An electric slide rail and its driving mechanism

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric slide and its driving mechanism, wherein the driving mechanism of the electric slide comprises a motor, a flexible driving shaft, a gear driving part and a rack; the rack is fixed to the outer slide of the electric slide; the gear driving part is meshed with the rack and fixed to the inner slide of the electric slide; the flexible driving shaft is transmission-connected between the main shaft of the motor and the input shaft of the gear driving part, and the motor can drive the input shaft to rotate through the flexible driving shaft, and drive the inner slide to slide relative to the outer slide through the rack. While improving the operability of the long slide, it is convenient for installation and operation and can improve the comfort of the user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of vehicle seat slide rails, and in particular to an electric slide rail and a driving mechanism thereof. Background Art

[0002] At present, long slide rails (slide rails with a stroke greater than 350 mm) are all manually operated long slide rails, and the slide rails slide forward and backward by people exerting force forward and backward. Although the function can be achieved, the comfort and ease of operation still need to be improved.

[0003] In order to improve the comfort and operability of the adjustment of the long slide rail, in the prior art, the inner slide rail is driven to slide relative to the outer slide rail by a motor, a rigid shaft, a gear and a rack. In other words, the operability of the long slide rail is achieved by motor drive. However, under this structural setting, the installation position of the motor, the position of the rigid shaft and the position of the gear are relatively high. In addition, when the drive mechanism is started to adjust the inner slide rail to slide relative to the outer slide rail, a sense of frustration is easily generated, that is, the smoothness of the movement is poor and the user experience is poor.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the operability of the long slide rail while facilitating installation and operation and improving user comfort is a technical problem that needs to be urgently solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide an electric slide rail and a driving mechanism thereof, which can improve the operability of a long slide rail, facilitate installation and operation, and enhance the comfort of users.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a driving mechanism of an electric slide rail, which includes a motor, a flexible driving shaft, a gear driving unit and a rack; the rack is fixed to the outer slide rail of the electric slide rail; the gear driving unit is meshed with the rack and fixed to the inner slide rail of the electric slide rail; the flexible driving shaft is transmission-connected between the main shaft of the motor and the input shaft of the gear driving unit, and the motor can drive the input shaft to rotate through the flexible driving shaft, and drive the inner slide rail to slide relative to the outer slide rail through the rack.

[0007] One end of the flexible drive shaft is connected to the main shaft of the motor, and the other end is connected to the input shaft of the gear drive unit. The motor can drive the input shaft of the gear drive unit to rotate through the flexible drive shaft, and the gear drive unit is meshed with the rack and can move relative to the rack. Since the rack is fixed to the outer slide rail and the gear drive unit is fixed to the inner slide rail, the inner slide rail can slide relative to the outer slide rail. This drive mechanism is also applicable to long slide rails with a stroke greater than 350mm, thereby improving the operability of the long slide rail.

[0008] Power transmission is achieved through a flexible connection of a flexible drive shaft between the motor and the gear drive unit. Since the flexible drive shaft can be bent and deformed, the layout position of the motor is relatively flexible, which can reduce the installation accuracy requirements and facilitate the installation operation. Moreover, the flexible drive shaft can absorb a certain amount of torque. Therefore, when starting to adjust the seat, there will be no sense of jerk, improving the user's comfort.

[0009] Optionally, the gear drive unit is a gearbox, and the input shaft of the gearbox is in transmission connection with the flexible drive shaft.

[0010] Optionally, both the rack and the gear drive unit are arranged in the outer slide rail, the input shaft and the main shaft are vertically arranged, and the flexible drive shaft is provided with a bend.

[0011] Optionally, the flexible drive shaft includes a soft shaft and a sleeve sleeved outside the soft shaft. The soft shaft is in transmission connection between the main shaft and the input shaft and can rotate within the sleeve.

[0012] Optionally, it further includes a first bracket and a second bracket for fixing the flexible drive shaft. The first bracket and the second bracket are respectively located on both sides of the bend.

[0013] Optionally, the number of the outer slide rail and the inner slide rail is two respectively. A cross beam is further provided between the two inner slide rails. The motor and the first bracket are both fixed on the cross beam, and the second bracket is fixed to the inner slide rail.

[0014] Optionally, the first bracket is a support plate provided with two clamping interfaces. One clamping interface is clamped and fixed to the cross beam, and the other clamping interface is clamped and fixed to the flexible drive shaft.

[0015] In addition, the present invention also provides an electric slide rail, which includes an outer slide rail, an inner slide rail and the driving mechanism as described above. The driving mechanism can act on the inner slide rail to slide relative to the outer slide rail.

