HAPTIC MOTOR
A method of forming a seat cushion of a vehicle seat includes locating a motor in a first portion of a housing, and positioning a second portion of the housing on the first portion of the housing, wherein one of the first and second portion of the housing includes a meltable feature located near a location of contact of the first and second portion. The meltable feature is melted to permanently secure the first and second portion together and provide a sealed housing that retains and seals the motor. The sealed housing is suspended in a mold with a rod. Liquid foam is poured into the mold, and the liquid foam is allowed to solidify to form a solid foam seat cushion that encapsulates the sealed housing and embeds the sealed housing in the foam cushion. The sealed housing prevents the liquid foam from contacting the motor.
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/475,081 filed on May 18, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA driver can be exposed to numerous audio and visual signals and stimuli during driving. If an event occurs while driving, an audio or visual alert can be generated to obtain the driver's attention. In one example, an event occurs when a sensor detects that a vehicle deviates from its lane. However, due to numerous other audio and visual signals and stimuli to which the driver is exposed, an audio or visual alert might not get the attention of the driver.
A tactile alert can be provided to alert the driver of an event. In one example, a motor located in a seat cushion vibrates when an event occurs to provide a tactile alert to the driver. Prior motors include a metal motor housing including portions that are secured together by fasteners. The metal housing is not water-resistant, and liquid foam cannot be used to form the seat cushion with the motor in place as the liquid foam could leak inside the metal housing. Therefore, the cushion is molded to include grooves that receive the motor. The motor is externally visible once the motor is positioned in one of the grooves. An additional pad may be located over the motor in the groove to provide a smooth surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn example method of forming a seat cushion of a vehicle seat includes locating a motor in a first portion of a housing, and positioning a second portion of the housing on the first portion of the housing, wherein one of the first and second portion of the housing includes a meltable feature located near a location of contact of the first and second portion. The meltable feature is melted to permanently secure the first and second portion together and provide a sealed housing that retains and seals the motor. The sealed housing is suspended in a mold with a rod. Liquid foam is poured into the mold, and the liquid foam is allowed to solidify to form a solid foam seat cushion that encapsulates the sealed housing and embeds the sealed housing in the foam cushion. The sealed housing prevents the liquid foam from contacting the motor. The rod is removed.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
As discussed below, at least one motor 28 (shown in
Returning to
The housing 44 includes an upper portion 46 and a lower portion 48 secured together by welding. In one example, the upper portion 46 and the lower portion 48 are secured together by sonic welding. Once welded, the housing 44 is leak proof and sealed, which prevents the liquid foam from entering the housing 44 and affecting the operation of the at least one motor 28. The housing 44 also eliminates minimum free play or vibration loss in the housing 44. In one example, the upper portion 46 and the lower portion 48 are each substantially u-shaped.
As shown in
The shape of the housing 44 can be designed for maximum comfort. The surface area of the top surface 72 of the housing 46 is maximized (that is, it is substantially flat) to distribute the contact load over the broadest possible area without extending beyond the natural intrinsic width and length of the motor 28. In one example, the top surface 72 of the housing 44 is substantially parallel to a top surface 110 of the bolster 26 of the cushion 20 (shown in
As shown in
One of the projections 56 and 58 includes a bead 68 that extends around the perimeter of the respective projection 56 and 58 and is located near a location of contact of the upper portion 46 and the lower portion 48 of the housing 44 when placed together. In one example, the bead 68 is located in the groove 64 of the upper portion 46 of the housing 44. In one example, the bead 68 has a generally triangular shape having a width X and a height Y. In one example, the width X is approximately 0.3 mm, and the height Y is approximately 0.3 mm. When the upper portion 46 and the lower portion 48 are positioned together and are sonic welded, the bead 68 melts and fills in the grooves 64 and 66, securing the upper portion 46 and the lower portion 48 together.
As shown in
The at least one motor 28 is positioned in the cushion 20 such that it will vibrate to provide a tactile signal that will be felt by the driver when activated by the controller 79. However, the at least one motor 28 is positioned to prevent pinching of and pressure on the driver. As explained below, the at least one motor 28 is positioned such that vibrations generated by the at least one motor 28 will be felt by the 5th percentile female based on size and the 95th percentile male based on size.
