CN113306462A

CN113306462A - Seat slide device and vehicle seat

Info

Publication number: CN113306462A
Application number: CN202110198338.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 梁玫晧
Original assignee: Adient Engineering and IP GmbH
Current assignee: Andotop Usa Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-26
Filing date: 2021-02-22
Publication date: 2021-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 2041-02-22
Also published as: CN113306462B; JP2021133769A

Abstract

A seat slide device capable of maintaining high appearance quality and easy to use for a long period of time. A seat slide device (91) is provided with: a rail (1) extending in a first direction and having a slit (16) extending in the first direction; a slider (2) which has a projection (22) projecting to the outside through a slit (16) and which is engaged with the rail (1) so as to be capable of reciprocating in a first direction; a plurality of flaps (3) supported on the rail (1) so as to be rotatable between a prone position for closing the slit (16) and an upright position for allowing the passage of the movable protrusion (22), and arranged in a first direction; and a plurality of urging members (32) which are provided in the rail (1) so as to correspond to the plurality of flaps (3) and which urge the flaps (3) to rotate in the prone posture. The flap (3) is rotated from the prone posture to the upright posture by being in contact with the moving protrusion section (22), and the protrusion section (22) is released from the contact to return to the prone posture from the upright posture.

Description

Seat slide device and vehicle seat

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a seat slide device and a vehicle seat.

Background

In a seat slide device that is mounted to a vehicle or the like and reciprocates a seat, the following configuration is generally assembled: the foreign matter is prevented from entering into the track gap and the gap is covered to improve the appearance quality. As an example thereof, the following structure is known: the seat includes a rubber flap (flap) that covers a gap of the rail in a natural state and is bent and retracted from the gap when a slider that supports the seat passes.

As another example, patent document 1 describes a structure in which a belt-shaped moving member is provided so as to be windable and unreelable at an end portion of a rail and to move together with a slider in the rail.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2012-201268

Disclosure of Invention

The rubber flap cannot completely prevent the entry of thin and hard parts such as the heel of a high-heeled shoe or the tip of an umbrella into the gap. Further, the rubber flap may have deteriorated elasticity due to aging, may not reliably cover the gap, may not maintain the appearance quality, and may not prevent the entry of a different member.

Further, in the structure in which the belt-shaped moving member that moves together with the slider is provided as described in patent document 1, there is a concern that resistance to sliding movement of the vehicle seat becomes large due to resistance to unwinding and winding and sliding resistance between the moving member and the rail, and thus the seat movement cannot be performed smoothly.

Accordingly, it is desired that the seat slide device and the vehicle seat provided with the seat slide device can reliably block the gap of the rail for a long period of time, prevent the entry of different members into the gap, and smoothly perform the seat slide operation. In other words, the seat slide device is expected to maintain high appearance quality and smooth use for a long period of time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a seat slide device and a vehicle seat that can maintain high appearance quality and ease of use for a long period of time.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention has the following configuration.

1) A fluidic device, comprising:

a rail extending in a first direction and having a slit extending in the first direction;

a slider having a protruding portion protruding to the outside through the slit, and engaging with the rail so as to be capable of reciprocating in the first direction;

a plurality of flaps supported by the rail so as to be rotatable between a prone posture in which the flaps close the slit and an upright posture in which the movable protruding portion is allowed to pass through, the flaps being arranged in the first direction; and

a plurality of urging members provided in the rail so as to correspond to the plurality of flaps, respectively, and configured to urge the flaps to rotate in the prone posture,

the flap is rotated from the prone posture to the standing posture in contact with the moved projecting portion, and the projecting portion is released from contact with the flap to return the flap from the standing posture to the prone posture.

2) The seat slide apparatus according to feature 1), wherein the rail has a flap support portion that restricts rotation of the flap from the standing posture to the prone posture.

3) The seat slide device according to feature 1) or 2), wherein the plurality of flaps are alternately arranged on one side and the other side with respect to the slit.

