Vehicle seats

Abstract

To provide a vehicular seat that finely performs lock releasing action by stepping a pedal.SOLUTION: A vehicular seat 91 is equipped with a reclining device 7 that makes a seat back 2 recline, a width-direction sliding device 912, a pedal potion 51 stepped by releasing a lock function, and a transmission mechanism that transmits stepping action to the reclining device to release the lock function. The reclining device has a lock releasing plate 71 that releases the lock function by rotations at a predetermined angle. The transmission mechanism has a first link 52 that has a slider 521 and is rotated by stepping of the pedal portion, a second link 53 that has a cam surface and is rotated when the slider slides the cam surface due to rotations of the first link, and a third link 55 that is coupled to the second link at a lower end, is engaged with the lock releasing plate 71 at an upper end, and is moved downward due to rotations of the second link to rotate the lock releasing plate by a predetermined angle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle seat.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a structure for unlocking a reclining device by operating a dedicated unlocking lever in a vehicle seat. When the vehicle seat is a front seat of a vehicle or a center seat of a three-row seat, the dedicated unlocking lever is often a pedal that a rear-seat passenger steps on with their foot.

[0003] The vehicle seat described in Patent Document 2 includes a front-rear slide device for sliding the seat in the front-rear direction and a left-right slide device for sliding the seat in the width direction. The left-right slide devices are arranged in a pair at intervals in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and include a fixed rail extending left and right and connected to the upper part of the movable rail member of the front-rear slide device, and a movable rail supported slidably left and right with respect to the fixed rail and connected to the seat side member.

[0004] In the unlocking structure described in Patent Document 1, the dedicated unlocking lever extends from the reclining device and acts directly on the reclining device. When this unlocking structure is applied to a vehicle seat having the left-right slide device described in Patent Document 2, the height position of the reclining device becomes higher by the amount of the left-right slide device mounted, and it moves away from the vicinity of the floor, which is the preferred position of the pedal. Therefore, conventionally, a structure in which the pedal and the reclining device are connected by a wire, and the stepping operation of the pedal is converted into a pulling operation of the wire and transmitted to the reclining device to perform unlocking and the like has been frequently used.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

[0006] In recent years, in order to reduce the weight of seats, there has been a demand to simplify the structure of the left-right sliding mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the "width-direction sliding mechanism") that slides the seat in the width direction. Accordingly, in order to reduce the moment applied to the rear width-direction sliding mechanism by the occupant's reclining motion, it is desirable to set the rear width-direction sliding mechanism further back than before, below (directly below or near) the reclining device.

[0007] If the rear widthwise sliding device is positioned below the reclining device, it is more likely to interfere with the pedal mechanism for unlocking. For example, the allowable space for the connecting member that rotates when the pedal is pressed is reduced, which may prevent sufficient tension from being obtained in the wire and potentially hinder the unlocking operation.

