1. A vehicle seat comprising:
a seat back including a pad and a seat back frame supporting the pad, and
a headrest provided on a top of the seat back, wherein:
the seat back frame includes: a base frame; a movable frame supported in a movable manner in a frontward-rearward direction with respect to the base frame; and biasing member biasing the movable frame frontward and being adapted to permit a rearward movement of the movable frame when a load having a given value or more is input therein;
the base frame has an upper frame section supporting the headrest, and a pair of side frame sections extending in an upward-downward direction in respective positions on laterally opposite sides of the upper frame section;
the movable frame has a back-receiving section located between the pair of side frame sections, and a pair of side support sections provided on respective ones of laterally opposite sides of the back-receiving section to project forward with respect to both of the back-receiving section and the side frame sections;
respective front ends of the pair of side support sections are disposed to stop a rear surface of the pad which receives a rearward load from a back of an occupant and are disposed and configured to move rearward with the rearward movement of the movable frame; and
the pad has an inner surface spaced apart from the projecting front end of each of the side support sections toward an outer side in a widthwise direction of the vehicle seat, with a concave portion for reducing a thickness of the pad being formed in a region of the inner surface of the pad to improve flowability of the pad with the rearward movement of the front end of each of the side support sections.
2. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, further comprising a rear stopper adapted to restrain the movable frame from being moved a given distance or more rearwardly.
3. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, wherein the back-receiving section of the movable frame is formed in a frontwardly-convex arc shape in side view.
4. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, wherein the biasing member comprises a tension coil spring having one end engaged with one of the side frame sections of the base frame and the other end engaged with a lateral portion of the movable frame.
5. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, further comprising a front stopper adapted to restrain the movable frame from being moved a given distance or more frontwardly.
6. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 5, wherein the front stopper includes: a link formed with an elongate hole; a support pin for pivotally supporting a front portion of the link to one of the side support sections of the movable frame; and a stopper pin provided on a corresponding one of the side frame sections of the base frame and slidably inserted in the elongate hole of the link.
7. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 6, further comprising a brake drum provided in the corresponding side frame section of the base frame, wherein:
the brake drum includes: an input shaft; an output shaft adapted to be rotated according to a manual rotating operation of the input shaft; and a pinion plate adapted to be rotated integrally with the output shaft; and
the stopper pin is fixed to the pinion plate, so that the stopper pin is moved in the frontward-rearward direction according to the manual rotating operation of the input shaft.
8. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 7, wherein:
the link is formed from an elastic body to have a node portion between a front movable range and a rear movable range of the stopper pin; and
when a rearward load having a given value is input to the movable frame, the stopper pin is moved across the node portion to enter into the rear movable range, while opening the node portion and returning the node portion to the original state.
9. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 5, wherein the front stopper includes: a link formed with an elongate hole; a support pin for pivotally supporting a rear portion of the link to one of the side frame sections of the base frame; and a stopper pin provided on a corresponding one of the side support sections of the movable frame and slidably inserted in the elongate hole of the link.
10. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, further comprising a reclining shaft for pivotally supporting the seat back frame with respect to a cushion frame of a seat cushion in a swingable manner in the frontward-rearward direction, wherein:
a lower portion of each of the side support sections of the movable frame is pivotally supported with respect to a corresponding one of the side frame sections of the base frame through the reclining shaft.
11. The vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, wherein the movable frame is additionally used as a lumbar support plate for supporting lumbar region of an occupant.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A micro-mechanical actuator, comprising:
a partially cylindrical rotatable rotor assembly;
a stationary stator structure;
rotatable connectors, connecting the rotor assembly and the stator structure; and
a switch controller, controlling the actuator.
2. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 1, the rotor assembly comprising:
a rotor cylindrical surface;
a rotor-electrode strip array disposed on the rotor cylindrical surface;
a rigid platform; and
rotor side walls attached to the rotor cylindrical surface and the rigid platform.
3. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein
the rotor assembly is rotatable with an essentially fixed axis of rotation of the micro-actuator.
4. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 3, wherein
the rotor side walls are partially shaped as arc segments;
the arc segments define a center; and
the arc segment center essentially coincides with the fixed axis of rotation.
5. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 3, the rotor-electrode strip array comprising
rotor-electrode strips, disposed on the rotor cylindrical surface length-wise parallel to each other and to the fixed axis of rotation.
6. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 5, a plurality of the rotor-electrode strips having
an essentially constant angular pitch and an essentially constant angular extent, wherein the precision of the angular extent and angular pitch are less than about ten micro-radians.
7. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 5, wherein a plurality of the rotor-electrode strips are electrically coupled to the switch controller through one of the rotatable connectors.
8. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 7, wherein
a first group of rotor-electrode strips are coupled to the switch controller through a first rotatable connector and a second group of rotor-electrode strips are coupled to the switch controller through a second rotatable connector.
9. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 5, the stator structure comprising:
a concave stator cylindrical surface, an axis of the stator cylindrical surface essentially coinciding with the fixed axis of rotation;
a stator-electrode strip array, disposed on the stator cylindrical surface; and
stator sides walls.
10. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 9, wherein
the stator side walls are partially shaped as arc segments; and
the arc segments define a center.
11. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 10, wherein the stator-electrode strip array comprises
stator-electrode strips, disposed on the stator cylindrical surface length-wise parallel to each other and to the axis- of-rotation.
12. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 11, a plurality of stator-electrode strips having an essentially constant angular pitch and an essentially constant angular extent, wherein the precision of the angular extent and angular pitch are less than about ten micro-radians.
13. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 11, wherein a separation of the stator-electrode strips is less than 1 micrometers.
14. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 11, wherein the stator surface and the stator side walls define a stator cavity.
15. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 14, wherein
the rotor assembly is positioned within the stator cavity;
the axis of rotation of the rotor cavity is essentially aligned with the axis of rotation of the stator cavity; and
the stator-electrode strip array and the rotor-electrode strip array are separated by a gap spacing.
16. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 15, wherein a spacing of the gap is less than 1 micrometer but is sufficiently large such that the rotor-electrode strip array does not come in contact with the stator-electrode strip array throughout the operation of the micro-actuator.
17. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 15, wherein the gap does not require a fluid filled enclosure or a dielectric layer.
18. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 15, wherein a rotation range of the rotatable rotor is independent of the gap spacing.
19. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 11, wherein
at least one of the rotor-electrode strips is embedded at least partially in the rotor surface; and
at least one of the stator-electrode strips is embedded at least partially in the stator surface.
20. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 9, wherein
the width of individual rotor-electrode strips in a plurality of rotor-electrode strips is larger than the width of individual stator-electrode strips in a plurality of the stator-electrode strips.
21. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 9, wherein
rotor-electrode strips are tilted in an angle relative to a local tangent of the rotor surface thereby forming a rotor-ratchet; and
stator-electrode strips are tilted in an angle relative to a local tangent of the stator surface thereby forming a corresponding stator-ratchet.
22. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 21, wherein
rotor-electrode strips of the rotor-ratchet are formed as convex cylinder segments; and
stator-electrode strips of the stator-ratchet are formed as convex cylinder segments.
23. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 21, wherein
rotor-electrode strips of the rotor-ratchet comprise two sub-rotor-strips, making an angle with each other; and
stator-electrode strips of the stator-ratchet comprise two sub-stator-strips, making an angle with each other.
24. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 9, wherein
rotor-electrode strips are formed as convex cylinder segments disposed on the rotor surface; and
stator-electrode strips are formed as convex cylinder segments disposed on the stator-surface.
25. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 3, wherein the rotatable connectors are aligned along the fixed axis of rotation.
26. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 25, wherein the rotatable connectors are electrically conductive, capable of providing an electrical connection between the rotor-electrode strip array and the external switch controller over a range of rotation angles.
27. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 26, wherein the rotatable connector is one of a needle-point hinge or a torsion hinge.
28. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 27, wherein the needle-point hinge connector comprises:
a male end section, having a protruding needle-point contact tip; and
a female end section, having a corresponding concave receiving element.
29. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 28, wherein
the male and female end sections have a small contact area; and
the contact area of the male and female end sections comprises low friction conductive materials,
thereby reducing the friction between the male and female ends.
30. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 28, wherein the needle-point hinge is characterized by at least one of:
an essentially unrestricted rotational range;
a capability of bi-directional rotation;
an essential lack of restoring force; and
an essential lack of material fatigue.
31. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein
the rigid platform extends beyond a boundary of the rotor cylindrical surface.
32. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein
the rotor cylinder surface is cut into two cylindrical segments by a flat rotor surface, essentially parallel to the rigid platform.
33. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein
the rotor cylindrical surface is a truncated cylinder.
34. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 33, wherein the stator is shaped to accommodate the truncated rotor cylinder.
35. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein the rigid platform is capable of supporting an optical element, wherein the optical element is one of a reflective surface, an optical lens, a diffraction grating, a sensor or a prism.
36. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein the stator comprises:
a flat stator surface; and
stator-electrode strips, disposed essentially parallel with each other on the flat stator surface.
37. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 2, wherein the stator comprises:
a staircase-shaped surface; and
stator-electrode strips, disposed essentially parallel with each other on the staircase-shaped surface.
38. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 1, wherein the rotor comprises a portion shaped essentially as a quarter cylinder.
39. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 1, wherein an interior of the rotor assembly is partially filled with a heat absorbing material.
40. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 1, encased to operate in a vacuum, the actuator further comprising:
a light entrance optical window; and
a light exit optical window.
41. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 1, wherein
the micro-mechanical actuator is part of an optical system, the optical system comprising:
a light source, operable to emit light; and
a light receiving element, wherein
the micro-mechanical actuator is operable to assume an active position to reflect the light, emitted by the light source, towards the light receiving element; and a passive position to leave the emitted light unreflected.
42. A method of operating a micro-mechanical actuator, the actuator comprising rotor-electrodes disposed on a partially cylindrical rotatable rotor, stator-electrodes disposed on a stationary stator, the rotor electrodes and the stator-electrodes having essentially constant corresponding pitches and widths, rotatable connectors, connecting the rotor and the stator, and a switch controller, controlling the actuator, the method comprising the steps of:
activating a plurality of the stator-electrodes and the rotor-electrodes of the micro-mechanical actuator in a timing sequence; and
exerting a force on the activated rotor-electrodes by the activated stator-electrodes, thereby
rotating the activated rotor-electrodes and the rotor in rotation-intervals corresponding to the timing sequence.
43. The method of claim 42, wherein activating the stator-electrodes and the rotor electrodes comprises
applying a voltage between a plurality of the stator-electrodes and the rotor electrodes in stator-rotor electrode pairs.
44. The method of claim 43, wherein the rotating the rotor in rotation-intervals comprises:
accelerating the rotor in accelerating phases; and
decelerating the rotor in decelerating phases within the rotation-intervals.
45. The method of claim 44, comprising:
activating the plurality of the stator-electrodes in the accelerating phase, thereby rotating the rotor-electrodes of the stator-rotor electrode pair in an accelerating manner toward the stator-electrodes of the stator-rotor electrode pairs until the rotor-electrodes fractionally overlap with the stator-electrodes; and
de-activating the stator-electrodes in the decelerating phase, thereby reducing the deceleration of the rotor-electrodes of the stator-rotor electrode pair as they rotate away from the stator-electrode of the stator-rotor electrode pair.
46. The method of claim 45, wherein different pluralities of stator-electrodes are activated in subsequent timing intervals.
47. The method of claim 46, the stator-electrodes divided in groups of three adjacent stator-electrodes, the timing sequence comprising:
activating first stator-electrodes in a plurality of stator-electrode groups, when the rotor-electrodes overlap with the second, adjacent stator-electrodes of the stator-electrode groups, thereby
rotating the rotor-electrodes from overlapping with the second stator-electrodes to overlap with the first stator-electrodes of the stator-electrode groups; and
maintaining the activation of the first stator-electrodes until the rotor-electrodes partially overlap with the first stator-electrodes, wherein
third stator-electrodes are utilized within the stator-electrode groups to reduce an interaction between adjacent stator-rotor electrode pairs.
48. The method of claim 47, further comprising:
maintaining the activation of the first stator-electrodes after the rotor-electrodes overlap with the first stator-electrodes, thereby
causing the rotor assembly to accelerate, decelerate, and latch in the rotation-intervals in a step-wise fashion.
