Front seat of a motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a front seat of a motor vehicle, said seat comprising a backrest (1) comprising a frame (2), a headrest (4) comprising an ancillary frame mounted in rotation in the upper part of said frame about a transverse axis (7), a geared motor (8) for actuating said headrest between nominal and folded positions and a device for locking said headrest in the nominal position, said device comprising a locking means (9) cooperating with a reciprocal means (10) integral with said ancillary frame, said reciprocal means being offset relative to said transverse axis, so as to reinforce the holding of said headrest in the nominal position in the event of impact by an occupant's head printed backwards or forwards. Figure 3

Description

Title of the invention: Front seat of a motor vehicle

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

[0002] It is known to produce a front seat of a motor vehicle, said seat comprising: • a backrest comprising a frame that can be rotated, so as to allow said backrest to be actuated between a sitting position of an occupant of said seat, where said backrest is substantially vertical, and a lying position of said occupant obtained by folding said backrest backwards, where said backrest is substantially horizontal, said backrest further comprising padding for filling said frame, • a headrest comprising an additional frame and a cushion secured to said additional frame, said additional frame comprising two parallel rods, said additional frame being mounted in rotation in the upper part of said backrest frame along a transverse axis offset downwards relative to the top of said padding, so that said headrest can be actuated between a nominal position, where it protrudes from the top of said padding so as to allow support for the head of said occupant, and a position folded backwards.

[0003] Such an arrangement makes it possible to ensure that an occupant of the seat who wishes to benefit from a lying down resting position can lie down.

[0004] However, with such an arrangement: • operating the headrest from one position to another usually requires manual action by the seat occupant, which is not very ergonomic with the rearward folding envisaged, • there is also a risk of the headrest not being held sufficiently robustly in its nominal position in the event of an impact on the headrest by the head of a vehicle occupant.

[0005] The invention aims to overcome these drawbacks.

[0006] To this end, the invention proposes a front seat of a motor vehicle, said seat comprising: • a backrest comprising a frame that can be rotated, so as to allow said backrest to be actuated between a sitting position of an occupant of said seat, where said backrest is substantially vertical, and a lying position of said occupant obtained by folding said backrest backwards, where said backrest is substantially horizontal, said backrest further comprising padding for filling said frame, • a headrest comprising an additional frame and a cushion secured to said additional frame, said additional frame comprising two parallel rods, said additional frame being rotatably mounted in the upper part of said backrest frame along a transverse axis offset downwards relative to the top of said mattress, so that said headrest can be actuated between a nominal position, where it protrudes from the top of said padding so as to allow support for the head of said occupant, and a position folded backwards,

[0007] said seat further comprising: • a gear motor for actuating said headrest between said nominal and folded positions, • a device for locking said headrest in the nominal position, said device comprising a locking means cooperating with a reciprocal means secured to said annex frame, said reciprocal means being offset relative to said transverse axis, so as to reinforce the holding of said headrest in the nominal position in the event of impact by an occupant's head pressed backwards or forwards on said cushion.

[0008] In this description, the terms of positioning in space (top, bottom, longitudinal, transverse, vertical, upper, horizontal, front, rear, etc.) are taken with reference to the vehicle in which the seat back is arranged in the sitting position, said vehicle extending longitudinally along its length (X axis), transversely along its width (Y axis) and vertically along its height (Z axis).

[0009] With the proposed arrangement: • the presence of the gear motor improves the ergonomics of operating the headrest between its nominal and folded positions, • the presence of the locking device and its offset relative to the transverse axis makes it possible to reinforce the holding of said headrest in the nominal position in the event of an impact, the geared motor not being able to be sufficiently robust to ensure locking on its own, said offset also making it possible to limit dimensional play and therefore to guarantee overall rigidity.

[0010] Other features and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description, given with reference to the attached figures, in which:

[0011] [Fig-1] is a schematic representation in cross-sectional view of a seat according to one embodiment, a rear seat part also being represented, said seat presenting its backrest in the lying position and the headrest in the folded position,

[0012] [Fig.2] is a schematic partial perspective view of a front seat according to one embodiment, realization, the headrest of said seat being in nominal position,

[0013] [Fig.3] is analogous to [Fig.2] from another angle of view, the padding of the backrest not being shown, the headrest being shown in the nominal position (A) and in the rearwardly folded position (B),

[0014] [Fig.4] is a schematic representation according to a longitudinal view of a device for locking the headrest in the nominal position according to one embodiment, said device being activated.

