AU2011226990A8

AU2011226990A8 - Seat slide rail

Info

Publication number: AU2011226990A8
Application number: AU2011226990A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jingqiu Chen; Qiaoyun PENG; Ql Peng; Ming Yan; Ao Zhang; Hanqing ZHANG; Wenjie Zhang
Original assignee: HUBEI HENCE FORTH TECHNOLOGY CO Ltd
Current assignee: HUBEI HENCE FORTH TECHNOLOGY Co Ltd
Priority date: 2011-04-18
Filing date: 2011-07-21
Publication date: 2013-11-21
Anticipated expiration: 2031-07-21
Also published as: CN102180108A; AU2011226990B8; KR20120128080A; AU2011226990A1; KR101278209B1; WO2012142800A1; AU2011226990B2; CN102180108B

Abstract

Unitalen ref.: OPIIII-08-0669AU PCT_original A seat slide rail includes an inner slideway, an outer slideway slidably cooperated with the inner slideway and a retainer assembly provided between the inner slideway and the outer slideway. The seat slide rail further includes a lock-up assembly provided inside a cavity of the inner 5 slideway, and a lock member of the lock-up assembly is hinged at a middle portion thereof with a side wall of the inner slideway and is provided at an end thereof with a lock-up cooperating portion which protrudes laterally out of an opening in a side wall of the inner slideway. In a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, the lock-up cooperating portion has a lock-up hole or a lock-up tooth, and the outer slideway has a lock-up tooth matching with the lock-up hole in the 10 lock-up cooperating portion or a lock-up hole matching with the lock-up tooth on the lock-up cooperating portion. The lock-up cooperating portion or the outer slideway has a plurality of the lock-up teeth or a plurality of the lock-up holes, and the lock member rotates about a hinged joint between the lock member and the inner slideway to lock up a plurality of relative positions between the inner slideway and the outer slideway. An elastic component for providing a lock-up 15 pre-tightening force is provided between the lock member and the inner slideway. The present invention has advantages of having small contour size and low manufacturing cost and is applicable to various seats. (Fig. 3)

