unlocking mechanism

Abstract

A release mechanism, particularly for seat back adjustment, is disclosed, comprising a control element (12) rotatable along an axis of rotation, which is connected to a transmission and actuates the transmission rotationally by means of a rotational movement about the axis of rotation, and comprising a detent fitting which can be released by a movement of an output of the transmission, wherein the control element (12) is hollow with an internal transmission contour, the internal transmission contour being coupled to the transmission. Furthermore, a vehicle seat (2) and a vehicle (1) are disclosed.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an unlocking arrangement, in particular for a seat backrest adjustment, comprising an operating element rotatable along a rotation axis. Furthermore, the invention relates to a vehicle seat and a vehicle.

[0002] Vehicles typically have at least two seats with seat back adjustment. This allows the inclination or angle of the seat back relative to the seat surface to be changed. The seat back is pivotally connected to the seat surface via a hinge and usually has a locking mechanism that prevents accidental seat back adjustment.

[0003] The locking mechanism must be released prior to adjusting the seat back's angle, for example, by rotating a spring-loaded release pin connected to the locking mechanism. The release elements currently used, such as locking backrests on vehicle front seats, are typically implemented directly and without a gear transmission. To set the release forces sufficiently low or acceptable for the user, such release forces must be applied by control elements that are sufficiently large or long to achieve a leverage effect.

[0004] However, the limited space between the vehicle seat and a vehicle door is problematic. Therefore, a compromise must be found between the operating path and the operating force.

[0005] However, such a compromise is detrimental in terms of ergonomics and design. Furthermore, depending on the seating position, access to the control element can be restricted by the seat belt webbing, especially in the front seats of a vehicle.

[0006] DE 199 62 225 A1 discloses a seat backrest adjustment system using a planetary gear. The planetary gear is designed as an electric motor that can be manually rotated by the operating element. The operating element has an inner contour that can protrude into an outer contour of a ring gear designed as a rotor and actuate it to drive planetary gears of the planetary gear. Further prior art is known from WO 2015 / 113784 A1, EP 2 818 361 B1, and KR 10 0 755 651 B1.

[0007] It is the object of the present invention to provide an unlocking arrangement by means of which an operating element for unlocking and adjusting, in particular, a vehicle seat backrest can be designed to be particularly compact, as well as a vehicle seat with such an unlocking arrangement and a vehicle with such a vehicle seat.

[0008] According to the invention, this object is achieved by an unlocking arrangement having the features of claim 1, by a vehicle seat having the features of claim 7, and by a vehicle having the features of claim 8. Advantageous embodiments and further developments emerge from the dependent claims.

[0009] The unlocking arrangement according to the invention is used in particular for adjusting a seat backrest. The unlocking arrangement can unlock the locking position of a seat backrest, for example, a vehicle seat, and change the angle of inclination of the seat backrest. For this purpose, the unlocking arrangement has an operating element rotatable along a rotational axis, which is connected to a gear mechanism and actuates the gear mechanism by means of a rotational movement about the rotational axis or rotary shaft. According to the invention, the internal transmission contour of the operating element and the gear mechanism are designed as a planetary gear mechanism.

[0010] Advantageously, the control element is designed as a ring gear, which drives the planetary gears of the transmission with its internal transmission contour. This measure allows for mechanical power transmission within the internal volume of the control element.

[0011] The operation of the gear can, for example, be carried out by a transmission or reduction in the form of a rotary movement or by converting a rotary movement into a translational movement.

[0012] Furthermore, the unlocking arrangement has a locking fitting which can be unlocked by a movement of an output of the transmission.

[0013] Advantageously, the control element is hollow and has an internal transmission contour, which is coupled to the gear mechanism. A rotating movement of the control element allows the internal transmission contour to act on the gear mechanism, thus unlocking the seat backrest adjustment and changing the seat backrest inclination.

[0014] According to a further aspect of the invention, a vehicle seat is provided which has an unlocking arrangement according to the invention. The unlocking arrangement is advantageously positioned laterally in the region of a hinge between a seat back and a seat surface of the vehicle seat. The inclination of the seat back can be adjusted by an operating element of the unlocking arrangement.

[0015] According to a further aspect of the invention, a vehicle is provided. The vehicle has at least one vehicle seat according to the invention. Such a vehicle seat can be adjusted with minimal effort using the unlocking arrangement.

[0016] By at least partially integrating a gear into the control element or an internal volume of the control element, the required installation space for the unlocking arrangement can be reduced and, for example, unlocking of a locking backrest on the front seat can be realized with minimal operating force.

[0017] For this purpose, the gear can partially protrude into the inner volume of the control element or be completely integrated into the inner volume of the control element in order to interact with the internal transmission contour.

[0018] The unlocking arrangement according to the invention thus makes it possible to save the required installation space and to reduce the operating force required to unlock and adjust the seat backrest.

