FR3057506A1 - FIXING PIECE FOR VEHICLE - Google Patents

Abstract

A fastener arranged to be mounted in an opening (12) of a wall (10) of a vehicle seat frame, said fastener comprising: - a body (31) arranged to receive a locking member (40) ) and - holding means (34, 35a) for holding the body (31) on the wall (10), the holding means (34, 35a) comprising at least one articulated portion (34), characterized in that said at least one articulated portion (34) is arranged such that when the fastener is mounted in the opening (12) of the wall (10) and the locking member (40) is received in said body ( 31), said at least one articulated portion (34) is locked by said locking member (40) in a position in abutment on said wall (10).

Description

Holder (s): PEUGEOT CITROEN AUTOMOBILES SA Société anonyme.

Extension request (s)

Agent (s): PEUGEOT CITROEN AUTOMOBILES SA Public limited company.

FR 3 057 506 - A1 (64) FIXING PART FOR VEHICLE.

©) Attachment piece arranged to be mounted in an opening (12) of a wall (10) of a vehicle seat frame, said attachment piece comprising:

- a body (31) arranged to receive a locking element (40) and

- holding means (34, 35a) for holding the body (31) on the wall (10), the holding means (34, 35a) comprising at least one articulated portion (34), characterized in that said at least an articulated portion (34) is arranged so that, when the fixing piece is mounted in the opening (12) of the wall (10) and the locking element (40) is received in said body (31) , said at least one articulated portion (34) is locked by said locking element (40) in a position in abutment on said wall (10).

Fastener for vehicle The present invention relates generally to a fastener arranged to be mounted in a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fixing part arranged to be mounted in an opening in a wall of a vehicle seat frame and forming part of a casing masking a child seat fixing hook.

It is known in the prior art fasteners for assembling elements to thin walls such as vehicle sheets. Document KR101616976 thus describes a fixing piece comprising a cylindrical portion intended to receive a seat element and a clip-on part intended to be received in a seat frame.

In return, this device has the particular disadvantage of having an extremely small contact surface with the seat frame, which can result in significant forces applied to the seat frame and therefore in a deterioration of this frame, generally made of a thin sheet. In addition, this type of device has a limited resistance to tearing and is therefore not suitable for cabin elements subjected to constraints of use throughout the life of the vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to respond to the drawbacks of the document of the prior art mentioned above and in particular to propose a fixing piece suitable for being mounted on a thin wall and benefiting from a resistance to l important pullout.

For this, a first aspect of the invention relates to a fixing part arranged to be mounted in an opening in a wall of a vehicle seat frame, said fixing part comprising:

- a body arranged to receive a locking element, and

- holding means for holding the body on the wall, the holding means comprising at least one articulated portion, characterized in that said at least one articulated portion is arranged so that, when the fixing piece is mounted in the opening of the wall and the locking element is received in said body, said at least one articulated portion is locked by said locking element in a position in abutment on said wall.

Such a fastener does not include clipping means and can therefore be easily mounted on a thin wall without risk of deforming it. In addition, the contact surface between the fastening part and the thin wall is high, which makes it possible to obtain a high tearing force while having low contact pressures. Any concentration of stress is thus avoided.

Advantageously, said articulated portion comprises a locking face arranged so that, when the fixing piece is mounted in the opening of the wall and the locking element is received in said body, the locking element is pressed against the locking face. Such a position is stable and allows optimal locking of the articulated portion on the wall of the seat frame.

Advantageously, said at least one articulated portion and said body are made of polymeric materials and said at least one articulated portion is articulated by a segment of thin polymeric material, such as a film. This allows the fastener to be made in one piece for a low cost, for example by molding.

Especially advantageously, said body is arranged to bear on a first face of the wall and said articulated portion is arranged to bear on a second face of the wall opposite to said first face. Thus, the wall is sandwiched between the body and the articulated portion, which guarantees a solid fixing of the fixing piece to said wall.

Advantageously, said body is part of a casing arranged to frame a cavity in said wall. Said body then constitutes a cabin element capable of providing a feeling of comfort and security to the occupants.

Advantageously, said casing further comprises a hinged cover capable of closing access to said cavity. The cavity can be a storage space or even shelter a security element. The fixing part thus makes it possible to hide the cavity from the view of the occupants of the vehicle, thus accentuating the feeling of comfort and security.