[0008] Therefore, the problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a vehicle seat that can perform a lock release operation by pressing the pedal well, even if it is equipped with a widthwise sliding device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. 1) A seat cushion, a seat back, a reclining device that has a locking function to the seat back and causes it to recline, a sliding device positioned below the reclining device that moves the seat cushion in the width direction of the seat cushion, a pedal that is pressed to release the locking function of the reclining device, and a transmission mechanism that transmits the pressing motion of the pedal to the reclining device and releases the locking function, The reclining device has a release plate that releases the locking function by rotating it by a predetermined angle. The aforementioned transmission mechanism is A first link having a slider and rotating when the pedal is pressed down, A second link having a cam surface, which rotates as the slider slides biasedly against the cam surface due to the rotation of the first link, A third link whose lower end is connected to the second link and whose upper end engages with the release plate, and which moves downward as the second link rotates, causing the release plate to rotate by the predetermined angle, This is a vehicle seat that has [a certain feature]. 2) The pedal section is rotatably supported by a member substantially integral with the movable rail of the sliding device, in the vehicle seat described in 1). 3) The vehicle seat according to 2), wherein the pivot point of the second link is located further toward the front end of the seat cushion than the pivot point of the first link, and above the integrated member. 4) When the state in which the pedal is not pressed down is defined as the first state, and the state in which the pedal is pressed down is defined as the second state, In the state transition from the first state to the second state, the slider moves upward, and the engagement position between the unlocking plate and the third link moves downward. This is a vehicle seat according to any one of 1) to 3). [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, even if a widthwise sliding device is provided, the lock release operation by pressing the pedal can be performed smoothly, which is an advantage. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an external perspective view showing a vehicle seat 91, which is an embodiment of a vehicle seat according to the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a side view showing the widthwise sliding device 912 and transmission mechanism K provided in the vehicle seat 91. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a structural diagram illustrating the transmission mechanism K. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the transmission mechanism K, seen from slightly below and to the left rear. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is the Y-direction view in Figure 4. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] A vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described using the vehicle seat 91 (hereinafter referred to as seat 91) of the embodiment. In the following description, the directions of up, down, front, back, left, and right will be the directions defined by the arrows in Figure 1 for the sake of explanation. For example, the left and right direction is the width direction of seat 91 (seat cushion 1). Seat 91 is installed, for example, on the floor FL of a vehicle, as a front seat relative to the rear seats. For example, in the case of a vehicle that has three rows of seats, the seat 91 is installed on the floor FL as either a front seat or a middle seat.

[0013] As shown in Figure 1, the seat 91 comprises a seat cushion 1, a seat back 2, and a headrest 3 detachably attached to the seat back 2. The seat cushion 1 has a pair of front-to-back movable rail sections 911 at its lower end, which extend in the front-to-back direction and are mounted parallel to each other and spaced apart from left to right. On one side, a pair of front and rear fixed rails 81 are laid on the floor FL of a vehicle such as an automobile to which the seat 91 is attached, extending in the front-rear direction and spaced apart parallel to each other left and right. A front and rear movable rail portion 911 is supported by the front and rear fixed rails 81 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. As a result, the seat 91 is slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to the floor FL (see arrow DR1).

[0014] The seat cushion 1 has a pair of width direction slide devices 912 extending in the left-right direction and spaced apart parallel to each other in the front-rear direction on the upper part of the front and rear movable rail portion 911. The width direction slide devices 912 are connected to the upper part of the seat cushion 1. As a result, the upper part of the seat cushion 1 and the seat back 2 rotatably connected to the upper part thereof are slidable in the left-right direction with respect to the front and rear movable rail portion 911 (see arrow DR2).

[0015] A reclining device 7 is provided on the left side of the rear part of the seat cushion 1. The reclining device 7 connects the seat back 2 to the seat cushion 1 so as to be reclinable (see arrow DR3). A transmission mechanism K is disposed between the reclining device 7 and the rear width direction slide device 912.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the width direction slide device 912 and the transmission mechanism K provided in the seat 91. As shown in FIG. 2, the seat 91 has a pair of width direction slide devices 912 extending in the left-right direction and spaced apart parallel to each other in the front-rear direction on the upper part of the front and rear movable rail portion 911 supported by the front and rear fixed rails 81. The left-right direction is the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 2, and the left side is the front side of the paper surface.

[0017] The front width direction slide device 912 has left and right fixed rails 912a provided to extend upward from the front part of the front and rear movable rail portion 911, and left and right movable rails 111 supported to be movable in the left-right direction with respect to the left and right fixed rails 912a.

[0018] The rear widthwise sliding device 912 includes left and right fixed rails 912b that extend upward from the rear of the front and rear movable rail section 911, and left and right movable rails 112 that are supported so as to be movable in the left and right direction relative to the left and right fixed rails 912b. The seat cushion 1 has a base panel 11 at its bottom that extends in the front-to-back and left-to-right directions. The base panel 11 is a highly rigid component that forms the skeleton of the seat cushion 1. The left and right movable rails 111 and 112 are integrally connected to the base panel 11 above them. The rear edge of the base panel 11 is a back panel 113 that is inclined diagonally upward.