[0019] The reduction in installation space and the possibility of reducing the size of the control element due to the lower operating force can also prevent unwanted interaction with a belt strap that is arranged on the side of a vehicle seat.

[0020] According to a further embodiment, the planetary gears are fixed in their position or at least restricted in their range of motion and drive a centrally arranged sun gear, which is designed as the output of the control element of the gearbox. When the control element is actuated, force is transmitted between the internal transmission contour and the immovably positioned planetary gears or planet gears, which then transfer the operating force to the sun gear, which is surrounded by the planetary gears. The sun gear is also arranged, at least in part, in the interior volume of the control element. The sun gear is driven to rotate by the operating force and can thus actuate the unlocking axis of the locking fitting in order to unlock it and adjust the backrest.

[0021] In one example, the planetary gears are fixed in their position and can be driven or rotated by a centrally arranged sun gear. The planetary gears are designed to drive an internal transmission contour of a web, which is designed as the output of the gearbox. The sun gear can be coupled to the operating element or designed as an integral part of the operating element. The operating element can be pushed over the web and rotatably locked thereto. Depending on the design, the web can function as a guide bearing or guide sleeve for a rotary movement of the operating element. Rotating the operating element leads to a rotation of the web due to the toothing of the sun gear with the planetary gears. The web is rotated within the operating element and drives the detent fitting or the output of the gearbox.

[0022] According to another example, the sun gear is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on the rotational axis of the control element. In particular, the sun gear can be connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the control element or can be designed as an integral part of the control element.

[0023] According to another embodiment, the planetary gears are connected to each other via a web, whereby the web is designed to be non-rotatable or only partially rotatable around the rotational axis. This measure prevents the planetary gears from rotating around the sun gear and thus from changing their position along a circular path.

[0024] Depending on the design, the rotation of the planetary gears around the sun gear can be limited to a predefined angular range in order to unlock the locking fitting.

[0025] The web can rotate with the planetary gears, each of which can rotate about its own axis, and around the rotation axis of the operating element or the ring gear, and can be used to unlock the locking fitting.

[0026] In particular, the operating element and the sun gear can be arranged rotationally symmetrically or coaxially to the axis of rotation and in particular have a common axis of rotation.

[0027] The release assembly can be manufactured particularly compactly if the rotational axis of the operating element is designed as a rotational axis for the gearing and as a release axis for the locking fitting. This measure ensures that the rotational axis of the operating element, the axis of symmetry or rotational axis of the sun gear, and, depending on the design, the rotational axis of the web that couples the planetary gears, are congruent with each other and with the release axis.

[0028] According to a further embodiment, the internal transmission contour of the operating element or the web is designed as an internal toothing or a friction surface. Advantageously, the operating element is designed to be closed on one side and has a textured surface on a peripheral surface. The textured surface allows a user of the unlocking arrangement to transmit or apply an operating force to the operating element particularly conveniently. The design of the internal transmission structure in the form of an internal toothing enables a particularly simple design of the transmission.

[0029] In an alternative embodiment, the respective components of the gear mechanism can be designed in the form of friction surfaces instead of gears in order to implement the unlocking and backrest adjustment.

[0030] According to a further embodiment, the gear mechanism is arranged within an interior volume of the control element. In this case, the entire gear mechanism can be arranged within the interior volume. This measure allows for a particularly compact transmission of the operating force. In addition to reducing the size of the control element, the transmitted operating force can be amplified many times over to enable unlocking of the locking mechanism and seat backrest adjustment.

[0031] Exemplary embodiments of the unlocking arrangement, vehicle seat, and vehicle are shown schematically in the drawing and are described below with reference to the drawing. They show: Fig. 1 a vehicle seat of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 an unlocking arrangement according to an embodiment. Fig. 3 steps to illustrate a structure of the release assembly from Fig. 2.

[0032] Fig. Figure 1 shows a vehicle seat 2 of a vehicle 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. For clarity, an interior of the vehicle 1 is shown schematically with only one vehicle seat 2.

[0033] The vehicle seat 2 is designed, for example, as a driver's seat. The vehicle seat 2 has a seat surface 4 and a seat back 6. The seat surface 4 and the seat back 6 are connected to each other by means of a hinge 8 in such a way that the seat back can be adjusted.

[0034] When adjusting the seat backrest, the angle of inclination of the seat backrest 6 can be adjusted. This is illustrated schematically by the arrows. A release mechanism 10 is provided for this purpose.

[0035] The release assembly 10 for the seat back 6 of the vehicle seat 2 serves to release a locking mechanism of the vehicle seat 2 and to change the angle of inclination of the seat back 6. For this purpose, the release assembly 10 has an operating element 12 that can be rotated along a rotation axis R and can be actuated by a user (not shown), such as a driver or front passenger. The operating element 12 can be actuated by a rotational movement or a torque M1. This corresponds to the application of an operating force to the operating element 12.

