FR3061457A1 - SEAT BACK FOLDING COMPRISING A LOWER PART AND A UPPER MOBILE RIDING PART ON THIS LOWER PART. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a backrest frame for a vehicle seat comprising a lower part and an upper part (40) movably mounted on said lower part by means of a hinge mechanism (50) allowing the lateral displacement of said part. upper (40) in a forward curved path; said hinge mechanism (50) having a vertical shaft (52) attached to said upper portion (40) and slidably mounted along a groove (53) in a guide slider (54) attached to said lower portion , and a rod (57) having an articulated end pivoted about a vertical axis coupled to said lower portion and the other end of which carries a vertical rod (56) received in a bearing (55) fixed to said portion upper (40). The invention also relates to a seat structure comprising such a backrest frame.

Description

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

O Extension request (s):

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

® SEAT BACK REINFORCEMENT COMPRISING A LOWER PART AND AN UPPER PART MOBILE MOUNTED ON THIS LOWER PART.

FR 3,061,457 - A1 (57) The invention relates to a backrest frame for a vehicle seat comprising a lower part and an upper part (40) movably mounted on said lower part by means of an articulation mechanism ( 50) allowing the lateral displacement of said upper part (40) along a curved trajectory oriented towards the front; said articulation mechanism (50) comprising a vertical shaft (52) fixed to said upper part (40) and mounted to slide along a groove (53) formed in a guide slide (54) fixed to said lower part , as well as a link (57) having one hinged end pivoting about a vertical axis coupled to said lower part and the other end of which carries a vertical rod (56) received in a bearing (55) fixed to said part upper (40).

The invention also relates to a seat structure comprising such a back frame.

SEAT BACK REINFORCEMENT COMPRISING A LOWER PART AND AN UPPER PART MOBILE MOUNTED ON THIS LOWER PART.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of seats for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. It relates in particular to a seat back frame comprising a lower part and an upper part movably mounted on this lower part.

Invention background

Driving assistance systems for motor vehicles have undergone considerable development in recent years.

Now, some of them are able, under certain traffic conditions (for example in the event of fluid traffic on roads with separate roads) to manage the driving of the vehicle completely autonomously, so that the driver can let go of the steering wheel and the pedals to go about other activities.

The latter can for example take advantage of this fully automated driving phase to initiate a conversation with the person seated in the front passenger seat.

In order to be able to maintain the gaze of their respective interlocutor and thus ensure a better quality of exchange, the two front passengers then tend, without even being aware of it, to adopt a particular posture in which the upper part of their body is turned to the side internal so that it is no longer properly maintained by the back of their seat.

Maintaining such a posture for an extended period is particularly uncomfortable and can also lead to musculoskeletal disorders in the back and neck.

In the cabins of certain types of agricultural vehicle, it is known to provide a driver's seat mounted to pivot about a vertical axis of rotation so as to allow this driver to better understand the external environment.

The installation of such swivel seats in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle is however not possible due to lack of space and for obvious safety reasons (the steering wheel and pedals are no longer accessible in the turned seat configuration. ).

Also known from German patent application DE 10 2013 110 416, a back frame for a motor vehicle seat comprising a lower part as well as an upper part movably mounted on this lower part by means of a mechanism articulation allowing lateral movement of said upper part along a curved trajectory oriented towards the front.

The articulation mechanism comprises two curved tubular metal guides fixed to the upper part and along which is slidably mounted a metal follower fixed to the lower part.

The two guides arranged one above the other are further apart according to an axial offset which increases along the path from their first ends towards their second ends, so as to also cause the rotation of the upper part of the backrest around a substantially horizontal axis during its lateral displacement.

In use, this back frame turns noisy due to the friction generated between the follower and the two metal guides during the sliding movement of the upper part of the back frame.

This mechanism also being difficult to motorize, the use of such a backrest frame cannot be envisaged in seats intended to be installed in high-end vehicles.

Subject and summary of the invention

The present invention therefore aims to overcome these drawbacks.

To this end, it provides a backrest frame for a vehicle seat comprising a lower part and an upper part mounted movably on said lower part by means of an articulation mechanism allowing lateral movement of said upper part along a curved path. ;

characterized in that said articulation mechanism comprises a vertical shaft fixed to said upper part and mounted to slide along a groove formed in a guide slide fixed to said lower part, as well as a link having an end articulated to pivoting about a vertical axis coupled to said upper part and the other end of which carries a vertical rod received in a bearing fixed to said upper part.

The articulation mechanism of the back frame according to the invention makes it possible to limit the friction between the various elements of this mechanism during the operations of lateral displacement of its upper part with respect to its lower part, so that the noise generated is significantly reduced.