Description

Unitalen ref.: OPIllI-08-0669AU PCToriginal SEAT SLIDE RAIL 100011 The present application claims the benefit of priority to the Chinese patent application No. 201110096753.3 titled "SEAT SLIDE RAIL", filed with the Chinese State Intellectual 5 Property Office on April 18, 2011. The entire disclose of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a technology by which a fore-and-aft position of a seat can be adjusted, in particular, relates to a seat slide rail. 10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] A seat slide rail is used to connect a vehicle seat with a vehicle body. At present, the driver seat and the passenger seat provided in the front row of the vehicle are mostly movable in a forward direction and a backward direction according to the drivers' or the passengers' demand to enhance the comfortableness of the seat. Especially to a driver, the fore-and-aft position of the 15 driver seat should be adjusted according to the driver's physique so that the driver can operate a steering wheel, a pedal, a shift lever and other operating members. [0004] In the prior art, an adjusting device of the seat slide rail mainly employs a step sliding adjustment structure consisting of a lockpin and a lock body, which can achieve a step adjustment with respect to a forward movement or a backward movement of the seat so that the seat can be 20 adjusted to any lock-up position quickly. Regarding the whole performance of the adjusting device, this device can lock up the seat reliably and has good stability. Even if the vehicle runs for a long while, the seat would not be offset and the teeth would not be disengaged. [0005] However, the prior adjusting device for step sliding lock-up, due to the limitation of its own structure principle, has the following problems: the structure of the adjusting device is 25 complicate, the lock-up mechanism has a large volume, the sliding is not smooth, and the cost is high, and so on. [0006] In view of the above problems, there is an urgent demand to optimize the design of the Unitalen ref.: OP1111-08-0669AU PCT_original above seat slide rail so as to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks exist in the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] In view of the above drawbacks, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a seat slide rail with optimized structure so as to overcome the 5 aforementioned drawbacks exist in the prior art, thereby to enhance the comfortableness of the seat. 10008] The present invention provides a seat slide rail including: an inner slideway for connecting a seat base; an outer slideway for connecting a floor of a vehicle body and being slidably cooperated 10 with the inner slideway; a retainer assembly having rollers and being provided between the inner slideway and the outer slideway; wherein the seat slide rail further includes a lock-up assembly provided inside a cavity of the inner slideway, and the lock-up assembly includes: 15 a lock member that is hinged at a middle portion thereof with a side wall of the inner slideway, wherein the lock member is provided at an end thereof with a lock-up cooperating portion which protrudes laterally out of an opening in a side wall of the inner slideway; in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, the lock-up cooperating portion has a lock-up hole or a lock-up tooth, and the outer slideway has a lock-up tooth matching with the lock-up hole in the 20 lock-up cooperating portion or a lock-up hole matching with the lock-up tooth on the lock-up cooperating portion; the lock-up cooperating portion or the outer slideway has a plurality of the lock-up teeth or a plurality of the lock-up holes, and the lock member rotates about a hinged joint between the lock member and the inner slideway to lock up a plurality of relative positions between the inner slideway and the outer slideway; and 25 an elastic component for providing a lock-up pre-tightening force and being provided between the lock member and the inner slideway. [00091 Preferably, the lock-up cooperating portion is provided in both sides thereof with the lock-up holes, and the outer slideway is provided on both sides thereof with a plurality of matched lock-up teeth which protrudes downwardly. 30 [0010] Preferably, the lock-up cooperating portion is provided thereon with a plurality of the 2 Unitalen ref.: OPIllI-08-0669AU PCToriginal lock-up holes in the longitudinal direction of the slide rail. 100111 Preferably, the lock-up cooperating portion is provided in an upper surface thereof with a position limiting groove extending in the longitudinal direction of the slide rail, and the elastic component is a spring plate, one end of the spring plate is fixedly connected with the inner 5 slideway and the other end thereof is located in the position limiting groove. 100121 Preferably, the lock-up assembly further includes an operating lever, and one end of the operating lever is connected with the other end of the lock member and the other end thereof protrudes out of the cavity of the inner slideway, and the operating lever can drive the lock member to rotate about the hinged joint relative to the inner slideway until the lock-up holes are 10 disengaged from the matched lock-up teeth to unlock the slide rail. 100131 Preferably, the operating lever has an axial position limiting surface extending outwardly, and the lock-up assembly further includes a spring plate, one end of the spring plate is fixedly connected with the inner slideway and the other end thereof is circuitously bent and then abuts against the position limiting surface. 