[0019] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a reclining device 7 is positioned above the rear left and right movable rails 112, which connects the seat cushion 1 to the seat back 2 in a recline-like manner. The reclining device 7 allows the seat back 2 to be selectively rotatable and immobile around the reclining axis CL7 extending in the left-right direction relative to the seat cushion 1. The reclining device 7 also has a locking function that maintains the reclining operation of the seat back 2 in a prohibited state (immobile state).

[0020] The reclining device 7 has a substantially disc-shaped release plate 71 that is rotatable around the reclining axis CL7. The release plate 71 is biased clockwise in Figure 2 by a torque biasing member (not shown). In its normal state, when no external force is applied, the unlock plate 71 is torque-biased by a torque-biasing member and is in contact with a rotation-restricting member (not shown). The rotational position of the unlock plate 71 when it is in contact with the rotation-restricting member is defined as the locked position. When the unlock plate 71 is in the locked position, the reclining operation is locked and prohibited. The reclining lock is released by rotating the release plate 71 by a predetermined angle counterclockwise from the locked position in Figure 2, against the biasing torque of the torque biasing member.

[0021] Next, the transmission mechanism K will be described in detail with reference to Figures 2 to 4. Figure 3 is an enlarged structural diagram of the transmission mechanism K shown in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a part of the transmission mechanism K seen from slightly below and to the left rear.

[0022] As shown in Figure 3, the transmission mechanism K is composed of a pedal section 51, a first link 52, a second link 53, a coil spring 54, and a third link 55, from the bottom. As shown in Figure 4, the pedal portion 51 has an arm portion 510 extending towards the rear and a shaft portion 511 connected to the base of the arm portion 510 and extending in the left-right direction. The shaft portion 511 is inserted into bearing portions 121 and 122 formed on the back plate 12, which is integrated with the back panel 113 of the base panel 11, so as to be rotatable around its axis. In other words, the pedal section 51 is supported by a member integrated with the base panel 11 so as to be rotatable around the pedal axis CL5 which extends in the left-right direction.

[0023] The shaft portion 511 is biased counterclockwise in Figure 3 by a torsion coil spring 513, which is a biasing member. In the normal state when the pedal portion 51 is not being pressed by a rear-seat occupant, the arm portion 510 is maintained in a position where it is approximately horizontal by contacting a rotation restricting member (not shown). In Figure 3, a side view, the two-dimensional position of the pedal axis CL5 in the front-rear, up-down, and down-rear directions is defined as the first pivot point P1.

[0024] Hereinafter, the normal state will be referred to as the first state, and the state in which the pedal section 51 is fully pressed down will be referred to as the second state.

[0025] A plate-shaped member, the first link 52, is integrally connected to the shaft portion 511 of the pedal portion 51 at a predetermined angle θb (see Figure 3) with respect to the arm portion 510. The angle θb is, for example, approximately 150°. The first link 52 extends diagonally forward and upward in the first state of the pedal section 51. The first link 52 has a cylindrical first link pin 521 at its tip that protrudes to the left.

[0026] The second link 53 is fixed to a member (not shown) on the base panel 11 side at the second pivot point P2 so as to be rotatable around the first pivot axis CL53 which extends to the left and right. As shown in Figure 2, the two-dimensional position of the second pivot point P2 in the front-rear and up-down directions is the position of the first pivot axis CL53, which is set above the base panel 11 and to the lower left of the first link pin 521 in the first state of the pedal section 51.

[0027] The second link 53 is an elongated plate-shaped member. The second pivot point P2 is located near one end of the second link 53. The second link 53 has an opening 531 that opens along its longitudinal direction. One end side (the lower end side) of the opening 531 is a standby opening 531a that opens in a generally circular shape. The lower edge of the opening portion of the opening 531 that is connected to the standby opening 531a and extends toward the tip side is a cam surface 531b on which the first link pin 521, described later, slides as a slider.