[0036] In the Fig. 2 and the Fig.Figure 3 shows detailed views of the unlocking assembly 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The seat backrest adjustment is unlocked by rotating the operating element 12, which is illustrated by the arrows. For this purpose, the unlocking assembly 10 has the operating element 12, which is rotatable along a rotational axis R. The operating element 12 is connected to a gear 14 and actuates the gear 14 by rotating it about the rotational axis R.

[0037] In the illustrated embodiment, the torque M1 is converted into a rotary motion by the gear 14. The unlocking assembly 10 has a locking fitting 16, which can be unlocked by moving an output of the gear 14. The locking fitting 16 is positioned behind the operating element 12 and has an unlocking axis that corresponds to the rotation axis R.

[0038] The control element 12 is hollow and features an internal transmission contour in the form of a sun gear 17. This is, for example, a component of the transmission 14. By rotating the control element 12, the sun gear 17 can act on the other parts of the transmission 14, thus unlocking the seat backrest adjustment and changing the inclination of the seat backrest 6.

[0039] Furthermore, the illustrated embodiment features a ring gear in the form of a web 18. The ring gear has an internal transmission contour 13, which is a component of the transmission 14.

[0040] The operating element 12 and the ring gear with the internal transmission contour 13 can be designed as a two-part or one-part assembly. For example, a ring gear with the internal transmission contour 13 can function as a receiving section for the operating element 12 and be covered on the outside by the operating element 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the sun gear 17 is integrally connected to the operating element 12. The ring gear 18 acts as a guide sleeve for the operating element 12. Alternatively, the operating element 12 can be mounted and positioned via a guide section in the area of ​​the sun gear 17.

[0041] The operating element 12 drives, via the sun gear 17, planetary gears 15 of the gear 14, which in turn drive the inner transmission contour 13 of the ring gear or web 18.

[0042] The planetary gears 15 are limited in their range of motion and are driven by the centrally located sun gear 17 of the control element 12. The web 18 acts as the output of the gear 14. The planetary gears 15 are limited in their range of motion in that they can only rotate. For this purpose, the rotation axes or shafts of the planetary gears 15 are attached directly to the vehicle seat 2.

[0043] The output of the gear 14 is connected to the unlocking axis of the locking fitting 16.

[0044] The rear side of the ring gear with the internal transmission contour 13 acts as a web 18 for the planetary gears 15 of the transmission 14. In the illustrated embodiment, the planetary gears 15 of the transmission 14 cannot change position within the recesses 20. The ring gear with the internal transmission contour 13 can be rotated due to the recesses 20 designed as elongated holes.

[0045] The entire transmission 14 is arranged in an internal volume 22 of the control element 12. LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS: 1 vehicle 2 vehicle seats 4 Seat 6 seat back 8 Hinge 10 Unlocking arrangement 12 Control element 13 Transfer contour 14 gearboxes 15 planetary gears 16 locking fitting 17 Sun gear 18 jetty 20 recesses 22 internal volume M1 Torque / Operating force R Rotation axis / unlocking axis

Claims

[1] Unlocking arrangement (10), in particular for a seat backrest adjustment, comprising an operating element (12) which is rotatable along a rotational axis (R), which is connected to a gear (14) and actuates the gear (14) in a rotational manner by means of a rotational movement about the rotational axis (R), and comprising a locking fitting (16) which can be unlocked by a movement of an output of the gear (14), wherein the operating element (12) is hollow with an internal transmission contour, wherein the internal transmission contour is coupled to the gear (14), characterized by that the internal transmission contour of the operating element (12) and the gear (14) are designed as a planetary gear, wherein the operating element (12) is designed as a ring gear which drives planetary gears (15) with the internal transmission contour. [2] Unlocking arrangement (10) according to claim 1, wherein the planetary gears (15) are fixed in position and drive a centrally arranged sun gear (17) which is designed as the output of the transmission (14). [3] Unlocking arrangement (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the planetary gears (15) are connected to one another via a web (18). [4] Unlocking arrangement (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotation axis (R) of the operating element (12) is designed as a rotation axis for the gear (14) and as an unlocking axis for the locking fitting (16). [5] Unlocking arrangement (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the internal transmission contour of the operating element (12) is designed as an internal toothing or a friction surface, wherein the operating element (12) is designed to be closed on one side and has a structuring on a lateral surface. [6] Unlocking arrangement (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the gear (14) is arranged in an internal volume (22) of the operating element (12). [7] Vehicle seat (2), comprising an unlocking arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the unlocking arrangement (10) is positioned laterally in the region of a hinge (8) between a seat back (6) and a seat surface (4) of the vehicle seat (2), wherein an inclination of the seat back (6) is adjustable by the operating element (12) of the unlocking arrangement (10). [8] Vehicle (1) comprising at least one vehicle seat (2) according to claim 7.

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