A second aspect of the invention is a fixing module comprising a fixing piece according to the first aspect of the invention, characterized in that it comprises a locking element chosen from a hook, a press button or a magnet. Thus, the locking element serves both to lock the articulated portion on the wall, but can also be used to fix or attach another element to the body of the fixing piece and therefore to the wall of the seat frame.

Advantageously, the locking element is a magnet and said fixing module is provided with an articulated cover comprising a metal surface arranged so as to be placed opposite said locking element when said cover is in a position of closing. The locking element then also serves to temporarily lock the cover to the body so as to avoid any vibration or inadvertent opening.

A third aspect of the invention is a vehicle seat comprising a wall provided with an opening as well as a fixing module according to the second aspect of the invention, characterized in that said wall comprises a cavity provided with '' a hook arranged to attach a baby seat.

A last aspect of the invention is a vehicle comprising at least one fixing part, a fixing module or a seat according to one of the preceding aspects of the invention.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly on reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the drawings annexed, in which:

FIG. 1 represents a sectional view of a fastener according to the present invention locked to a wall of a vehicle seat frame, FIGS. 2A to 2C represent the different stages of locking a fastener according to Figure 1 to a wall of a vehicle seat frame.

The present invention relates generally to a fastener adapted to be mounted in an opening of a seat frame. This fixing part can thus be used to fix seat elements or any other element to such a frame. In addition, the fastener can be integrated into a passenger compartment element such as a safety hook housing, as described below.

Thus, Figure 1 shows a wall 10 of a seat frame comprising a first face 10a oriented towards the passenger compartment of the vehicle and a second face 10b oriented towards the inside of the seat. The wall 10 further forms a cavity 11 in which a safety hook 20 is provided. This safety hook 20 serves for example as a third anchor point for attaching a baby seat to a vehicle seat, for example in addition to the ISOFIX or LATCH type fasteners. This hook can also serve as an anchoring point for hanging luggage or a bulky load in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.

For aesthetic reasons, but also safety, the cavity 11 and the hook 20 are hidden from the view of the vehicle occupants by a housing 30 comprising a body 31 and a cover 32 hinged by a hinge 33. A portion of the body 31, encircled in FIG. 1, acts as a fixing part and is received in an opening 12 in the wall 10 of

-5 so as to keep the casing 30 fixed on the first face 10a of the wall 10. This fixing part comprises holding means and accommodates a locking element 40 as detailed below with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C. The hook 20 is passed through the bottom wall of the body cavity 31 which is perforated for this purpose. It is understood that the casing 30 is also fixed by other points on the wall 10 (not shown in the figures).

The wall 10 is made of a thin sheet of steel, for example 0.4 mm, and the hook 20 is for example of steel wire. In contrast, the casing 30 is made of rigid polymer, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

Figures 2A to 2C thus detail the steps allowing the holding means to maintain the housing 30 on the wall 10. For reasons of clarity, the cover 32 has been omitted from Figures 2A to 2C. Thus, in a first step shown in FIG. 2A, the body 31 includes a through opening 37 provided with a shoulder 37a and a base 35 provided with a groove 35a. Opposite the base 35, the casing 30 is provided with an articulated portion 34 which is articulated to the body 31 by a segment 36 of thin material. In FIG. 2A, the body 31 is arranged on the first face 10a of the wall 10 so that an edge of the wall 10 is received in the groove 35a which applies a slight pinching force to the wall 10. The casing 30 is thus held on the wall 10 without being still locked there and the articulated portion 34 is then partially received in the opening 12 of the wall 10.

Thus, the base 35 can easily accommodate an edge of the wall 10 without risk of deformation of the wall 10 of small thickness, since the groove 35a applies only a limited gripping force without applying a deforming force on the edge of the wall. In fact, the only element opposite is the articulated portion 34 which does not yet contact the opposite face of the wall and only a minimal force is applied to the wall 10 when the casing 30 is put in place.

In a second step, shown in Figure 2B, the locking member 40 is introduced into the opening 37 from the first face 10a, as shown by the vertical arrow in Figure 2B. This locking element 40, which comprises a flange 40a, then comes into contact with a locking face 34a of the articulated portion 34 which is then driven in a rotational movement around the segment 36 which acts as a hinge, as shown by a semi-circular arrow in FIG. 2B. The articulated portion therefore gradually approaches the second face 10b of the wall 10 by rotation.

