Motor vehicle seat headrest

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle seat headrest (1), said headrest comprising a locking system for a structure in the selected adjustment configuration, said locking system comprising a cross member (6) mounted for transverse sliding, said cross member being arranged to interact, from a locked position to an unlocked position, with a locking device to bring it into the unlocked configuration, a stop limiting the stroke of said cross member beyond said unlocked position, said headrest further comprising an elastically deformable tab (8) from said cross member – or from said structure – and a boss (9) from said structure – or from said cross member –,said boss being arranged so as to interact with said tab by elastically deforming it when said cross member has been brought beyond said unlocking position before its interaction with said stop. Figure 2,

Description

Title of the invention: Motor vehicle seat headrest

[0001] The invention relates to a motor vehicle seat headrest.

[0002] It is known to produce a motor vehicle seat headrest, said headrest comprising: • a frame intended to be mounted at the top of the seat back, • a molded plastic energy-absorbing structure in case of impact of a passenger's head on said headrest, said structure being mounted in an adjustable manner relative to said frame, said structure having a front face designed to receive the head of an occupant of said seat, • a locking system for said structure in the chosen adjustment configuration,

[0003] said locking system comprising: • a locking device, • a spring-loaded means for actuating said locking device in the locked configuration, • a crossbar made of molded plastic material mounted for transverse sliding, said crossbar being arranged to be able to interact, from a locked position to an unlocked position, with said locking device to bring it into the unlocked configuration, • a stop to limit the travel of said cross member beyond said unlock position, • a means of manually actuation of said crossbar to actuate it towards said unlocking position.

[0004] With such an arrangement, a headrest user must manually operate the actuation means - which is for example in the form of a push button - to deactivate the locking system.

[0005] Since this actuation is done against the means of spring, the effort to be provided increases as the cross member approaches its travel limiting stop, and this can cause discomfort for the user who, to be sure of having achieved the unlocking, tends to actuate the cross member up to said stop by deploying a significant effort.

[0006] The invention aims to provide an arrangement to overcome this drawback.

[0007] To this end, the invention proposes a headrest for a motor vehicle seat, said headrest comprising: • a frame intended to be mounted at the top of the seat back, • a structure made of molded plastic material for absorbing energy in the event of a head impact of a passenger on said headrest, said structure being mounted in an adjustable manner relative to said frame, said structure having a front face for receiving the head of an occupant of said seat, • a locking system for said structure in the chosen adjustment configuration,

[0008] said locking system comprising: • a locking device, • a spring-loaded means for actuating said locking device in the locked configuration, • a crossbar made of molded plastic material mounted for transverse sliding, said crossbar being arranged to be able to interact, from a locked position to an unlocked position, with said locking device to bring it into the unlocked configuration, • a stop to limit the travel of said crossbar beyond said unlocking position, • a means of manually actuating said crossbar to move it towards said unlocked position,

[0009] said headrest further comprising: • a leg resulting from elastically deformable molding from said cross member - respectively or from said structure -, • a boss from said structure - respectively or from said cross member -, said boss being arranged so as to interact with said tab by elastically deforming it when said cross member has been brought beyond said unlocking position, so that a user of said headrest feels, before said cross member is placed against said stop, an additional force enabling him to detect the placement of said locking device in unlocked configuration.

[0010] In this description, the terms of positioning in space (front, top, transverse, vertical, longitudinal, etc.) are taken with reference to the headrest arranged in the situation of use in the vehicle, said vehicle extending longitudinally along its length (X axis), transversely along its width (Y axis) and vertically along its height (Z axis).

[0011] With the proposed arrangement, a headrest user receives a signal, in the form of an additional effort to be applied to the actuation means, enabling him to detect the locking device being put in the unlocked configuration, and this before the crossbar is brought against the limit stop of its stroke.

[0012] And the fact of providing for a direct interaction between the structure and the cross member for Generating this signal allows us to have very precise information on the locking device being put in the unlocked configuration, because the said crossbar acts directly on the said locking device.

[0013] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, made with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0014] [Fig-1] is a schematic partial perspective view of a headrest according to a realization,

[0015] [Fig.2] is a detailed view of the headrest shown in [Fig.1] from another viewing angle,

[0016] [Fig.3a],

[0017] [Fig.3b] and

[0018] [Fig.3c] are detailed cross-sectional vertical views of the headrest shown in figures 1 and 2, the cross member being in the locking position ([Fig.3a]), in the unlocking position ([Fig.3b]) and in the post-unlocking position before interaction with the stroke limiting stop ([Fig.3c]).

