Floating Spindle Mount for Vehicle Seat Adjuster
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Solution Overview
Problem
Adjusting devices for vehicle seats with spindle drives face issues in compensating transverse forces, leading to tensions and potential deformations, which existing flexible spindles cannot adequately address due to strength limitations and manufacturing constraints.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a spindle drive with a displaceable spindle end mounted via a spindle holder, allowing movement in two perpendicular directions to compensate for transverse forces, while preventing axial displacement and rotation about the spindle axis, thereby avoiding tensions and deformations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid spindle is used, then the strength and load-bearing capacity are high, but the spindle cannot compensate transverse forces leading to tensions and deformations
Solution Approach 1:
The spindle is divided into a rigid portion (spindle body with thread) and a separate floating mounting portion (spindle end). The rigid portion maintains strength while the separate mounting portion allows transverse displacement to compensate for misalignment forces, preventing tensions in the driving device.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines the rigid spindle structure with a floating mounting mechanism in a single integrated component. The spindle end is designed to float relative to the fastening part, merging the functions of rigid force transmission and flexible alignment compensation into one element.
2Reliability
If a flexible spindle is used, then transverse forces can be compensated, but the strength and load-bearing capacity decrease significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The spindle is segmented into a rigid main body for strength and a separate floating mounting portion for flexibility. This allows the majority of the spindle to remain rigid while only the mounting end provides compliance for transverse force compensation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the spindle have different mechanical properties: the spindle body is rigid for high strength, while the spindle end mounting is floating for local flexibility. This local differentiation allows the system to achieve both strength and compliance where needed.
3Manufacturing precision
If a rigidly mounted spindle is used, then the manufacturing precision can be high, but tensions occur due to inability to compensate misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The spindle threading is concentrated on the rigid spindle body where high manufacturing precision can be achieved, while the floating mounting portion handles alignment compensation. This separation allows precision threading without requiring the entire spindle assembly to be rigidly mounted.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating spindle end acts as an intermediary between the precision rigid spindle body and the fastening part. It absorbs misalignment and transverse forces, protecting the precision-threaded portion from tensions and ensuring smooth operation.
4Reliability
If the spindle is floatingly mounted, then transverse forces can be compensated, but axial displacement must be prevented to maintain drive function
Solution Approach 1:
The floating mounting provides freedom in transverse directions (x and y) while maintaining constraint in the axial direction (z). This directional differentiation of mechanical properties allows the spindle to compensate misalignment without losing its drive function.
Solution Approach 2:
The spindle mounting transitions from a static rigid connection to a dynamic floating connection that allows controlled movement. The spindle can dynamically adjust its position in transverse directions while maintaining axial engagement for power transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
It is provided an adjusting device of a lumbar support or a side-bolster adjuster for changing the contour or position of a seat element of a vehicle seat supporting a body part of a seat user, with at least one driving device comprising a spindle drive and at least one adjustable support element for changing the contour or position of the seat element, wherein the spindle drive comprises a spindle extending along a spindle axis, which on a fastening part of the lumbar support or the side-bolster adjuster mounted in the vehicle seat is floatingly mounted at a spindle end via a spindle holder such that at this spindle end the spindle is displaceable along at least one spatial direction extending transversely to the spindle axis.