Vehicle seat

Abstract

To provide a vehicle seat having high usability.SOLUTION: A vehicle seat comprises: a seat cushion 2 located in front of a rear wheel house 11 of a vehicle, for supporting buttocks and thighs of an occupant; a seat back 3 for supporting a back of the occupant; a reclining mechanism part 4 for tilting the seat back 3 relative to the seat cushion 2; and a raising / lowering mechanism part 5 which can raise / lower the seat cushion 2 in a vertical direction relative to a vehicle floor surface, and which, when seat arrangement is being changed by the reclining mechanism part 4 toward a backward brought-down state where the seat back 3 is brought down backward, raises the seat cushion 2 in the vertical direction in conjunction with tilting of the seat back 3 into the backward brought-down state so that the seat back 3 is located above the rear wheel house 11 so as to avoid interference with the rear wheel house 11. A cushion bank part of a seat cushion 2 side part is rotatable with a rear end part as a rotation axis.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle seat for a rear seat of a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] In a vehicle seat for the rear seat of a vehicle, it is known that the seat back of the rear seat can be tilted backward to be as nearly horizontal as possible (hereinafter, simply referred to as a flat state) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By changing the seat arrangement to such a flat state, it becomes possible to use the interior of the vehicle more spaciously. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-76533 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in Patent Document 1, when attempting to fold back the rear seat backs, a part of the seat back (side back 13 in Figures 1 and 2 of Patent Document 1) interferes with the rear wheel house of the vehicle (tire house 4 in Figures 1 and 2 of Patent Document 1). For this reason, in Patent Document 1, only this part and the remaining part of the seat back that can be separated (center back 12 in Figures 1 and 2 of Patent Document 1) can be put into a flat state. In other words, in Patent Document 1, the entire seat back cannot be put into a completely flat state, and the interior of the vehicle cannot be used to the maximum extent.

[0005] Thus, further ingenuity is required to improve the usability of vehicle seats for the rear seats of a vehicle.

[0006] In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to realize a vehicle seat that is highly usable, and in particular, has an object to provide a vehicle seat that allows for wide use of the rear space of the vehicle after the seat arrangement is changed to a completely flat state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a vehicle seat, comprising: A vehicle seat for a rear seat of a vehicle, a seat cushion located in front of a rear wheel house of the vehicle and supporting the buttocks and thighs of an occupant; A seat back that supports the back of the occupant; a reclining mechanism that tilts the seat back relative to the seat cushion; a lifting mechanism capable of lifting and lowering the seat cushion along a vertical direction relative to a vehicle floor surface, the lifting mechanism raising the seat cushion along the vertical direction in conjunction with tilting of the seat back to the backward-tilted state so that the seat back is positioned above the rear wheel house avoiding interference with the rear wheel house when the seat arrangement is changed by the reclining mechanism toward the backward-tilted state in which the seat back is tilted backward, The seat cushion is characterized in that it has a cushion bank portion occupying one side of the seat cushion, and the cushion bank portion has a rear end portion which serves as a rotation axis and can be separated from the remaining portion of the seat cushion excluding the cushion bank portion and rotated.

[0008] The invention described in claim 2 is the vehicle seat described in claim 1, The vehicle seat is arranged in a plurality of rows independent of each other along the vehicle width direction, and each of the plurality of lifting mechanisms lifts and lowers the seat cushion to be lifted and lowered independently of each other.

[0009] The invention described in claim 3 is the vehicle seat described in claim 1 or 2, The seat cushion further includes a rotation position fixing mechanism that fixes a rotation position of the cushion bank portion when the cushion bank portion is separated from the remaining portion of the seat cushion and rotated.

[0010] The invention described in claim 4 is the vehicle seat described in claim 3, the seat back has a protruding portion on a side of the seat back located in a rotation direction of the cushion bank portion, the protruding portion abutting against the rotated cushion bank portion to inhibit further rotation of the cushion bank portion, The cushion bank portion is characterized in that it is rotatable between a non-rotating state in which it occupies one side of the seat cushion in an aligned manner with the remaining portion of the seat cushion, and an abutting state in which it abuts against the protruding portion of the seat back. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the invention described in claim 1, the seat cushion has a lifting mechanism that can lift and lower the seat cushion vertically relative to the vehicle floor surface, and when the seat back is tilted backward by the reclining mechanism to change the seat arrangement, the lifting mechanism can be used to adjust the height of the seat cushion to a position where the seat back does not interfere with the rear wheel. As a result, the height of the seat cushion seating surface and the seat back seating surface can be made the same, and no step is generated. This allows the seat arrangement to be changed to a completely flat state (full flat state), and the rear space of the vehicle after the change can be used to the maximum extent. In addition, by rotating the cushion bank, the cushion bank can function as an armrest on which the occupant's arms are placed when the seat cushion 2 supports the occupant's buttocks and thighs.

