Multifunctional Assist Grip

Abstract

To enhance passenger convenience by expanding service facilities for seated passengers. [Solution] An assist grip 10 that can be attached to the seat back of a vehicle, wherein a part of the grip portion 11 is equipped with an equipment unit 20 that has service equipment for use by a rear seat occupant, and the service equipment includes a reading light 31, a reading light switch 32, a USB terminal, and a smartphone stand 34.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an assist grip installed on the back surface of a vehicle seat, and more particularly to a multifunctional assist grip with various added functions.

Background Art

[0002] Some vehicles such as buses and trains are equipped with service facilities for passengers, such as reading lights used by passengers sitting on the seats and reading light switches for operating them. For example, the reading light and the reading light switch may be attached to the air-conditioning duct provided at the upper part on the window side of the seat. However, if the internal space of the case where the service facility is installed communicates with the inside of the air-conditioning duct, when the service facility is an electrical product, the substrate may be affected by condensation. Also, it is necessary to stand up for operation. Furthermore, since the seats on buses, trains, etc. have two seats arranged side by side on the window side and the aisle side, consideration for the person on the window side is required when the person on the aisle side operates.

[0003] On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of an assist grip including an irradiation unit that irradiates illumination light into the vehicle interior from a part of the outer peripheral surface of a grip portion gripped by an occupant, and the irradiation direction of the illumination light can be changed by rotating the grip portion. As an example of such an assist grip, an assist grip attached to a seat back is also disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] As disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if service equipment for electrical products such as reading lights is attached to an assist grip mounted on the seatback, the risk of the circuit board being affected by condensation can be avoided. Furthermore, there is no need to stand up to operate it, and the person in the aisle seat does not need to be considerate of the person in the window seat when operating it. For this reason, equipping service equipment on the assist grip of the seatback is also convenient for rear-seat passengers. On the other hand, there is a demand for further expansion of service facilities for seated passengers in vehicles, and there is room for further development of assist grips equipped with service facilities.

[0006] One of the objectives of this project is to provide a multi-functional assist grip that enhances the service facilities for seated passengers in vehicles and improves passenger convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] This project was undertaken to solve at least some of the above-mentioned problems and can be implemented in the following forms or applications. The multi-functional assist grip in this application example is an assist grip that is attached to the seat back of a vehicle, and a part of the grip portion is equipped with an equipment unit that has service equipment for use by a rear seat occupant, and the service equipment includes a reading light, a reading light switch, a USB terminal, and a smartphone stand.

[0008] According to this application example, the assist grip is equipped with a USB port and a smartphone stand as service equipment, in addition to a reading light and reading light switch, thereby improving passenger convenience. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to this case, it is possible to enhance the service facilities for seated passengers in vehicles and improve passenger convenience. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view showing the assist grip according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the back of a vehicle seat equipped with an assist grip. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the assist grip. [Figure 4] Figure 1 is a bottom view of the assist grip equipment unit (viewed from arrow A in Figure 1). [Figure 5] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the inside of the assist grip equipment unit. [Figure 6] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the assist grip equipment unit (cross-sectional view taken along arrow BB in Figure 3). [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are merely illustrative examples, and there is no intention to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly shown in these embodiments. Each configuration of the embodiments described below can be modified in various ways without departing from their spirit. Furthermore, they can be selected or combined as needed.

[0012] Furthermore, this embodiment illustrates the case in which the assist grip is equipped on a bus as a vehicle. However, the vehicle on which the assist grip is equipped is not limited to a bus; it may also be other vehicles such as trains, or even an aircraft. In addition, this embodiment illustrates the case of a route bus, but the assist grip is also suitable for other buses such as tour buses.

[0013] [1. Structure] As shown in Figure 2, the assist grip 10 is installed on the upper part of the back of the seat back 2 of the bus seat 1. Passengers (seat-occupants) sitting in the seat immediately behind seat 1 can easily sit down or stand up by grasping the assist grip 10 when sitting down or standing up from their seat.

[0014] As shown in Figure 1, the assist grip 10 has an equipment unit 20 equipped with service equipment attached to a part of the grip portion 11 that is held by hand during use. The grip portion 11 extends horizontally and is divided into two parts in the middle: a left portion 12 and a right portion 13. The equipment unit 20 is interposed between the divided left portion 12 and right portion 13 of the grip portion 11. In addition to a reading light 31 and a reading light switch 32 for turning the reading light 31 on and off, the equipment unit 20 of this embodiment is equipped with service equipment such as a USB terminal 33 (see Figures 4 and 6), a smartphone stand 34, and a disembarkation signal switch 35.

