Seat Rail Sliding Block With Alternating Contact Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat rail systems using balls for longitudinal adjustment suffer from issues such as rolling travel, brinelling, and increased force requirements due to ball impressions in rail tracks, limiting adjustment travel to less than 350 mm and causing discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A sliding block with alternating contact regions on its upper surface, designed to compensate for tolerances and avoid plastic deformations, using a base part with a lower rigid surface and an upper surface that varies in rigidity and flexibility, optionally with a spring element to ensure preload, allowing for long adjustment travels without balls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If balls are used to support the longitudinal adjustment mechanism, then low rolling friction is achieved, but the balls roll and change their longitudinal position relative to the rail profiles, limiting adjustment travel to less than 350 mm
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful rolling motion of balls from the system by replacing balls with sliding blocks that have sliding surfaces. The sliding blocks slide along the rail profiles instead of rolling, eliminating the rolling travel that limited adjustment distance to less than 350 mm.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention substitutes the ball rolling mechanism with a sliding block mechanism. The sliding blocks have sliding surfaces that contact the rail profiles, replacing the spherical rolling elements with planar sliding surfaces that maintain continuous contact without rolling travel.
2Strength
If balls are used under high load, then support is provided, but brinelling occurs and impressions are made in the rail tracks, increasing displacement force and causing discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful brinelling effect by removing the spherical ball elements that concentrate load into small contact points. The sliding blocks distribute the load over larger sliding surface areas, preventing plastic deformation and impressions in the rail tracks.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the contact geometry from point contact (balls) to surface contact (sliding blocks). This parameter change increases the contact area, reducing contact pressure and preventing brinelling under high load conditions.
3Reliability
If balls are installed in upper tracks to ensure displacement forces do not rise, then tolerance compensation is achieved, but the rolling travel of balls must be accommodated, reducing support spacing
Solution Approach 1:
The invention substitutes the ball rolling mechanism with sliding blocks that slide along the rail profiles. The sliding surfaces maintain consistent contact without rolling travel, providing reliable displacement force consistency while allowing greater support spacing than ball mechanisms.
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 prevents plastic deformations, allows for simple assembly, and enables long adjustment travels while reducing friction and maintaining consistent support, enhancing the sliding mechanism's durability and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
an additional spring element can be introduced. The spring element can be formed from a spring steel wire or from a flat strip of spring steel sheet
Implementation Method 2
The lower sliding surface can be of rigid design, at least in some region or regions. In addition or as an option, the lower sliding surface can have contact regions arranged in an alternating manner
Data Source
AI summary
A sliding block for a pair of rails of a longitudinal adjusting mechanism may have a base which has a lower sliding surface and an upper sliding surface. At least the upper sliding surface, along its longitudinal extent, may have alternating contact regions and/or parts of the upper sliding surface having one contact region each. Two pairs of the rails may be used with a vehicle seat.