DE10242825A1 - Locking device with grooved locking pins - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a locking device of a longitudinal adjustment device of a motor vehicle seat, on the one hand with a notch bar (28) which has periodically arranged latching openings (30) and latching webs (32). A bottom rail (22) is assigned to the longitudinal adjustment device and, on the other hand, to a locking unit, which is also assigned to a seat rail (20) of the longitudinal adjustment device. This has at least two locking pins (40) which can be adjusted independently and mutually in locking openings (30) and which are arranged in a guide part (36). This has a pin bore (38) for each locking pin. The locking pins have a groove area (50) made of at least one single groove (56). This groove area (50) is located in the vicinity of the lower end of the associated pin bore (38) when the locking pin is snapped into a latching opening.

Description

The invention relates to a locking device Longitudinal adjustment device of a motor vehicle seat, on the one hand with a catch bar, the periodically arranged latching openings and latching webs and one Bottom rail is assigned to the longitudinal adjustment device and on the other hand a locking unit that a seat rail of the longitudinal adjustment is assigned and at least two, independently of each other in locking openings has latchable and jointly latchable locking pins which in a guide part are arranged, the pin hole for each locking pin having.

Such a locking device is previously known from DE 197 09 149 A. EP 498 932 B and DE 27 29 770 C also become the state of the art directed. Such locking devices are also called Designated multi-pin locking devices. They allow a fine level Longitudinal adjustment. In the blocked position, a locking pin is in contact with one Catch web. Mostly a sloping flank of a locking pin is in contact with one Catch web. The sloping flanks are, for example frustoconical areas formed at the free end of the locking pins. A locking pin locks in a direction of displacement. Another locking pin locks in the other Shift direction.

Since generally only a locking pin for locking one Direction of movement is responsible, act on this a locking pin and on the corresponding locking bar, on which the locking pin rests, act on one the entire locking forces. Do this at high loads a deliberate bending of the locking pin, such as is known from the aforementioned DE 197 09 149 A. After one Bending a locking pin now changes the angle between it Barrier flank and the rest bridge. The angle gets bigger. Was he previously in Area of self-locking, it is now after bending outside of this Range. A force is exerted on the locking pin that pulls it up, So out of the lock, press. But it must be avoided that the locking pin comes free from the associated locking bar, otherwise the Lock would be released.

This is where the invention begins. It has set itself the task of Locking device of the type mentioned continue to go form that an accident-related pushing up the locking pins from a Locking position is counteracted.

Starting from the locking device of the type mentioned solved this problem in that at least one of the locking pins one Has groove area and that this groove area is close to a lower End of the associated pin hole is when the locking pin in one of the Locking openings is engaged.

At least one of the locking pins, preferably all locking pins, have one Groove area, which is also referred to as crash groove or corrugation. in the Several single grooves can be located in the area of this crash groove. Three to five individual grooves are preferably provided. In the groove area is the Indexing pin tapered, preferably slightly tapered, for example between 5 and 15%, preferably about 8% tapered. The crash groove also has free end of the locking pin preferably a sharp-edged Transition, in particular forms an edge or a stop surface there out.

Due to the corrugation with a single groove or several individual grooves an impulsive or slow-moving push up of the Locking pin effectively counteracted from its locking position. The Single groove or the multiple individual grooves offer hooking and Possibility of claws as soon as the locking pin is slightly bent due to an accident is. Preferably, several individual grooves are available, which with the Material of the guide part at the lower end of the pin hole can interact, blocking an upward movement of a locking pin becomes.

The corrugation also means a slight local weakening of the Locking pins so that they bend preferentially in the area of the corrugation. There but at the same time, the locking pins offer the greatest possibility of attack for a stop at the area around the lower end of the pin hole.

The reduction of the diameter of the locking pins in the area of the corrugation is chosen on the one hand so large that a sufficiently large stop surface is present and a good mechanical hooking is possible, on the other hand, not chosen so large that the locking pin is noticeably weakened and may break in the area of the corrugation due to an accident. He wishes is a targeted deformation in the area of the corrugation.

In a preferred development of the invention, the guide part has an after below, that is, the projection pointing towards the catch bar for each pin hole. The projections extend the respective pin hole. You are preferred annular. They result in a softer, more flexible management of the Locking pins as in the area of the pin hole of the guide part. they sit down less lateral bending than the guide part. The Protrusions can bend under an accident-related load. This improves the jamming of the corrugation.