15 100141 Preferably, the outer slideway generally has a cross section of a "U" shape, and edges of both side walls of the outer slideway are bent inwardly and then bent downwardly to form symmetrical receiving portions for receiving the retainer assemblies; the inner slideway generally has a cross section of a Chinese word "A" shape, and edges of both side walls of the inner slideway are bent outwardly and then bent upwardly and abut against rollers of the retainer 20 assemblies. 100151 Preferably, the retainer assembly is provided thereon with an upper row of rollers and a lower row of rollers in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, and the two rows of rollers are respectively provided at an upper outer corner and a lower outer corner of the receiving portion. [00161 Preferably, a bush is provided between the operating lever and the inner slideway. 25 [00171 Preferably, the inner slideway and the outer slideway are respectively provided thereon with position limiting protrusions to limit extreme operating positions that the inner slideway is retracted and is extended relative to the outer slideway. [00181 In the seat adopting the seat slide rail according to the present invention, the inner and outer slideways of a seat are respectively fixedly connected with the seat base and the floor of the 3 Unitalen ref.: OP]Ill-08-0669AU PCToriginal vehicle body after the seat is assembled so that the seat is movable fore-and-aft relative to the floor of the vehicle body. The lock-up assembly of the seat slide rail of the present invention is provided inside a cavity of the inner slideway. The lock member of the lock-up assembly is hinged with a side wall of the inner slideway, and the lock-up cooperating portion of the lock 5 member protrudes out of the side wall of the inner slideway so as to be cooperated with the outer slideway and thus achieve lock-up. As the lock member rotates relative to the inner slideway, the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth respectively provided on the lock member and the inner slideway may be switched between two operating positions, i.e., an engaging lock-up position and a disengaging unlock position, so as to lock-up a plurality of relative position between the 10 inner slideway and the outer slideway. Meanwhile, the present solution utilizes a lock-up pre-tightening force exerted by the elastic component so that the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth are in an engaging lock-up state in the normal state. That is, the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth are in the engaging lock-up state in the normal state. When it needs to adjust the fore-and-aft position of the seat, the lock member is rotated about the inner slideway until the 15 lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth are in a disengaging unlock state, in which state the inner slideway is slidable fore-and-aft relative to the outer slideway to an ideal relative position. After the lock-up holes are aligned with the corresponding lock-up teeth, the lock member is rotated about the inner slideway reversely so that the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth are in an engaging lock-up state. Thereby the relative position between the inner slideway and the outer 20 slideway is fixed. Compared with the prior art, the present solution has the following advantages: the structure of the seat slide rail is simple and the movement thereof is reliable. On one hand, the lock-up assembly is provided inside the cavity of the inner slideway, which effectively utilizes the inner space of the inner slideway and reduces the contour size of the lock-up mechanism, and thus the product manufacturing cost is reduced and the universality of the lock-up assembly to be 25 matched with various seats is increased. On the other hand, the lock-up assembly would not interfere with the retainer assembly spatially, which can ensure that the inner slideway slides relative to the outer slideway smoothly. 10019] In a preferable solution of the present invention, one end of the operating lever is connected with the lock member and the other end thereof protrudes out of the cavity of the inner 30 slideway. The operating lever may drive the lock member to rotate about the hinged joint relative to the inner slideway when the operating lever is exerted with a force by an operator to overcome 4 Unitalen ref.: OP 1111 -08-0669AU PCToriginal the pre-tightening force of the elastic component, until the lock-up holes are disengaged from the matched lock-up teeth to unlock the slide rail. When the operating lever is released after the fore-and-aft position of the seat is adjusted, the lock member can return to its lock-up operating position under an action of the elastic component, which has better operability. 