Leg rest equipment

Abstract

A powered legrest device for a vehicle comprises: a pair of fixed plates; a main pipe connected between the inner surfaces of the fixed plates; a tilt motor tiltably mounted to the main pipe; a pair of main connecting rods fastened to the outer surfaces of the fixed plates by corresponding first hinge pins; a support pipe connected between the front end portions of the main connecting rods; a guide nut bracket connected to the guide screw and movable forward and backward and hingedly fastened to the support pipe; a pair of legrest connecting rods mounted on both sides of the legrest frame; and a pair of driving connecting rods, each hingedly fastened to a corresponding one of the legrest connecting rods, a corresponding one of the main connecting rods and a corresponding one of the fixed plates, so as to operate in a linkage manner with the main connecting rods and cause the pair of legrest connecting rods to fold or unfold.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power leg rest for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a power leg rest for a vehicle capable of stably operating with a reduced number of parts. Background Art

[0002] Generally, a vehicle seat includes a seat cushion on which an occupant can be accommodated, a seat back on which the occupant's back rests, and a headrest for supporting the occupant's neck or head, and various comfort devices may be mounted to the vehicle seat.

[0003] In the comfort arrangement, an electric leg rest is foldably mounted to the front part of the seat cushion.

[0004] However, for the folding and unfolding operation, the conventional leg rest includes a motor and a recliner which is operated by the motor and has a complicated structure consisting of a large number of mounted parts, which in turn leads to a high manufacturing cost thereof and increases its weight.

[0005] Furthermore, due to the large number of mounting parts and the increased weight, the durability of the leg rest may be deteriorated, or failures that prevent the leg rest from being properly folded or unfolded may frequently occur.

[0006] The information disclosed in this Background of the invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and may not be taken as an admission or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0007] Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a powered leg rest for a vehicle, which achieves stable folding and unfolding operations and effectively reduces the number of components and their weight by adopting a tilt motor and a guide nut bracket that is movably mounted on a guide screw serving as an output shaft of the tilt motor forward and backward.

[0008] According to various aspects of the present invention, a power legrest for a vehicle is provided, which includes: a pair of fixed plates, which are configured to be connected to a seat cushion frame; a main pipe, which is connected to the inner surface of the fixed plate; a tilt motor, which can be tiltably mounted to the main pipe; a pair of main connecting rods, each of which is hingedly fastened to the outer surface of a corresponding one of the fixed plates at its rear end portion by a first hinge pin; a support tube, which is connected between the front end portions of the pair of main connecting rods; a guide nut bracket, which is connected to a guide screw and can move forward and backward, wherein the guide screw is the output shaft of the tilt motor and is hingedly fastened to the support tube; a pair of legrest connecting rods, which are installed on both sides of the legrest frame; and a pair of driving connecting rods, each of which is hingedly fastened to a corresponding one of the legrest connecting rods, a corresponding one of the main connecting rods and a corresponding one of the fixed plates, so as to operate in a linkage manner with the main connecting rods and fold or unfold the pair of legrest connecting rods.

[0009] Preferably, each driving link may include: a supporting link, which is hingedly fastened to the lower end portion of the fixing plate by a second hinge pin; a rear link, which is hingedly fastened to the front end portion of the supporting link by a third hinge pin at the lower end portion of the rear link, hingedly fastened to the middle portion of the main link by a fourth hinge pin at the middle portion of the rear link, and hingedly fastened to the rear end portion of the leg rest link by a fifth hinge pin at the upper end portion of the rear link; and a front link, which is hingedly fastened to the front end portion of the main link by a sixth hinge pin at the lower end portion of the front link, and hingedly fastened to the middle portion of the leg rest link by a seventh hinge pin at the upper end portion of the front link.

[0010] Preferably, each of the pair of fixing plates may include: a first fixing plate having an inner surface and an outer surface, one end portion of the main pipe being fixed to the inner surface, and a rear end portion of the main link being hingedly fastened to the outer surface by a first hinge pin; and a second fixing plate contacting with and attached to the outer surface of the first fixing plate and being hingedly fastened to the rear end portion of the supporting link by a second hinge pin at a lower end portion of the second fixing plate.

