Vehicle Seat Drive Device Tensioning Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seat height adjustment mechanisms experience play and rattling noises due to gaps between the pinion and toothed rack, which can lead to damage and compromised crash performance, necessitating a solution to minimize these issues while maintaining engagement and tolerancing.
Innovation Solution
A resiliently pretensioned sliding element, typically made from spring steel, is used in conjunction with the tensioning device to maintain engagement between the pinion and adjustment arm, reducing play and preventing rattling noises by sliding along the adjustment arm during height adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a gap is maintained between the pinion and toothed rack to compensate for tolerances and prevent damage, then reliability is improved, but play and rattling noises occur during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a dynamic tensioning device that actively adjusts the spacing between the pinion and toothed rack during operation. The device transitions from a static gap to a dynamic system that maintains optimal engagement force, eliminating play and rattling noises while preserving reliability through controlled flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The tensioning device changes the parameter of spacing between pinion and toothed rack from a fixed value to a variable parameter that can be adjusted during operation. This allows the system to optimize engagement force dynamically, preventing both excessive gap (which causes noise) and excessive contact (which causes damage).
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the toothed rack is pretensioned to eliminate play and prevent noises, then rattling noises are minimized, but the ability to receive crash loads may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tensioning device provides dynamic pretensioning that can adapt to different load conditions. During normal operation, it maintains sufficient engagement force to eliminate play and prevent rattling noises. During crash events, the system's dynamic characteristics allow it to manage extreme loads without compromising the engagement between pinion and toothed rack.
Solution Approach 2:
The tensioning device applies beforehand cushioning forces to maintain optimal engagement between pinion and toothed rack. This pre-tensioning eliminates play and prevents rattling noises during normal operation, while the system's design ensures that crash loads can still be effectively absorbed through the maintained tooth engagement.
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 effectively minimizes play and prevents rattling noises during operation and ensures reliable crash performance by maintaining tooth engagement, while the resilient material supports high loads and wear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
The sliding element is resiliently pretensioned, in particular by means of a resilient element
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat having a drive device for driving a adjustment kinematics of the vehicle seat may have an adjustment arm, and a tensioning device. The drive device may have a pinion which can be rotated about a pinion rotation axis and which is in toothed engagement with a tooth segment of the adjustment arm. The tensioning device pretensions the adjustment arm so that the tooth segment is pretensioned in the direction of the pinion. The tensioning device has at least one sliding element which is in abutment with the adjustment arm. During an actuation of the height adjustment kinematics, the at least one sliding element slides along the adjustment arm. The sliding element is resiliently pretensioned by a resilient element.