Vehicle Seat Reclining Guide Wall Width Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing vehicle seat reclining devices face issues with variations in the width between guide walls due to thermal strain caused by welding, affecting the rigidity and consistency of the lock mechanism.
Innovation Solution
The device incorporates a guide with welding dowels and a hooking hole, where the width between specific guide walls is initially set larger than others to accommodate contraction, ensuring uniformity after welding by matching the widths post-welding, thereby reducing variations and enhancing the lock mechanism's reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the guide walls are welded to the seat frame, then the guide structure is strengthened and fixed in position, but thermal strain causes variation in the width between guide walls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by setting the width between guide walls to be slightly larger than the standard width before welding. This anticipates the thermal contraction that will occur during welding, allowing the guide walls to shrink to the correct final dimension. The hooking hole is positioned to accommodate this predetermined width adjustment, ensuring consistent width after welding.
2Manufacturing precision
If the width between guide walls is made larger to accommodate thermal contraction, then width consistency after welding is improved, but the guide structure occupies more space before welding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the width adjustment localized to specific regions of the guide where guide walls are positioned. Rather than uniformly increasing the entire guide structure volume, only the critical width dimensions between guide walls are increased by the minimal amount necessary to accommodate thermal contraction. The hooking hole positioning ensures this local adjustment is made only where needed.
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
This configuration effectively reduces the variation in widths between guide walls, improving the stability and consistency of the lock mechanism, ensuring precise adjustment and reduced wear over time.
Implementation Method 1
the width between the specific pair of guide walls in which the hooking hole is formed is likely to contract due to thermal strain caused by welding of the welding dowel
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat reclining device includes: a ratchet and a guide assembled to be rotatable relative to each other; a plurality of pawls respectively supported by a plurality of corresponding pairs of guide walls of the guide and configured to mesh with the ratchet; and a cam configured to press the pawls in a radial direction by a biasing force of a lock spring. The guide has: welding dowels configured to be welded to a seat frame, the respective welding dowels being formed between the respective pairs of guide walls; and a hooking hole formed between a specific pair of guide walls, an end portion of the lock spring being hooked in the hooking hole. In a state before the welding dowels are welded to the seat frame, a width between the specific pair of guide walls is larger than a width between another pair of guide walls.