Abstract:
A pneumatic fore-aft vibration isolator lock system (and method) is provided. The innovation provides a locking action through the use of pneumatically-actuated spring pressure to lock or unlock the isolation system. In one aspect, to unlock, air pressure is applied and the spring pressure is overridden by the air pressure. By overriding the spring pressure, plates are moved thereby unlocking the isolator. The system can allow for one touch, fingertip locking and unlocking of the fore/aft isolation system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 61/447,187 entitled PNEUMATIC ISOLATOR LOCK filed on Feb. 28, 2011. The entireties of the above-noted applications are incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     ORIGIN 
     The innovation relates to vehicle seats and more particularly to vehicle seating assemblies that isolate occupants from vibrations carried through the vehicle structure. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Commercial vehicles, such as long-haul trucks, often employ suspension systems which differ from passenger vehicles in their construction and response to vibration. Oftentimes, suspension systems in commercial vehicles are specially designed for the intended use of the commercial vehicle. Large trucks, for example, are designed for and capable of handling heavy loads which affects suspension design and performance. As a result, trade-offs arise between work capability of a commercial vehicle and protecting occupants (e.g., driver, passenger) from demonstrated medically harmful vibrations. Because the main purpose of the truck is to transport loads, the decision is usually made to favor the performance capability of the commercial vehicle in lieu of protecting the occupants from vibrations. 
     As a result, operators or drivers of commercial vehicles, sometimes experience aggravated discomfort and fatigue arising from exposure to excessive vehicle vibrations. Efforts have been, and continue to be, made to provide some sort of amelioration of vibration-induced problems. Because most commercial vehicles are only occupied by a driver, these vibration containment efforts are often associated with the seating for the driver, and less often directed to the other vehicle occupants. A goal of most vibration containment systems is to selectively absorb vibrational energy and to channel or dissipate unwanted energy away from the driver&#39;s anatomy. 
     Usually, vibrations arriving at a driver&#39;s seat bear directional characteristics, thus, improvements to seating designs take advantage of this fact by restricting seating improvements to a particular type of vibration characteristic. For example, many seating design improvements have been directed to enhancements in providing fore and aft (e.g., horizontally linear) isolation and vertical isolation. One design concern is to provide sufficient vibration isolation within the footprint and framework of existing seating components, for example, without significantly raising the height of an operator&#39;s seat which may require subsequent modification to a passenger&#39;s seat. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following presents a simplified summary of the innovation in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview of the innovation. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the innovation or to delineate the scope of the innovation. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the innovation in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     The innovation disclosed and claimed herein, in one aspect thereof, comprises a pneumatic vibration isolator lock. Conventional art provides for a purely mechanical lock for fore-aft isolators in truck seats. This innovation provides a locking action through the use of pneumatically-controlled spring pressure to lock the system. In one aspect, to unlock, air pressure is applied and the spring pressure is overridden by the air pressure. In another aspect, the air pressure/volume can be manually adjusted by the operator to provide a partial lock. The proposed system can allow for one touch, fingertip locking and unlocking of the fore/aft isolation system. Alternative, conventional, systems require some mechanical lever/latching action. 
     In another aspect, the innovation A vibration isolation system for a seat assembly comprising an air supply component and a vibration isolator component that receives air from the air supply component and locks or unlocks a vibration isolation device based upon an amount of air pressure. 
     In yet another aspect, the innovation provides a vibration isolation lock device for a seat assembly is provided and includes a plurality of restrictor plates, a spring in communication with the plurality of restrictor plates; and a pneumatic piston mechanism communicating with the spring. The plurality of restrictor plates restricts movement of a movable seat frame with respect to a fixed seat frame based on an amount of air pressure from the piston mechanism. 
     To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the innovation are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the innovation can be employed and the subject innovation is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the innovation will become apparent from the following detailed description of the innovation when considered in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example block diagram of a pneumatic isolator lock system in accordance with aspects of the innovation. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a suspension base assembly for a seat assembly incorporating a vibration isolation system in accordance with aspects of the innovation. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a top view illustrating the configuration of the vibration isolation system in accordance with aspects of the innovation. 
