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EP-4739537-A1 - LONGIDUTINAL ADJUSTMENT DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE SEAT

EP4739537A1EP 4739537 A1EP4739537 A1EP 4739537A1EP-4739537-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') for a vehicle seat (2), said longitudinal adjustment device comprising: a first adjustment element (11A) guided on a rail (10A); a second adjustment element (11B) guided on a rail (10B); a first drive device (12A) by means of which the first adjustment element (11A) can be adjusted along the rail (10A) on which the first adjustment element (11A) is guided; and a second drive device (12B) by means of which the second adjustment element (11B) can be adjusted along the rail (10B) on which the second adjustment element (11B) is guided, wherein a control unit (120A) of the first drive device (12A) is communicatively connected to a control unit (120B) of the second drive device (12B).

Inventors

  • UZELINO, Florian
  • POHL, FLORIAN
  • Scheler, Leonhard
  • KROMER, ALEX
  • FISCHER, MARCO
  • Czempik, Alexander
  • Müller, Alexander

Assignees

  • Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Bamberg

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20231117

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . Longitudinal adjustment device (1 , 1 ') for a vehicle seat (2), comprising: a first adjustment element (1 1 A) guided on a rail (10A), a second adjustment element (1 1 B) guided on a rail (1 0B), a first drive device (12A) by means of which the first adjustment element (I IA) is adjustable along the rail (10A) on which the first adjusting element (1 1A) is guided, and a second drive device (12B) by means of which the second adjusting element (I I B) is adjustable along the rail (1 OB) on which the second adjusting element (11 B) is guided, characterized in that a control unit (120A) of the first drive device (12A) is in communicative connection with a control unit (120B) of the second drive device (12B).
  2. 2. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit (120A) of the first drive device (12A) is communicatively connected to the control unit (120B) of the second drive device (12B) via a seat control device (130).
  3. 3. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control units (120A, 120B) of the drive devices (12A, 12B) are designed to adjust the adjustment elements (11A, 11B) in a standardization run in order to store a respective zero point position and then to relate actual and/or target positions to the stored zero point position.
  4. 4. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 3, characterized in that the control units (120A, 120B) of the drive devices (12A, 12B) are designed to move all adjustment elements (11A, 11B) in the standardization travel against a respective stop (14) into a stop position, wherein the control units (120A, 120B) are designed to store their respective stop position as a zero point position.
  5. 5. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 3, characterized in that the stop (14) of a predetermined one of the adjustment elements (11A, 11B) is configured such that the predetermined adjustment element (11A, 11B) moves into its stop (14) before the other adjustment element (11A, 11B) in the standardization travel, wherein all control units (120A, 120B) are set up to store the respective zero point position in the stop position of the predetermined adjustment element (11A, 11B).
  6. 6. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 3, characterized in that the Control units (120A, 120B) are adapted to control the respective Zero point position is to be saved as soon as any of the adjustment elements (1 1 A, 11 B) first reaches its stop position.
  7. 7. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one of the control units (120A, 120B) as a primary control unit (120A) is set up to communicate control commands to the other, secondary control unit (120B).
  8. 8. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 7, characterized in that the control commands each comprise a speed and/or a position.
  9. 9. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the primary control unit (120A) is designed to first communicate a control command to the secondary control unit (120B) for a start of movement before it controls a drive motor (121) after a predetermined delay after this communication.
  10. 10. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the communication of a control command has a communication latency, wherein the primary control unit (120A) is set up to calculate which future actual position the adjustment element of the primary control unit (120A) will have after the communication latency, and is further set up to communicate a control command with the future actual position as a target position for the secondary control unit (120B) to the secondary control unit (120B).
  11. 1 1. Longitudinal adjustment device (1 , 1 ') according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the communication of a control command is a communication latency, wherein the primary control unit (120A) is configured to communicate a control command with the current actual position of the adjustment element of the primary control unit (120A) as a target position for the secondary control unit (120B) to the secondary control unit (120B), wherein the secondary control unit (120B) is configured to operate its drive motor (121) based on that target position and the communication latency.
  12. 12. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that the control units (120A, 120B) are designed to increase a speed of the respective drive device (12A, 12B) according to a respective speed ramp (R1, R2) when a movement starts.
  13. 13. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that the control commands each comprise a time stamp.
  14. 14. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of claims 7 to 13, characterized in that the primary control unit (120A) is set up to store an actual position of its drive device (12A) at the moment of sending a control command to the secondary control unit (120B) and/or that the secondary control unit (120B) is set up to store an actual position of its drive device (12B) at the moment of receiving a control command from the primary control unit (120A).
  15. 15. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 14, characterized in that the secondary control unit (120B) is designed to pause the execution of a program code by means of an interrupt at the moment of receiving a control command from the primary control unit (120A) in order to store the actual position of its drive device (12B).
  16. 16. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of claims 7 to 15, characterized in that the primary control unit (120A) is bidirectionally communicatively connected to the secondary control unit (120B), wherein the primary control unit (120A) is configured to send control commands to the secondary control unit (120B) more frequently than to receive feedback information from the secondary control unit (120B).
  17. 17. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control units (120A, 120B) are each designed to control a respective drive motor (121) by means of a torque-forming voltage.
  18. 18. Longitudinal adjustment device (1') according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by more than two, in particular four, drive devices (12A-12D), each with a control unit (120A-120D), by means of which a respective adjustment element (11A-11D) can be adjusted, wherein the control units (120A-120D) of the drive devices (12A-12D) are in communicative connection with one another and/or with a control unit (130).
  19. 19. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control unit (120A) of the first drive device (12A) is communicatively connected to the control unit (120B) of the second drive device (12B) by means of a bus system (13) in the form of a LIN bus system.
  20. 20. Longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') according to claim 19, characterized in that the longitudinal adjustment device (1, 1') has several parallel bus systems (13).