At the end of the insertion of the locking element 40 into the opening 37, as shown in FIG. 2C, the locking element 40 is completely introduced into the opening 37 and the flange 40a then comes in contact with the shoulder 37a. In addition, the locking element 40 is then completely in contact or in support with the locking face 34a of the articulated portion 34 which is thus locked in a position in abutment against the second face 10b of the wall 10. The wall 10 is then sandwiched between the body 31 on the first face 10a and the articulated portion 34 on the second face 10b. In addition, the locking element 40 is also in abutment against the base 35 and the wall 10 cannot escape from the groove 35a. Therefore, the housing 30 is locked to the wall 10 and the cavity 11 is framed by the body 31 and closed by the cover 32 (see Figure 1). In addition, the contact surface between the wall 10 and the holding means comprising the articulated portion 34 and the groove 35a is high and the fixing of the casing 30 by the holding means has a high resistance to tearing.

In addition, again with reference to Figure 1, the locking element 40 is formed of a magnet so as to be able to cooperate with a metal portion 32a of the cover 32. Thus, the locking element 40 is used both to lock the holding means comprising the articulated portion 34 and the groove 35a on the second face 10b of the wall 10, but also to produce a reversible locking of the cover 32 in a closed position of the cavity 11 and the casing 30. In this way, the cover 32 is not subjected to vibrations or untimely openings when the vehicle is in motion. Finally, the locking element is provided with interlocking or clipping means (not shown) so as to remain locked in the opening 37 and not to be driven by the cover 32 during the transition to a position of opening.

It will be understood that various modifications and / or improvements obvious to those skilled in the art can be made to the various embodiments of the invention described in the present description without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims. In particular, reference is made to the body 31 which is not limited to a casing element, but can take any necessary form. For example, the body 31 may include fastening elements so as to fix a seat element to the wall 10. In addition, the locking element 40 is not limited to a magnet, but can consist of a single piece of rigid material and / or comprise an upper surface, accessible from the side of the first face of the wall, provided with a hook or a snap button so as to temporarily lock the cover 32 on the body 31 and alternatively to serve as an additional attachment point in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Finally, the opening 37 and the locking element 40 can adopt any desired corresponding geometry.

Claims (10)

1. Fastening part arranged to be mounted in an opening (12) of a wall (10) of a vehicle seat frame, said fastening part comprising: - a body (31) arranged to receive a locking element (40) and - holding means (34, 35a) for holding the body (31) on the wall (10), the holding means (34, 35a) comprising at least one articulated portion (34), characterized in that said at least an articulated portion (34) is arranged so that, when the fixing piece is mounted in the opening (12) of the wall (10) and the locking element (40) is received in said body (31) , said at least one articulated portion (34) is locked by said locking element (40) in a position in abutment on said wall (10). 2. Fastener according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said articulated portion (34) comprises a locking face (34a) arranged so that, when the fastener is mounted in the opening (12) of the wall (10) and the locking element (40) is received in said body (31), the locking element (40) bears against the locking face (34a). 3. Fastening piece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said at least one articulated portion (34) and said body (31) are made of polymeric materials and in that said at least one articulated portion (34) is articulated by a segment (36) of thin polymeric material, such as a film. 4. Fastening piece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (31) is arranged to bear on a first face (10a) of the wall (10) and in that said portion -9 articulated (34) is arranged to bear on a second face (10b) of the wall (10) opposite to said first face (10a). 5. Fastening piece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (31) is part of a housing (30) 5 arranged to frame a cavity (11) in said wall (10). 6. Fastener according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said casing (30) further comprises a hinged cover (32) capable of closing access to said cavity (11). 7. Fastening module comprising a fastening part according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a locking element (40) chosen from a hook, a snap button or a magnet. 8. Fastening module according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the locking element (40) is a magnet and in that That said fixing module is provided with a hinged cover (32) comprising a metal surface (32a) arranged so as to be placed opposite said locking element (40) when said cover (32) is in a position of closing. 9. Vehicle seat comprising a wall (10) provided with a 20 opening (12) and a fixing module according to any one of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that said wall (10) comprises a cavity (11) provided with a hook (20) arranged to attach a baby seat. 10. Vehicle comprising at least one fixing part, a fixing module or a seat according to any one of claims 25 previous. 1/2