[0011] Preferably, each of the first fixing plate and the second fixing plate may be provided with a mounting end portion formed at an upper end portion thereof, wherein the mounting end portion may have a mounting hole configured to be coupled to the seat cushion frame.

[0012] A motor mounting bracket may be fixedly mounted to the main pipe, and a tilt motor may be tiltably fastened to the motor mounting bracket.

[0013] The motor mounting bracket may be provided with a first hinge hole formed in a lower portion thereof, and the tilt motor may have a first hinge end portion hingedly fastened to the first hinge hole by a first tilt pin.

[0014] The guide nut bracket may include: a guide nut part, which is engaged to the guide screw and can move in the front and rear directions of the guide screw according to the rotation of the guide screw; and a bracket part, which is hingedly fastened to the support tube, wherein the guide nut part and the bracket part are integrally formed as a single piece.

[0015] The bracket portion may be provided with a second hinge hole formed at a front end portion thereof, and the support pipe may be provided with a second hinge end portion hingedly fastened to the second hinge hole by a second inclined pin.

[0016] By providing the above-described embodiments, the present invention can achieve advantageous effects as described below for eliminating the disadvantages.

[0017] First, by adopting the tilt motor and the lead nut bracket mounted on the lead screw as the output shaft of the tilt motor movably forward and backward, the folding and unfolding operation of the leg rest can be stably performed.

[0018] Secondly, by not including a motor and a compound recliner for reclining the leg rest of a conventional leg rest, and by adopting a tilt motor and a guide nut bracket, an effective reduction in the number of parts and weight can be achieved, which in turn can improve the durability of the leg rest.

[0019] The methods and apparatus of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or described in more detail in the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description incorporated herein, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view exemplarily illustrating a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 is a perspective view exemplarily illustrating a folded state of a power leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 is a perspective view exemplarily illustrating a deployed state of a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 is a side view exemplarily illustrating a folded state of a power leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention; and

[0024] Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 7is a side view illustrating sequential operations for deploying a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0025] It will be appreciated that the accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and present a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrating the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as incorporated herein (including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes) will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment.

[0026] In the drawings, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings and described below. Although the present invention will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that this specification is not intended to limit the present invention to those exemplary embodiments. On the other hand, the present invention is intended to cover not only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included in the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

[0028] Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals will refer to the same or similar parts.

[0029] Attached Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view exemplarily illustrating a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, Figure 2 and Figure 3 1 are perspective views showing an installation state of a power leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and in each drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a pair of fixing plates fixedly mounted to a seat cushion frame.

[0030] The main pipe 20 may be connected between inner surfaces of the fixing plates 10 .

[0031] That is, both end portions of the main pipe 20 may each be integrally fixed to the inner surface of a corresponding one of the fixing plates 10 by, for example, welding or the like.

[0032] Preferably, each pair of fixing plates 10 may include: a first fixing plate 11 to which one of the two end portions of the main pipe 20 is fixed; and a second fixing plate 12 which is in close contact with the outer surface of the first fixing plate 11 and is configured to be attached to the seat cushion frame together with the first fixing plate 11.

[0033] To this end, a mounting end portion 13 having a mounting hole 14 for mounting to a seat cushion frame may be protrudingly formed at an upper end portion of each of the first fixing plate 11 and the second fixing plate 12 .

[0034] The tilt motor 30 is tiltably mounted to the main pipe 20 .

[0035] The output shaft of the tilt motor 30 may be a lead screw 32 that rotates at an appropriate position, and as various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an output shaft of a gear box 33 of the tilt motor 30 may be used as the lead screw 32 .

[0036] In order to tiltably mount the tilt motor 30 to the main pipe 20 , a motor mounting bracket 40 to which the tilt motor 30 is tiltably fastened may be fixedly mounted to the main pipe 20 by welding or the like.

