Vehicle Seat Track Slide Block Cross Web Fastening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle seat track systems experience deflection and binding issues due to compressive loading on slide blocks, especially when made with reduced material, leading to deformation and operational noise during track adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle track system with a slide block design that relocates attachment points to the center, using a cross web system with central, forward, and rearward fasteners to minimize compressive loading, ensuring the slide block remains aligned and stable, reducing material usage while maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If slide block is made with reduced material to save cost and weight, then manufacturing cost and weight are reduced, but structural strength and stability deteriorate leading to deflection and bowing
Solution Approach 1:
The slide block is divided into multiple segments: a first slide bar, a second slide bar, and a cross web system connecting them. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, using minimal material while maintaining overall structural integrity through the distributed fastening system.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening system applies local reinforcement at critical positions along the slide block. The central, forward, and rearward fasteners provide localized structural support at key locations, allowing the majority of the slide block to use reduced material while maintaining strength where needed.
2Ease of manufacture
If attachment points are positioned at the ends of the slide block, then ease of assembly is improved, but compressive loading increases causing deflection and binding
Solution Approach 1:
The single end attachment is segmented into three distributed attachments: a central fastener and forward and rearward fasteners. This distribution of attachment points along the slide block reduces the compressive force at each location while maintaining assembly simplicity through standardized fastening mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If slide block is subjected to compressive loading during track adjustment, then positional adjustment is achieved, but deflection and binding occur reducing operational reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system provides localized structural support at critical positions (central, forward, and rearward) to prevent deflection and binding during track adjustment operations, maintaining operational reliability while allowing necessary movement.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of allowing the entire slide block to withstand compressive loading, the invention inverts the approach by using discrete fasteners to locally manage and distribute the loads, transforming a global structural problem into localized support points that maintain reliability during adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
A track system for a vehicle seat includes a lower track with a slide block with lateral slide bar extending along an upper surface of the lower track. The slide block includes a cross web system connecting the first slide bars with a central cross web portion, a forward cross web portion and a rearward cross web portion. A lower track to slide block fastening system includes a central fastener fixing the central cross web portion to the lower track in lateral and longitudinal directions and allowing movement in a direction away from the lower track, a forward fastener fixing the forward cross web portion in the direction away from the lower track and allowing movement in longitudinal directions and a rearward fastener fixing the rearward cross web portion in the direction away from the lower track and allowing movement in the longitudinal directions.