         FIGS. 4-6  are perspective close-up views of a short stroke air cylinder with a piston, a pivot arm, and a spring in accordance with aspects of the innovation. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an example flow chart of procedures that facilitate pneumatic vibration isolation in accordance with an aspect of the innovation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject innovation. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the innovation. 
     While specific characteristics are described herein (e.g., thickness), it is to be understood that the features, functions and benefits of the innovation can employ characteristics that vary from those described herein. These alternatives are to be included within the scope of the innovation and claims appended hereto. 
     Referring initially to the drawings,  FIG. 1  illustrates an example block diagram of a vibration isolator lock system  100  in accordance with aspects of the innovation. In operation, the system of  FIG. 1  can facilitate pneumatic operation of a fore-aft vibration isolator locking device frequently used in seating systems of long haul trucks. As will be appreciated, fore-aft vibration isolation is a standard feature in North American class 8 truck seats, as well as many other seating systems worldwide. 
     Generally, the system  100  can include an air supply component  102  and a vibration isolator component  104 . In operation, pressurized air can be provided by the air supply component  102  to the vibration isolator component  104 . As will be shown and described further below, the presence of pressurized air can move a piston, pivot an arm, and compress a spring which compresses plates thereby effecting isolation lock and unlock. While the system  100  employs air to compress and hold plates, it will be understood that varying pressures can effectively isolate vibrations that vary in intensity. These and other aspects will be better understood upon a review of the figures that follow. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example embodiment of a vibration isolator component  104  including a suspension base assembly  200  for a seat assembly (not shown) that incorporates a vibration isolator lock device  202  in accordance with aspects of the innovation. The suspension base assembly  200  includes a first or fixed part (fixed frame)  204  and a second or movable part (movable frame)  206 . The movable part  206  moves with respect to the fixed part  204  by approximately +/−1 inch. The motion of the movable part  206  in relation to the fixed part  204  is substantially on a same plane. The vibration isolator lock device  202  attaches to the movable part  206  of the suspension base assembly  200 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The seat assembly (not shown) attaches to the movable part  206 . Thus, the vibration isolator lock device  202  isolates any fore/aft vibration from a driver of the vehicle. 
     Conventionally, various types of mechanical latches and the like have been used to establish isolation lock. Contrary to conventional systems, the proposed system (e.g., system of  FIG. 1 ) provides for pneumatic locking of the system, allowing additional flexibility in controlling the lock actuation. Additionally, as will be understood upon a review of the figures and description provided herein, the proposed system allows manual (or automatic) control of the air pressure. This provides the ability of the system to partially lock, thus giving the effect of a locked system, but allowing movement during a major fore/aft vibration event. In other words, the amount of air (e.g., pressure) can be regulated, thereby limiting some, but not all, of the fore/aft movements and vibration. 
     In other aspects, a user can pre-program a desired isolation pressure thereby the pressure can be auto-regulated (e.g., via a controller) to provide a desired effect. It will be understood that most any switching or programming system can be employed to regulate the pressure in the pneumatic isolation system of the innovation. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a partial top view of an example suspension base  300  incorporating an example a vibration isolator lock device  302  is illustrated in accordance with an aspect of the innovation. The suspension base includes a first (fixed) frame  304  and a second (movable) frame  306 . The vibration isolator lock device  302  is mounted to the movable frame  306 , which moves with respect to a fixed frame  304 . The vibration isolator lock device  302  includes multiple restrictor plates  308  having multiple spacers  310  disposed between each of the multiple restrictor plates  308 , a spring  312 , and a piston mechanism comprising a short stroke air cylinder  314  including a piston  316 , and a pivot arm  318  that provides a communication between the piston  316  and the spring  312 . 