[0037] In this regard, a first hinge hole 41 may be formed in a lower portion of the motor mounting bracket 40 , and the tilt motor 30 may have a first hinge end portion 31 hingedly fastened to the first hinge hole 41 by a first tilt pin 42 .

[0038] Therefore, by bringing the first hinge end portion 31 into close contact with the first hinge hole 41 and then fastening them to each other by means of the first tilt pin 42 , the tilt motor 30 can be tiltably rotated with respect to the motor mounting bracket 40 .

[0039] The rear end portion of the main connecting rod 50 can be hingedly fastened to the outer surface of the first fixed plate 11 of each fixed plate 10 by a first hinge pin 51, and the rear end portion of the supporting connecting rod 110 included in the driving connecting rod 100 can be hingedly fastened to the lower end portion of the second fixed plate 12 by a second hinge pin 111.

[0040] In addition, the support pipe 60 may be integrally connected between the front end portions of the main link 50 by, for example, welding or the like.

[0041] A lead nut bracket 70 , which is movably fastened to the lead screw 32 as an output shaft of the tilt motor 30 , may be hingedly fastened to the support tube 60 .

[0042] The guide nut bracket 70 may include a guide nut portion 72 movably fastened to the guide screw 32 forward and backward and a bracket portion 71 hingedly fastened to the support tube 60, and a second hinge hole 73 may be formed at the front end portion of the bracket portion 71, and a second hinge end portion 61 may be formed in the support tube 60, which is hingedly fastened to the second hinge hole 73 by a second inclined pin 74.

[0043] Therefore, when the lead screw 32 is rotated into position by the rotational drive of the tilt motor 30 , the lead nut bracket 70 may move forward to push the support tube 60 , or move backward to pull the support tube 60 .

[0044] Meanwhile, the legrest links 82 may be respectively installed on both sides of the legrest frame 80 forming the frame of the legrest portion.

[0045] Furthermore, each of a pair of driving links 100 for folding or unfolding the legrest frame 80 including the legrest link 82 may be hingedly fastened to the legrest link 82 , the main link 50 , and the second fixing plate 12 in a predetermined arrangement.

[0046] Therefore, the pair of driving links 100 is configured to fold or unfold the leg rest links 82 when the main link 50 is rotated according to the driving of the tilt motor 30 .

[0047] To this end, each driving link 100 may include a supporting link 110 hingedly fastened to the second fixed plate 12; a rear link 120 hingedly fastened to the supporting link 110, the main link 50 and the leg rest link 82; and a front link 130 hingedly fastened to the main link 50 and the leg rest link 82.

[0048] In this regard, the rear end portion of the support link 110 may be hingedly fastened to the lower end portion of the second fixing plate 12 by a second hinge pin 111 .

[0049] In addition, the lower end portion of the rear link 120 can be hingedly fastened to the front end portion of the supporting link 110 by a third hinge pin 121, the middle portion of the rear link can be hingedly fastened to the middle portion of the main link 50 by a fourth hinge pin 122, and the upper end portion of the rear link can be hingedly fastened to the rear end portion of the leg rest link 82 by a fifth hinge pin 123.

[0050] In addition, the lower end portion of the front link 130 can be hingedly fastened to the front end portion of the main link 50 by a sixth hinge pin 131, and the upper end portion of the front link can be hingedly fastened to the middle portion of the leg rest link 82 by a seventh hinge pin 132.

[0051] Hereinafter, operations of the leg rest according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

[0052] Attached Figure 2 and Figure 4 Schematic diagram showing a folded state of a power leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0053] like Figure 2 and 4As shown, in the folded state (non-use state) of the leg rest, the tilt motor 30 can be rotated to the rearmost position and arranged directly below the motor mounting bracket 40, and in addition, the guide screw 32 serving as the output shaft of the tilt motor 30 can be arranged in the up-and-down direction and tilted toward the rear thereof.

[0054] In addition, when the leg rest is in the folded state (non-use state), the guide nut bracket 70 can be moved and located in the most retracted position adjacent to the rear end portion of the guide screw 32 by rotating the guide screw 32 in one direction using the rotation drive of the tilt motor 30.