[0012] According to the invention described in claim 2, the height of adjacent rear seats can be changed relatively, for example, the height of the seat cushion can be adjusted so that it is at the eye level of a parent and child lying down.

[0013] According to the invention as recited in claim 3, the posture of the cushion bank portion 6 is stabilized.

[0014] According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, the posture of the cushion bank portion 6 is further stabilized. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the configuration of the vehicle seat in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating the effects of the present embodiment. [Figure 4] 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the function of a cushion bank portion in the present embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating the effects of the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and that appropriate design changes, improvements, etc. may be made based on the ordinary knowledge of a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic front view of the configuration of a vehicle seat 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic side view of the configuration of the vehicle seat 1 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the effect of this embodiment.

[0018] The vehicle seat 1 is a vehicle seat for use in the rear seat of a vehicle, and includes a seat cushion 2, a seat back 3, a reclining mechanism 4, and a lifting mechanism 5.

[0019] The seat cushion 2 is located in front of the rear wheel house 11 of the vehicle, and is a part of the vehicle seat 1 that supports the buttocks and thighs of an occupant. The seat cushion 2 has a cushion main body 21 made of a cushioning material that absorbs shock when an occupant sits on it, and a cushion frame 22 made of a rigid member that supports the cushion main body 21 from the inside.

[0020] The seat back 3 is a part of the vehicle seat 1 that supports the back of the occupant. Like the seat cushion 2, the seat back 3 has a seat back main body 31 made of a cushioning material that absorbs shock, and a seat back frame 32 made of a rigid member that supports the seat back main body 31 from the inside. The seat back 3 is connected to the rear end of the seat cushion 2 via a reclining mechanism 4, which will be described later.

[0021] The reclining mechanism 4 is a part of the vehicle seat 1 that tilts the seat back 3 relative to the seat cushion 2. The reclining mechanism 4 also plays a role in connecting the seat back 3 to the rear end of the seat cushion 2.

[0022] The lifting mechanism 5 is a part of the vehicle seat 1 that can raise and lower the seat cushion 2 in the vertical direction (the up-down direction in Figs. 1 and 2) relative to the vehicle floor surface 14. When the reclining mechanism 4 changes the seat arrangement toward a reclined state in which the seat back 3 is reclined backward, the lifting mechanism 5 lifts the seat cushion 2 in the vertical direction in conjunction with the tilting of the seat back 3 toward the reclined state so that the seat back 3 is positioned above the rear wheel house 11 while avoiding interference with the rear wheel house 11. More specifically, in Fig. 2, the lifting mechanism 5 lifts the seat cushion 2 together with the seat back 3 connected to the rear end of the seat cushion 2 in the direction B in the figure in conjunction with the seat back 3 rotating in the direction A in the figure and approaching the reclined state.

[0023] In this specification, the term "backward tilted state" means that the seat back 3 is in a state close to being nearly horizontal with respect to the vertical direction. In addition, in this specification, the term "linked to the tilting to the backward tilted state" means that the seat back 3 is linked to the tilting of the seat back 3 after the seat back 3 has tilted and approached the backward tilted state to a predetermined level, in other words, after the seat back 3 has rotated to a predetermined angle with respect to the seat cushion 2. In other words, the seat cushion 2 does not start to rise only when the upward facing seat back 3 shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 is slightly tilted backward. In fact, the lifting mechanism unit 5 can lift the seat cushion 2 in the direction B while maintaining the upward posture of the seat back 3 shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 (i.e., without tilting the seat back 3).

[0024] Here, the lifting mechanism 5 is connected to the cushion frame 22 in the seat cushion 2, and the seat cushion 2 is lifted by pushing up the cushion frame 22 in the direction B in the figure using a gear mechanism (not shown) that transmits the rotational driving force of a motor or the like. As such a gear mechanism, a conventional seat height adjustment device mechanism such as those described in JP-A-2006-182039 and JP-A-2001-138780 can be used. In this case, as the above-mentioned interlocking mechanism, for example, a mechanism is considered in which, when the seat back 3 rotates beyond the above-mentioned predetermined angle, a switch of the rotational driving source such as the motor is turned on and the rotational driving force is transmitted to the gear mechanism.

