Vehicle Seat Armrest Structure With Short-Stroke Button Guide
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing armrest structures for vehicle seats require a deep push to operate due to the conversion of rectilinear motion into rotational motion, leading to increased effort and potential abnormal noise.
Innovation Solution
An armrest structure with a button guide having an inclined surface that directly pushes a gas spring rod, reducing the pushing stroke and effort required, and incorporating a rolling member to minimize friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the button is pushed deep to rotate the rotor and press the rod, then the armrest can be adjusted, but the pushing stroke and effort are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member acts as an intermediary between the button and the rod. When the button is pushed, it pushes the guide member which in turn pushes the rod. This intermediary mechanism transforms the button's linear motion into rod pushing motion through the inclined surface, eliminating the need for deep button push and rotor rotation while reducing the required pushing force from 2.5 kgf to 1.25 kgf and the stroke from 7 mm to 5 mm
Solution Approach 2:
The inclined surface on the guide member changes the motion parameters by converting vertical button push into horizontal rod pushing motion. This parameter transformation allows the system to achieve the same functional result with reduced input stroke and force requirements
2Reliability
If the button is pushed deep with multiple motion conversions, then the armrest rotation is achieved, but abnormal noise may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member serves as a mediator that eliminates the complex motion conversion process (linear to rotational to linear) found in traditional designs. By directly transmitting the button's linear motion to the rod through its inclined surface, it reduces mechanical conversions that generate noise and improves operational reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor mechanism is extracted from the system. Instead of using a rotor to convert linear motion to rotational motion and then back to linear motion, the invention directly connects the button's linear motion to the rod's linear motion through the guide member, eliminating the source of abnormal noise
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces the button push stroke from 7 mm to 5 mm and required force from 2.5 kgf to 1.25 kgf, minimizing abnormal noise and effort needed to operate the armrest.
Implementation Method 1
a gas spring which is embedded in the armrest housing, and has one end connected to a cam fixed to the seatback, and the other end from which a rod protrudes, such that the gas spring is extended and contracted in length when the rod is pushed
Implementation Method 2
A rolling member, which is rotated to reduce frictional force when the guide member comes into contact with the inclined surface, may be mounted on the guide member
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an armrest structure for a vehicle seat, and more particularly, an armrest structure for a vehicle seat, which may be operated even though a button is pushed less than a button of a structure in the related art, such that a likelihood of the occurrence of abnormal noise may be reduced because of the reduction in stroke when the button is pushed, and a user may operate the armrest structure with a smaller effort.