4) The seat slide device according to any one of features 1) to 3), wherein at least one of the portions of the protruding portion and the flap that abut against each other is inclined with respect to the first direction.

5) A vehicle seat, characterized by comprising:

the seat slide device according to any one of features 1) to 4); and

a seat cushion coupled to the protruding portion of the seat slide device.

6) The vehicle seat according to feature 5), wherein the seat cushion includes a cover at a lower portion, and the cover surrounds the flap in the standing posture so as to be less visible from outside than the flap in the prone posture.

According to the present invention, the effects of maintaining high appearance quality and ease of use over a long period of time can be obtained.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a seat slide device 91 as an example of the seat slide device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the rail 1 provided in the seat slide device 91.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view at the position S3-S3 in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an assembly view of the flap assembly 3A provided in the seat slide device 91.

Fig. 5 is an assembly diagram showing a procedure of attaching the flap assembly 3A to the rail 1.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the seat slide device 9 and peripheral components assembled to the vehicle, corresponding to the positions S6-S6 of fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of the seat slide device 91.

Fig. 8 is a left side view for explaining a standing state of the flap 3 in the seat slide apparatus 91.

[ Mark Specification ]

1 track

11L, 11R flange part

12 track base

12a bottom

12b left side wall

12b1 Tilt support

12b2 upper limit part

12b3 escape part

12c right side wall

12c1 inclined support

12c2 upper limit part

12c3 escape part

12f left side guard board

12g Right side guard board

12h, 12i groove part

13. 14 loose piece supporting part

13a, 14a through hole

13c, 14c cut part

15 gap

16 slits

2 sliding block

21 main body part

21b lower roller

21c upper roller

21d extension

22 projection

22a through hole

22b inclined edge part

22bf front inclined edge part

22br back-inclined edge part

23f front cover

23r rear cover body

3. 3L, 3R active tablet

3A loose piece assembly

3a mountain-shaped base

3af front edge

3ar rear edge

3b1, 3b2 extensions

3c1, 3c2 axle support

3c1a, 3c2a through hole

3d lower surface

31 drive shaft

31a base part

31b flange

31c spring engaging shaft portion

32 torsion coil spring

32a first forearm

32b second forearm section

32c main body

4 end cap

91 seat slide device

92 seat cushion

921 leg cover

93 floor parts

Bt1, Bt2 bolt

CL1 center line

CL3 axis

H horizontal plane

L3d, L4 distance

L13, L13c, L14, L14c Length

Pa pitch

Distance of Pb

Positions P1-P4

Angle θ c, angle θ 3 a.

Detailed Description

A seat slide device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a seat slide device 91 as an example. For convenience of explanation, the directions of the upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear are defined as the directions indicated by arrows in fig. 1.

First, an outline of the configuration of the seat slide device 91 will be described with reference to fig. 1 which is a perspective view.

The seat slide apparatus 91 has a rail 1, a slider 2, and a plurality of flaps 3. Fig. 1 also shows a pair of front and rear end caps 4 attached to the ends of the rail 1 by strong fitting.

The rail 1 is formed by extrusion molding of metal. The metal is, for example, aluminum.

The track 1 has: a rail base 12 extending in the front-rear direction (first direction) and accommodating the slider 2 so that the slider 2 can reciprocate in the front-rear direction; and plate-

like flange portions

11L and 11R that extend leftward and rightward from the lower edge portion of the rail base portion 12.

The slider 2 is housed in the rail base 12 and can move in the rail base 12 in the front-rear direction by a force applied from the outside (see arrow DRa).

For example, when the seat slide device 91 is mounted on a vehicle, the slider 2 is coupled to a seat cushion 92 (see fig. 8) as a vehicle seat at an upper portion thereof and moves forward and backward together with the seat cushion 92.

The flap 3 is a plate-like member having a mountain shape in plan view. The plurality of flaps 3 have: a plurality of flaps 3L arranged and attached on the left side of one side of the upper end of the rail base 12 as the rail 1; and a plurality of flaps 3R arranged in a row on the right side as the other side.