[0055] Furthermore, when the guide nut bracket 70 moves rearward, the support pipe 60 is pulled and can be arranged at the lower side, and at the same time, the main link 50 welded with the support pipe 60 can be rotated to its rearmost position and arranged in its up-and-down direction.

[0056] At the same time, when the main link 50 rotates backward, the support link 110, the rear link 120 and the front link 130 can be folded and arranged in the up and down direction, and the leg rest link 82 hingedly fastened to the rear link 120 and the front link 130 can also be folded, whereby the leg rest frame 80 can be set to be in a folded position (non-use position).

[0057] Attached Figure 3 is a perspective view exemplarily illustrating a deployed state of a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 7 is a side view illustrating sequential operations for deploying a powered leg rest for a vehicle according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0058] To unfold the leg rest to the use position, the lead screw 32 can be rotated into position in the other direction according to the rotational drive of the tilt motor 30 in the other direction, and thus the lead nut bracket 70 can be moved forward toward the front end portion of the lead screw 32 .

[0059] Due to the forward movement of the guide nut bracket 70, the support tube 60 is pushed upward and forward, and thus rotates toward the unfolded position of the leg rest. At this time, as the guide nut bracket 70 moves forward, the tilt motor 30 rotates forward around the point where the tilt motor is hingedly fastened to the motor mounting bracket 40.

[0060] In addition, when the support tube 60 rotates to the deployed position, the main links 50 welded to the support tube 60 rotate to the deployed position around the first hinge pins 51 through which the main links are fastened to the first fixing plate 11 , respectively.

[0061] In addition, when each main link 50 is rotated toward the unfolded position of the leg rest, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the rear link 120 and the front link 130 of each driving link are rotated so that they can be erected, thereby pushing the leg rest frame link 82 upward and forward. At this time, the support link 110 of each driving link is also rotated forward, thereby supporting the lower end portion of the rear link 120.

[0062] Therefore, as the leg rest link 82 is pushed upward and forward, the leg rest frame 80 integrally connected to the leg rest link 82 moves toward its deployed position (use position).

[0063] Meanwhile, as each leg rest link 82 is pushed upward and forward, the angle between the main link 50 and the front link 130 and the angle between the main link 50 and the rear link 120 increase, so that the unfolding operation of the leg rest frame 80 can be performed to a desired angle.

[0064] For example, through the unfolding operation described above, the leg rest frame 80 can be rotated from the folded position to the Figure 5 20° angle as shown, or rotated from the folded position to Figure 6 The angle of 40° shown, or from the folded position to Figure 7 The maximum angle of 77° is shown.

[0065] As described above, by adopting the tilt motor 30 and the guide nut bracket 70 which is movably mounted forward and backward on the guide screw 32 which is the output shaft of the tilt motor 30, the folding and unfolding operations of the leg rest can be stably performed, and in addition, when compared with a conventional leg rest including a motor and a complex tilt adjuster for reclining, it is possible to reduce the number of components adopted in the leg rest and reduce the weight of the leg rest, which in turn can improve the durability of the leg rest.

[0066] For convenience of explanation and accurate definition of the appended claims, the terms "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", "up", "lower", "upward", "downward", "front", "rear", "back", "inside", "outside", "inward", "outward", "interior", "exterior", "inner", "exterior", "inner", "outer", "forward" and "rearward" are used to describe exemplary embodiments of features with reference to the location of such features shown in the accompanying drawings. It should also be understood that the term "connect" or its derivatives refer to both direct and indirect connections.