5 [0020] In another preferable solution of the present invention, the operating lever can be assembled with the lock member after the slide rail body is assembled. The circuitously bent portion of the spring plate is pushed outwardly and deformed elastically when the end of the operating lever is inserted into the inner slideway from outside of the inner slideway, and the spring plate returns to its original position after the position limiting surface of the operating lever 10 reaches a predetermined position. At this time, an end surface of the circuitously bent portion of the spring plate abuts against the position limiting surface of the operating lever to prevent the operating lever from disengaging from the inner slideway accidentally. With the split type design, the contour size of the slide rail body is reduced and the slide rail is easy for assembling. Since the operating lever is assembled after the seat or even the whole vehicle is assembled, it has better 15 assembling performance. [00211 The seat slide rail of the present invention is applicable to various seats whose fore-and-aft position is adjustable, especially to a vehicle seat. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [00221 Figure 1 is an axonometric schematic view of a seat slide rail according to a specific 20 embodiment; [00231 Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of figure 1; [0024] Figure 3 is an assembling exploded view of the seat slide rail shown in figure 1; [0025] Figure 4 is an assembling schematic view between an inner slideway and a lock-up assembly when viewing from a direction opposing to that of figure 3; 25 [00261 Figure 5 is an axonometric assembling schematic view among two spring plates, a lock member and an operating lever in a specific embodiment; 100271 Figure 6 is an assembling exploded view of the components in figure 5; [00281 Figure 7 is a sectional schematic view of the seat slide rail in a normal state; 5 Unitalen ref.: OP11l-08-0669AU PCToriginal [00291 Figure 8 is a sectional schematic view of the seat slide rail in an unlock state. [00301 Reference numerals in the figures: 10. inner slideway 11. hole 12. hole 13. opening 5 14. protrusion 15. round corner 16. outer wall 20. outer slideway 21. lock-up tooth 22. protrusion 23. round corner 24. round corner 30. lock-up assembly 31. lock member 10 311. boss 312. lock-up cooperating portion 3121. lock-up hole 3122. position limiting groove 313. inner wall 32. spring plate 321. end portion 322. flanging 323. hole 33. spring plate 15 331. hole 332. end surface 34. rivet 35. operating lever 351. axial position limiting surface 36. bush 40. retainer assembly 41. retainer 42. big steel ball 43. small steel ball 20 DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0031] The spirit of the present invention is to provide a seat slide rail with optimized structure to control the product manufacturing cost effectively while ensuring that an inner slideway is slidable smoothly relative to an outer slideway. The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings hereinafter. 25 [00321 Referring to figure 1, figure I shows an axonometric schematic view of a seat slide rail 6 Unitalen ref.: OPIl1I-08-0669AU PCToriginal according to the present embodiment. [0033] The seat slide rail includes an inner slideway 10 and an outer slideway 20. Similar to the prior art, the inner slideway 10 is used to be connected with a seat base (not shown in the figure), the outer slideway 20 is used to be connected with a floor of a vehicle body (not shown in the 5 figure), and the inner slideway is slidably fit with the outer slideway so that the seat is movable fore-and-aft relative to the vehicle body. Also referring to figures 2 and 3, in which figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of figure 1 and figure 3 is an assembling exploded view of the seat slide rail shown in figure 1. [0034] With reference to figures 2 and 3, a retainer assembly 40 is provided between the inner 10 slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20 and is provided thereon with a plurality of rollers at intervals. The plurality of rollers are respectively mounted between the inner slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20 in a way that the rollers abut against both of the inner slideway and the outer slideway to decrease a sliding frictional force between the inner slideway and the outer slideway. [00351 In the present solution, a lock-up assembly 30 which includes a lock member 31 and an 15 elastic component is provided inside a cavity of the inner slideway 10. [0036] The lock member 31 is hinged at a middle portion thereof with a side wall of the inner slideway 10 and can form a shaft-hole fit with a hole I1 in the side wall of the inner slideway 10 via a cylindrical boss 311 of the lock member 31 so that the lock member 31 is rotatable about the hinged joint. In particular, as shown in figure 4, figure 4 is an assembling schematic view 20 between an inner slideway 10 and a lock-up assembly 30 when viewing from a direction opposing to that of figure 3. Of course, the above boss and hole may also be provided reversely so long as they meet the requirement of operation. [00371 A lock-up relationship between the lock member 31 and the outer slideway 20 is formed at a lock-up cooperating portion 312 at an end of the lock member 31. The lock-up cooperating 25 portion 312 is protruded laterally out of an opening 13 in a side wall of the inner slideway 10. The lock-up cooperating portion 312 has a lock-up hole 3121, and the outer slideway 20 has a plurality of lock-up teeth 21 provided in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail and matched with the lock-up hole 3121 in the lock-up