Mar. 18, 2024
Introduction of new models
Delivering even more comfort through the first ECU developed in-house
We talked to the project members who took on challenge after challenge in order to make people around the world feel even more comfortable in a seat.
Profile
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Masahiro Okabe
Model LPL Department
LPL (Large Project Leader)
Joined TS TECH Co., Ltd. in 1986 and was assigned to the Corporate Quality Control Department.
Posted to the U.S. in 2003. Was assigned to the Model LPL Department after returning to Japan. Served as overall manager of model development as the LPL for this project. -
Yuichiro Hoshi
Electrical Device Development Department
Joined TS TECH Co., Ltd. in 2006. In charge of electrical component development and testing in the Electrical Device Development Department. Served as the PL (Project Leader) in charge of electrical device development for this project.
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Kota Akai
Design Department
Joined TS TECH Co., Ltd. in 2012. In charge of designing automobile seats in the Design Department. Served as the PL in charge of design for this project.
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Yuta Iha
Electrical Device Development Department
Joined TS TECH Co., Ltd. in 2012. In charge of system development in the Electrical Device Development Department. Was involved in the seat heater ECU development for this project.
HoshiFor the seat in the new CR-V, we conducted electrical component development with the objective that "a seat heater that warms at top class speed on a global scale = 'speed heating.'" This particular car is often driven in cold areas, so a seat that warms up quickly would make people happy. Simply speaking, if you use a lot of electricity, the seat will warm up faster. However, this increases the amount of risk, and with the era of electric vehicles on the horizon, there is also the belief that seat heaters should not use any more electricity than they already do. For these reasons, we sought a way to efficiently increase the warming speed.
One of those ways included a review of the heater wire configuration.
Until now, this configuration warmed the entire seat surface (Fig. 1), but we wondered how we could warm the passenger even more efficiently. We concentrated the heater wires in areas where the body not only easily feels warmth but is also in contact with a large portion of the seat, such as the back of the thighs (Fig. 2), to deliver rapid heating and improved comfort.
IhaIn conjunction with the changes to the heater wire configuration, we also proposed an ECU developed by our company to our customer (Honda). The ECU is a component that gauges the temperature of the heater wires at a given time and controls the amount of electricity sent to those wires. For this seat heater system, we developed a control ECU that quickly reaches the designated seat surface temperature with the minimum amount of power.
Needless to say, we must abide by customers' wishes during development. It was the first time we installed an ECU developed in-house, so we had a hard time at the beginning as we did not know where to start, but we were highly motivated to pursue our goal of creating a seat heater system with unprecedented rapid heating capabilities. I feel that cooperation from my co-workers combined with the fact that we are a company that has a history of seat development was why we were able to create the energy-saving, "speed heating" seat heater system.
*1 ECU:Abbreviation for electronic control unit. An apparatus that controls the system with an electronic circuit.
OkabeThe ECU is a component that controls the amount of electricity, so it must never malfunction. We were able to overcome obstacles during our first mass production through a process of trial and error repeated not just by our project members but by the TS TECH Group as a whole. We believe that other companies cannot beat us in terms of cost, so we will make proposals to our customers so that this ECU developed in-house will be installed in a wider range of models.
OkabeIn developing the seat for the new CR-V, the first big objective was to increase the amount of cargo room. Of course, the old model was spacious enough, but in order to improve its appeal as an SUV, we needed to make it even roomier, which we did by making the cargo space floor in the new model completely flat when the rear seats were stowed.
AkaiFor the rear seats in the previous model, we used a method where just the pull of a lever would push the seat bottom out and forward and then collapse the seatback onto it. This garnered high praise from our customer.
In the new model, we changed to a "dive down"*2 method in order to meet our customer's need for an even wider cargo area. By simplifying the mechanism and making the seat thinner while still maintaining the same level of safety and comfort found in the previous model, we reduced seat weight by more than 20%. Weight is directly linked to gas mileage, so this makes the car even more appealing to customers. We were glad that we could contribute to the development of the model in this way.
*2 Dive down: A mechanism that simultaneously tilts the seatback forward and lowers the seat bottom into the floor(See Fig.3)
After the completion of this project
Although it is not common in Japan, the CR-V enjoys an enduring popularity around the world. With strong sales overseas, it is an important model for TS TECH. The expectations for the model change were high, and we not only met our customer's request for an even more spacious cargo room as we worked to deliver a more convenient, more comfortable interior space, but we also actively promoted our "speed heating" seat heater ECU, which improves comfort during cold weather.
This was our first attempt at in-house ECU development, so it was very difficult, but the resulting "speed heating" seat heater system offers excellent performance, not only warming the seats quickly but also helping to save fuel. In the future, we hope it will be installed in a wider range of models so that users all over the world can experience its performance.