[0019] With reference to the figures, a headrest 1 of a motor vehicle seat is described, said headrest comprising: • a frame 2 - comprising two parallel metal rods 3 according to the embodiment shown - intended to be mounted at the top of the backrest of said seat, • a structure 4 made of molded plastic material for energy absorption in the event of a head impact of a passenger on said headrest, said structure being mounted in an adjustable manner relative to said frame, said structure having a front face 5 for receiving the head of an occupant of said seat, • a locking system, not shown, for said structure in the chosen adjustment configuration,

[0020] said locking system comprising: • a locking device, not shown, • a spring-loaded means, not shown, for actuating said locking device in the locked configuration, • a crossbar 6 made of molded plastic material mounted for transverse sliding, said crossbar being arranged to be able to interact, from a locked position to an unlocked position, with said locking device to bring it into the unlocked configuration, • a stop, not shown, to limit the travel of said crossbar beyond said unlocking position, • a manual actuation means 7 for said crossbar to actuate it towards said unlocking position,

[0021] said headrest further comprising: • a leg 8 produced by elastically deformable molding from said cross member, according to the embodiment shown - or from said structure, according to an embodiment not shown -, • a boss 9 from said structure, according to the embodiment shown - respectively or from said cross member, according to an embodiment not shown -, said boss being arranged so as to interact with said tab by elastically deforming it when said cross member has been brought beyond said unlocking position before its interaction with said stop, so that a user of said headrest feels, before the said cross member is placed against said stop, an additional force enabling him to detect the placement of said locking device in the unlocked configuration.

[0022] In particular, the front face 5 can be covered with a cushion not shown.

[0023] According to the embodiment shown: • The structure includes a first block 10 mounted to slide vertically on the frame 2, so as to allow its height adjustment, • the locking system includes a first locking device, not shown, for said first block in the chosen adjustment position.

[0024] The first locking device may include, in particular, not shown, a series of notches provided on one of the rods 2, said device further including a lock, integral with the first block 10, engaging in one of said notches, forming a locking notch, to effect the locking, said lock being for example in the form of a rigid piece pushed by the spring means inserted in said locking notch, or being part of a metal wire with a spring, said spring means being integrated into said wire.

[0025] According to the embodiment shown: • the structure further comprises a second block 11 mounted to slide longitudinally on the first block 10, so as to allow its longitudinal adjustment, • the locking system further includes a second locking device, not shown, for said second block in the chosen adjustment position.

[0026] The second locking device may include, in particular, not shown, a latch movably mounted on the first block 10, said latch cooperating in locking with a rack provided on the second block 11, said latch being actuated in cooperation with said rack by means of spring.

[0027] According to various embodiments, the actuation means 7 can be: • a push button bearing against end 12 of the cross member 6, according to the embodiment shown, • or a rotating pallet, according to an embodiment not shown, • or a lever, according to an implementation not shown.

[0028] According to one embodiment, with the cross member 6 in the locking position, the distance between the highest point of the boss 9 and the end 12 of said cross member closest to the actuation means 7 is less than 30 mm.

[0029] Such proximity between the boss 9 and the end 12 of the cross member 6 closest to the actuation means 7 makes it possible to minimize the effect of the dimensional dispersions observed on the components of the headrest 1.

Claims

1. Claims Headrest (1) for a motor vehicle seat, said headrest comprising: • a frame (2) intended to be mounted at the top of the back of said seat, • a structure (4) made of molded plastic material for absorbing energy in the event of a passenger's head hitting said headrest, said structure being mounted in an adjustable manner relative to said frame, said structure having a front face (5) for receiving the head of an occupant of said seat, • a system for locking said structure in the chosen adjustment configuration, said locking system comprising: • a locking device, • a spring means for actuating said locking device in the locked configuration, • a crosspiece (6) made of molded plastic material mounted to slide transversely, said crosspiece being arranged to be able to interact, from a locking position to an unlocking position, with said locking device to bring it into the unlocked configuration, • a stop limiting the travel of said crosspiece beyond said unlocking position, • a manual actuating means (7) of said crosspiece to actuate it towards said unlocking position, said headrest being characterized in that it further comprises: • a tab (8) resulting from elastically deformable molding from said crosspiece - respectively or from said structure -, • a boss (9) originating from said structure - respectively or from said crosspiece -, said boss being arranged so as to interact with said tab by elastically deforming it when said crosspiece has been brought beyond said unlocking position before its interaction with said stop, so that a user of said headrest feels, before putting said crosspiece bearing against said stop, an additional force allowing it to detect the placing of said locking device in the unlocked configuration.

2. Headrest (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that: • the structure (4) comprises a first block (10) mounted in vertical sliding on the frame (2), so as to allow its height adjustment, • the locking system comprises a first device for locking said first block in the chosen adjustment position.

3. Headrest according to claim 2, characterized in that: • the structure (4) further comprises a second block (11) mounted to slide longitudinally on the first block (10), so as to allow its longitudinal adjustment, • the locking system further comprises a second device for locking said second block in the chosen adjustment position.

4. Headrest according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the actuating means (7) is either: • a push button resting on the end (12) of the crosspiece (6), • or a rotating paddle, • or a lever.

5. Headrest according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, the crosspiece (6) being in the locking position, the distance between the highest point of the boss (9) and the end (12) of said crosspiece closest to the actuating means (7) is less than 30 mm.

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