cooperating portion 312. Cooperation between the lock-up hole 3121 and different lock-up teeth 21 can define different slide positions. The lock-up 30 cooperating portion 312 may also be provided with a plurality of lock-up holes 3121 (not shown 7 Unitalen ref.: OPIll1-08-0669AU PCT_original in the figure), that is, cooperation between the lock-up teeth 21 on the outer slideway 20 and different lock-up holes 3121 can define different slide positions. Thus, when the lock member 31 is rotated about the hinged joint between the lock member and the inner slideway 10, the lock-up teeth 21 are engaged with the lock-up holes 3121 or are disengaged from the lock-up holes 3121 5 to achieve a plurality of relative positions between the inner slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20. Obviously, a height of the opening 13 in the side wall of the inner slideway 10 should meet the requirement for a swing extent of the lock-up cooperating portion 312 during a switch between an engaging lock-up operating position and a disengaging unlock operating position. It is to be noted that, in the present solution, the main structural relationships among the inner 10 slideway, the outer slideway and the retainer assembly, and the cooperation structural relationship between the lock-up cooperating portion 312 and the outer slideway 20 may be designed in an asymmetrical way or in a symmetrical way. It is obvious that the symmetrical design is optimal. 10038] As shown in the figures, the lock-up cooperating portion 312 is provided at both sides thereof with three lock-up holes 3121 respectively, and these lock-up holes are provided at the 15 same intervals as those of the lock-up teeth 21 so as to enhance the lock-up stability between the lock-up cooperating portion 312 and the outer slideway 20. Of course, a plurality of lock-up holes, other than three, may be provided if the spatial length is sufficient. [00391 In fact, the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth in the above lock-up relationship may also be provided reversely between the lock-up cooperating portion 312 and the outer slideway 20 20. That is, the lock-up holes are provided in the outer slideway and the lock-up teeth are provided on the lock-up cooperating portion. Any lock-up relationships between the lock-up holes and the lock-up teeth fall into the protective scope of the present invention as long as these lock-up relationships can realize a switch between an engaging lock-up position and a disengaging unlock position with the rotation of the lock member 31. 25 [0040] The elastic component is provided between the lock member 31 and the inner slideway 10 to provide the lock member 31 with a lock-up pre-tightening force so that the lock-up holes 3121 and the lock-up teeth 21 are in an engaging lock-up state in a normal state. Compared with the prior art, the lock-up assembly 30 of the present solution is provided in a cavity of the inner slideway 10, which effectively utilizes an inner space of the slide rail and reduces a contour size 30 of the slide rail, and thus the product manufacturing cost is reduced. On the other hand, the 8 Unitalen ref.: OPI111-08-0669AU PCToriginal lock-up assembly 30 would not interfere with the retainer spatially, which can ensure that the inner slideway 10 is slidable smoothly relative to the outer slideway 20. [00411 It is to be noted that, the aforementioned elastic component for exerting a pre-tightening force may be implemented in many ways. Simply speaking, an elastic rubber member may also 5 achieve the pre-tightening. As aforementioned, limited by a contour size and an assembling space, the elastic component of the present solution preferably is a spring plate 32 which is provided approximately in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail. In particular, also referring to figures 5 and 6, in which figure 5 is axonometric assembling schematic view among two spring plates, a lock member and an operating lever in a specific embodiment and figure 6 is an assembling 10 exploded view of the components in figure 5. [0042] The spring plate 32 is generally of a bent shape to enhance the performance thereof. As shown in the figure, the spring plate 32 is fixedly connected at one end portion thereof with the inner slideway 10 and abuts against a middle portion of the lock-up cooperating portion 321 at the other end portion 321 thereof, which can ensure that the lock-up holes 3121 and the lock-up 15 teeth 21 are in a stable engaging lock-up state in the normal state. In order to prevent the spring plate 32 from being disengaged from abutting against the lock-up cooperating portion 3 12 under an action of a force, the lock-up cooperating portion 312 may be formed in an upper surface thereof with a position limiting groove 3122 extending in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, the other end portion 321 of the spring plate 32 is inserted in the position limiting groove 3122 20 such that the lateral movement of the spring plate 32 is restricted. [00431 In addition, as shown in figures 5 and 6, the spring plate 32, at a side of the lock member opposing to the boss 311, has a lateral flanging 322. The flanging 322 contacts with an inner wall 313 of the lock member 31 to prevent the boss 311 of the lock member 31 from disengaging from the hole 11 in the inner slideway 10 during the use and the