[0025] In this embodiment, the lifting mechanism 5 uses such a gear mechanism, but the present invention may use a lifting mechanism using another lifting mechanism. For example, a lifting mechanism using hydraulic pressure, air pressure, or the like may be used.

[0026] In FIG. 3, the vehicle seat 1 in the seat arrangement before the seat back 3 is tilted backward, in other words, in the seat arrangement in which the seat back 3 is in an "inverted state" with respect to the vehicle floor surface 14 (or in the "normal seat arrangement"), is shown by a dotted line. Also, the vehicle seat 1 in the seat arrangement in the backward state is shown by a solid line vertically above the position of the vehicle seat 1 shown by the dotted line and above the rear wheel house 11. As the seat back 3 approaches the backward state, the seat cushion 2 rises, so that the seat back 3 can be linearly connected to the seat cushion 2 in the horizontal direction without a step while avoiding interference with the rear wheel house 11 as shown in FIG. 3. In this case, unlike Patent Document 1, the entire seat back 3 is in a completely flat state. As a result, it is possible to use the vehicle rear space 7 in the vehicle to the maximum extent so that the occupant can lie on his / her stomach in the vehicle as shown in FIG. 3, and a highly usable vehicle seat is realized.

[0027] Here, it is preferable that a plurality of vehicle seats 1 are arranged side by side independently of one another along the vehicle width direction, and that each of the plurality of lifting mechanism units 5 lifts and lowers the seat cushion 2 to be lifted and lowered independently of one another.

[0028] In this preferred embodiment, in a normal seat arrangement, the height of adjacent rear seats can be changed relatively to match the eye level of people of different builds (for example, a parent and child). Also, when placing a child seat (junior seat) on the rear seat, the height of the child seat can be directly adjusted to a desired position without having to use a separate cushion or the like to raise the child seat height.

[0029] The cushion bank portion of the seat cushion 2 will be described below.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the function of the cushion bank portion 6 in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the effect of this embodiment.

[0031] In the vehicle seat 1 of this embodiment, the seat cushion 2 has a cushion bank portion 6 that occupies one side of the seat cushion 2. This cushion bank portion is rotatable about its rear end portion as a rotation axis, separately from the remaining portion of the seat cushion 2 excluding the cushion bank portion.

[0032] By rotating in this manner, the cushion bank portion 6 functions as an armrest on which the occupant's arms are placed when the seat cushion 2 supports the occupant's buttocks and thighs. As a result, there is no need to provide a separate armrest, which contributes to saving space inside the vehicle.

[0033] 4, the seat cushion 2 has a bank rotation mechanism 9 that separates and rotates the cushion bank 6 from the remaining portion of the seat cushion 2 excluding the cushion bank. As the bank rotation mechanism 9, for example, a conventionally known rotation mechanism such as the reclining mechanism 4 that tilts the seat back 3 can be used.

[0034] In this case, it is preferable that the seat cushion 2 further includes a rotation position fixing mechanism for fixing the rotation position when the cushion bank portion 6 is separated from the remaining portion of the seat cushion 2 and rotated.

[0035] According to this embodiment, the posture of the cushion bank portion 6 is stabilized. In particular, the function of the cushion bank portion 6 as an armrest is improved by stabilizing the posture. Here, as the rotation position fixing mechanism, a conventionally known rotation position fixing mechanism can be adopted. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a rotation position fixing mechanism having a locking pin 9a that is inserted into the bank portion rotation mechanism 9 to stop the rotation of the cushion bank portion 6 by the bank portion rotation mechanism 9 and a strip 9b connected to the locking pin 9a may be adopted. In this case, the locking pin 9a is inserted by the occupant to fix the rotation position of the cushion bank portion 6. Also, the strip 9b is pulled by the occupant to pull the locking pin 9a out of the bank portion rotation mechanism 9, and the fixation of the rotation position of the cushion bank portion 6 by the locking pin 9a is released, and the cushion bank portion 6 becomes rotatable.