In an improved embodiment of the invention it is proposed that To produce protrusions as passages. For this, the guide part First of all, a pilot hole was drilled for each pin hole, this pilot hole has a significantly smaller diameter than the finished pin hole, for example 60% of the diameter of the finished pin hole. Through a Stamp whose outer dimensions correspond to the pin hole Now the pilot hole is enlarged and a protrusion is formed. The Protrusions are integrally connected to the guide part. In a other design, it is possible to insert the projections separately Realize material, for example sliding sleeves.

It has proven to be particularly advantageous to have a bead in the catch bar to be provided, which is curved upwards towards the guide part. This will the catch bar is mechanically stiffened and the strength of a lock elevated. The bead can have any cross section, for example semicircular, triangular, or trapezoidal, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, three or four are approximately equally spaced Single grooves are provided side by side. The individual grooves preferably have a truncated cone-shaped groove bottom that extends to the free end the locking pin tapers. The locking pins advantageously have their free ends have a short cylindrical front end.

Finally, it turned out to be advantageous, namely the locking pins to be round, but to make the pin holes out of round. The latter especially in the area of the projections. With a defined load the material around the pin hole and especially the Deform protrusions plastically. This will make digging in better Edges of the single grooves in the protrusion reached.

Further advantages and features of the invention result from the others Claims and the following description of non-limiting to understand exemplary embodiments of the invention, which under Reference to the drawing will be explained in more detail below. In this Show drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective assembly diagram of a longitudinal guide with seat rail and bottom rail, which is assigned a locking unit with four locking pins and a guide part,

Fig. 2 is a rear view according to the arrow II in Fig. 1 in the manner shown in FIG. 1 arrangement, now in assembled and at the same time located in engagement condition,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 shows a detail image in view like Fig. 2 located an engaged accidentally bent locking pin for explaining the Verkrallungseffektes,

Fig. 5 is a side view corresponding to FIG. 2 of a further embodiment of a locking unit,

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment similar to Fig. 5 with three individual grooves, which together form the Chrashrille, to the locking pins,

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of a guide part with a non-circular pin bore and non-round contours in the region of the projections, the guide part is part of an L-shaped angle profile, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a locking pin with a square cross section and a notch bar.

The first exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4 is described below. The further exemplary embodiments are then described, but only insofar as they differ from the first exemplary embodiment.

Figs. 1 to 3 show, respectively, a pair of rails consisting of a seat rail 20 and a corresponding bottom rail 22. The rails can be displaced relative to one another by means of suitable sliding or rolling means, which are designed here as balls 24 (see FIG. 3). The seat rail 20 is assembled from two individual profiles, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 3. The two rails 20 , 22 define an elongated cavity 26 . The bottom rail 22 is formed on a lower leg as a detent strip 28 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the rail. This catch bar 28 has periodically arranged catch openings 30 , also called windows, and catch webs 32 . As particularly shown in FIGS . 2 and 3, the catch bar 28 is located in an upwardly curved bead 29 . The material of the lower flange of the bottom rail is bent upwards by approximately 1.5 to 2 mm at the apex of the bead 29 . The bead 29 has a width which corresponds approximately to the width of the catch bar 28 . The offset which the bead 29 forms can be seen in particular in FIG. 2. The detent strip 28 is stiffened by the bead 29 .

In the cavity 26 there is an L-shaped angle profile 34 , which is fastened with a vertical L-leg to the inner surface of a vertical flange of the seat rail 20 . A free leg of this angle profile 34 forms a guide part 36 . Four pin bores 38 are provided in it. Each pin bore 38 receives a locking pin 40 which is rotationally symmetrical in the exemplary embodiment shown. The locking pins 40 are identical to one another. Out of round pens are possible, e.g. B. square locking pins in cross section. In the case of non-round pins, it is not necessary to form a circumferential groove. A notch on the side surface, which is at the front in the longitudinal direction of the seat rail 20 , is sufficient, see FIG. 8.

The locking pins are individually biased into a locking position by a spring 42 , and they can be pulled together into the release position by a release part 44 . There is no need to go into this in detail, reference is made to EP 498 932 B already mentioned.

As the figures show, the locking pins 40 are somewhat longer than the height of the cavity 46 . With their upper actuation area, they always remain outside the seat rail 20 and engage in a locking opening 30 with their free end in the locked state.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the lower, free end of the locking pins 40 is formed by a frustoconical region 46 . It merges into a cylindrical region 48 at its upper end. However, this is interrupted just above its beginning by a groove area 50 , also called a crash groove, corrugation. There, the cylindrical area 48 is tapered by a plurality of spaced-apart individual grooves 56 . In particular, each individual groove 56 has a sharp-edged transition to the undisturbed, cylindrical region 48 at its lower end, which is closer to the catch bar 28 than its other end. This is also clear from the other exemplary embodiments.