This mechanism also has the advantage of being easily motorizable by a rotary motorization device coupled to the link.

According to preferred characteristics of the said back frame, taken alone or in combination:

- Said groove extends in an essentially transverse direction tilting backwards from its internal end in the direction of its external end;

the degree of inclination towards the rear of said groove is between 5 and 30 °;

- Said articulation mechanism comprises a motorized device capable of driving said rod in rotation about said vertical axis so as to cause lateral movement of said upper part;

- Said motorized device comprises an electric motor connected by a cable with a square section to a reduction gear cooperating with said link;

- Said shaft and said bearing are formed at the two lateral ends of a plate fixed on said upper part;

- Said upper part comprises a central sheet plate provided with two lateral flanges, as well as two lateral ears extending on both sides of said plate and being each constituted by a single curved metal wire whose two ends are welded to a said flange corresponding side;

- It further includes a headrest mounted to slide vertically on said upper part; and or

- Said headrest is provided with two parallel vertical rods received slidingly in two metal guide tubes welded to the front face of said central plate.

The invention also relates in a second aspect to a seat structure comprising a seat frame and such a back frame.

Brief description of the drawings

The description of the invention will now be continued with the detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given below by way of illustration but not limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a partial perspective view of a motor vehicle seat structure according to the invention;

- Figures 2 and 3 show partial perspective views, respectively of three quarter front and three quarter rear, of the back frame of the seat structure of Figure 1 in the driving configuration in which the upper part is centered on the median vertical axis of the lower part 30;

- Figures 4 and 5 show partial perspective views, respectively of three quarter front and three quarter rear, of the back frame of the seat structure of Figure 1 in an intermediate configuration in which the upper part is offset laterally with respect to the lower part;

- Figures 6 and 7 show partial perspective views, respectively of three quarter front and three quarter rear, of the back frame of the seat structure of Figure 1 in conversation configuration in which the upper part is offset laterally at most with respect to the lower part; and

- Figure 8 is a top view of the back frame of the seat structure of Figure 1 in conversation configuration.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

In the remainder of this description and by convention, the terms “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “longitudinal” and “transverse” are defined relative to the mounting position of a seat of a motor vehicle in the passenger compartment of this vehicle.

The vehicle seat structure 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a seat frame 10 slidably mounted on the floor of a motor vehicle by means of a pair of runners 11, and a back frame 20 articulated at pivoting on this seat frame 10 along a transverse axis.

The backrest frame 20 comprises a lower part 30 and an upper part 40 movably mounted on this lower part 30 by means of an articulation mechanism 50.

The lower part 30, which forms the major part of the backrest frame 20, comprises two metal lateral flanges 31, 32 the lower ends of which are connected by a lower metal cross-member 33 and the upper ends of which are connected by an upper metal cross-member 34.

Its upper part 40 comprises a central sheet plate 41 provided with two lateral flanges 42, 43 as well as two lateral ears 44, 45 extending on both sides of the plate 41.

These lateral ears 44, 45 each consist of a single metal wire bent in a U, the two ends of which are welded to the corresponding lateral edge 42, 43 of the central plate 41.

A headrest 46 is also mounted to slide vertically on this upper part 40 of the backrest frame 20.

This headrest 46 has two parallel vertical rods 47 slidingly received in two metal guide tubes 48 welded on the front face of the central plate 41.

We will now describe in more detail the articulation mechanism 50 with the support of FIGS. 2 to 8.

This comprises a metal plate 51 rigidly fixed to the plate 41 of the upper part 40 of the backrest frame 20 and extending parallel in front of the latter.

The plate 51 comprises at its internal lateral end a vertical shaft 52, the lower end of which is slidably mounted along a rectilinear guide groove 53 formed in a metal slide 54 fixed on the upper cross member 34 of the lower part 30 of the back frame 20.

This groove 53 runs over approximately two thirds of the width of the upper cross member 34 from an area located near its internal end.

As is clearly visible in FIG. 8, this rectilinear groove 53 extends in a substantially transverse direction tilting backwards from its internal end in the direction of its external end.

This plate 51 also includes at its external lateral end a vertical tubular bearing 55 partially receiving a rod 56 carried by one end of a metal rod 57 whose other end is pivotally articulated about a vertical axis 58 coupled to the part lower 30 and located near the outer end of the upper cross member 34 (see Figure 8).

The pivoting drive of the rod 57 (and therefore of the rod 56) is provided by means of a motorized rotation device comprising a direct current electric motor (not shown in the figures but well known per se) connected by a metallic cable with a square section (not shown) to a reduction gear 59 cooperating with the link 57.