[0016] The electric slide rail having the above driving mechanism has technical effects similar to those of the above driving mechanism. For the sake of saving space, it will not be elaborated here.

[0017] Optionally, the inner slide rail is located within the outer slide rail, and the inner slide rail is further provided with sliding wheels, and the sliding wheels can slide along the inner side wall of the outer slide rail. Description of the Drawings

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the electric slide rail provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 is an exploded view of the electric slide rail without the outer slide rail;

[0020] Figure 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of the driving mechanism;

[0021] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the outer slide rail and the inner slide rail;

[0022] Figure 5 is a torque vector transmission diagram of the flexible drive shaft.

[0023] Appendix Figures 1-5 In the figure, the reference numerals are explained as follows:

[0024] 100 - inner slide rail, 110 - sliding wheel; 200 - outer slide rail; 300 - cross beam;

[0025] 1 - motor;

[0026] 2 - flexible drive shaft, 21 - flexible shaft, 22 - sleeve;

[0027] 3 - gearbox;

[0028] 4 - rack;

[0029] 5 - first bracket, 51 - clamping interface;

[0030] 6 - second bracket;

[0031] 7 - motor bracket. Specific implementation manner

[0032] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0033] Please refer to Figures 1-5 , Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the electric slide rail provided by the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is an exploded view of the electric slide rail without the outer slide rail; Figure 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of the driving mechanism; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the outer slide rail and the inner slide rail; Figure 5 is a torque vector transmission diagram of the flexible drive shaft.

[0034] The embodiment of the present invention provides an electric slide rail and its driving mechanism, wherein, as Figure 1 shown, the electric slide rail includes two inner slide rails 100, two outer slide rails 200 and the above-mentioned driving mechanism. Specifically, the two inner slide rails 100 and the two outer slide rails 200 correspond respectively, and the inner slide rail 100 can slide relative to the outer slide rail 200 under the driving action of the driving mechanism, thereby realizing the adjustment of the seat position.

[0035] Specifically, in this embodiment, as Figure 3As shown, the driving mechanism includes a motor 1, a flexible driving shaft 2, a gear driving unit and a rack 4; wherein the rack 4 is fixed to the outer slide rail 200, the gear driving unit is meshed with the rack 4 and fixed to the inner slide rail 100; the flexible driving shaft 2 is transmission-connected between the main shaft of the motor 1 and the input shaft of the gear driving unit, the motor 1 can drive the input shaft to rotate through the flexible driving shaft 2, and drive the inner slide rail 100 to slide relative to the outer slide rail 200 through the rack 4.

[0036] One end of the flexible drive shaft 2 is connected to the main shaft of the motor 1, and the other end is connected to the input shaft of the gear drive unit. The motor 1 can drive the input shaft of the gear drive unit to rotate through the flexible drive shaft 2, and the gear drive unit is meshed with the rack 4 and can move relative to the rack 4. Since the rack 4 is fixed to the outer slide rail 200 and the gear drive unit is fixed to the inner slide rail 100, the inner slide rail 100 can slide relative to the outer slide rail 200. For long slide rails with a stroke greater than 350mm, the drive mechanism provided in this embodiment is also applicable. That is to say, the length of the electric slide rail provided in this embodiment is not limited. It can be an ordinary slide rail with a stroke of no more than 350mm or a long slide rail with a stroke greater than 350mm, thereby improving the operability of the long slide rail.

[0037] In the present embodiment, power transmission is achieved between the motor 1 and the gear drive unit through the soft connection of the flexible drive shaft 2. Since the flexible drive shaft 2 can be bent and deformed, the arrangement position of the motor 1 is relatively flexible, which can reduce the installation accuracy requirements and facilitate the installation operation. In addition, the flexible drive shaft 2 can absorb a certain torque. Therefore, when starting to adjust the seat, there will be no sense of frustration, which improves the user's comfort.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the gear driving part is a gear box 3, and the input shaft of the gear box 3 is connected to the flexible driving shaft 2. That is to say, the gear driving part in this embodiment is a gear set with a multi-stage transmission inside. Compared with the scheme of only one gear and rack 4 meshing transmission, the transmission through the multi-stage gear and rack 4 meshing transmission can change the adjustment speed by changing the transmission ratio, and has good flexibility.

[0039] Furthermore, the rack 4 and the gear drive unit are both arranged in the outer slide rail 200, the input shaft and the main shaft are arranged vertically, and the flexible drive shaft 2 is provided with a bend. In detail, the rack 4 is fixed to the inner wall of the outer slide rail 200, and the gear drive unit (gear box 3, such as Figure 4 The outer slide rail 200 is provided with an opening, the inner slide rail 100 is located in the outer slide rail 200, and the end of the flexible drive shaft 2 can pass through the opening of the outer slide rail 200 and the inner slide rail 100 and realize transmission connection with the input shaft of the gear box 3. The input shaft and the main shaft of the motor 1 are arranged vertically, and the flexible drive shaft 2 is provided with a bend here to realize power transmission between two mutually perpendicular circles.

