Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60N—SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60N2/00—Seats specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement or mounting of seats in vehicles
  • B60N2/80—Head-rests
  • B60N2/888—Head-rests with arrangements for protecting against abnormal g-forces, e.g. by displacement of the head-rest
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60N—SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60N2/00—Seats specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement or mounting of seats in vehicles
  • B60N2/80—Head-rests
  • B60N2/891—Head-rests with the head-rest being comma-shaped in side view

Definitions

• Head rest device for motor vehicles .
• the present invention relates to a device in head rests for motor vehicles, according to the preamble of appended claim 1.
• Head rests in motor vehicles are usually attached to the seat of a vehicle so that they are vertically adjustable. There are several reasons for the possibility of adjustment.
• the head rest can, for example, be adjustable between a raised use position, and a lowered stowed away position which affords better visibility rearwards.
• the primary function of head rests is to afford protection in the case of collisions so that the driver or the passenger is protected against for example whip-lash injuries.
• the adjustment can either be manual or, in certain vehicles, and especially for the rear seat, there can be a need for a remotely controllable adjustment for at least one of the adjustment movements.
• the purpose of the present invention is to obtain, with relatively simple means, a head rest which can be remotely activated with simple means without the need of costly drive means.
• Fig. 1 shows a head rest from the side
• Fig. 2 shows the head rest in perspective, equipped with a device according to the invention
• Fig. 3 shows an exploded view of the device in a head rest according to the invention, with the head rest in an upper position
• Fig. 4 shows the device activated, with the head rest adjusted to an upper position
• Fig. 5 shows the device in a position affected by g-forces.
• the head rest consists of an upholstered head cushion 1 which is arranged on a guide device 2 in the shape of two poles 3, 4 which protrude downwards into a holder 5 which is fixedly attached to the frame of the back of the seat 6, or to a fixed part of the vehicle in connection to the upper part of the back of the seat.
• a solid line the head rest is positioned in an upper use position, while the dotted line of Fig. 1 shows the head rest in a lower stowed away position.
• the adjustment between the two positions can take place due to the fact that the guiding poles 3, 4 are arranged to run through fixed guide poles 6, 7 in the holder 5.
• the holder is designed as a casing of, for example, metal.
• the adjustment force in one of the directions, the direction of the lower stowed away position is accomplished by means of a retracting spring 8 which extends around one of the poles 3, and which in the example shown is a pressure spring attached between an attachment console 9 or a downwards facing surface of the holder 5 and a stop organ 10 at the lower end of one of the pipes 3.
• the stop organ can simply be a through-going support pin in the tube, or a fixed support plate.
• a locking mechanism 11 which is adjustable between a locking position shown in Fig. 3, in which the head rest thus is in its upper use position, and a release position shown in Fig. 4, in which the head rest is allowed to, by means of the retracting spring 8, be adjusted to its lower stowed away position.
• a remotely controllable activation mechanism 12 which in the example shown comprises a solenoid 13 which forms a linear activation organ or power supply organ with a linearly adjustable outward axis 14 which is coupled to the locking mechanism.
• the locking mechanism 11 consists of a locking part 15, which directly interacts with the moving part of the guide device, i.e. one of the pipes 3 and a holding catch 16 which is adjustable between a retaining position for the locking part 15, and a position which releases it.
• the locking catch 16 consists of a pivotable holding arm 18, which pivots about a pivot pin 17, the holding arm being coupled to the outgoing axis 14 of the activation organ 13. This coupling is chosen so that the outgoing axis is arranged with a play in the holding arm 18, which causes the activation organ to obtain kinetic energy before it is engaged by the load of the holding catch 18. This means that the activation organ 13 can be dimensioned for smaller forces or energy.
• the coupling allows flexibility between the holding arm 18 and the axis 14. These two functions are maintained by both the holding arm 18 and the axis 14 exhibiting two changing organs 36, 37, 38, 39 in which the one pair of changing organs 36, 37 exhibit a space between them which exceeds the distance between the changing organs 38, 39 in the other pair, i.e. those which belong to the axis.
• the changing organs 36-39 are arranged as stop surfaces in the form of a recess 40 in the holding arm 18.
• an abutment 41 of the axis 14 protrudes into the recess, while the rest of the axis is arranged so that it does not have any contact with the holding arm 18, for example it passes through a fork in it or extends at the side of the arm.
• the recess 40 forms said play by being wider in the longitudinal direction of the axis than the thickness of the abutment 41 in the same direction, for example exceeding twice the thickness.
• the force absorbing locking part 15 consists of a locking arm 19 which is pivotably fixed about an axis 20, and exhibits a locking catch 21 which has a relatively short torque arm, i.e. it is attached at a relatively short distance from its axis 20.
