A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT SEAT （审查目前的座位）.pdfVIP

A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT SEAT TECHNOLOGIES IN AGRICULTURAL TRACTORS D. Drakopoulos* Department of Biosystems Engineering University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6 Canada *Email: ddrak@in.gr 1. INTRODUCTION In today’s age of advanced technology, manufacturers have devoted a significant part of their research in finding new ways to improve the safety and comfort of the agricultural vehicle operators. These improvements target to maximize their work quality and reduce their stress during long working hours. An important part of these improvements is the cab of agricultural vehicles and especially the farmer’s seat. Seats present a high research interest as they connect the driver with the whole vehicle. This fact has two main consequences, the external and the internal. The first can be explained in terms of the vibration percentage that passes from the ground to the driver through the seat. This is a very important issue that a ‘high quality’ seat has to deal with. Vibration transferred from the machinery to the human body may cause discomfort and reduction in performance, and may contribute to a permanent acute back pain. The second consequence can be explained in terms of the ideal seat position and the convenience of the farmer during operation. Farmers while driving tractors often assume a rotated posture as they are watching the implement attached to the rear of the tractor. Activities such as ploughing, harvesting and spraying will require such a rotated posture. Farmers involved in these activities may spend many hours, in this rotated posture