In the track 1, the group of the flaps 3L and the group of the flaps 3R are provided with a half pitch in the front-rear direction in a direction in which the tops of the chevron shapes face each other. Each flap 3 is provided to be elastically rotatable in the standing direction from the prone posture in the natural state.

The group of flaps 3L and the group of flaps 3R are offset by half pitch in the front-rear direction, and thus the mountain-valley of one outer shape and the valley-mountain of the other outer shape are combined in the prone posture, and almost no gap is generated.

Each flap 3 rotates in the standing direction in accordance with the movement of the slider 2, allows the slider 2 to pass, and naturally returns to the original prone position after the slider 2 passes.

The end cap 4 is formed of resin to be fitted into the end of the rail 1 with a strong fit.

Each component is described in detail.

First, the track 1 is described in detail with reference to fig. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the rail 1, and fig. 3 is a sectional view at a position S3-S3 in fig. 2.

In the rail 1, a molded article extruded symmetrically in the left-right direction with respect to the center line CL1 in the left-right direction is cut by a predetermined length by secondary processing, and the

cut portions

13c and 14c are alternately formed at the upper portion by cutting.

As shown in fig. 3, the track 1 has: a rail base 12 formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape as a cross-sectional shape; and a flange portion 11L projecting in a plate-like shape leftward and a flange portion 11R projecting in a plate-like shape rightward from the lower end of the rail base portion 12.

A plurality of through holes 1a are formed in each of the

flanges

11L and 11R.

The rail base 12 has: a bottom 12 a; a left side wall 12b extending upward from the left end of the bottom 12a via the inclined support 12b1, and a right side wall 12c extending upward from the right end via the inclined support 12c 1.

Further, the rail base 12 has: a flap support portion 13 extending rightward and upward from the center of the left side wall 12b in the vertical direction toward the center line CL 1; and a flap support portion 14 extending leftward and upward from the center of the right side wall 12c in the vertical direction toward the center line CL 1.

The rail base 12 includes a left side guard 12f and a right side guard 12g that extend leftward and rightward from the upper ends of the left side wall 12b and the right side wall 12c, respectively.

A groove 12h is formed between the upper portion of the left side wall 12b and the flap support portion 13 and is hollowed out downward from above.

A groove 12i is formed between the upper portion of the right side wall 12c and the flap support portion 14.

The inclined support portion 12b1 and the inclined support portion 12c1 have surfaces inclined in the left and right directions so as to spread upward from each other.

The distal end of the flap support portion 13 is provided as a slit 16 with a gap 15 spaced apart from the distal end of the flap support portion 14.

A receding portion 12b3 hollowed out toward the upper left and an upper stopper portion 12b2 having a flat surface in the left-right direction are formed at the connecting portion of the left side wall 12b and the flap holding portion 13.

A receding portion 12c3 dug out toward the upper right and an upper stopper portion 12c2 having a flat surface in the left-right direction are formed at the connecting portion of the right side wall 12c and the flap supporting portion 14.

As shown in fig. 2, the rail base portion 12 is cut out by secondary processing within a range of a length L13c in the front-rear direction as a part of the flap supporting portion 13 in the extrusion-molded product, and is formed as a notch portion 13 c. The cutout portions 13c are repeatedly formed in plural at the pitch Pa in the front-rear direction. The length of the remaining flap supporting portion 13 in the front-rear direction is set to a length L13.

That is, in the rail 1, the flap holding portion 13 having the longitudinal length L13 and the cutout portion 13c having the longitudinal length L13c are alternately formed at the pitch Pa.

The pitch Pa is the sum of the length L13 and the length L13 c.

