, the discrimination between the human and the object is ensured. Moreover, a structure additionally including a weight sensor allows the determination of the physique size in more accurate manner.