49. The method of claim 45, wherein the stator-electrodes forming five electrode groups hardwired in an interleaved manner, the method comprising:
activating one of the groups of the stator-electrodes until the rotor acceleration is maximum; and
deactivating the activated group of the stator-electrodes at approximately the time of maximum rotor acceleration.
50. The method of claim 44, comprising
increasing the acceleration of the rotor in the accelerating phase by utilizing rotor-electrodes, whose width is larger than the width of corresponding stator electrodes.
51. The method of claim 44, comprising
increasing the acceleration of the rotor by utilizing shaped rotor-electrodes and corresponding stator-electrodes, the rotor-electrodes selected from rotor-strips, rotor-ratchets, rotor-cylinder segments, rotor-cylinder-segment-ratchets, and angled rotor-ratchets.
52. The method of claim 44, comprising
de-activating the rotor-electrodes and the stator-electrodes before the rotor-electrodes completely overlap with the corresponding stator-electrodes.
53. The method of claim 44, wherein the exerting of force comprises:
exerting the force in a plurality of sequential intervals, thereby
distributing a stress load of the rotor over the rotor cylindrical surface.
54. The method of claim 44, further comprising
latching the rotor in a latching phase after the deceleration phase, thereby causing the rotor-electrode strips to lock in a predetermined locking position relative to the stator-electrode strips.
55. The method of claim 54, wherein the activating of rotor-electrodes and the stator-electrodes comprises:
activating only a subset of the stator-rotor electrode pairs; and
maintaining sufficient latching force to hold the rotor at its current angle during the latching phase.
56. The method of claim 54, wherein the latching phase of an interval lasts essentially as long as the stator-rotor electrode pairs remain activated within the interval.
57. The method of claim 55, wherein the latching the rotor comprises
latching the rotor-electrodes in a predetermined locking position relative to the stator-electrodes without physical contact between the rotor electrode and the stator-electrode.
58. The method of claim 42, further comprising
operating the micro-mechanical actuator in vacuum, thereby reducing an air drag.
59. The method of claim 42, wherein the rotating the rotor comprises
rotating the rotor to discrete tilt angles, corresponding to angles where the rotor-electrodes overlap with stator-electrodes.
60. The method of claim 59, wherein the rotating of rotor comprises
rotating the rotor with a resolution, an angle, and in a range, all independent of a voltage of the activation.
61. The method of claim 42, wherein rotating the rotor comprises
changing the direction of the rotation by reversing a timing sequence of the sequential activation of the stator-electrode strips.
62. The method of claim 42, wherein the rotor is rotatable in a range of about +\u221290 degrees for a rotation range of about 180 degrees.
63. The method of claim 42, wherein the micro-mechanical actuator is optimized for switching between two positions, separated by a small angle.
64. The method of claim 63, wherein the micro-mechanical actuator comprises separated stator-electrodes pairs and corresponding rotor-electrodes positioned half-way between the stator-electrodes, the method comprising:
activating a first stator-electrode of the stator-electrode pair to rotate and latch the rotor to a first position; and
switching by activating a second stator-electrode of the stator-electrode pair to rotate and latch the rotor to a second position.
65. The method of claim 64, wherein the rotatable connectors comprise one of needle-point contacts and torsion hinges.
66. The method of claim 65, comprising
utilizing the restoring force of the torsion hinges to determine the latching position of the rotor.
67. A micro-mechanical actuator, comprising:
a movable rotor assembly, supporting an optical platform;
a stationary stator structure; and
twistable connectors, connecting the rotor assembly and the stator structure.
68. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 67, wherein the micro-mechanical actuator is part of an optical system, the optical system comprising:
a substrate, comprising a substrate surface;
the actuator embedded below the substrate surface,
the actuator operable to manipulate a light beam propagating above and essentially parallel to the substrate surface by turning the movable rotor assembly out of the substrate surface.
69. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 67, wherein the actuator is part of a micro-mechanical actuator array.
70. The micro-mechanical actuator of claim 69, wherein the actuator array comprises actuators arranged in one of a one dimensional array and a two-dimensional array.