Evaluation of Sitting Comfort of Car Seat. Part 3: Effect of Surface Layer of Car-Driver's Seat on Sitting Comfort.

A sitting comfort of various car driver's seats, whose surface materials were different and structures and shapes were same, was evaluated tactually by consumers. The adjectives used for the sensory evaluation by human tactual sensation were examined by factor analysis. As the results, two adjectives “high-class” and “thick” were common and significant in evaluating the sitti ng comfort of car driver's seats by human tactual sensation. But, the adjective “sporty” was not evaluated. Further, the body contact area between the seat cushion and human buttocks was correlated with the adjective “thick” and that between the back-rest and human back was correlated with the adjectives “high-class” and “warm” evaluated by the tactual sensation . On the other hand, the body pressure between the back-rest and human back has a negative correlation with the adjective “soft”. And the contact area measured by the experimental system between the back-rest and the impact cylinder, when it gave the maximum force the back-rest, was correlated with “high-class” and “soft”.