Abstract:
A vehicle net seat includes a frame having a curved portion that inhibits interference with a buttock or hip of a seated person, and a net that is held taut over the frame and forms a backrest surface. An end portion on a seat cushion side of the net is held taut in a manner jutting out from the curved portion toward a seating side, such that a portion of a load from the seated person that is applied to the seat cushion is also received by a seat back.

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
       [0001]    The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-094818 filed on Apr. 21, 2011 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to vehicle net seat. More particularly, the invention relates to a vehicle net seat in which a net is held taut over a frame. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A net seat in which a net that forms a backrest surface for a seated person is held taut over a frame that forms a seat back is already known. Here, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-82526 (JP 2009-82526 A) describes a net seat  101  in which left and right lower sides of a portion of a frame  130  that forms a seat back  103  both curve toward the rear, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . In other words, the net seat  101  includes curved portions  132 . As a result, the buttocks or hips of a seated person m that will be described later can be inhibited from interfering with the portion of the frame  130  that forms the seat back  103 . Therefore, discomfort to the seated person m can be suppressed. 
         [0006]    However, with the technology described in JP 2009-82526 A, the curved portions  132  are provided, so there may end up being a gap s between the back side of the buttocks or hips of the seated person m and a net  160 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . If this kind of gap s occurs, the feeling of support at the buttocks or hips of the seated person m may end up being insufficient. In order to eliminate this, it is possible to have the left and right lower end sides of the portion of the frame  130  that forms the seat back  103  jut out forward. However, doing so may result in the buttocks or hips of the seated person m interfering with the portion of the frame  130  that forms the seat back  103 , which would end up being uncomfortable to the seated person m. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The invention thus provides a vehicle seat that provides a sufficient feeling of support for the buttocks or hips, without causing discomfort to a seated person. 
         [0008]    A first aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle net seat that includes a frame having a curved portion that inhibits interference with a buttock or hip of a seated person, and a net that is held taut over the frame and forms a backrest surface. An end portion on a seat cushion side of the net is held taut in a manner jutting out from the curved portion toward a seating side. According to this structure, the end portion of the net that juts out to the seating side from the curved portion is able to support the back side of the buttocks or hips of a seated person. Therefore, unlike the related art, a feeling of support for the buttocks or the hips of the seated person is able to be inhibited from being insufficient. Also according to this structure, discomfort to the seated person is able to be suppressed, just like with the related art. 
         [0009]    Also, a second aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle net seat that includes a frame having a curved portion that inhibits interference with a buttock or hip of a seated person, and a net that is held taut over the frame and forms a sitting surface. An end portion on a seat back side of the net is held taut in a manner jutting out from the curved portion toward a sitting side. According to this structure, operation and effects similar to those of the first aspect are able to be obtained. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, and wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle net seat according to an example embodiment of the invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2A  is a longitudinal sectional view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2B  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a view showing a state in which an occupant is seated, in  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a vehicle net seat according to related art; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a longitudinal sectional view of  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a view showing a state in which an occupant is seated, in  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Hereinafter, example embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 . In the description below, the terms up, down, front, rear (or back), left, and right indicate the directions of up, down, front, rear (or back), left, and right in the drawings, i.e., the directions of up, down, front, rear (or back), left, and right with respect to a vehicle net seat  1 . 
         [0019]    First, the structure of the vehicle net seat  1  according to an example embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . This vehicle net seat  1  mainly includes a frame  10  that forms the frame, and nets  50  and  60  (i.e., a cushion net  50  and a back net  60 ) that are held taut over the frame  10 . These constituent members  10 ,  50 , and  60  are described separately below. 
         [0020]    First, the frame  10  will be described. The frame  10  is formed from two pipes that have been joined together at both ends so as to form a generally rectangular frame. Curved portions  12  that form boundaries between a portion that forms a seat cushion  2  and a portion that forms a seat back  3 , are formed at substantially center portions in the longitudinal direction of the frame  10 . For the sake of simplifying the description, the portion of the frame  10  that forms the seat cushion  2  will be referred to as the “cushion frame  20 ” and the portion of the frame  10  that forms the seat back  3  will be referred to as the “back frame  30 .” 