This motorized control device is controllable by the passenger of seat 1 via a control member not shown.

In the driving configuration illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the upper part 40 of the backrest frame 20 is centered on the median vertical axis of the lower part 30, so as to ensure maximum comfort for the driver while driving. manual when the latter must have his gaze oriented forward along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

In this configuration, the shaft 52 is in abutment against the internal end of the guide groove 53 while the connecting rod 57 is oriented transversely with its end carrying the rod 56 which is plumb with the external end of the slide 54, so that the plate 51 and the plate 41 extend along a transverse vertical plane.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rotary drive of the link 57 by the motorized rotation device causes the rod 56 of the plate 51 to pivot forwards and its shaft 52 to slide along the guide groove 53 of the slide 54.

This combined translational and pivoting movement causes a continuous lateral displacement of the external side of the upper part 40 of the backrest 20 along a curved trajectory oriented towards the front, until the shaft 52 comes into abutment against the end outside of the guide groove 53 of the slide 54.

The backrest frame 20 then occupies its conversation configuration illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8.

In this configuration, the lateral offset and the angle of inclination of the upper part 40 with respect to the lower part are maximum, so as to allow the driver and the front passenger seated on two seats provided with a frame according to the invention, to be turned towards each other during a fully automated driving phase while remaining comfortably installed with the upper body well maintained.

This configuration also allows the front passengers to turn more easily towards the rear so as to facilitate exchanges with the passengers in the rear row or rows.

In addition, the lateral offset of the upper parts of the backrests allows rear passengers to have a clearer view towards the front of the vehicle and therefore to observe the road through the windscreen or the central computer screen. of edge.

It will be noted in support of FIG. 7 that the degree of inclination of the upper part 40 in the conversation configuration is all the greater when the groove 53 of the slide 54 makes a significant angle towards the rear with the transverse axis.

The inclination of the upper part 40 of the backrest 20 can therefore be adjusted as a function of the arrangement of the vehicle cabin (width, position of the sliding foot 54 by another oriented differently.

middle, etc ...) by simply replacing the slide having a groove such as

The degree of inclination towards the rear of this groove 53 will advantageously be between 5 and

30 °.

According to variants shown, some shaped differently.

of elements of the invention not of the backrest frame are

This is particularly the case of the plate, the motorized rotation device, the link and / or the slide.

In general, it will be recalled that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but that it encompasses any variant within the reach of the skilled person.

Claims (10)

1. Backrest frame for vehicle seat comprising a lower part (30) and an upper part (40) movably mounted on said lower part (30) by means of an articulation mechanism (50) allowing lateral movement of said upper part (40) following a curved trajectory oriented towards the front; characterized in that said articulation mechanism (50) comprises a vertical shaft (52) fixed to said upper part (40) and mounted to slide along a groove (53) formed in a guide slide (54) fixed to said lower part (30), as well as a link (57) having an end pivotally pivoted about a vertical axis (58) coupled to said lower part (30) and the other end of which carries a vertical rod ( 56) received in a bearing (55) fixed to said upper part (40). 2. backrest frame according to claim 1, characterized in that said groove (53) extends in a substantially transverse direction tilting backwards from its inner end towards its outer end. 3. Backrest frame according to claim 2, characterized in that the degree of inclination towards the rear of said groove (53) is between 5 and 30 °. 4. backrest frame according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said articulation mechanism (50) comprises a motorized device capable of driving said link (57) in rotation about said vertical axis (58) so causing lateral displacement of said upper part (40). 5. backrest frame according to claim 4, characterized in that said motorized device comprises an electric motor connected by a cable with square section to a reducer (59) cooperating with said link (57). 6. backrest frame according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said shaft (52) and said bearing (55) are formed at the two lateral ends of a plate (51) fixed on said upper part (40 ). 7. back frame according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said upper part (40) comprises a central sheet plate (41) provided with two lateral flanges (42, 43), as well as two lateral ears (44, 45) extending on both sides of said plate (41) and being each constituted by a single curved metal wire whose two ends are welded to a said corresponding lateral flange (42, 43). 8. backrest frame according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises a headrest (46) mounted to slide vertically on said upper part (40). 9. backrest frame according to claims 7 and 8, characterized in that said headrest (46) is provided with two parallel vertical rods (47) slidably received in two metal guide tubes (48) welded on the front face of said central plate (41). 10. Seat structure comprising a seat frame (20) and a back frame (30) according to one of claims 1 to 9. 1/3