Post on 11-Jun-2015
description
Car seats, where comfort doesn’t meet owner expectations!
Mac Reynolds, Ph.D.February 14, 2014
Auto seat design is expensive and unpredictable. It follows a 1960’s process
that is based on the position of one manikin.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Drivers use seats to position themselves to operate the car.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
When conditions change, sitting posture changes.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
When posture changes, seat position changes.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Erect
Slumped
Globally, people use erect to slumped sitting
postures for talking, working and driving.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Does this seat perform to your expectations?
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Interior performance is safety, ergonomics and comfort that equal
owner expectations of car performance.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Seats have to fit a range of body sizes.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
This seat forces a slumped posture that lowers her eye height.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
This seat is small and controls are too far away.
04/13/2023 12
We don’t know your personal preference, but if you are short, you want to sit upright for good vision.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
04/13/2023 13
If you are tall, you may sit slumped to fit.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
These seats meet position requirements, but do they
perform for owners?
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Seat design began in the 1960s to use H-point, defined in the car with this 2D template, “Oscar.”
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Oscar came from 12 male drivers sitting in a 1961 bench seat.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
(S. P. Geoffrey, 1961)
After the seat was built, it was checked with this H-point machine.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
The H-point machine was developed as an accommodation checking device to be used
after the car was built.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
These tools were developed to check dimensions in cars
with bench seats.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Then, in 1967, Oscar was written into federal regulations. He acquired his
head in 2001 when head restraint regulations were added.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Government regulations and industry tradition have re-enforced
using Oscar without a seat.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Today, Oscar is simply positioned in the new car from his position in the older model.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
2012
2005
Then, design proceeds with reach models, like RAMSIS, sitting without a seat
design.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Eventually, a seat is built, and Oscar checks the head restraint and H-point location.
Head Restraint test of Position
H-Point test of Position
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Finally, drivers test whether the seat performs.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
To build car interiors that perform, seated drivers are needed in the car at
the start of design.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
27
Erect
Neutral
Slumped
Small Large
Medium
We represent seated drivers for seat design
performance before the car is built!
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
4’11”
5’9”
6’3”
Oscar defines H-point position in the car; ERL defines seat
design for performance.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
We sit to drive the car on a plain surface defined for a designer to
create a seat trim style.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Our body weight is supported on the seat at anatomical landmarks. Vertebrae are
used to design the seat back surface.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Our pelvis and thigh are used to design the cushion surface.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Our backside represents our seated shape. So seat design is optimized for best contact with our bodies.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
We each have three back postures that are used in
different driving conditions.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Erect
Straight
Slumped
Oscar can define H-point position, but not improve performance.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
To improve interior performance, seated drivers must be used with Oscar at the start of car design.
US Patents: #6,840,125, #7,047,831, #7,347,114, #7,797,138
Hi, I’m Mac Reynolds and I can be reached by email (reynolds@erlllc.com).