         [0021]    Lower arms  40  are assembled to the left and right of the cushion frame  20 . However, the right lower arm  40  is not shown in  FIG. 1 . This vehicle net seat  1  is mounted to a floor, not shown, inside a vehicle via these left and right lower arms  40 . Also, a bracket  22  that extends across the cushion frame  20  is assembled to the left and right rear ends (i.e., the front ends of the curved portions  12 ) of the cushion frame  20 . 
         [0022]    Meanwhile, curved portions  32  that curve toward the rear, similar to the related art, are formed on the left and right lower sides of the back frame  30 . Also, a lower plate  34  that extends across of the back frame  30  is assembled to the left and right lower ends of the back frame  30 . 
         [0023]    Next, the cushion net  50  will be described. This cushion net  50  is made of a sheet-shaped cloth member that covers an opening of the cushion frame  20 . A front edge of the cushion net  50  is held taut by bolts B to a front edge of the cushion frame  20 , and the left and right edges of the cushion net  50  are held taut by bolts B to the lower arms  40 . 
         [0024]    Finally, the back net  60  will be described. The back net  60  is made of a bag-shaped cloth member that covers an opening of the back frame  30 . This back net  60  is held taut over the back frame  30  in a manner slipped down over the back frame  30 . A front edge of the taut back net  60  is wound back around toward the rear via the bracket  22  of the cushion frame  20  and fastened to a rear edge of the back net  60  by hooks F 1  and F 2  (see the partial enlarged view in  FIG. 2B ). 
         [0025]    When the front edge of the taut back net  60  is wound back around in this way, a portion of the taut back net  60  below the upper end of the curved portion  32  (hereinafter this portion will be referred to as the “jutting out portion U”) juts out forward, as is also evident when comparing  FIG. 2A  with  FIG. 5 . When this portion juts out in this way, a portion of the load from a seated person M that is applied to the seat cushion  2  is also received by the seat back  3 . 
         [0026]    The vehicle net seat  1  according to this example embodiment is structured as described above. According to this structure, the jutting out portion U is formed on the back net  60 . Thus, this jutting out portion. U is able to support the back side of the buttocks or hips of the seated person M. Therefore, unlike the related art, a feeling of support for the buttocks or the hips of the seated person M is able to be inhibited from being insufficient. Also according to this structure, the curved portions  32  that curve toward the rear are formed on the left and right lower sides of the back frame  30 , similar to the related art. Therefore, discomfort to the seated person is able to be suppressed, just like with the related art. 
         [0027]    The description above relates only to one example embodiment of the invention. The invention is not limited to this description. For example, in the example embodiment, the jutting out portion U is formed on the back net  60  side. However, the jutting out portion U may also be formed on the cushion net  50  side. In this case, the rear end side of the cushion net  50  has a structure similar to that of the lower end side of the back net  60 . 
         [0028]    Also, in the example embodiment, the back net  60  is formed in a bag shape. However, the back net  60  may also be formed in a sheet shape. In this case, an upper edge of the back net  60  may be held taut by bolts to an upper edge of the back frame  30 , and left and right edges of the back net  60  may be held taut by bolts to left and right edges of the back frame  30 . When the back net  60  is formed in a sheet shape, a resin frame into which the back net  60  has been inserted may be insert formed, and this formed resin frame may be assembled to the back frame  30 . 
         [0029]    Also in the example embodiment, the front edge of the back net  60  is wound around toward the rear via the bracket  22  of the cushion frame  20 , and fastened to the rear edge of the back net  60  via the hooks F 1  and F 2 . However, the front edge of the back net  60  may also be fastened to the bracket  22  of the cushion frame  20  via the hook F 1 , and the rear edge may be fastened to the lower plate  34  of the back frame  30  via the hook F 2 . 
         [0030]    The curved portions  32  may also be provided on extended portions that extend the rear end of the cushion frame  20  upward.