• the locking catch is arranged to, in the locking position, i.e. in the raised or use position of the head rest, engage into a locking recess 22 of the moving part of the head rest, i.e. in the example shown the one pipe 3.
• the locking arm 19 of the force-absorbing locking part 15 is a two-armed lever with a lock arm part 23 which has a locking catch 24 arranged to cooperate with a holding catch 25 on the holding arm 18.
• the activation organ 13 aside from a fixed part also has a linearly moving part 26 which can move back and forth, on which the outgoing axis 14 is attached.
• the moving part is usually a core with a mass which is biased by means of a not shown coil with a relatively small coil force, which strives to keep the solenoid 13 and thereby the holding catch 16 in the locking position, as shown in Fig. 3.
• the coil force is overcome by the activation organs own driving force.
• a magnetic field is formed by means of applying a voltage to a fixed coil in the solenoid which creates a traction force on the core.
• a reset organ 30 in the shape of an abutment or a finger from the holding arm 18. The abutment 30 simply moves the locking element 28 to the original position when the locking catch 16 again resumes the locking function due to the g-forces being reduced to a certain value.
• the locking part 15 is continually biased with a small coil force by means of a coil 31 which strives to rotate the locking part 15 clockwise, i.e. towards its locking position when it has been adjusted to the release position.
• Both the locking mechanism 11 and the activation mechanism 12 are built into a module or cassette 32 which can be arranged in the holder 5 by means of a simple movement.
• the cassette can be designed as an essentially closed box, or at least exhibit a wall 33 with support surfaces, so that the cassette is maintained sideways, i.e. against movements perpendicular to the plane of the paper as seen in Fig. 1.
• the cassette is maintained in the plane of the paper by means of a spring mechanism 34, which strives to hold the cassette in the direction of the locking recess 22. This ensures that there is no play between the locking catch 21 and the locking recess, i.e. the arrangement is "tolerance absorbing".
• a certain movability can also be allowed around the one corner 44 of the cassette which is rounded and forms a pivot point in the holder for minor movements during the adjustment movement of the locking mechanism 11.
• the corner 44 in the example shown is shaped as a cylindrical casing surface 35 which can be rotated towards fixed contacting surfaces 42, 43 in the holder 5.
• the contacting surfaces 42, 43 are in the example shown plane, but could for example be a concave cylindrical storage surface for the comer 44.
• a current circuit is closed, i.e. an electrical voltage is applied to the solenoid 13. This is done by, for example, the driver activating a switch from an opened to a closed position on the dashboard. This causes the retraction of the moving part 26 of the solenoid and the corresponding axis 14.
• a play is obtained due to the fact that the two contact surfaces 38, 39 of the axis 14 change between contact against the two contact surfaces 36, 37 on the holding arm 18. Since the contact surfaces 36, 37 of the holding arm 18 exhibit a larger distance between them than the contact surfaces 38, 39 of the axis 14, said play is obtained.
• the moving part of the solenoid thus obtains a starting distance or acceleration distance with a minimal initial resistance, which necessitates a lower manoeuvring force than in the case of a direct coupling without a play.
• the holding arm 18 is adjusted, i.e. brought along by the axis and rotated clockwise about its pivoting pin 17, causing the holding arm 18 to activate the locking part 15, i.e. to release the locking arm part 23 by moving the holding catch 23 away from the locking catch 24, which means that the locking arm part is rotated about its axis 20 counterclockwise under the influence of the spring force from the spring mechanism 8.
• This thus causes the holding catch 21 to be moved out of the holding recess 22, and the head rest moves from its use position, which can be seen as a first position, to its stowed away position, which can be seen as a second position, see Fig. 4.
• the invention is not limited to the example of an embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. It is for example possible to let the spring mechanism 8 work reversely, and strive to adjust the head rest to an upper position, in which case the locking mechanism is rotated so that it locks in the lower position.
• the pivot point 44 of the cassette is formed by means of an abutment which alternatively can be arranged some distance away from the corner of one of the sides of the cassette, preferably the side facing the locking recess 22, and oriented towards the middle of the side. In so doing, a torque on the cassette caused by g-forces will be avoided.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Fittings On The Vehicle Exterior For Carrying Loads, And Devices For Holding Or Mounting Articles (AREA)
• Automotive Seat Belt Assembly (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20279674

Family Applications (1)

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Family Cites Families (3)

• 2000
  • 2000-05-16 SE SE0001789A patent/SE519101C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2001
  • 2001-05-15 AU AU2001258984A patent/AU2001258984A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-05-15 EP EP01932461A patent/EP1284885A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-05-15 WO PCT/SE2001/001060 patent/WO2001087666A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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