[0028] A link connection point P3 is set at the other end (upper end) of the second link 53. The third link 55 is connected to the link connection point P3 so as to be rotatable around the second rotation axis CL54. The second link 53 has an extended arm portion 532 that extends with a narrow width toward the tip side of the link connection point P3.

[0029] The coil spring 54, which is the biasing part, has one end fixed to a member on the base panel 11 side at the first spring pivot point P54a. The other end of the coil spring 54 is connected to the second spring pivot point P54b, which is located between the opening 531 of the second link 53 and the link connection point P3. As a result, the second link 53 is biased counterclockwise in Figure 3 by the coil spring 54.

[0030] The third link 55 is an elongated plate-shaped member that extends in the vertical direction, and as previously described, its lower end is connected to the second link 53 at the link connection point P3. The third link 55 is connected so as to be located to the left of the second link 53. An elongated opening 551 corresponding to the outer shape is formed in the middle to upper part of the third link 55 in the longitudinal direction. A pin 711, provided on the release plate 71 of the reclining device 7, enters and engages with the upper part of the opening 551. In other words, the release plate 71 engages with the upper end of the third link 55. In the first state shown in Figure 2, the position of the pin 711 that has entered and engaged with the opening 551 corresponds to the locked position of the unlock plate 71.

[0031] As shown in Figure 4, above the link connection point P3 of the third link 55, a protruding portion 552 projecting to the right is formed by a so-called dowel-making process. The second link 53, which has an extended arm 532, is biased counterclockwise around the first rotation axis CL 53 by a coil spring 54. In the first state, when the pedal portion 51 is in a generally horizontal position, the extended arm 532 of the second link 53 abuts against the protruding portion 552 of the third link 55, as shown in Figure 5. Therefore, the combined rotation of the second link 53 and the third link 55 due to the biasing force of the coil spring 54 is prohibited. On the other hand, the movement of the third link 55 in the forward and backward direction is restricted on its upper side by engagement with the opening 551 of the pin 711. Thus, the posture of the second link 53 and the third link 55 is maintained in the posture shown in Figure 2 in the first state.

[0032] The transmission mechanism K described above transitions from a first state, where no force is applied to the pedal 51, to a second state when a rear-seat passenger fully depresses the pedal 51. Figure 3 shows the second state of the transmission mechanism K with a solid line, and the first state for some parts with a dashed-dotted line.

[0033] As shown in Figure 3, when the arm portion 510 of the pedal portion 51, which is in the first state indicated by the dashed line, is pressed downward and rotated (arrow DR31), the first link pin 521 of the first link 52, which is integrated with the arm portion 510, rotates clockwise around the pedal axis CL5 (arrow DR32). When the first link pin 521 rotates clockwise, it contacts the cam surface 531b at the opening 531 of the second link 53 into which it is entering. The first link 52 rotates further against the elastic repulsive force of the coil spring 54 due to the pressing of the pedal portion 51. As a result, the first link pin 521 biases and slides against the cam surface 531b, biasing the second link 53 clockwise, and the second link 53 rotates clockwise around the first rotation axis CL 53 (arrow DR33). The first link pin 521 functions as a slider against the cam surface 531b.

[0034] The rotation of the second link 53 (arrow DR33) causes the link connection point P3 to rotate clockwise around the first rotation axis CL53 (arrow DR34). Therefore, the third link 55, which is freely rotatable at link connection point P3, is pulled downwards and to the right, causing it to move downwards (arrow DR35). As a result, the pin 711 of the release plate 71, which was engaged with the upper part of the opening 551 in the third link 55, is pulled downward (arrow DR36). Therefore, the release plate 71 rotates by an angle θa corresponding to the distance the pin 711 has been pulled (DR37).

[0035] The angle θa is set to be sufficiently larger than the predetermined counterclockwise rotation angle of the release plate 71 required to release the reclining lock. Therefore, the reclining lock of the reclining device 7 can be released by transitioning the transmission mechanism K from the first state to the second state by pressing down on the arm portion 510 of the pedal portion 51.

