Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a vehicle seat, particularly a vehicle seat with a foot massage system. Background of the Invention

Nowadays, vehicle has become one of the main transportations. However, long-time travel causes passengers to suffer muscle tension or soreness, especially on his/her feet. The current vehicle seat cannot meet people's needs.

Document DE 102007041504B4, of which the title is "passenger seat for passenger car", has disclosed a footrest behind a back rest and provided with a massage system.

Whereas in the prior art including the above patent, due to the acting force of the massage units during massage, it's hard for a passenger to locate his/her feet on the proper massage position. In addition, when the foot massage device is activated, no matter the passenger's feet are on the pedal or not, the massage device will always be working, which makes the rate of energy utilization of the massage units low and impacts safety for use as well as other defects. Summary of the Invention

To this end, in order to solve the technical problems above, the present invention provides a foot massage system with foot registration and pressure detection functions for vehicle seats, which can locate the passenger' s feet to the proper massage position for a proper massage, with simple structure, easy operation and facility to production.

To be specific, the invention is achieved by the following technical solutions. A vehicle seat comprising a seat back having a foot massage system, wherein the seat back includes a front side and a rear side, the rear side comprising a cavity for receiving the foot massage system, said foot massage system configured to pivot around an axis that is fixed relative to the seat back between a first in-use position, wherein the massage system pivots down to receive a passenger's feet, and a second folded-away position wherein the massage system is retreated into the cavity. The massage system includes a foot registration system which contains registration areas for guiding the passenger's feet to a proper massage position.

The foot registration system includes a plurality of pneumatic elements for example in the form of cells, and the registration areas can be temporal protrusions and the temporal protrusions are formed by the pneumatic elements being inflated to 30% to 70% of their full volume when the massage system is ready for use.

Alternatively, the foot registration system includes at least three pneumatic elements for each foot, and the temporal protrusion for each foot is formed by one of the pneumatic elements located in the lower center on the massage system. Alternatively, the registration areas can be permanent protrusions. The permanent protrusions are made of thin elastic elements and may contain magnetic elements.

Preferably, the registration areas are configured to opposite to the arch of each passenger' s foot for the foot in the proper massage position.

The massage system further contains a pressure detection system for sensing the stable position of the feet on the massage system ready for massage.

Preferably, the pressure detection system contains at least three pressure sensors for each foot, and when all of these pressure sensors are pressed by the foot, the foot massage system is activated for the massage.

Alternatively, the massage units of the foot massage system may be chosen from a plurality of pneumatic massage elements in the form of cells, a plurality of massage rollers and a plurality of electromagnetic massage actuators. Brief Description of the Drawing

This invention is now described using an example for illustration only that in no way limits the scope of the invention, on the basis of the following drawings, in which :

- Figure 1 is the lateral view of the seat according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a perspective view of the seat according to the invention, wherein the foot massage system of the embodiment is in the second folded-away position;

- Figure 3 is a perspective view of the seat according to the invention, wherein the foot massage system of the embodiment is in the first in-use position;

- Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the foot massage system according to the invention; and

- Figure 5 is the lateral view of the foot massage system according to the invention.

Detailed Description By referring to the figures, the present invention is further described by the description of embodiments. In the figures, the same references are used to denote identical or similar items. Figure 1 shows a vehicle seat which includes a seat cushion 1 and a seat backrest comprising front side 2 and rear side 3. The seat backrest rotates around axis A-A' relative to the seat cushion 1. And the seat backrest includes a foot massage system 4 and is fixed on the chassis of a vehicle. As shown in Figures 2 to 5, in an embodiment of the invention, the seat backrest includes front side 2 and rear side 3, wherein the rear side 3 includes a cavity 5 for receiving a foot massage system 4. The foot massage system 4 is hinged to the rear side 3 and is driven by a hydraulic actuator or a pneumatic device or an electric device or a similar device, so as to pivot around axis B- B' between a first in-use position in which the foot massage system 4 rotates down from the cavity 5 to receive passenger' s feet and a second folded-away position in which the foot massage system 4 turns back into the cavity 5. The foot massage system 4 may includes a cover 6, at least one extensible foot receiving space 7, a pressure detection system comprising pressure sensors 8, massage units 9 such as electromagnetic massage actuators or massage rollers or pneumatic massage elements, and registration areas 10 for guiding the passenger's feet to proper massage position.