operation. Meanwhile, a lateral 25 movement of the lock member 31 during the lock-up process also may be prevented. [0044] As to the seat slide rail, a contour size thereof should be limited to the largest extent as long as the basic connection requirement may be met. Specially, the inner slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20 may be of different structures and may be formed by different techniques, such as be formed by stamping sheet materials. In particular, as shown in figure 2, the outer slideway 30 20 in the present solution generally has a cross section of a "U" shape, and edges of both side 9 Unitalen ref.: OPI111-08-0669AU PCToriginal walls thereof are bent inwardly and then bent downwardly, forming two symmetrical receiving portions which receive the retainer assemblies 40. Accordingly, the inner slideway 10 generally has a cross section of a Chinese word "A" shape, and edges of both side walls of the inner slideway are bent outwardly and then bent upwardly, and are cooperated with rollers of the 5 retainer assemblies 40 in a way that the edges abut against the rollers respectively. Each retainer assembly 40 is provided with an upper row of rollers and a lower row of rollers in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, and both rows of rollers are respectively provided at an upper outer corner and a lower outer corner of the receiving portion. The retainer assemblies 40 at both sides have altogether four rows of rollers, this kind of seat slide rail has a high stability and can slide 10 smoothly. [0045] As shown in the figures, the retainer 41 of each retainer assembly 40 is provide thereon with an upper row of small steel balls 43 and a lower row of big steel balls 42. The small steel balls 43 are provided at the upper outer corner of the receiving portion, that is, the small steel balls 43 are located at a round corner 24 which is at an upper portion of an inner wall of the outer 15 slideway 20. The big steel balls 42 are provided at the lower outer corner of the receiving portion, that is, the big steel balls 42 are located at a round corner23 which is at a lower portion of the inner wall of the outer slideway 20. At the same time, the big steel balls 42 and the small steel balls 43 respectively abut against a round corner 15 and an outer wall 16 formed after the edges of both side walls of the inner slideway 10 are bent outwardly and then bent upwardly. Thereby 20 the inner slideway is slidable relative to the outer slideway. [0046] As shown in figures 2 and 3, a plurality of lock-up teeth 21 protruding downwardly are formed on edges of both inner sides of the outer slideway 20 for cooperating with the lock-up holes 3121. [00471 The lock-up assembly 30 may further include an operating lever 35. One end of the 25 operating lever 35 is connected with the other end of the lock member 31 and the other end thereof protrudes out of the cavity of the inner slideway 10. In this way, the operating lever 35 can drive the lock member 31 to rotate about the hinged joint relative to the inner slideway 10 when a force is exerted to the operating lever, until the lock-up holes 3121 are disengaged from the matched lock-up teeth 21 to unlock the slide rail. 30 [0048] In order to enhance the assembling performance of the seat slide rail, the following 10 Unitalen ref.: OP 111 I-08-0669AU PCT_original structural design may be specifically employed. As shown in the figures, the operating lever 35 is provided at an end thereof with an axial position limiting surface 351 protruding outwardly. The lock-up assembly 30 further includes a spring plate 33. One end of the spring plate 33 is fixedly connected with the inner slideway 10, and the other end of the spring plate 33 is circuitously bent 5 and then cooperated with the axial position limiting surface 351 in a way that the spring plate 33 abuts against the axial position limiting surface 351. In this way, the operating lever 35 may be inserted into the inner slideway 10 to be assembled with the lock member 31 after the slide rail body is assembled. During the insertion of the operating lever into the inner slideway, the circuitously bent portion of the spring plate 33 is pushed outwardly and deformed elastically by 10 the operating lever 35, and then returns to its original position when the axial position limiting surface 351 of the operating lever 35 reaches a predetermined position. At this time, an end surface 332 of the circuitously bent portion of the spring plate 33 is cooperated with the axial position limiting surface 351 of the operating lever 35 in a way that the end surface 332 abuts against the axial position limiting surface 351, which can effectively prevent the operating lever 15 35 from disengaging from the inner slideway 10 accidentally. It is obvious that, a split type design can reduce the contour size of the slide rail body and is easy for assembling, the operating lever may be inserted into the inner slideway after the seat or even the whole vehicle is assembled, which has good assembling performance. [00491 Of course, in order that the whole structure of the slide rail is more compact, the spring 20 plate 32 which exerts a pre-tightening force and the spring plate 33 which prevents the operating lever 35 from disengaging accidentally may also be fixed to the same position on the inner slideway 10, for example, by welding or riveting. As shown in figures 5 and 6, the two spring plates are fixed together at a hole 12 in the inner slideway 10 via a rivet 34. In particular, the cross section of the rivet 34 has opposite straight edge segments, and the spring plates 32, 33 are 25 respectively provided with holes 323 and 331 whose cross sections match with that of the rivet 34. The hole 12 of the inner slideway 10 also has a cross section corresponding to that of the rivet 34 to fix the spring plates 32, 33 and to prevent the spring plates 32, 33 from offsetting laterally or rotating. [0050] The detailed operating process of the seat slide rail will be described briefly hereinafter. 