Similarly, the rail base portion 12 is cut out by secondary processing within a range of a length L14c in the front-rear direction as a part of the flap support portion 14 in the extrusion-molded product, and is formed as a cutout portion 14 c. The cutout portions 14c are repeatedly formed in plural at the pitch Pa in the front-rear direction. The length of the remaining flap support portions 14 in the front-rear direction is set to a length L14.

That is, in the rail 1, the plurality of flap supports 14 having the longitudinal length L14 and the plurality of cutout portions 14c having the longitudinal length L14c are alternately formed at the pitch Pa.

The pitch Pa is also the sum of the length L14 and the length L14 c.

Each cutout 13c and each cutout 14c are formed apart from each other by a distance Pb of only half pitch Pa in the front-rear direction.

The plurality of flap supporters 13 and the plurality of flap supporters 14 respectively have through

holes

13a and 14a which are concentric and have the same inner diameter.

Next, a flap assembly 3A including the flap 3 is described in detail with reference to fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 4, the flap assembly 3A is configured to include the flap 3, two transmission shafts 31, and a torsion coil spring 32.

The flap 3 is a resin molded article formed in a substantially plate shape in a front-rear symmetrical shape. The flap 3 has: a mountain-shaped base portion 3a protruding in a mountain shape in a plan view; and an extension portion 3b1 and an extension portion 3b2 that coaxially extend forward and rearward from the base of the chevron-shaped base portion 3 a.

The mountain-shaped base 3a has a front edge 3af and a rear edge 3ar which approach each other as going from the extension 3b1, 3b2 side toward the tip. The front edge 3af and the rear edge 3ar are inclined at an angle θ 3a with respect to an axis CL3a parallel to a later-described axis CL3 extending in the front-rear direction, and form a mountain shape. The angle θ 3a is, for example, 45 °.

In fig. 4, the front side surface is a lower surface 3d of the flap 3 in a state in which the flap assembly 3A is attached to the rail 1 and the prone posture is set.

The lower surface 3d is formed with shaft support portions 3c1, 3c2 that project forward of the paper surface at a distance in the front-rear direction.

In the shaft support portions 3c1 and 3c2, through holes 3c1a and 3c2a having axes CL3 extending in the front-rear direction as common axes are formed with the same inner diameter.

The torsion coil spring 32 has: a main body 32c as a compressible coil spring; a first front arm portion 32a extending radially outward as one end of the main body 32 c; and a second front arm portion 32b extending radially outward as the other end.

The transmission shaft 31 has a base 31a, a flange 31b, and a spring engagement shaft 31 c.

The base 31a is formed in a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the through holes 3c1a and 3c2 a. The flange 31b is formed at one end of the base 31a and has an outer diameter larger than either the inner diameter of the through hole 3c1a or the outer diameter of the torsion coil spring. The spring engaging shaft 31c has a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the torsion coil spring 32, and can be inserted into the main body 32c of the torsion coil spring 32.

The natural length of the torsion coil spring 32 is formed slightly smaller than the inner dimension between the shaft support 3c1 and the shaft support 3c2 of the flap 3.

The method of assembling the flap assembly 3A will be described with reference to fig. 4.

First, the spring engaging shaft portions 31c of the two transmission shafts 31 are inserted into the main bodies 32c of the torsion coil springs 32, respectively.

Next, the torsion coil spring 32 is compressed by axially pressing the transmission shafts 31 so as to approach each other, and in such a compressed state, the base portion 31a of the transmission shaft 31 is inserted from the inside into the through holes 3c1a and 3c2a of the shaft supporting portions 3c1 and 3c2 of the flap 3 (see arrow DRb).

By this insertion operation, the flanges 31b of the pair of propeller shafts 31 move outward until they come into contact with the opposing surfaces of the shaft supporting portions 3c1 and 3c2, respectively, by the elastic repulsive force of the compression deformation of the torsion coil spring 32. In a state where the movement of the transmission shaft 31 is restricted, the base portion 31a protrudes outward from the shaft support portions 3c1, 3c 2.