Description

longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat Description The invention relates to a longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat and a vehicle seat with such a longitudinal adjustment device. Longitudinal adjustment devices are typically used in vehicle seats to adjust a seat part and a backrest along a vehicle's longitudinal direction, for example to give a vehicle seat user more or less legroom as needed. Motorized longitudinal adjustment devices, in which the adjustment is effected by an electric motor, offer great comfort. Longitudinal adjustment devices usually have at least two rails spaced apart in a transverse direction, each with an adjustment element guided on it. The adjustment elements can be designed as seat rails that engage with the respective rail. In practice, an electric motor is regularly arranged, for example, in a free space between the two rails and is operatively connected to the adjustment elements via a shaft so that the electric motor can adjust the two adjustment elements along the rails. In some applications, however, it is desirable to leave a space between the rails; or the space between the rails is occupied by fixed parts blocked. In both cases, a mechanical coupling of one electric motor with the two adjustment elements is typically not possible or only possible with great effort. Therefore, in some cases it may be appropriate to provide two electric motors, one for each of the two adjustment elements. A longitudinal adjustment device with two separate drive devices, each with a drive motor, is described in DE 198 60 910 B4. In order for the rotary movements of the two drive motors to run synchronously, this document proposes the use of a mechanical synchronization shaft between the two drive motors, which, however, offers little advantage over a drive by just one common motor. Alternatively, the document proposes providing a control unit which is electrically connected to both drive motors and to the respective devices for detecting a relative position. However, this typically requires increased effort in terms of cabling. The solution in DE 10 2008 007 267 B4 has similar disadvantages. There, two motors are connected in series or parallel and controlled via switches. The task is to provide an improved longitudinal adjustment device. This object is solved by an article having the features of claim 1. According to this, a longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat comprises a first adjustment element guided on a (e.g. a first) rail, a second adjustment element guided on a (e.g. a second) rail, a first drive device by means of which the first adjustment element can be adjusted along the rail on which the first adjustment element is guided, and a second drive device by means of which the second adjustment element can be adjusted along the rail on which the second adjustment element is guided. It is provided that a control unit of the first drive device is in communicative connection with a control unit of the second drive device. By providing two separate drive devices, one for the first adjustment element and one for the second adjustment element, a space between the rails can be used for other purposes. In addition, since each of the two drive devices is controlled by its own control unit, cabling for the communicative The connection between the control units can be adapted particularly flexibly to the respective application and can be simple, for example using a few wires with a small cross-section or an optical conductor. Alternatively, it is even possible to make the communication connection wirelessly. Furthermore, a communication infrastructure already present in the vehicle can be used, which enables a particularly simple connection. The control unit of the first drive device controls, for example, a drive motor of the first drive device. The control unit of the second Drive device controls, for example, a drive motor of the second drive device, e.g. based on data received via the communicative connection. The control unit of the second drive device can be set up to synchronize a movement of the second adjustment element with a movement of the first adjustment element by means of the communicative connection. The first drive device therefore specifies a movement and the second drive device takes over this movement. The first drive device thus works as a "master" and the second drive device as a "slave". The second drive device follows the control of the first drive device. Optionally, the control unit of the first drive device is configured to determine a position of the first adjustment element along the first rail and to communicate the position to the control unit of the second drive device. This enables efficient control and communication. The control unit of the second drive device controls, for example, a drive motor of the second drive device based on the position communicated by the control unit of the first drive device. This enables precise