Thoracic region comfort vehicle seating system with pneumatic adjustment

Abstract

A vehicle seat is provided, in at least one embodiment, comprising a seatback comprising a cushion having a first hardness, and a pneumatic thoracic support structure positioned adjacent the cushion. In at least one embodiment, the pneumatic thoracic support structure comprises a first bladder selectively inflatable to provide a first area having a second hardness higher than the first hardness, with the first area being disposed along a thoracic region of a user's spine when a user is seated in the seat to provide support to at least a portion of the thoracic region of the user's spine.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle seat comprising:
 a seatback comprising a cushion having a first hardness, the cushion having a top, a bottom, a central axis extending between the top and the bottom, a recess extending along the central axis, an upper foam portion disposed above the recess along the central axis, and a lower foam portion disposed below the recess along the central axis; and   a pneumatic thoracic support structure positioned within the recess of the cushion, a lowermost region of the pneumatic thoracic support structure being spaced from a bottom edge of the seatback, the pneumatic thoracic support structure comprising a first bladder selectively inflatable to provide a first area having a second hardness higher than the first hardness, the first area being disposed in the upper half of the seatback and having a length extending along the central axis and a width extending across the central axis, with the length being greater than the width such that the first area extends along the central axis and is aligned with a thoracic region of a user's spine when a user is seated in the seat to provide support to at least a portion of the thoracic region of the user's spine.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle seat of  claim 1  wherein the cushion is 2 to 10 cm thick and the first area is disposed between the center of the seatback and the upper one-third of the seatback. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle seat of  claim 2  further comprising a metallic frame, the cushion being disposed on the frame, wherein the cushion has an upper surface, a lower surface, with the recess extending from the upper surface towards the lower surface, with the support structure being located within the recess. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle seat of  claim 1  wherein the support structure comprises a second bladder selectively inflatable to provide a second area having a third hardness higher than the first hardness, the second area being disposed adjacent to and below the first area. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle seat of  claim 4  wherein the first bladder has a width of 5-20 cm, a length of 7-20 cm and inflates to a pressure of 0.2-8 psi, and the second bladder has a width of 5-20 cm, a length of 3-10 cm and inflates to a pressure of 0.2-8 psi. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle seat of  claim 1  wherein the support structure comprises a center bladder zone, a left bladder zone, and a right bladder zone, the center bladder zone being laterally disposed between the left and right bladder zones, the first bladder being disposed within the center bladder zone, the center, left and right bladder zones being actuatable so that the center bladder zone provides a higher pressure than either of the left and right bladder zones. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle seat of  claim 3  further comprising a trim material covering the support structure. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle seat of  claim 1  wherein the first bladder comprises a vertically extending tubular bladder having a varying wall thickness so that certain portions will inflate while other portions will remain relatively unchanged in response to an increase of pressure buildup in the tubular bladder. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle seat of  claim 7  wherein the seatback is to be connected to a seat frame adapted for mounting in a vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle seat of  claim 3  wherein a lowermost region of the recess is spaced from the bottom edge of the seatback. 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle seat of  claim 10  wherein a portion of the cushion of the seatback is disposed at a forward surface of the seatback between the lowermost region of the recess and the bottom edge of the seatback to space the lowermost region of the recess from the bottom edge of the seatback. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle seat of  claim 1  wherein the pneumatic thoracic support structure comprises a second bladder positioned adjacent to the cushion and adjacent to the first bladder such that a top edge of the second bladder is disposed below a bottom edge of the first bladder. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle seat of  claim 12  wherein a width of the second bladder generally corresponds to a width of the first bladder. 
     
     
         14 . The vehicle seat of  claim 3  wherein the recess has a substantially constant width along a length of the recess. 
     
     
         15 . A vehicle seat comprising:
 a seatback having a top, a bottom and a central axis extending between the top and the bottom of the seatback, the seatback having a foam cushion having a first hardness, the foam cushion having a cavity extending lengthwise along the central axis and located between the midpoint and upper one-third of the seatback such that a lowermost region of the cavity is spaced from a bottom edge of the seatback, the foam cushion having foam portions adjacent the cavity; and   a pneumatic thoracic support structure positioned within the cavity in the seatback, the pneumatic thoracic support structure having a length extending along the central axis and a width extending transverse to the central axis, with the width being smaller than the length, the pneumatic support structure being selectively inflatable to provide an area having a second hardness, the second hardness being 25-200% higher than the first hardness.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle seat of  claim 15  wherein the pneumatic thoracic support structure is positioned within the cavity in the seatback such that a lowermost region of the pneumatic thoracic support structure is spaced from the bottom edge of the seatback. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle seat of  claim 15  wherein the support structure comprises a first bladder selectively inflatable to provide the area having the second hardness. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle seat of  claim 15  wherein the support structure comprises a second bladder selectively inflatable to cooperate with the first bladder to provide the area having the second hardness, the second bladder being disposed adjacent to and below the first bladder. 
     
     
         19 . A pneumatic thoracic support structure positionable within a cavity of vehicle seatback comprising a foam cushion having a first hardness and a cavity located between the midpoint and upper one-third of the seatback such that a lowermost region of the cavity is spaced from a bottom edge of the seatback, the pneumatic thoracic support structure comprising:
 a selectively inflatable volume having a second hardness when inflated, the second hardness being 25-200% higher than the first hardness, the selectively inflatable volume having a length and a width smaller than the length and being disposed within the cavity to be aligned lengthwise with a thoracic region a user's spine when the support structure is positioned within the cavity and when a user is seated in the seat to provide support to at least a portion of the thoracic region of the user's spine.   
     
     
         20 . The pneumatic thoracic support structure of  claim 19  wherein the support structure comprises a first bladder selectively inflatable to provide the area having the second hardness.