Next, as shown in fig. 5, the base portion 31a of the transmission shaft 31 is pushed in (see arrow DRc) to come closer to each other again with respect to the movable piece assembly 3A, and the shaft support portions 3c1 and 3c2 are received in the notch portion 13c and the notch portion 14c of the rail 1, and the pushing in is released. At this time, the torsion coil spring 32 is twisted, and one of the first front arm portion 32a and the second front arm portion 32b abuts on the rail 1, and the other abuts on the flap 3, thereby rotationally biasing the flap 3 in the prone posture.

Thereby, the base portion 31a of the transmission shaft 31 engages with the through holes 13A, 14a of the flap supports 13, 14, and the plurality of flap assemblies 3A are attached to the rails 1, respectively.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the seat slide device 91 mounted to the floor member 93 of the vehicle at a position corresponding to S6-S6 in fig. 1.

The seat slide device 91 is screwed to the floor member 93 by a bolt Bt1 passing through the through hole 1a of the

flange portions

11L, 11R.

As shown in fig. 6, the slider 2 is formed to be symmetrical in left-right direction, and has a main body portion 21 and a protruding portion 22. The slider 2 is formed by cutting a molded article obtained by extrusion molding of a metal such as iron in the forward and backward direction as an extrusion direction into a predetermined length by secondary processing to form a main body portion 21 and cutting the main body portion into a predetermined shape to form a protruding portion 22.

The main body 21 has a pair of left and right

lower rollers

21b, 21b projecting downward. The pair of

lower rollers

21b and 21b rotate in contact with the pair of inclined supports 12b1 and 12c1 of the rail base 12 in a normal state. Thereby, the slider 2 smoothly moves in the front-rear direction inside the rail base 12.

The main body 21 has a pair of left and right upper rollers 21c projecting upward. When the seat cushion 92 integrated with the slider 2 is lifted upward for some reason, the upper roller 21c rotates while abutting against the upper stoppers 12b2 and 12c2 of the rail base 12, and supports smooth forward and backward movement while restricting upward movement of the slider 2.

The main body 21 has projecting

portions

21d, 21d projecting upward to the left and upward to the right at the upper left and upper right, respectively. On the other hand, the rail base portion 12 of the rail 1 has escape portions 12c3 hollowed out corresponding to the left and right projecting portions 21d, respectively.

Thus, when the slider 2 attempts to move excessively in the right-left direction, the obliquely upward direction, and the like in the inside of the rail base 12, the protruding portion 21d abuts against the inner surface of the escape portion 12c3 to restrict the excessive movement.

The protrusion 22 will be described with reference to fig. 1, 6, and 8. Fig. 8 is a left side view of the seat slide device 91, showing the side shape of the protruding portion 22.

As shown in the drawings, the front edge and the rear edge of the protruding portion 22 are inclined edge portions 22b inclined so as to approach each other upward.

The angle θ c as the inclination angle of the inclined edge portion 22b with respect to the horizontal plane H is, for example, 45 °. The angle θ c is not limited to 45 °.

As shown in fig. 8, the inclined edge portion 22b is referred to as a forward oblique-inclined edge portion 22bf and a rearward oblique-inclined edge portion 22 br.

The protruding portion 22 includes a front cover 23f and a rear cover 23 r. That is, in the forward-sloping edge 22bf and the backward-sloping edge 22br of the protrusion 22, a front cover 23f and a rear cover 23r formed of a resin (POM or the like) having excellent slidability are attached at the same angle θ c along the inclinations of the forward-sloping edge 22bf and the backward-sloping edge 22br, respectively.

A through hole 22a is formed in the upper portion of the projection 22 at a distance in the front-rear direction. As shown in fig. 6 and 8, the bolt Bt2 is screwed to the fixing member on the seat cushion 92 side through the through hole 22 a. Thereby, the slider 2 is integrated with the seat cushion 92.

Next, the rotation of the flap 3 will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 5 to 7. Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of a state where the flap assembly 3A is attached to the rail 1.