As shown in
By using these values and ranges to determine the position of each of the two motors 28, the optimal position of each of the motor 28 in the cushion 20 can be determined, and the motors 28 are then positioned in this location within the mold prior to pouring in the liquid foam to form the cushion 20. The at least one motor 28 is therefore positioned such that vibrations generated by the at least one motor 28 will be felt by the 5th percentile female based on size and the 95th percentile male based on size.
Returning to
The foregoing description is only exemplary of the principles of the invention. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, for instance, the inlet vanes may also have intermediate positions. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than using the example embodiments which have been specifically described. For that reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
Claims
1. A method of forming a seat cushion of a vehicle seat, comprising:
- locating a motor in a first portion of a housing;
- positioning a second portion of the housing on the first portion of the housing, wherein one of the first and second portion of the housing includes a meltable feature located near a location of contact of the first and second portion;
- melting the meltable feature to permanently secure the first and second portion together and provide a sealed housing that retains and seals the motor;
- suspending the sealed housing in a mold with a rod;
- pouring liquid foam into the mold and allowing the liquid foam to solidify to form a solid foam seat cushion that encapsulates the sealed housing and embeds the sealed housing in the foam cushion, wherein the sealed housing prevents the liquid foam from contacting the motor; and
- removing the rod.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said allowing the liquid foam to solidify comprises heating the liquid foam.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the meltable feature comprises a bead extending around a perimeter of one of the first portion and the second portion of the housing.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said melting the meltable feature comprises performing sonic welding on the bead to form a sonic weld.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sonic weld melts the bead into a groove of the first or second portion.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the bead has a triangular cross-sectional shape.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the melted feature is located closer to an inner surface of the sealed housing than to an outer surface of the sealed housing.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising vibrating the motor within the seat cushion in response to a road event.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the seat cushion includes a seat portion having a substantially flat seating surface and a bolster on each side of the seat portion, and said suspending and pouring are performed such that the sealed motor assembly is located in one of the two bolsters.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein said suspending the sealed housing in a mold comprises orienting the sealed housing such that a substantially flat surface of an upper one of the first and second housing portions is substantially parallel to a top surface of the seat cushion.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the substantially flat surface of said upper one of the first and second housing portions extends longitudinally in a direction parallel to a motor shaft of the motor.
12. The method of claim 1, comprising:
- a sensor detecting a road event and sending a signal to a controller based on the detected road event; and
- the controller receiving the signal from the sensor and sending another signal to the motor to cause the motor to vibrate within the seat cushion based on the detected road event.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein said positioning the second portion of the housing on the first portion of the housing comprises abutting a rim of the first portion against a rim of the second portion along an outer perimeter of the housing.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein:
- a rim of one of the housing portions comprises a first ledge at an outer surface of said one of the housing portions, and a first projection at an inner surface of said one of the housing portions that extends beyond the first ledge;
- the rim of the other of the housing portions comprises a second ledge at an inner surface of said other of the housing portions, and a second projection at an outer surface of said other of the housing portions that extends beyond the second ledge; and
- said positioning comprises abutting the first projection against the second ledge, abutting the second projection against the first ledge, and abutting the first and second projections against each other.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said positioning comprises:
- arranging the outer surface of said one of the housing portions and the outer surface of said other of the housing portions to be flush with each other; and
- arranging the inner surface of said one of the housing portions and the inner surface of said other of the housing portions to be flush with each other.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein said positioning comprises providing the meltable feature between the first projection and the second ledge or between the second projection and the first ledge for said melting.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the liquid foam is a polyurethane foam.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second housing portions are made of nylon.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the first housing portion has a different shape than the second housing portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 26, 2018
Publication Date: Apr 18, 2019
Inventors: Christopher Mark Rockwell (Ann Arbor, MI), Michael David Franz (Macomb Twp., MI), Alice Knoebel (Novi, MI), Douglas J. Krueger, JR. (Macomb, MI), Anup Viswanathan (Ann Arbor, MI), Daniel Jerome Wiegand (Macomb, MI)
Application Number: 16/199,503