30 [00511 1. In the normal state, the spring plate 32 exerts a pre-tightening force to the lock 11 Unitalen ref.: OPI1l1-08-0669AU PCToriginal member 31 and the slide rail is locked up normally. The lock-up holes 3121 in the lock-up cooperating portion 312 are engaged with the lock-up tooth 21 on the outer slideway 20. As shown in figure 7, in this state, the relative positions among the inner slideway 10, the lock member 31 and the outer slideway 20 are fixed and cannot be moved. 5 [00521 II. When it is need to adjust the fore-and-aft position of the seat, firstly, an external force is exerted to the operating lever 35 so that the operating lever 35 is moved upwardly. The operating lever 35 in turn drives the lock member 31 to rotate about the hinged joint between the lock member 31 and the inner slideway 10 and overcome the elastic force of the spring plate 32. Meanwhile, the lock-up cooperating portion 312 swings in the opening 13 and moves 10 downwardly, until the lock-up teeth 21 are disengaged from the lock-up holes 3121. As shown in figure 8, the slide rail is unlocked and the inner slideway is slidable relative to the outer slideway. Then, the seat is adjusted fore-and-aft according to an actual requirement. When the seat is adjusted to a target position, the operating lever 35 is released, and the lock member 31 is rotated about the hinged joint between the lock member 31 and the inner slideway 10 under the elastic 15 force of the spring plate 32 until the lock-up holes 3121 in the lock member 31 are engaged with the lock-up teeth 21 on the outer slideway 20. At this time, the inner slideway cannot slide relative to the outer slideway and the slide rail is returned to its lock-up state. [0053] Furthermore, a bush 36 which is preferably made from plastic or rubber material is provided between the operating lever 35 and the inner slideway 10, to prevent a noise caused by 20 metal collision between the operating lever 35 and the inner or outer slideways when the operating lever is operated, and thus prevent the driver and/or the passenger from being affected by the noise. [00541 In the unlocked state, if the user slides the seat with an excessive force, the inner slideway 10 may be possibly completely disengaged from the outer slideway 20. Therefore, the 25 present solution further employs a position-limiting structure, that is, the inner slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20 are respectively provided thereon with position-limiting protrusions to limit extreme positions that the inner slideway 10 may be extended or retracted relative to the outer slideway 20. In particular, as shown in figure 8, the outer slideway 20 is provided at a bottom portion thereof with four protrusions 22 protruding upwardly, and the inner slideway 10 is 30 provided at a bottom portion thereof with four protrusions 14 protruding downwardly. In this way, 12 Unitalen ref.: OPIl1I-08-0669AU PCToriginal when the inner slideway is slid to either of the extreme positions relative to the outer slideway in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, the protrusions 22 of the outer slideway 20 abut against the protrusions 14 of the inner slideway 10. The position-limiting functions of the above extreme positions can effectively ensure that the inner slideway and the outer slideway are slid within a 5 certain extent and the inner slideway would not disengage from the outer slideway. This kind of position-limiting design employs such a structure that the inner slideway and the outer slideway are directly provided thereon with protrusions. Thus, the fore-and-aft position limiting of the seat is reliably and the precision thereof is high, and it does not need any additional position limiting device or additional part, thereby the cost is low. 10 [0055] It is specially to be noted that, the seat and the floor of the vehicle body are not shown in the relevant figures. It should be understood that the assembling of the seat slide rail on the whole vehicle are completely identical with those of the prior art. For example, the inner slideway 10 and the outer slideway 20 are respectively provided with threaded holes to be connected with the seat base and the floor of the vehicle body via threaded fasteners. The above assembling 15 connection relationships can be carried out by those skilled in the art and will not be described herein. [0056] The aforesaid embodiments are only preferable embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that, those skill in the art can also make improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention, and all these improvements and 20 modifications should also be deemed to fall into the protective scope of the present invention. 13