As described above, the flap 3 is rotationally biased in the direction of the prone posture from the standing posture by the torsional repulsive force of the torsion coil spring 32. That is, the torsion coil spring 32 is an urging member for urging the flap 3 to rotate.

As shown in fig. 5 and 6, when the distal end portion of the flap 3L attached to the left cutout portion 13c is rotated from the standing posture to the prone posture by the torsional repulsive force of the torsion coil spring 32, the distal end portion abuts on the right flap support portion 14, and the rotation beyond the prone posture is restricted. Similarly, when the distal end portion of the flap 3R attached to the right cutout portion 14c is rotated from the upright posture to the prone posture by the repulsive torque of the torsion coil spring 32, the distal end portion abuts against the left flap support portion 13 and is restricted from being rotated beyond the prone posture.

The plurality of flaps 3L and the plurality of flaps 3R cover the gap 15 of the slit 16 of the rail base 12 and are substantially flat surfaces in a state where the rotation is restricted by the flap support portion 14 and the flap support portion 13, respectively.

When the slider 2 moves forward together with the seat cushion 92, the front cover body 23f attached to the front edge 3af of the chevron-shaped base 3a abuts against the rear edge 3ar of the flap 3. Further, if the slider 2 moves rearward, the rear lid 23r attached to the rear edge 3ar of the chevron-shaped base 3a abuts against the front edge 3af of the flap 3.

Here, the front edge of the front cover 23f attached to the front edge 3af of the mountain base 3a and the rear edge of the rear cover 23r attached to the rear edge 3ar of the slider 2 are inclined so as to approach each other as they go upward. That is, the contact angle of the contact portion of at least one of the two members (the flap 3 and the lid 23) that are in contact is not 90 ° orthogonal to the front-rear direction that is the relative movement direction of the two members, but is an oblique angle.

The rotational torque in the standing posture direction applied to the flap 3 by the protrusion 22 that moves in the normal seat sliding operation is set to be larger than the rotational torque that the torsion coil spring 32 biases the flap 3.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 1 and 6, as the slider 2 moves forward and backward, the front cover 23f or the rear cover 23r abuts against the rear edge 3ar or the front edge 3af of the mountain-shaped base 3a of the flap 3, and the flap 3 is lifted up and rotated in the direction of the standing posture (see arrow DRc in fig. 6), thereby allowing the protrusion 22 to pass. In this state, the end of the flap 3 slides in contact with the side surface of the projection 22 in the moving slider 2.

Further, the flap 3 lifted by the protrusion 22 is returned to the original prone posture by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 32 after passing through the protrusion 22 (see arrow DRd in FIG. 6).

When the

flaps

3L and 3R are rotated to the standing position, the left and right end portions thereof respectively enter the

grooves

12h and 12i and are allowed to rotate.

Further, as shown in fig. 7, the front edge 3af and the rear edge 3ar of the flap 3 are respectively inclined at an angle θ 3a with respect to the axis CL3a shown in fig. 4.

Thus, the contact angle between the two members (the flap 3 and the lid 23) that are in contact with each other is not 90 ° orthogonal to the front-rear direction, which is the relative movement direction, but is an oblique angle. Therefore, the flap 3 can be rotated in the standing posture direction with a smaller pulling force, and the operator can slide the seat cushion with a smaller force. Therefore, the seat slide device 91 is more comfortable.

As shown in fig. 8, the seat cushion 92 to which the slider 2 is fixed includes an opaque leg cover 921 surrounding a peripheral space including the slider 2 at a lower portion of the seat cushion 92 so that the peripheral space including the slider 2 at the lower portion of the seat cushion 92 is not visible from the outside or is difficult to see.

Specifically, all the posture switching operations of the pivotal piece 3 caused by the contact with the protruding portion 22 in accordance with the movement of the slider 2 are performed inside the leg cover 921 from the start of the rotation toward the standing posture to the completion of the return to the prone posture.