[0036] When the pressing force on the arm portion 510 is removed from the second state shown by the solid line in Figure 3, the arm portion 510, including the first link 52, returns to the first state due to the torsional elastic repulsive force of the torsion coil spring 513. The second link 53, including the link connection point P3, rotates counterclockwise due to the tensile elastic repulsion force of the coil spring 54, and stops rotating at a restricted position where the extended arm 532 abuts against the protruding portion 552, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. In other words, it returns to the first state.

[0037] As shown in Figure 3, the first link pin 521, which is a slider, moves upward by a distance Ha in the vertical direction during the rotation when transitioning from the first state to the second state. On the other hand, the engagement position between the pin 711 and the third link 55 on the unlock plate 71 moves downward by a distance Hb in the vertical direction when transitioning from the first state to the second state. In the transmission mechanism K, distance Ha < distance Hb.

[0038] As shown in Figure 2, the smaller the front-to-back distance Da between the reclining device 7 and the rear widthwise sliding device 912, the more pronounced the following constraints may become. In other words, as shown in Figure 3, the region AR1 in front of and below the first pivot point P1 cannot be part of the rotation range of the first link 52 having the first link pin 521 because the widthwise sliding device 912 is located there, as shown in Figure 2. Furthermore, the region AR2, which spans from the right to the upper right of the first pivot point P1, is the living space where the legs of the rear passengers of the seatback 2 are placed, so it is not possible to have any members other than the pedal section 51 protrude from it.

[0039] Therefore, the first link 52 is positioned to rotate in a region that spans from above to the upper left of the first pivot point P1. As a result, when the pedal 51 is pressed down, the first link pin 521 rotates and rises, moving in the opposite direction to the downward movement of the pin 711 of the release plate 71 when the reclining lock is released.

[0040] In contrast, the transmission mechanism K has a third link 55 and a second link 53 having a cam surface 531b, and transmits the rotational movement of the second link 53 to the rotational movement of the unlock plate 71 having a pin 711, thereby linking them together. Then, the first link pin 521 of the first link 52 is used as a slider, and the pressing and rotating of the pedal portion 51 causes the first link pin 521 to slide against the cam surface 531b of the second link 53. This sliding rotates the second link 53, moving the link connection point P3 downward, and also makes the distance Hb, which is the amount of downward movement of the third link 55 engaged with the pin 711, a larger distance than the distance Ha, which is the amount of upward movement of the first link pin 521.

[0041] As shown in Figure 3, the movement trajectory of the first link pin 521 between the first state and the second state crosses the connecting line LN1, which is the line segment connecting the center position of the pin 711 in the first state and the first pivot point P1.

[0042] In other words, the transmission mechanism K has the function of reversing the direction of vertical movement (upward) of the first link pin 521 when the pedal portion 51 is pressed down (downward), and amplifying the amount of movement (distance Ha) (amplifying it to distance Hb). As a result, even if the seat 91 equipped with the transmission mechanism K is also equipped with a widthwise sliding device 912, the reclining lock release operation by pressing the pedal can be performed smoothly.

[0043] The pedal section 51 is rotatably supported by a back plate 12 that is substantially integrated with the base panel 11. As a result, the pedal section 51 has increased resistance to being pressed down. Furthermore, even when the vehicle on which the seat 91 is mounted is involved in a collision or other event and an impact force is applied to the seat 91, deformation of the pedal section 51 and the first link 52 is less likely to occur. This prevents the first link pin 521 of the first link 52 from rotating the second link 53 due to deformation when an impact force is applied to the seat 91, thus preventing the reclining lock from being unintentionally released.

[0044] As shown in Figure 4, in the first state, a gap, exemplified by the gap Dt, is provided between the inner edge of the standby opening 531a in the opening 531 of the second link and the first link pin 521 that has entered into the standby opening 531a. In other words, the first link pin 521 does not come into contact with the inner edge of the opening 531 unless the first link 52 rotates to a certain extent.

