Vehicle Seat Recliner with Integrated Locking Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat recliners for vehicles face challenges in maintaining strong part combinations to ensure passenger safety during collisions, as reducing their weight and diameter compromises quality and strength, and current manufacturing methods are complex and costly.
Innovation Solution
A seat recliner design featuring a lower plate, rotary flange, locking gears, and locking guides with a both-end-supported structure, where the rotary flange rotates between the plates, reducing the number of parts and thickness, and allowing for fine adjustment of the locking guide position to eliminate gaps, thereby enhancing strength and simplifying manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the diameter and thickness of recliner are reduced to reduce weight, then weight is reduced, but quality and strength deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple components into a unified structure where the locking guide serves dual purposes: guiding the locking gear and providing structural support. The locking guide is directly formed on the lower plate, merging the guide function and support function into a single integrated component, thereby maintaining strength while reducing overall complexity and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The recliner is divided into functional modules: the lower plate with integrated locking guide, the rotary flange with locking gear, and the upper plate. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for strength-to-weight ratio, with the locking guide positioned to provide maximum structural support where needed.
2Weight of moving object
If the diameter of pitch circle of rim gear is reduced, then weight is reduced, but quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the gear parameters by using a rack-and-pinion mechanism where the locking guide acts as a rack and the locking gear as a pinion. This parameter change allows for a smaller pitch circle diameter while maintaining engagement quality through optimized tooth geometry and increased number of teeth on the locking gear.
3Reliability
If many parts are formed to clamp lower part and upper part, then clamping function is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking guide is directly formed on the lower plate as an integrated structure, merging the clamping function and guiding function into a single component. This eliminates the need for separate clamping parts while maintaining reliable engagement between the locking gear and the structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower plate serves multiple functions: it provides the base structure, integrates the locking guide for positioning and guiding the locking gear, and provides clamping support. This multi-functionality reduces the total number of parts while maintaining structural reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a seat recliner for a vehicle. The seat recliner includes: a lower plate; a rotary flange that has a ring shape, is fitted around the lower plate to relatively rotate to the lower plate, and has inner teeth around the inner side of the rotary flange; locking gears that are disposed on the top of the lower plate, have outer teeth at an end, and engage with inner teeth of the rotary flange when moving forward; locking guides that are disposed between the locking gears and guide the locking gears moving forward and backward; and an upper plate that covers the locking gears and the locking guides, rotates relative to the rotary flange. In particular, a bottom of the locking guides is fixed to the top of the lower plate, and a bottom of the upper plate is fixed to the top of the locking guides.