The locking pins 40 are also guided in an upper leg of the seat rail 20 in holes 52 . These are at a distance from the guide part 36 , which is significantly larger than half the length of the locking pins. Overall, the locking pins 40 are effectively supported over a large distance, that is to say a large lever arm.

Below each pin bore is a protrusion 54 that continues the pin bore downward. It is preferably designed as a passage, which will be discussed later, but can in principle be implemented in any manner. It is connected in one piece to the rest of the guide part 36 and molded from the material thereof. It has a length in the axial direction which makes up about 60% of the material thickness of the guide part 36 . In the radial direction, the annular projections 54 are relatively thin, their material thickness is 1 to 3 mm. Preferably, the protrusions 54 have a sharp edge at their lower free end. Preferably, the protrusions 54 are hardened, e.g. B. case hardened.

If the projections 54 are produced in a preferred embodiment as passages, the procedure is as follows: First, 38 pilot holes are made at the location of the later pin bores, which, for. B. have about 60% of the diameter of the later pin bores 38 . Then a tool, in particular a pin, is driven through this pilot hole, which expands the pilot hole to the size of the pin hole 38 and forms the projection 54 including the part of the pin hole 38 elongated by it.

For the claw according to the invention, that part of the projection which is viewed from the center of a pin bore 38 in the longitudinal direction of the rails 20 , 22 is essentially required. In the transverse direction, the projection can be flatter or can be omitted entirely.

As particularly shown in FIGS . 2 to 4, the groove area 50 for those locking pins that are in engagement is near and preferably slightly below the lower end of the pin bore 38 . It is located in the vicinity of the associated projection 54 and in the region of this projection. It is thereby achieved that when the locking pin 40 is pushed up due to an accident and additional bending (see FIG. 4), a lower edge of a single groove 56 comes into contact with the edge of the projection 54 which is adjacent in the bending direction. This makes it possible to get caught in the accident state. The lower limit of each individual groove 56 is preferably angular or extends approximately at right angles to the pin axis. This creates the largest possible abutment surface, which prevents the locking pin 40 from snapping up.

The projections 54 are located on the lower surface of the guide part 36 and in the vicinity of the latching web 32 . The distance between the guide web 36 and the locking web 32 is somewhat smaller than the axial length of the frustoconical region 46 .

The guide part 36 is made of steel with a yield strength of approximately 260 N / mm ² . The locking pins 40 are also made of steel, but with a significantly higher yield strength, for example 600 N / mm ² . The material thickness of the guide part 36 is approximately 3.5 mm. The projections protrude approximately 2 mm downwards and have a wall thickness of approximately 1.5 mm. The protrusions 54 make the pin guide softer and longer. The locking pins 40 have a diameter in their cylindrical region 48 of approximately 7.5 mm. The pin bore 38 is a hole with an inner diameter of approximately 7.8 mm. The rails 20 , 22 are made of a very hard steel, which has an even higher yield strength than the material of the locking pins 40 . In the area of the crash groove 50 , the diameter of the locking pins tapers to approximately 6.9 mm. The axial length of the groove area 50 is somewhat smaller than the axial length of the complete pin bore 38 , that is to say in the guide part 36 and the projection 54 . It can also be greater than the axial length of the pin bore 38 .

In the embodiment according to FIG. 5, each of the two individual grooves 56 is designed such that its bottom tapers in the shape of a truncated cone from above towards the free end of the locking pin. This results in a sharp edge at the lower end area. In Fig. 5 the rightmost locking pin 40 is fully engaged, it can not reach deeper. It can be seen that the lower edge of the projection 54 is on the one hand at the same height as the groove area 50 , but a few mm above the lower, sharp-edged edge of the lower individual groove 56 . The two middle locking pins 40 are disengaged, the groove area 50 is located almost completely above the guide part 36 . The leftmost locking pin 40 is engaged but not fully extended so that any play can still be compensated. The lower edge of the groove area 50 is located approximately at the same height, even slightly above the lower edge of the projection 54 . Even in this state, due to the point contact between the lower edge of the groove area 50 and the projection 54, sufficient hooking can be achieved in the event of an accident-related bending.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment similar to FIG. 5, but the groove area 50 is now formed by an arrangement of three individual grooves 56 and the projection is omitted. The locking pin 40 again has the diameter of the cylindrical region 48 between the individual grooves 56 . This improves the guidance of the locking pin 40 in the pin bore 38 . The axial length of this intermediate area corresponds approximately to the axial length of the individual grooves 56 . The plurality of individual grooves 56 makes a larger selection of lower groove edges available, which can interact with the lower edge of the guide part 36 . The three individual grooves 56 extend over 50-90%, in particular 70%, of the maximum stroke that the locking pins 40 can carry out. The length of the maximum stroke also essentially corresponds to the axial length of the frustoconical region 46 .

