The present invention provides a horizontal instrument, a supporting device and a method for adjusting the bearing surface of the supporting device to be horizontal. The horizontal instrument in the present invention is used for maintaining a bearing surface parallel to a horizontal plane, wherein the horizontal instrument comprises a slide-swing assembly, and a monitoring assembly, when the monitoring assembly detects that the bearing surface is not parallel to the horizontal plane, the controller instructs the driving unit to drive the slider to slide, which leads the lower end of the swinging rod to slide, and then drives the swinging rod to swing, thereby, the upper end of the swinging rod drives the bearing surface to rotate for an angle so that the bearing surface is maintained parallel to the horizontal plane.

An assembly for absorbing energy in an overload event has an energy absorber for reducing the load on an object being transported on a loading unit. The energy absorber, in the case of a one-off overload event with an energy input that is sufficiently high that damage to the object would be possible or highly likely in the absence of the energy absorber, to absorb energy in order to reduce the load on the object. Measured values relating to the current state of the loading unit are periodically acquired by a sensor device. A control device identifies an overload event from the acquired measured values. A weight of the object to be transported and a limit value for a load on the object are determined. Following identification of the overload event, damping by the energy absorber is controlled to keep the load on the object below the limit value.

In one embodiment, one or more suspension systems of a vehicle may be used to mitigate motion sickness by limiting motion in one or more frequency ranges. In another embodiment, an active suspension may be integrated with an autonomous vehicle architecture. In yet another embodiment, the active suspension system of a vehicle may be used to induce motion in a vehicle. The vehicle may be used as a testbed for technical investigations and/or as a platform to enhance the enjoyment of video and/or audio by vehicle occupants. In some embodiments, the active suspensions system may be used to perform gestures as a means of communication with persons inside or outside the vehicle. In some embodiments, the active suspensions system may be used to generate haptic warnings to a vehicle operator or other persons in response to certain road situations.

A magnetic seat adjustment system includes a frame structure, a movable adjustment mechanism, and a control system. The frame structure includes a first magnetic portion fixedly coupled to the frame structure and including first magnetic members that independently generate a magnetic field. The movable adjustment mechanism includes a movable base and a second magnetic portion. The second magnetic portion is fixedly coupled to the movable base and includes second magnetic members that independently generate a magnetic field. The control system controls a change in the magnetic field of the second magnetic members and/or the first magnetic members. When the magnetic field of the second magnetic members interacts with the magnetic field of the first magnetic members, the seat is in a magnetic levitation state, so that movement of the movable base drives movement of the seat.

A vehicle seat can be configured to selectively provide support to a vehicle occupant in conditions when lateral acceleration is experienced. An actuator can be located within the vehicle seat. When activated, the actuator cause a portion of the seat to morph into an activated configuration. The actuator can be activated based on vehicle speed, steering angle, and/or lateral acceleration. The actuator can include end members connected by a shape memory material connecting member. Actuator blocks with sliding surfaces can be located between the end members. The actuator can be configured such that, in response to an activation input, the shape memory material connecting member contracts, which draws the end members toward each other and causes corresponding sliding surfaces of the plurality of actuator blocks to engage and slide relative to each other. In this way, the actuator morphs into an activated configuration in which its overall height increases.

An active vibration isolation system for isolating a suspended platform from vibration input to the vibration isolation system base includes an exoskeleton, a rotary actuator, and a drive mechanism separate from the exoskeleton for providing force output from the rotary actuator to the suspended plant. The rotary actuator may include inner and outer rotors which rotate relative to each other. The rotary actuator may be free to translate relative to the vibration isolation system base and the suspended platform, and both the inner and outer rotors may be free to rotate relative to the exoskeleton.

Provided is a vehicle seat with a structure enabling a rockable moving piece to be disposed in a seat face in a well-fitting manner. A vehicle seat in which a rocking means having a drive mechanism and a moving piece for conveying rocking movement of the drive mechanism to a seated person is disposed in a through hole obtained by hollowing out a portion of a seat face of a seat cushion, wherein: a recess which is recessed in the thickness direction so as to surround the through hole is disposed in the seat face of the seat cushion; and the moving piece is shaped so that the bottom surface side follows the recess.

An air suspension apparatus for vehicle seats includes an air shutter connected to a supply port of a control valve configured to supply air so as to adjust the opening degree of an inner air channel through which air supplied to the control valve passes.

The invention relates to a system for seat occupancy detection, comprising a vehicle seat for a driver with an upper part and at least one suspension-damper system, wherein an acceleration sensor is arranged on the upper part and is designed to detect a characteristic of an acceleration of the upper part as a function of a time, an evaluation unit being provided which is designed to generate an evaluation of the characteristic of the acceleration and optionally to transmit a signal to a higher-level control unit, the evaluation unit also being designed to assign the evaluation to one of several states, wherein the states are selected from a group comprising an occupied state and an unoccupied state of the vehicle seat.

A vibration damping device for reducing transmissibility of an excitation frequency comprising: a top plate; a bottom plate secured to a base; a linkage arm arrangement coupled to the top plate and the bottom plate; at least one resilient member coupled to the top plate and the bottom plate; a load sensor for determining a mass of a load on the top plate; at least one accelerometer; a damper coupled to the linkage arm arrangement and the top plate, wherein the damper is controllable to modify stiffness of the device.