[0045] This prevents the reclining lock from being unintentionally released when the vehicle on which the seat 91 is installed collides or otherwise experiences an impact force on the seat 91, causing each component to deform or move due to inertia. The first link pin 521 rotates the second link 53.

[0046] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. The transmission mechanism K is not limited to making the distance Hb greater than the distance Ha. However, in situations where the widthwise sliding device 912 is positioned below the reclining device 7, and the area in which rotation by pressing the pedal portion 51 is permitted is narrowed, it is preferable to configure the mechanism so that the distance Hb is greater than the distance Ha, as this reduces the space occupied around the pedal portion 51. The transmission mechanism K is not limited to one in which, during the state transition between the first state and the second state, the movement trajectory of the first link pin 521 crosses the connecting line LN1, which is a line segment connecting the center position of the pin 711 in the first state and the first pivot point P1. However, in situations where the range in which rotation by pressing the pedal portion 51 is permitted is narrowed due to the widthwise sliding device 912 being positioned below the reclining device 7, it is preferable to configure the movement trajectory of the first link pin 521 to cross the connecting line LN1 during the state transition between the first state and the second state, as this reduces the space occupied in the front-rear direction around the pedal portion 51.

[0047] The term "vehicle" is not limited to automobiles. It includes vehicles and other modes of transport, such as railway cars, aircraft, and ships. The directions of up, down, left, right, front, and back mentioned above are defined for the sake of explanation and do not limit the direction in which the vehicle seat 91 is installed in the vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1 seat cushion 11 Base Panel 111,112 Left and right movable rails 113 Back Panel 12 Backplate 121,122 Bearing section 2 seatbacks 3 Headrests 51 Pedal section 510 Arm section 511 Shaft 513 Biasing member (torsion coil spring) 52 Link 1 521 First link pin (slider) 53. Second Link 531 Opening 531a Standby opening 531b Cam surface 532 Extended arm 54. Coil spring (biasing member) 55 Third Link 551 Opening 552 Protruding part 7. Reclining devices 71. Unlock plate 711 pins 81 Front and rear fixed rails 91 Vehicle seats (seats) 911 Front and rear movable rail section 912 Width-direction sliding device 912a, 912b Left and right fixed rails AR1,AR2 area CL5 pedal axis CL7 Reclining Axis CL53 First Axle Line CL54 Second Axle Line Da, Ha, Hb distance Dt gap FL floor K transmission mechanism LN1 connecting line P1 First pivot point P2 2nd rotation fulcrum P3 Link connection point P54a Spring first pivot point P54b Spring second pivot point θa,θb angle

Claims

1. The seat cushion comprises a seat back, a reclining device that has a locking function to recline the seat back relative to the seat cushion, a sliding device positioned below the reclining device that moves the seat cushion in the width direction of the seat cushion, a pedal portion that is pressed to release the locking function of the reclining device, and a transmission mechanism that transmits the pressing motion of the pedal portion to the reclining device to release the locking function. The reclining device has a release plate that releases the locking function by rotating it by a predetermined angle. The aforementioned transmission mechanism is A first link having a slider and rotating in response to the pressing motion of the pedal, A second link having a cam surface, which rotates as the slider slides biasedly against the cam surface due to the rotation of the first link, A third link whose lower end is connected to the second link and whose upper end engages with the release plate, and which moves downward as the second link rotates, causing the release plate to rotate by the predetermined angle, A seat for a vehicle that has [a certain feature].

2. The seat for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the pedal portion is rotatably supported by a member substantially integral with the movable rail of the sliding device.

3. The vehicle seat according to claim 2, wherein the pivot point of the second link is located further toward the front end of the seat cushion than the pivot point of the first link, and above the integrated member.

4. When the state in which the pedal is not pressed down is defined as the first state, and the state in which the pedal is pressed down is defined as the second state, The vehicle seat according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the state transition from the first state to the second state, the slider moves upward and the engagement position between the unlock plate and the third link moves downward.

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