The individual grooves 56 have an axial dimension of z. B. 2 to 4 mm. An undisturbed area with a full cross section of approximately 0.1 to 3 mm axial dimension remains between two individual grooves.

In FIG. 6, an embodiment is shown for an angle section 34, there are the pin holes 38 of round. The locking pins 40, however, are round. Specifically, the cross sections of the pin bore 38 in FIG. 7 are approximately pillow-shaped, they come close to a square with rounded corners. On the one hand, this leaves sufficient guiding space. On the other hand, there is the possibility that plastic deformation can take place in the area around the pin bore 38 . This plastic deformation occurs under a defined load, such as occurs as a result of an accident. A better digging of the groove edges is made possible.

Fig. 8 finally shows a non-circular locking pin 40 , in the embodiment it is square in cross section. Because of the non-circular cross-sectional shape, the locking pin 40 has a predetermined orientation. It tapers at the lower free end to a front end 60 . It has a groove 50 on only one of its four side surfaces, the other side surfaces are free of grooves. The groove is in the direction of travel for a passenger seated in the direction of travel. It is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the rails and points forward in the longitudinal direction of the rails. For rear impact, a groove can also be provided on the opposite side surface.

Claims (9)

1. Locking device of a longitudinal adjustment device of a motor vehicle seat, with a) a catch bar ( 28 ), which has periodically arranged latching openings ( 30 ) and latching webs ( 32 ) and is assigned to a bottom rail ( 22 ) of the longitudinal adjusting device, and b) a locking unit, which is a seat rail ( 20 ) is assigned to the longitudinal adjustment device and has at least two locking pins ( 40 ) which can be locked and locked together independently in locking openings ( 30 ) and which are arranged in a guide part ( 36 ) which has a pin bore ( 38 ) for each locking pin ( 40 ) ), characterized in that at least one of the locking pins ( 40 ) has a groove area ( 50 ) and that this groove area ( 50 ) is located near a lower end of the associated pin hole ( 38 ) when the locking pin ( 40 ) in one of the Locking openings ( 30 ) is engaged. 2. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the groove region ( 50 ) has at least one individual groove ( 56 ), preferably a plurality of individual grooves ( 56 ). 3. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the groove region ( 50 ) has at least one edge at the free end of the locking pin ( 40 ) closer groove edge. 4. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking pins ( 40 ) have a free end and an actuating end, that the guide part ( 36 ) is arranged near the free end as the actuating end and that a guide plate is provided, the guide openings for the locking pins ( 40 ) and is near the actuating end of the locking pins ( 40 ). 5. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking pin ( 40 ) in the vicinity of its free end has a frustoconical region ( 46 ), that a longer, cylindrical region ( 48 ) adjoins this frustoconical region ( 46 ) and that the groove area ( 50 ) is located within this cylindrical area ( 48 ) but in the immediate vicinity of the frustoconical area ( 46 ). 6. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that a bead is formed in the catch bar ( 28 ), in which the material of the catch bar ( 28 ) is formed upwards towards the guide part ( 36 ), in particular by about 1.5 to 2 mm is offset upwards. 7. Locking device according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide part ( 36 ) has a surface facing the catch bar ( 28 ), that projections ( 54 ) are arranged on this surface and project to the catch bar ( 28 ), and that these projections ( 54 ) are concentric with the pin bores ( 38 ) and extend them. 8. Locking device according to claim 7, characterized in that the projections ( 54 ) are made as passages. 9. Locking device according to claim 7, characterized in that the guide part ( 36 ) has a material thickness of two to five mm, preferably three to four mm and is made of steel, that the locking pins ( 40 ) are also made of steel and that the material of the guide part ( 36 ) has a smaller yield strength than the material of the pins ( 40 ), in particular an approximately half as large plug-in limit as the material of the pin ( 40 ).