A seat with temperature control

Abstract: The seat with temperature control includes a mass of padding with a layered structure and heat-exchange means (4) arranged in outwardly-open grooves (3) formed in the outermost layer (2).

Description: The present invention relates in general to the heating and cooling of the seats of a motor vehicle. In particular, it concerns a seat with temperature control, including a mass of padding with a layered structure and heat-exchange means for heating or cooling the seat. Such a seat is known, e.g. from DE-A-33 06 871. The heating and cooling of seats present considerable difficulties as regards the transmission of heat because of the types of material constituting the padding of the squab and the backrest respectively. In fact, such padding is made of closed- or open-cell foam which, in any event, has a low density and thus a large air content and therefore has particularly good insulation characteristics whereby the transfer of heat from the electrical resistances or tubes embedded in the padding is very inefficient. In the case of seats with a layered structure, the arrangement of the layers and the need to insert the heat-exchange means in padding which is not homogeneous create a further difficulty. The provision of car seats with multi-layered padding has already been proposed by the Applicant (European Patent application EP-A-0 363 330, which is comprised in the state of the art only under Art. 54 (3). in order to provide a motor vehicle seat with a differentiated resilient-plastic response. Starting from the aforesaid problem of inefficient heating, the invention proposes the provision of a multi-layered seat structure suitable for housing a heat-exchange device so that its temperature can be regulated. According to the invention, this is achieved by a seat of the aforesaid type which has the further characteristics set forth in Claim 1. Possible advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims. The invention will now be described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a partial cross-section of the squab of a seat according to the invention, taken in a vertical plane; Figure 2 is a schematic front view of the squab of Figure 1, in the undeformed condition; Figure 3 shows the squab of Figure 2 in the loaded condition; Figure 4 and Figure 5 show a second embodiment of the squab according to the invention; Figure 6 is a partially-sectioned perspective view of the squab according to an embodiment of the invention. A motor vehicle seat is constituted by a squab 1 including a layer 6 which has a resilient response and is sufficiently soft to ensure the comfort of the occupant; superposed on the layer 6 is a layer 5 with a "plastic" type of response, that is, a layer which can deform according to the load acting on it and can therefore increase the surface used to support the body weight of the occupant and at the same time improve its restraint, is superposed on the layer 6; this plastic layer can return to its undeformed condition some time after the removal of the load. As stated, this arrangement is described in European Patent application EP-A-0 363 330. A further surface layer (of resilient type) is glued on top of the "plastic" layer 5 and includes longitudinal grooves 3 defined by ribs 2 of the outer surface layer. As usual, the outer surface layer includes two lateral restraining pads 7. Longitudinal heat-exchange elements 4 are housed in the grooves (see Figure 2) and may be either electrical resistances or tubes containing a cooling or heating fluid. Since the grooves 3 are formed in the first layer, that is, the resilient surface layer with a low-rigidity response to the body weight of the occupant of the seat, the outer layer of padding is squashed so as to enable the heat-exchange elements 4 to come very close to the surface of the squab and thus eliminate the aforementioned insulation effects which lead to the low thermal efficiency of the controlled-temperature seat. Alternatively, of course, the outer layer including the grooves 3 could also be made of compact foam if design requirements call for the outermost layer of the squab 1 to have such a characteristic. The use of longitudinal grooves 3 enables the heat-exchange elements 4 to be maintained easily and also to be replaced quickly in the event of breakage. It is also possible to consider leaving the grooves 3 empty, without heat-exchange elements 4, and in this case the grooves would at least have the function of ventilating the squab. According to the invention, it is also possible to provide for an intermediate layer 10, which has the function of supporting the heat-exchange elements 4, to be inserted between the plastic layer 5 and the outer layer. According to the variant shown in Figures 4 and 5, the squab has a surface covering layer 9 formed with longitudinal cavities and ribs, as described above; resilient foam (shown by shading in Figure 5) is subsequently injected into the grooves thus formed. This composite, surface covering layer 9 and the resilient foam padding in the ribs 2 is then glued to the underlying plastic layer 5, with or without the interposition of the intermediate support layer 10. This solution has the advantage that there is better adhesion of the covering layer 9 since it is glued directly to the plastic layer 5 which, as a result of its physical properties, has very good "gluing" characteristics. This results in greater substantiality and durability of the padding of the seat which must last for a period of time without deteriorating appreciably either in function or in appearance. It should be noted that the distance between two adjacent longitudinal grooves 3 is shown in the drawings as being greater than it is in reality; the slots between two adjacent ribs 2 are in fact invisible when the seat is undeformed. Figure 6 shows the whole squab structure, in which the base 12 (made of mesh or a rigid tray) and the header tube 11 which connects the tubes 4 arranged longitudinally within the grooves 3 are also shown. The examples described above relate to squabs for motor vehicle seats but the invention obviously applies to entire seats, that is, to the squab and to the backrest both of a front seat and a rear seat.

Claims: A seat with temperature control, including a mass of padding (6, 5, 10) with a layered structure and heat-exchange elements (4) for heating or cooling the seat, characterised in that the mass of padding includes an outermost layer having outwardly-open grooves (3) and in that said heat-exchange elements (4) are housed in said grooves (3). A seat according to Claim 1, characterised in that that grooves (3) have bottle-shaped cross-sections which are wider towards the inside and narrower towards the outside. A seat according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that the grooves (3) are provided in the squab (1) of the seat. A seat according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the outermost layer is less firm than the adjacent inner layer (5). A seat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has a thin surface covering layer (9) surrounding the grooves (3).

Inventors: DAL MONTE ANTONIO, DAL MONTE, ANTONIO
Applicants: FIAT AUTO SPA, FIAT AUTO S.P.A.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A47C7
IPC codes: A47C7