Subject: Automobile Engineering

Topic: Recent Trends in Automobiles

Difficulty: Medium

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(ii)

Driver seat is an inseparable port of any automobile. Its main function is not only to provide a seating space to driver but also support, protect & to provide comfortable seating posture to the occupants. Today, driver seat design has been given very importance because poorly designed seat affect badly on human health as well as psychological conditions of driver hence increases the chances of accidents. It is evolved after evolution of first car at the start of 19th century

Parts of driver seat:
Driver seat is very complicated, consists of large number of parts & mechanism. Main parts of driver seat are frame, padding,seat pan, head rests system; reclining mechanism with lever, trim (seat cover) & the suspension system, air bags, seat belt, fore & aft adjustment, height adjustment etc.

Parameter involved in design of driver seat:
Wide varieties of parameters must to be considered while designing a driver seat in order to fulfill the following four criteria’s:
i) Driver seat is designed such a way that he can reach vehicle control with clear vision.
ii) Seat is designed in such a way that accommodates the driver size & shape.
iii) For extended period of driving seat should provide comfort.
iv) Seat must guard driver during accident or collision.

The following are the basic parameter which are involved in design of driver seat:
i) Comfort related parameter:
Comfort is feeling like relief, encouragement, enjoyment & stable. Comfort is dependent on pressure distribution over the seat, thermal comfort, vibration at driver body, geometric parameters.
ii) Vibrations :
Road Surface is not uniform everywhere yet it is constructed properly by advanced technology. Such surface is responsible for vibrations at driver seat. Driver seat is so designed that very less vibrations transferred to driver.
iii) Safety related parameter:
Accidental safety to the driver is most important thing while designing a driver seat. Safety to head, leg & entire human body is very important for safety of head, airbags are provided in seat & its compartments. Also active head restraint is best device for the safety of driver neck.
iv) Shape & Size :
Seat should be compact & well shaped so that it is better & suit to the driver body.
v) Cost of seat :
In order to fulfill the need of customer in minimum cost optimization & mass production of seat is very important aspect. But some time, cost is not issue at that time designer can use high quality of material & all advanced safety system.

ii) Visibility & Blind area : In vehicles, visibility is the maximum distance at which the driver of a vehicle can see & identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions & by a vehicle's design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility include the windshield, the dashboard & the pillars. Good driver visibility is essential to safe road traffic. The blind area in a vehicle is as area around the vehicle that cannot be directly observed by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. Blind area exist in a wide range of vehicles : aircraft, cars, motor boats, sailboats,trucks. Other types of transport have no blind spots at all, such as bicycle, motorcycles. Proper adjustment of mirror & use of the technical solutions can eliminate vehicle blind area.