US-12622524-B2 - Seat apparatus having simulated force feedback and method for simulating force sensation of driving

Abstract

A seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback and a method for simulating a force sensation of driving are provided. The seat apparatus includes a seating unit, a rotary platform, and a realistic seat pallet. The seating unit includes a seat pan. The rotary platform includes a chassis and a rotary motive module. The seat pan is disposed on the chassis along a rotation axis in an inclinable manner. The rotary motive module can control the seat pan to have a forward or rearward inclined angle. The realistic seat pallet is disposed on the seat pan, and includes a movable contact cushion and a pallet motive module. Through the pallet motive module, the movable contact cushion is slidable relative to the seat pan. The pallet motive module can control the movable contact cushion to have left and right displacements, front and rear displacements, angular displacements, or yaw rotations.

Inventors

• SHIANG-FONG CHEN
• Bo-Ting Lin
• CHI PAN
• TZU-YUAN YU

Assignees

• NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230509

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback, comprising: a realistic seat pallet disposed on a seat pan, wherein the realistic seat pallet includes a movable contact cushion and a pallet motive module, the movable contact cushion is configured to be slidable relative to the seat pan, the pallet motive module is connected to the movable contact cushion, and the pallet motive module is capable of controlling the movable contact cushion to have a leftward or rightward displacement, a forward or rearward displacement, angular displacements, or a yaw rotation; wherein the realistic seat pallet includes an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame is disposed on the lower frame, the movable contact cushion is movably disposed on a top surface of the lower frame and is exposed from the upper frame, and the pallet motive module is disposed on the lower frame; wherein the upper frame has an opening, and the movable contact cushion is disposed in the opening.
2. 2 . The seat apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a seating unit and a rotary platform, wherein the seating unit includes the seat pan, the rotary platform includes a chassis and a rotary motive module, the seat pan is disposed on the chassis along a rotation axis in an inclinable manner, and the rotary motive module is capable of controlling the seat pan to have a forward or rearward inclined angle.
3. 3 . The seat apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the seating unit further includes a backrest, the backrest is connected to the seat pan, the seat pan includes an axial rod disposed along a direction of the rotation axis, and the axial rod is pivotally connected to the chassis of the rotary platform.
4. 4 . The seat apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the rotary platform includes two supporting stands, each of the supporting stands includes a bearing, and the axial rod is rotatably disposed on the bearings of the two supporting stands.
5. 5 . The seat apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the rotary motive module includes a forward-rotating driving unit and a rearward-rotating driving unit, the forward-rotating driving unit is disposed at a front side of the chassis, and the rearward-rotating driving unit is disposed at a rear side of the chassis; wherein the forward-rotating driving unit exerts a force on a front end of the seat pan, and the rearward-rotating driving unit exerts a force on a rear end of the seat pan.
6. 6 . The seat apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the realistic seat pallet includes two of the movable contact cushions and two of the pallet motive modules, the upper frame has two of the openings, and the two movable contact cushions are disposed in the two openings, respectively.
7. 7 . The seat apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the movable contact cushions includes a driving plate, a plurality of rolling elements, an elevated frame, and a soft pad; wherein the plurality of rolling elements are disposed on a bottom surface of the driving plate and slidably contact the top surface of the lower frame, the elevated frame is disposed on a top surface of the driving plate, and the soft pad is disposed on a top surface of the elevated frame; wherein the driving plate includes a plurality of rails, and the pallet motive module includes a plurality of pallet driving units to respectively drive the rails, so as to drive the driving plate to move the movable contact cushion.
8. 8 . The seat apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the driving plate includes three of the rails being separate from each other by an included angle of 120 degrees, and the pallet motive module includes three of the pallet driving units respectively to drive the three rails, so as to drive the driving plate to move the movable contact cushion.
9. 9 . The seat apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the driving plate includes two first rails and two second rails, the two first rails protrude outward from two opposite sides of the driving plate, respectively, the two second rails are perpendicular to the two first rails, and the two second rails protrude outward from another two opposite sides of the driving plate, respectively.
10. 10 . The seat apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein each of the pallet motive modules includes a first pair of pallet driving units to provide a power in front and rear directions, and a second pair of pallet driving units to provide a power in left and right directions, the first pair of pallet driving units are respectively connected to the pair of first rails, and the second pair of pallet driving units are respectively connected to the pair of second rails; wherein each of the pallet driving units includes a servo motor, a rotary arm, and a guide post, one end of the rotary arm is rotatably connected to the servo motor, another end of the rotary arm is connected to the guide post, and the guide post is connected to one of the pair of first rails or one of the pair of second rails.
11. 11 . The seat apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein one of the two movable contact cushions moves forward, and another one of the two movable contact cushions moves rearward.