     The restrictor plates  308  provide a connection between the fixed part  304  and the movable part  306 . Thus, restrictor plates  308  restrict the motion of the movable part  306  with respect to the fixed part  304 . Specifically, when no or little air pressure is supplied by the air cylinder  314 , the spring  312  is biased in a direction indicated by arrow  320  (away from the restrictor plates  308 ) and, thus clamps the multiple spacers  310  to the restrictor plates  308 . The spring  312  clamps with sufficient force to lock (restrict movement) the movable part  306  with respect to the fixed part  304 . Thus, the vibration isolation system  100  is in a locked state, which indicates that the movable part  306  is not movable with respect to the fixed part  304 , when there is little or no air pressure supplied by the air cylinder  314 . 
     Conversely, when the air cylinder  314  supplies air to actuate the vibration isolation device  302 , the vibration isolation system  100  is in an unlocked state. Specifically, when the air cylinder  314  supplies air, the piston  316  extends in a direction indicated by the arrow  322 . The piston  316  pushes on a first end  324  the pivot arm  318 , which in turn pivots about a point  326 . A second end  328  of the pivot arm  318  in turn pushes on the spring  312  and forces the spring in a direction opposite of the direction of the arrow  320 . The compression spring  312  unlocks the spacers  310  from the restrictor plates  308 , thereby unlocking the vibration isolation system  100 . In the unlocked state, the movable part  306  is allowed to move with respect to the fixed part  304 , thereby allowing the vibration isolation system  100  to isolate any fore/aft vibrations from the driver. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are close-up perspective views of the air cylinder  314 , piston  316 , and the pivot arm  318 . A pneumatic connection valve  328  is attached to a side of the air cylinder  314  to facilitate the supply of air pressure upon request. Thus, an air source (not shown) can be connected to the air cylinder  314  via a hose or line. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a methodology of isolating fore-aft vibrations using pneumatics in accordance with an aspect of the innovation. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, e.g., in the form of a flow chart, are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the subject innovation is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with the innovation, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with the innovation. 
     At  702 , a determination if an isolation lock is desired is made. If a lock is desired, the vibration isolator lock system  100  remains intact and does not isolate the fore-aft vibrations. Thus, the restrictor plates  308  can effectively lock the isolator such that vibrations are not isolated. It is to be appreciated that if little pneumatic pressure is applied, some vibrations are restricted. If a lock is not desired, the method proceeds to  704  where pneumatic (or additional pneumatic) pressure is applied. 
     The air pressure can inflate the piston  316  at  706  thereby causing the pivot arm  318  to rotate about a point  326  at  708 . The pivot arm  318  can compress the spring  312  at  710  which ultimately releases the restrictor plates  308  at  712  thereby allowing motion. Thus, the vibration isolator system  100  isolates fore/aft vibrations from the driver. 
     Conventionally, various types of mechanical latches and the like have been used to establish isolation lock. Contrary to conventional systems, the proposed system (e.g., system of  FIG. 1 ) provides for pneumatic locking of the system, allowing additional flexibility in controlling the lock actuation. It is to be appreciated, however, that although the innovation described herein relates to pneumatic actuation, it is to be understood that the vibration isolator lock system can be actuated via other sources, such as but not limited to, hydraulics. 
     Additionally, as will be understood upon a review of the figures and description provided herein, the proposed system allows manual (or automatic) control of the air pressure. This provides the ability of the system to partially lock, thus giving the effect of a locked system, but allowing movement during a major fore/aft vibration event. In other words, the amount of air (e.g., pressure) can be regulated, thereby limiting some, but not all, of the fore/aft movements and vibration. 
     In other aspects, a user can pre-program a desired isolation pressure thereby the pressure can be auto-regulated (e.g., via a controller) to provide a desired effect. It will be understood that most any switching or programming system can be employed to regulate the pressure in the pneumatic isolation system of the innovation. 
     As described above, it is to be understood that the amount of pressure in the air cylinder will determine the unlock force. A partial lock, providing frictional damping of movements is possible by varying the air pressure. This feature is unique to this design and not employed in conventional systems. Additionally, although not shown, it is to be understood that an air source and activation means (e.g., switching means) are to be included within the scope of this specification. 
     What has been described above includes examples of the innovation. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the subject innovation, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the innovation are possible. Accordingly, the innovation is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.