Enhanced driver's seat comfort is in the bag - with polypropylene felt

摘要

Engineers in the Seating Comfort business unit of Alfmeier Prazision AG, Treuchtlingen, Germany, ran into a problem with lumbar-support devices they supply luxury automakers like BMW. The modular subsystems give the driver electropneumatic control over the seat contour with massage and memory functions, but the units were failing prematurely and damaging adjacent seat foam. Alfmeier engineers discovered bladders rubbing against the foam of the seat cushion caused premature wear to both the foam and the bladder, noise, and problems adjusting the back support. Alfmeier took the problem and a sample of a high-performance, high-cost material that met their needs to Fabrico, Kennesaw, GA. Ultimately, Fabrico engineers recommended encasing the existing bladders in a "bay" of polypropylene felt.