Seat-Back Table Unit with Dual Retention for Controlled Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing table units for vehicle seats lack a mechanism to easily release the table main body from its housed attitude, requiring strong force for opening and risking sudden rotation, making it difficult to operate with weak force and potentially leading to unexpected movements during vehicle collisions.
Innovation Solution
A table unit with a dual housed attitude retaining structure, incorporating a hinge mechanism and a housed attitude retaining unit, where the hinge mechanism retains the table main body in a partially-housed attitude, allowing for easier manual operation and reducing the force required for opening, and preventing unexpected openings during collisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hinge mechanism with cam bodies is used to retain the table main body in the housed attitude, then the table main body can be retained securely, but a relatively strong force is required to open the table main body and it may suddenly rotate with unexpected strength
Solution Approach 1:
The retention function is divided into two separate mechanisms: the housed attitude retaining unit for secure retention in the closed position, and the hinge mechanism with cam bodies for controlled opening and intermediate positioning. This segmentation allows each mechanism to optimize its function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge mechanism acts as an intermediary between the housed attitude retaining unit and the table main body's use attitude. It provides a transition path through intermediate attitudes, allowing gradual opening rather than sudden movement, thereby reducing the required opening force while maintaining retention reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the table main body is opened with a relatively strong force to overcome the cam bodies' retention, then the table main body can be opened, but the operation becomes difficult and unexpected sudden rotation may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge mechanism introduces dynamic control over the opening process, allowing the table main body to transition through intermediate attitudes with controlled motion. This dynamic approach replaces the static, force-intensive opening operation with a progressive, controllable movement sequence.
Solution Approach 2:
The opening operation is divided into partial steps: first releasing from the housed attitude to an intermediate attitude, then proceeding to the use attitude. This partial action approach reduces the instantaneous force requirement compared to opening directly from the housed attitude to the use attitude.
3Ease of operation
If a single retained structure is used, then the device complexity is low, but the table main body cannot be retained in intermediate attitudes and sudden rotation may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The housed attitude retaining unit and the hinge mechanism with cam bodies are merged into a coordinated system where both mechanisms work together. The housed attitude retaining unit handles secure closed-position retention, while the hinge mechanism provides controlled opening and intermediate positioning, creating a synergistic retention system.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge mechanism serves multiple functions: it acts as a fulcrum for rotation, provides retention at intermediate attitudes through cam body engagement, and controls the transition between housed and use attitudes. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms for each function.
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 enables easy and secure operation of the table unit by allowing it to be opened and closed with less force, maintaining stability during vehicle movements and preventing accidental openings, thus enhancing user safety and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
the hinge mechanism includes a pair of cam bodies arranged facing each other in a state of being biased in an axial direction of the fulcrum shaft portion, the cam bodies respectively having cam surfaces, the pair of cam bodies including a first cam body and a second cam body disposed on a base panel side and a table main body side, respectively, of the fulcrum shaft portion and respectively having the cam surfaces on which concavo-convex portions capable of engaging and disengaging with and from each other
Implementation Method 2
the hinge mechanism includes a pair of cam bodies arranged facing each other in a state of being biased in an axial direction of the fulcrum shaft portion
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2D
Figure 3A~3D
AI summary
Provided is a table unit enabling easy opening of a table provided to the back surface of a seat backrest. A table unit (10) is provided with: a hinge mechanism (50) that is coaxially fitted to a fulcrum shaft portion of a table main body (30) and that can retain and release the table main body (30) in and from a plurality of attitudes; and a hook unit (60) that retains and releases the table main body (30) at the position of a housed attitude (H). The hinge mechanism (50) is configured to have a pair of cam bodies (51, 52) that face each other in the axial direction, and, through mutual cooperation of the pair of cam bodies, position the table main body (30) to a use attitude (U) in which the table main body is deployed to a use position and to a partially-housed attitude (P) between the housed attitude (H) and the use attitude (U) as a plurality of stages of attitudes.