[0067] For the purpose of illustration and description, the foregoing description of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been given. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed, and it is apparent that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. Exemplary embodiments are selected and described to explain certain principles of the present invention and their practical applications so that other persons skilled in the art can make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention and various alternatives and modifications thereof. The scope of the present invention is intended to be limited by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A leg rest device, comprising: a pair of retaining plates configured to be attached to the seat cushion frame; a main pipe connected between inner surfaces of a pair of the fixing plates; A tilt motor capable of being tiltably mounted to the main pipe; a pair of main connecting rods, the rear end portions of the pair of main connecting rods are each hingedly fastened to the outer surface of a corresponding one of the pair of fixing plates through a first hinge pin; A support tube connected between the front end portions of the pair of main connecting rods; a guide nut bracket coupled to a guide screw and movable forward and backward, wherein the guide screw is an output shaft of the tilt motor, and the guide nut bracket is hingedly fastened to the support tube; a pair of leg rest links mounted on first and second sides of the leg rest frame; and A pair of driving links, each of which is hingedly fastened to a corresponding one of the pair of leg rest links, a corresponding one of the pair of main links, and a corresponding one of the pair of fixing plates, so as to operate in a linkage manner with the pair of main links and cause the pair of leg rest links to be folded or unfolded, wherein each of the drive links comprises a support link hingedly fastened to a lower end portion of the fixing plate via a second hinge pin; and Wherein, each fixing plate in a pair of the fixing plates comprises: a first fixing plate having an inner surface and an outer surface, one end portion of the main pipe being fixed to the inner surface, and a rear end portion of one of the main links being hingedly fastened to the outer surface via the first hinge pin; and A second fixing plate contacts and is attached to an outer surface of the first fixing plate, and the second fixing plate is hingedly fastened to a rear end portion of the supporting link by the second hinge pin at a lower end portion of the second fixing plate.

2. The leg rest device according to claim 1, wherein: Each of the drive links comprises: a rear link hingedly fastened to a front end portion of the support link by a third hinge pin at a lower end portion of the rear link, hingedly fastened to a middle portion of one of the main links by a fourth hinge pin at a middle portion of the rear link, and hingedly fastened to a rear end portion of one of the leg rest links by a fifth hinge pin at an upper end portion of the rear link; and A front link is hingedly fastened to a front end portion of one of the main links by a sixth hinge pin at a lower end portion of the front link, and is hingedly fastened to a middle portion of one of the leg rest links by a seventh hinge pin at an upper end portion of the front link.

3. The leg rest device according to claim 1, in, Each of the first fixing plate and the second fixing plate is provided with a mounting end portion formed at an upper end portion of each of the first fixing plate and the second fixing plate, and Wherein, the mounting end portion has a mounting hole configured to be coupled to the seat cushion frame.

4. The leg rest device according to claim 1, wherein: A motor mounting bracket is fixedly mounted to the main pipe, and the tilting motor is tiltably fastened to the motor mounting bracket.

5. The leg rest device according to claim 4, wherein: The motor mounting bracket is provided with a first hinge hole formed in a lower portion of the motor mounting bracket, and the tilt motor has a first hinge end portion hingedly fastened to the first hinge hole by a first tilt pin.

6. The leg rest device according to claim 1, wherein: The guide nut bracket includes: a guide nut part and a bracket part, wherein the guide nut part is engaged with the guide screw and can move in the front and rear directions of the guide screw according to the rotation of the guide screw; the bracket part is hingedly fastened to the support tube, wherein the guide nut part and the bracket part are integrally formed as a single piece.

7. The leg rest device according to claim 6, wherein: The bracket portion is provided with a second hinge hole formed at a front end portion of the bracket portion, and the support pipe is provided with a second hinge end portion hingedly fastened to the second hinge hole by a second inclined pin.

8. The leg rest device according to claim 2, wherein: When the guide screw is rotated by the driving of the tilt motor, the guide nut bracket moves forward and pushes the support tube upward and forward, thereby causing each of the main links fixed to the support tube to rotate to the unfolded position of the leg rest device, and the rear link and the front link of each driving link are erected, thereby pushing a pair of the leg rest links upward and forward.

9. The leg rest device according to claim 8, wherein: As the pair of leg rest links are pushed upward and forward, the angle between the corresponding one of the main links and the front link and the angle between the corresponding one of the main links and the rear link increase, so that the unfolding operation of the leg rest frame is performed to a target angle.

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