[0040] The rack 4 and the gear box 3 are arranged in the outer slide rail 200, so that the space occupied by the gear box 3 in the height direction can be reduced, which is convenient for arrangement and can increase the height adjustment range of the seat, thereby providing better flexibility.

[0041] Further, such as Figure 3 As shown, the flexible drive shaft 2 includes a flexible shaft 21 and a sleeve 22 sleeved on the outside of the flexible shaft 21, wherein the flexible shaft 21 is connected between the main shaft and the input shaft and can rotate in the sleeve 22. That is to say, in this embodiment, the specific position of the flexible shaft 21 is limited by the sleeve 22 so that the position does not shift during rotation, thereby ensuring the stability of the transmission, and further ensuring the synchronization of the inner slide rails 100 located on both sides of the motor 1 driven by the two flexible drive shafts 2. Specifically, the material of the sleeve 22 can be plastic or rubber, etc., which is light and has a certain degree of flexibility.

[0042] Furthermore, it also includes a first bracket 5 and a second bracket 6 for fixing the flexible drive shaft 2, and the first bracket 5 and the second bracket 6 are respectively located on both sides of the bend. That is to say, in this embodiment, the sleeve 22 is fixed and supported from both sides of the bend by the first bracket 5 and the second bracket 6 to ensure that the flexible drive shaft 2 is more stable, so that the two ends of the flexible drive shaft 2 can be respectively connected to the two main shafts and the input shaft that are perpendicular to each other.

[0043] Specifically, in this embodiment, the number of the first brackets 5 is two, or it can be set to one, three, or more than three, without specific limitation, and can be set specifically according to the length of the flexible driving shaft 2, etc.

[0044] In the above embodiment, if Figure 2 As shown, there are two outer rails 200 and two inner rails 100, and a crossbeam 300 is provided between the two inner rails 100, and the motor 1 and the first bracket 5 are fixed to the crossbeam 300. When the motor 1 drives the inner rail 100 to slide, the crossbeam 300 and the motor 1 also slide along with the inner rail 100, and the second bracket 6 is fixed to the inner rail 100. Of course, in this embodiment, the second bracket 6 can also be fixed to the side of the crossbeam 300 close to the inner rail 100, and when the second bracket 6 is fixed to the inner rail 100, it is convenient to form the above-mentioned bend at the inner rail 100 to ensure that the flexible drive shaft 2 can be connected to the input shaft in a driving manner.

[0045] Further, in this embodiment, the first bracket 5 is a support plate provided with two clamping interfaces 51. One of the clamping interfaces 51 is fixedly clamped with the cross beam 300, and the other clamping interface 51 is fixed to the flexible drive shaft 2 (the sleeve 22). Specifically, the clamping interface 51 is equivalent to a clamping groove opened at the edge of the support plate. One clamping groove is just clamped with the cross beam 300, and the flexible drive shaft 2 passes through the other clamping groove and is fixedly clamped with the side wall of the other clamping groove. Such a setting facilitates the fixation of the first bracket 5. Or, in this embodiment, the first bracket 5 can also be fixedly arranged with the cross beam 300, and at the same time, the first bracket 5 is also provided with a fixing hole for the flexible drive shaft 2 to pass through. And the solution of setting the first bracket 5 to be fixedly clamped with the cross beam 300 and the flexible drive shaft 2 respectively through the clamping interfaces 51 is convenient for installation operation. At the same time, after the two ends of the flexible drive shaft 2 are respectively connected to the main shaft of the motor 1 and the input shaft of the gearbox 3, the flexible drive shaft 2 can be fixed. At this time, it is convenient to install and adjust the specific position of the first bracket 5, and the flexibility is good.

[0046] In addition, as Figure 2 shown, in this embodiment, the cross beam 300 is further provided with a motor bracket 7 for fixing the motor 1. The motor bracket 7 is the same as the first bracket 5 and is respectively fixed to the cross beam 300 and the motor 1 through clamping.