[0015] As shown in Figures 1, 3 to 6, the equipment unit 20 is housed in a hollow resin case 21 and contains a circuit board 30 with multiple LEDs 31a, which serve as the light source for the reading light 31, mounted on one side, as well as the main components of the reading light switch 32 and the USB terminal 33. Of course, the operating parts 32a of the reading light switch 32, the operating parts 32a of the passenger disembarkation signal switch 35, and the socket 33a of the USB terminal 33 are exposed to the outside of the case 21.

[0016] Furthermore, a power supply line 36 connected to a power supply (not shown) of the bus is introduced into the circuit board 30. The LED 31a is connected to the power supply line 36, and the reading light switch 32, USB terminal 33, and stop request signal switch 35 are connected to the power supply line 36 via wiring 37a, 37b, and 37c. The power supply line 36 is introduced into the case 21 by passing through the inside of one of the left portion 12 and right portion 13 (in this example, the right portion 13) of the grip portion 11, which has a hollow structure, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 3.

[0017] The substrate 30 is horizontally long along the longitudinal direction of the grip portion 11, and the rotary shafts 22a and 22b are coupled to both ends thereof. Also, the case 21 is coupled to the rotary shafts 22a and 22b. On the other hand, shaft holes 40 for rotatably supporting the rotary shafts 22a and 22b are formed in the left portion 12 and the right portion 13 of the grip portion 11. By press-fitting the rotary shafts 22a and 22b into the shaft holes 40, a torque hinge is configured, and the case 21 can be rotationally operated together with the substrate 30.

[0018] On the upper surface of the case 21, a smartphone stand 34 on which a smartphone can be leaned is formed. That is, a horizontally long groove 34a is formed in the upper surface portion when the case 21 is rotatably attached to the grip portion 11, and the lower part or side part of the smartphone can be inserted into this groove 34a and fixed in a leaned state.

[0019] <​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ By integrating electronic devices into a single unit, wiring can be concentrated in one location, improving efficiency. Furthermore, because the functions are centralized into a single unit, it is easy to create variations by combining each function.

[0023] A torque hinge is provided, allowing the equipment unit 20 to be tilted forward or backward, so that the smartphone fixed to the smartphone stand 34 can be adjusted to the desired angle, and the reading light 31 can also be adjusted to the desired angle. Because the torque hinge is compactly constructed, the width of the equipment unit 20 can be freely set.

[0024] [3. Others] Although embodiments have been described above, the power supply control device in this case can also be implemented by appropriately modifying these embodiments. In the above embodiment, a route bus is used as an example, and therefore a stop request signal switch 35 is provided. However, in other buses such as tour buses, the stop request signal switch 35 is unnecessary and can be omitted.

[0025] In the above embodiment, the left portion 12 and the right portion 13 of the grip portion 11 have a cross-sectional shape that is close to rectangular, but the cross-sectional shape is not limited to this, and for example, it can be formed so that the cross-section is approximately circular. For example, the bottom of the groove 34a is set at a height position at approximately the same height as the upper surfaces of the left portion 12 and the right portion 13 of the grip portion 11, and the bottom or side of the smartphone is inserted into the groove 34a to fix the smartphone to the smartphone stand 34. At this time, it is assumed that at least the left and right sides of the bottom of the smartphone are in contact with or substantially in contact with the upper surface of the left portion 12 or the right portion 13 of the grip portion 11. In this state, when the case 21 is rotated, if the cross-section of the grip portion 11 is close to rectangular, the edge of the upper surface of the grip portion 11 that is far from the center of rotation may interfere with the bottom or side of the smartphone, and it may not be possible to rotate it smoothly. However, if the cross-section is approximately circular, this risk can be avoided, and the case 21 can be rotated without any problems. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0026] 1 seat 2 seatbacks 3 Back 10 Assist Grips 11. Grip section 12 Left part 13 Right part 20 Equipment Units 21 cases 22a, 22b Rotation axis 30 circuit boards 31 Reading lamp 31a LED 31b lens 32 Reading light switch 32a Operating section of reading light switch 32 33 USB ports 33a USB port 33 34 Smartphone Stand 34a groove 35. Stop signal switch 35a Operation part of the passenger disembarkation signal switch 35 36 Power line 37a, 37b, 37c wiring 40 shaft holes

Claims

[Claim 1] It is an assist grip that can be attached to the back of a vehicle's seat. A portion of the grip area is equipped with an equipment unit containing service equipment for use by rear-seat passengers. The aforementioned service equipment includes a reading light, a reading light switch, a USB port, and a smartphone stand. A multi-functional assist grip characterized by the following features.

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