The construction is described in detail.

First, as shown in fig. 7 and 8, the distance in the front-rear direction between a position P1 of the end on one edge portion (front edge 3af) side of the flap 3 and a position P2 of the intersection of the other edge portion (rear edge 3ar) and the center line CL12 is a distance L3 d. The position P2 is a position where the front lid 23f of the slider 2 advancing from the rear side of the flap 3 abuts.

The distance L3d is set to be smaller than the distance L4 in the front-rear direction between the position P3 of the front end of the leg cover 921 and the position P4 of the front cover 23f in the up-down direction, which coincides with the upper surface of the flap 3, as shown in fig. 8.

The same applies to the relationship between the distance L3d and the distance L4 on the rear end side of the leg cover 921.

Thus, the entire outer shape of the flap 3 that rotates in contact with the front cover 23f and the rear cover 23r is accommodated inside the leg cover 921.

Therefore, the seat slide device 91 is in a state where the rotated flap 3 is not visible from the outside or is difficult to be visible from the outside with respect to the flap 3 in the prone posture, and the appearance quality is improved.

Since the gap 15 of the slit 16 exposed by the rotation of the flap 3 is always located inside the leg cover 921, dust and dirt entering the gap 15 of the slit 16 from the outside is prevented from entering by the leg cover 921. This maintains the sliding operation of the seat slide device 91 in a good state for a long period of time.

With the above-described configuration, each flap 3 is in a horizontal posture in a state where the

flaps

3L and 3R are in contact with the flap supports 14 and 13, respectively.

Since the gap between the respective flaps 3 is set to have an outer dimension and a tolerance so as to be a minute gap, the gap 15 of the slit 16 in the rail base portion 12 of the rail 1 is satisfactorily closed by the flap 3 in the prone posture, and the gap 15 is substantially not visually recognized from the outside.

The flap 3 is made of hard resin, and is restricted from rotating from the prone posture into the gap 15 by abutting against the flap supports 13 and 14 made of metal. Therefore, the flap 3 is not substantially deformed even if it is pressed by a thin and hard different member such as a heel of a high-heeled shoe or a tip of an umbrella, and the different member is reliably prevented from entering the gap 15.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The seat slide device 91 may not include the front cover 23f and the rear cover 23r, and the protruding portion 22 may directly abut against the flap 3.

The seat slide device 91 has, as the flaps 3, a row of the plurality of flaps 3L and a row of the flaps 3R arranged in a front-rear direction on the left and right sides of the slit 16, respectively.

The seat slide device 91 is not limited to the 2 rows as the row of the flaps 3, and may have only one of the left side and the right side. In this case, the shape of the flap 3 is a square or rectangular shape rather than a mountain shape with tapered ends. Accordingly, the flap 3 can satisfactorily close the slit 16 in the prone posture, and can rotate to the standing posture when abutting against the inclined edge portion 22b of the slider 2, or the front cover 23f or the rear cover 23r, thereby allowing the passage of the protruding portion 22.

Claims

1. A seat slide apparatus, comprising:

the flap is rotated from the prone posture to the standing posture in contact with the moving projecting portion, and the projecting portion is released from contact with the flap, so that the flap is returned from the standing posture to the prone posture.

2. The seat slide of claim 1,

the rail has a flap support portion that limits rotation of the flap from the standing position beyond the prone position.

3. The seat slide of claim 1 or 2,

the plurality of flaps are alternately arranged at one side and the other side relative to the slit.

4. The seat slide of claim 1 or 2,

at least one of the portions of the protruding portion and the flap that abut against each other is inclined with respect to the first direction.

5. A vehicle seat, characterized by comprising:

the seat slide apparatus of claim 1 or claim 2; and

a seat cushion coupled to the protruding portion of the seat slide device.

6. A vehicle seat according to claim 5,

the seat cushion includes a cover body that surrounds the flap in the standing posture so that the flap is less visible from the outside than the flap in the prone posture.