Preferably, the registration area 10 can be located at the lower center of the foot massage system 4, opposite to the arch of each passenger's foot.

Furthermore, the registration areas 10 can be temporal protrusions or permanent protrusions.

When the registration areas 10 are temporal protrusions, the temporal protrusions can be formed by pneumatic elements. After the foot massage system 4 is activated, the pneumatic elements will be inflated to 30% to 70%, preferably 40% of their full volume, so as to make the temporal protrusions tightly contact with the arch of each passenger's foot, in order to guide the passenger's feet to proper massage position (as shown in Figure 5) .

In addition, the pressure detection system includes at least 3 pressure sensors 8 for each foot (as shown in Figure 4) . The pressure sensors 8 can detect pressure when the feet contact with the surface of the foot massage system 4. Only when all of the pressure sensors 8 are pressed and the pressure detected is equal to or larger than a predetermined value of pressure, the foot massage system 4 will be activated. Otherwise, if any one of the pressure sensors 8 is not pressed or the pressure detected is smaller than the predetermined value of pressure, the foot massage system 8 will not be activated As an example, in one embodiment, registration areas 10 are temporal protrusions, and when a passenger sits on the backseat, he can rotate down the foot massage system 4 from the cavity 5 and actuate the same by a control device such as a button. Then, the temporal protrusions will be inflated to 30% to 70%, preferably 40%, of their full volume to make itself to be the shape that can tightly contact the arch of passenger's feet. At the same time, since the passenger's feet have not been positioned on the foot massage system 4 yet, or none of the pressure sensor 8 receives pressure input, the massage units 9 are not activated. Then, after the passenger's feet are positioned on the foot massage system 4 and guided to proper massage position by the temporal protrusions, and when the pressure detected by all of the pressure sensors 8 are equal to or bigger than the predetermined value of pressure, the massage units 9 are activated and massage the passenger's feet. Preferably, if the passenger's feet uplift or move, which makes any one of the pressure detected of the pressure sensors 8 smaller than the predetermined value of pressure, the massage units 9 stop to work, so as to remind the passenger to locate the feet on proper massage position and save energy.

Alternatively, the foot massage system 4 can be automatically activated into power-on status. When the foot massage system 4 is rotated down, the registration areas 10 in form of temporal protrusions will be automatically inflated to 30% to 70%, preferably 40%, of their full volume. When the passenger's feet are guided to the proper massage position by the temporal protrusions and the pressure detected by all of the pressure sensors 8 are equal to or larger than the predetermined values of pressure, the massage units 9 are activated automatically.

Optionally, in another embodiment of the invention, the registration areas 10 are permanent protrusions. The passenger can rotate down the foot massage system 4 from the cavity 5, for example by a control device such as a button, and activate the foot massage system 4, for example by the control device such as a button. When the passenger's feet are not positioned on the foot massage system 4 and the pressures detected by each of the pressure sensors 8 are smaller than the predetermined values of pressure, the massage units 9 are not activated for foot massage. Then, after the passenger's feet are positioned on the foot massage system 4 and guided to proper massage position by the permanent protrusions, and when the pressure detected by all of the pressure sensors 8 are equal to or larger than the predetermined value of pressure, the massage units 9 are activated for the foot massage. If the passenger's feet uplift or move, which makes any one of the pressure detected by the pressure sensors 8 smaller than the predetermined values of pressure, the massage units 9 stop to work, so as to remind the passenger to locate feet on proper massage position and save energy. In addition, in this embodiment, the foot massage system 4 can be automatically activated into power-on status. When the foot massage system 4 is rotated down, and the passenger' s feet are guided to the proper massage position by the permanent protrusions and the pressure detected by all of the pressure sensors 8 are equal to or bigger than the predetermined value of pressure, the massage units 9 are activated to work automatically.

Indeed, in these embodiments, the pressure sensors 8 may not be necessary. Under some circumstances, in order to meet the requirement of design and costs, it is possible to arrange the registration areas 10 only without the pressure sensors 8, so as to guide the passenger's feet to proper position and provide massage directly.

In the above embodiments, the massage units 9 of the foot massage system 4 may be chosen from a plurality of pneumatic massage elements in the form of cells, a plurality of massage rollers and a plurality of electromagnetic massage actuators. It should be noted that, the embodiments mentioned above are used as examples and cannot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. On the basis of this, a man skilled in the art could expect other embodiments having the same function within the scope of protection of the application.