[0015] With reference to the figures, a front seat of a motor vehicle is described, said seat comprising: • a backrest 1 comprising a frame 2 operable in rotation, so as to allow actuation of said backrest between a sitting position of an occupant of said seat, where said backrest is substantially vertical, and a lying position of said occupant obtained by folding said backrest backwards, where said backrest is substantially horizontal, said backrest further comprising padding 3 for filling said frame, • a headrest 4 comprising an additional frame and a cushion 5 secured to said additional frame, said additional frame comprising two parallel rods 6, said additional frame being mounted in rotation in the upper part of said backrest frame along a transverse axis 7 offset downwards relative to the top of said padding, so that said headrest can be actuated between a nominal position, where it protrudes from the top of said padding so as to allow support for the head of said occupant, and a position folded backwards,

[0016] said seat further comprising: • a geared motor 8 for actuating said headrest between said nominal and folded positions, • a device for locking said headrest in the nominal position, said device comprising a locking means 9 cooperating with a reciprocal means 10 secured to said annex frame, said reciprocal means being offset - upwards according to the embodiment shown - relative to said transverse axis, so as to reinforce the holding of said headrest in the nominal position in the event of impact by an occupant's head pressed backwards or forwards on said cushion.

[0017] According to the embodiment shown, the locking device comprises an electromagnet 11 - here in the form of a solenoid - interacting with a part 12 - here in the form of a bar inserted into said solenoid - attractable by a magnet, said part being provided with a projection - formed here by one end of said bar - forming the locking means 9, the reciprocal means 10 being formed by a housing, arranged in the annex frame, for receiving said projection, said device comprising furthermore a spring 14 for returning said part to insert said projection into said housing, said electromagnet being arranged, when it is crossed by a current, so as to move said part against said spring to release said projection from said housing.

[0018] According to the embodiment shown, the locking device comprises two electromagnets 11 each interacting with a respective part 12, each of the rods 6 being provided with a housing 10 for receiving a projection 9 of one of said parts, so as to allow locking on each of said rods.

[0019] According to the embodiment shown, the geared motor 8 has a rotation shaft 15 coaxial with the transverse axis 7.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the reciprocal means 10 is offset by at least 40 mm relative to the transverse axis 7, so as to allow optimized force recovery in the event of an impact on the headrest 4.

[0021] According to the embodiment shown, the upper part of the padding 3 is provided with two grooves 16 arranged so as to allow the rods 6 to pass through when the headrest 4 is rotated from one position to another.

[0022] According to the embodiment shown, as illustrated in [Fig.l], the headrest 4 in folded position does not protrude from the top of the padding 3, so as to avoid interference with a rear seat 17 of the vehicle when the backrest 1 is placed in the reclining position.

Claims

Claims

1. Front seat of a motor vehicle, said seat comprising: • a backrest (1) comprising a frame (2) operable in rotation, so as to allow actuation of said backrest between a sitting position of an occupant of said seat, where said backrest is substantially vertical, and a lying position of said occupant obtained by folding said backrest backwards, where said backrest is substantially horizontal, said backrest further comprising padding (3) for filling said frame, • a headrest (4) comprising an additional frame and a cushion (5) secured to said additional frame, said additional frame comprising two parallel rods (6), said additional frame being mounted in rotation in the upper part of said backrest frame along a transverse axis (7) offset downwards relative to the top of said padding, so that said headrest can be actuated between a nominal position, where it protrudes from the top of said padding so as to allow support for the head of said occupant, and a position folded backwards, said seat being characterized in that it further comprises: • a geared motor (8) for actuating said headrest between said nominal and folded positions, • a device for locking said headrest in the nominal position, said device comprising a locking means (9) cooperating with a reciprocal means (10) integral with said annex frame, said reciprocal means being offset relative to said transverse axis, so as to reinforce the holding of said headrest in the nominal position in the event of impact by an occupant's head pressed backwards or forwards on said cushion.

2. Seat according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking device comprises an electromagnet (11) interacting with a part (12) attractable by a magnet, said part being provided with a projection forming the locking means (9), the reciprocal means (10) being formed by a housing, arranged in the annex frame, for receiving said projection, said device further comprising a spring (14) for returning said part to insert said projection into said housing, said electromagnet being arranged, when it is crossed by a current, so as to move said part against said spring to release said projection from said housing.

3. Seat according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the locking device comprises two electromagnets (11) each interacting with a respective part (12), each of the rods (6) being provided with a housing (10) for receiving a projection (9) of one of said parts, so as to allow locking on each of said rods.

4. Seat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the geared motor (8) has a rotation shaft (15) coaxial with the transverse axis (7).

5. Seat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reciprocal means (10) is offset by at least 40 mm relative to the transverse axis (7), so as to allow optimized force recovery in the event of impact on the headrest (4).

6. Seat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper part of the padding (3) is provided with two grooves (16) arranged so as to allow the passage of the rods (6) when rotating the headrest (4) from one position to the other.

7. Seat according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the headrest (4) in the folded position does not protrude from the top of the padding (3), so as to avoid interference with a rear seat (17) of the vehicle when the backrest (1) is placed in the extended position.

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