[0047] For the second bracket 6 in the present application, it is fixed to the inner slide rail 100. Specifically, the structure of the second bracket 6 can be set to be the same as that of the first bracket 5. Or, the second bracket 6 can also be provided with two through holes. One of the through holes is fixed to the inner slide rail 100 through a bolt, and the other through hole is for the flexible drive shaft 2 to pass through. The position of the second bracket 6 does not need to be adjusted anymore. Therefore, it is fixed to the inner slide rail 100 through a bolt. Specifically, during installation, the sleeve 22 is first sleeved outside the flexible shaft 21 and passes through the through hole of the second bracket 6. Then, one end of the flexible shaft 21 is connected to the main shaft of the motor 1, and the other end is connected to the input shaft of the gearbox 3. Then, the flexible drive shaft 2 is fixed to the cross beam 300 through the first bracket 5. The connection is stable and the operability is good.

[0048] Specifically, the flexible drive shaft 2 is first constrained by two first brackets 5 to form a certain arc (that is, the height positions of the connections between the two first brackets 5 and the flexible drive shaft 2 are different). Then, the second bracket 6 is used to change the extension direction of the flexible drive shaft 2 and form the above-mentioned bend, so that the end of the flexible drive shaft 2 can be vertically inserted into the interface of the gearbox 3 and connected to the input shaft of the gearbox 3, so as to achieve as Figure 5 shown, the motor 1 outputs torque in the X-axis direction, and through the bending transmission of the flexible drive shaft 2, the gearbox 3 receives torque in the Z-axis direction.

[0049] In the above embodiments, the material of the rack 4 is plastic. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the material of the rack 4 can also be set to metal or the like, and no specific limitation is made here. The plastic rack 4 is relatively soft. Specifically, during use, when the gearbox 3 acts on the rack 4, noise can be reduced, and at the same time, situations such as creeping deformation can be avoided.

[0050] In the above embodiments, the inner slide rail 100 is further provided with sliding wheels 110. Specifically, the inner slide rail 100 is located inside the outer slide rail 200 and can slide relative to the outer slide rail 200. The setting of the sliding wheels 110 can avoid friction and noise generated when the inner slide rail 100 and the outer slide rail 200 slide relative to each other, avoid wear between the inner slide rail 100 and the outer slide rail 200, and improve comfort.

[0051] In this embodiment, both ends of the cross beam 300 are fixed to the inner slide rail 100 by bolts. To ensure the connection strength between the cross beam 300 and the inner slide rail 100, a reinforcing plate is also provided at the connection between the cross beam 300 and the inner slide rail 100.

[0052] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A driving mechanism for an electric slide rail, characterized in that, It comprises a motor (1), a flexible drive shaft (2), a gear drive unit and a rack (4); The rack (4) is fixed to the outer slide rail (200) of the electric slide rail; The gear driving part is meshed with the rack (4) and fixed to the inner slide rail (100) of the electric slide rail; The flexible drive shaft (2) is transmission-connected between the main shaft of the motor (1) and the input shaft of the gear drive unit; the motor (1) can drive the input shaft to rotate through the flexible drive shaft (2), and drive the inner slide rail (100) to slide relative to the outer slide rail (200) through the rack (4); The rack (4) and the gear drive unit are both arranged in the outer slide rail (200), the input shaft and the main shaft are arranged vertically, and the flexible drive shaft (2) is provided with a bend; It also comprises a first bracket (5) and a second bracket (6) for fixing the flexible drive shaft (2), wherein the first bracket (5) and the second bracket (6) are respectively located on both sides of the bend; The number of the outer slide rail (200) and the number of the inner slide rail (100) are two respectively, a crossbeam (300) is provided between the two inner slide rails (100), the motor (1) and the first bracket (5) are both fixed to the crossbeam (300), and the second bracket (6) is fixed to the inner slide rail (100).

2. The drive mechanism of the electric slide rail according to claim 1, characterized in that, The gear driving part is a gear box (3), and the input shaft of the gear box (3) is drivingly connected to the flexible driving shaft (2).

3. The drive mechanism of the electric slide rail according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The flexible drive shaft (2) comprises a flexible shaft (21) and a sleeve (22) sleeved on the outside of the flexible shaft (21); the flexible shaft (21) is transmission-connected between the main shaft and the input shaft and can rotate in the sleeve (22).

4. The driving mechanism of the electric slide rail according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first bracket (5) is a support plate provided with two card interfaces (51), one of the card interfaces (51) is card-connected and fixed to the crossbeam (300), and the other card interface (51) is card-connected and fixed to the flexible drive shaft (2).

5. An electric slide rail, characterized in that, It comprises an outer slide rail (200), an inner slide rail (100) and a driving mechanism as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the driving mechanism can act on the inner slide rail (100) to slide relative to the outer slide rail (200).

6. The electric slide rail according to claim 5, wherein The inner slide rail (100) is located inside the outer slide rail (200), and the inner slide rail (100) is also provided with a sliding wheel (110), and the sliding wheel (110) can slide along the inner side wall of the outer slide rail (200).

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