US 11,938,855 B1
Adaptive vehicle seat back stiffness restraint system
Nirmal Muralidharan, San Mateo, CA (US)
Assigned to Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed by Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 19, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/820,938.
Int. Cl. B60N 2/02 (2006.01); B60N 2/42 (2006.01); B60N 2/90 (2018.01)
CPC B60N 2/914 (2018.02) [B60N 2/0276 (2013.01); B60N 2/4249 (2013.01); B60N 2/0268 (2023.08)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a seat comprising:
a seat base configured to support an occupant,
a sensor associated with the seat base and configured to generate sensor data associated with a mass of the occupant, and
a seatback associated with the seat base and configured to provide support to a back of the occupant, the seatback comprising a first portion facing a back of the occupant, a second portion opposite the back of the occupant and spaced a distance from the first portion, a rigid element disposed between the first portion and the second portion, the rigid element and the second portion at least partially defining a volume within the seatback, and a variable resistance support disposed in the volume, the variable resistance support being configurable between a plurality of configurations to vary a resistance to forces applied by the back of the occupant to the seatback;
a controller configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data from the sensor, and
determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, the mass of the occupant;
configuring, based at least in part on the mass of the occupant exceeding a threshold value for a mass, the variable resistance support in a first configuration of the plurality of configurations; and
configuring, based at least in part on the mass of the occupant being less than or equal to the threshold value of the mass, the variable resistance support in a second configuration of the plurality of configurations.