Claims

1. A seat slide rail, comprising: an inner slideway for connecting a seat base; an outer slideway for connecting a floor of a vehicle body and being slidably cooperated 5 with the inner slideway; a retainer assembly having rollers and being provided between the inner slideway and the outer slideway; characterized in that the seat slide rail further comprises a lock-up assembly provided inside a cavity of the inner slideway, and the lock-up assembly comprises: 10 a lock member that is hinged at a middle portion thereof with a side wall of the inner slideway, wherein the lock member is provided at an end thereof with a lock-up cooperating portion which protrudes laterally out of an opening in a side wall of the inner slideway; in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, the lock-up cooperating portion has a lock-up hole or a lock-up tooth, and the outer slideway has a lock-up tooth matching with the lock-up hole in the 15 lock-up cooperating portion or a lock-up hole matching with the lock-up tooth on the lock-up cooperating portion; the lock-up cooperating portion or the outer slideway has a plurality of the lock-up teeth or a plurality of the lock-up holes, and the lock member rotates about a hinged joint between the lock member and the inner slideway to lock up a plurality of relative positions between the inner slideway and the outer slideway; and 20 an elastic component for providing a lock-up pre-tightening force and being provided between the lock member and the inner slideway.

2. The seat slide rail according to claim 1, wherein the lock-up cooperating portion is provided in both sides thereof with the lock-up holes, and the outer slideway is provided on both 25 sides thereof with a plurality of matched lock-up teeth which protrudes downwardly.

3. The seat slide rail according to claim 2, wherein the lock-up cooperating portion is provided thereon with a plurality of the lock-up holes in the longitudinal direction of the slide rail. 30

4. The seat slide rail according to claim 3, wherein the lock-up cooperating portion is provided in an upper surface thereof with a position limiting groove extending in the longitudinal 14 Unitalen ref.: OPlIll-08-0669AU PCT_original direction of the slide rail, and the elastic component is a spring plate, one end of the spring plate is fixedly connected with the inner slideway and the other end thereof is located in the position limiting groove.

5 5. The seat slide rail according to claim 1, wherein the lock-up assembly further comprises an operating lever, and one end of the operating lever is connected with the other end of the lock member and the other end thereof protrudes out of the cavity of the inner slideway, and the operating lever can drive the lock member to rotate about the hinged joint relative to the inner slideway until the lock-up holes are disengaged from the matched lock-up teeth to unlock the 10 slide rail.

6. The seat slide rail according to claim 5, wherein the operating lever has an axial position limiting surface extending outwardly, and the lock-up assembly further comprises a spring plate, one end of the spring plate is fixedly connected with the inner slideway and the other end thereof 15 is circuitously bent and then abuts against the position limiting surface.

7. The seat slide rail according to claim 1, wherein the outer slideway generally has a cross section of a "U" shape, and edges of both side walls of the outer slideway are bent inwardly and then bent downwardly to form symmetrical receiving portions for receiving the retainer 20 assemblies; the inner slideway generally has a cross section of a Chinese word "A" shape, and edges of both side walls of the inner slideway are bent outwardly and then bent upwardly and abut against rollers of the retainer assemblies.

8. The seat slide rail according to claim 7, wherein the retainer assembly is provided 25 thereon with an upper row of rollers and a lower row of rollers in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail, and the two rows of rollers are respectively provided at an upper outer corner and a lower outer corner of the receiving portion.

9. The seat slide rail according to any of claims I to 8, wherein a bush is provided between 30 the operating lever and the inner slideway.

10. The seat slide rail according to claim 9, wherein the inner slideway and the outer slideway are respectively provided thereon with position limiting protrusions to limit extreme 15 Unitalen ref.: OPIll1-08-0669AU PCToriginal operating positions that the inner slideway is retracted and is extended relative to the outer slideway. 16