[0036] In addition, it is preferable that the seat back 3 has a protruding portion 3a on the side of the seat back 3 located in the rotation direction of the cushion bank portion 6, as shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, which abuts the rotated cushion bank portion 6 and prevents further rotation of the cushion bank portion 6.

[0037] According to this embodiment, the presence of the overhanging portion 3a further stabilizes the posture of the cushion bank portion 6. In this case, the cushion bank portion 6 is rotatable in the directions of both arrows in Fig. 4 between a non-rotating state (the state of the cushion bank portion 6 shown by the dotted line in Fig. 4) in which the cushion bank portion 6 occupies one side of the seat cushion 2 in a state aligned with the remaining portion of the seat cushion 2, and a contacting state (the state of the cushion bank portion 6 shown by the solid line in Fig. 4) in which the cushion bank portion 6 abuts against the overhanging portion 3a of the seat back 3.

[0038] In particular, the cushion bank portion 6 that is close to the abutting state can function not only as a simple armrest but also as a backrest for the occupant as shown in Fig. 5. When used as a backrest for the occupant, the load on the cushion bank portion 6 is greater than when used simply as an armrest, so stabilizing the posture of the cushion bank portion 6 due to the presence of the protruding portion 3a is particularly useful.

[0039] The overhanging portion 3a of the seat back 3 thus regulates the angular range within which the cushion bank portion 6 can be rotated, but because the seat back 3 can be tilted all the way back, the angular range within which the cushion bank portion 6 can be rotated also changes depending on the tilted state of the seat back 3. For example, in the normal seat arrangement, the cushion bank portion 6 can be rotated within an angular range of about 0° to 90°, but in the backward seat arrangement, the cushion bank portion 6 can be rotated within an angular range of about 0° to 180°.

[0040] The above is a description of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] In the above embodiment, the vehicle seat 1 for the rear seat of a vehicle has been described, but the term "rear seat" here simply means a seat behind the driver's seat. Therefore, in the case of a vehicle in which multiple seats are lined up in the traveling direction of the vehicle (for example, in the case of a long and narrow vehicle such as a bus), the present invention can be applied to seats other than the rearmost seat. [Industrial Applicability]

[0042] The present invention is useful for realizing a vehicle seat with high usability. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1 Vehicle seat 2 Seat cushion 3 Seat back 3a Protruding part 4 Reclining mechanism 5 Lifting mechanism 6 Cushion bank 7. Rear space of vehicle 9. Bank Rotation Mechanism 9a Locking pin 9b Strip 11 Rear wheel house 14 Vehicle floor surface 21 Cushion body 22 Cushion Frame 31 Seat back body 32 Seat back frame

Claims

1. A vehicle seat for a rear seat of a vehicle, a seat cushion located in front of a rear wheel house of the vehicle and supporting the buttocks and thighs of an occupant; A seat back that supports the back of the occupant; a reclining mechanism that tilts the seat back relative to the seat cushion; a lifting mechanism capable of lifting and lowering the seat cushion along a vertical direction relative to a vehicle floor surface, the lifting mechanism raising the seat cushion along the vertical direction in conjunction with tilting of the seat back to the backward-tilted state so that the seat back is positioned above the rear wheel house avoiding interference with the rear wheel house when the seat arrangement is changed by the reclining mechanism toward the backward-tilted state in which the seat back is tilted backward, The vehicle seat has a cushion bank portion occupying one side of the seat cushion, and the cushion bank portion can be separated from the remaining part of the seat cushion excluding the cushion bank portion and rotated around the rear end portion of the cushion bank portion as a rotation axis.

2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of the vehicle seats are arranged side by side independently of one another along a vehicle width direction, and each of the plurality of lifting mechanisms lifts and lowers the seat cushion to be lifted and lowered independently of one another.

3. 3. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the seat cushion further comprises a rotation position fixing mechanism that fixes a rotation position of the cushion bank portion when the cushion bank portion is separated from the remaining portion of the seat cushion and rotates.

4. the seat back has a protruding portion on a side of the seat back located in a rotation direction of the cushion bank portion, the protruding portion abutting against the rotated cushion bank portion to inhibit further rotation of the cushion bank portion, 4. The vehicle seat according to claim 3, wherein the cushion bank portion is rotatable between a non-rotating state in which the cushion bank portion occupies one side of the seat cushion in an aligned manner with the remaining portion of the seat cushion and an abutting state in which the cushion bank portion abuts against the protruding portion of the seat back.

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