12. 12 . A method for simulating a force sensation of driving by using the seat apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising: corresponding to an acceleration status, driving the pallet motive module so that the movable contact cushion is configured to move forward by a predetermined distance that is unable to push forward a body of a driver, so as to simulate a sensation of a speed change during driving.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a deceleration status, driving the pallet motive module, such that the movable contact cushion is configured to move rearward by another predetermined distance that is unable to move the body of the driver, so as to simulate a sensation of another speed change during driving.
14. 14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a left turn status, driving the pallet motive module, such that the movable contact cushion is configured to move leftward by another predetermined distance that is unable to move the body of the driver, so as to simulate a sensation of a centrifugal force.
15. 15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a right turn status, driving the pallet motive module, such that the movable contact cushion is configured to move rightward by another predetermined distance that is unable to move the body of the driver, so as to simulate a sensation of a centrifugal force.
16. 16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a climbing status, driving the rotary motive module according to a climbing angle, such that the seating unit is configured to be inclined rearward by an elevation angle corresponding to the climbing angle.
17. 17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a downhill status, driving the rotary motive module according to a downhill angle, such that the seating unit is configured to be inclined forward by an inclination angle corresponding to the downhill angle.
18. 18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: corresponding to a bumpy road, driving the pallet motive module and the rotary motive module, so that the seat apparatus sways quickly.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional Application No. 63/343512, filed on May 18, 2022. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference. Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to a seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback and a method for simulating a force sensation of driving, and more particularly to a seat apparatus that can provide a force feedback, and a method for simulating a force sensation of driving by using the seat apparatus, which can provide a force feedback corresponding to road conditions to a driver, in which the force feedback is similar to experiencing realistic driving conditions. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE A vehicle driving simulator, such as a simulation device that can realistically simulate driving actions and sensations, can provide a realistic driving experience to a driver. Various types of vehicle driving simulators are available. A simple vehicle driving simulator only includes a display screen and basic driving control devices, and results in lower realism. An advanced vehicle driving simulator can provide more realistic driving sensations to the driver, but the hardware structure of these simulators is complex, takes up space, and incurs high cost, so that the popularization of these simulators is difficult. Therefore, how to improve the vehicle driving simulator through an improvement in structural design so as to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies has become one of the important issues to be addressed in this field. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacy, the present disclosure provides a seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback, in which a seat cushion of the seat apparatus includes a force-sensation simulating mechanism that can provide a forward, rearward, leftward, or rightward force sensation, and has a compact structure to save space. In addition, in response to the above-referenced technical inadequacy, the present disclosure provides a seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback. The force-sensation simulating mechanism is arranged in a space of chair legs to provide a force sensation of inclining forward or rearward. The mechanism is compact in structural design, and saves space. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a seat apparatus having a simulated force feedback. The seat apparatus includes a realistic seat pallet. The realistic seat pallet is disposed on a seat pan, and includes a movable contact cushion and a pallet motive module. The movable contact cushion is configured to be slidable relative to the seat pan, and the pallet motive module is connected to the movable contact cushion. The pallet motive module can control the movable contact cushion to have a leftward or rightward displacement, a forward or rearward displacement, angular displacements, or a yaw rotation. In one preferred embodiment, the seat apparatus having the simulated force feedback further includes a seating unit and a rotary platform. The seating unit includes the seat pan. The rotary platform includes a chassis and a rotary motive module. The seat pan is disposed on the chassis along a rotation axis in an inclinable manner. The rotary motive module can control the seat pan to have a forward or rearward inclined angle. In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacy, the present disclosure further provides a method for simulating a force sensation of driving by using the abovementioned seat apparatus having the simulated force feedback. The method can simulate a force sensation of acceleration, deceleration (or braking), turning, climbing, descending, and driving on bumpy road surfaces. In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for simulating a force sensation of driving by using the abovementioned seat apparatus having the simulated force feedback. The method includes steps as follows. Corresponding to an acceleration status, the pallet motive module is driven so that the movable contact cushion is configured to move forward by a predetermined distance that is unable to push forward a body of a driver, so as to simulate a sensation of a speed change during driving. In one preferred embodiment, the method further includes steps as follows. Corresponding to a deceleration status,