GB1594256A

GB1594256A - Seat slide mechanism

Info

Publication number: GB1594256A
Application number: GB26507/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Chapman Ltd A W
Current assignee: Chapman Ltd A W
Priority date: 1977-06-24
Filing date: 1977-06-24
Publication date: 1981-07-30
Also published as: DE2828164A1; BE868413A; ZA787049B

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 11) 1594256 ( 21) Application No 26507/77 ( 22) Filed 24 June 1977 ( 23) Complete Specification filed 22 May 1978 ( 44) Complete Specification published 30 July 1981 ( 51) INT CL 3 B 60 N 1/08 ( 52) Index at acceptance A 4 J I L ( 72) Inventor ALBERT JOHN ADAMS ( 54) SEAT SLIDE MECHANISM ( 71) We, A W CHAPMAN LIMITED, a British Company, of City Gate House, Finsbury Square, London, E C 2, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the follow-

ing statement:-

This invention relates to a seat slide mechanism.

It has proved necessary to develop a standard seat slide mechanism namely, a seat slide mechanism in which the slide which is fixed to the underside of the seat is movable on a rail which is fixed to the vehicle floor, means being provided to lock the slide and the rail together to maintain the selected relative positioning thereof to accommodate at least one seat belt attachment, it being remembered that for each single-occupant seat at the front of a car there are two parallel rails fixed to the vehicle floor and two parallel slides fixed to the seal and engaging the rail This was done initially by using a heavier gauge of steel than is usually employed for the rail and slide parts but the resultant seat slide mechanism was unacceptably heavy and expensive Enquiries have been received from car manufacturers for a low-cost seat slide mechanism with a seat belt attachment on that slide of a seat slide pair which is provied with said locking means, the other slide of the pair being devoid of such an attachment and devoid of such locking means, and subsequent enquiries were for low-cost seat slide mechanisms having dual locking (namely, releasable locking of the slide to its associated rail in each slide of the pair) and also having either one or two seat belt attachments.

It was discovered, during the development of the required slide, that it was the included angle of 60 of the seat belt to the horizontal that was causing the seat slide to be pulled off or out of engagement with the floor rail, said angle of 60 being the angle of the seat belt portion as it extended from the point of attachment to the slide upwardly and forwardly to extend across the wearer's body.

Although the locking means had to be strong enough to withstand the horizontal component of a high load imposed thereon by a violent deceleration of the vehicle, the vertical component of the load caused by said violent deceleration even distorted the floor 55 of the vehicle at the rear fixing of the floor rail to said floor.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a seat slide mechanism which will meet not only the safety require 60 ments but also the vehicle manufacturers' price requirements, the seat belt attachments being on one or both of the slides of a seat slide pair.

According to a first aspect, the present 65 invention consists in a seat slide mechanism for a vehicle seat, the mechanism including two mutually parallel slide/rail pairs arranged along the sides of the seat, each pair including a seat slide and a floor rail which 70 are mutually interengaged and are displaceable one relatively to the other and the seat slide of one of the said pairs being firmly connected with attachment means for a safety belt, wherein a seat claw member, 75 having a hook-shaped portion bent about an axis parallel to the direction of displacement of the slides and open upwardly, is connected in the vicinity of the attachment means to the seat slide, and a floor claw member, having a 80 hook-shaped portion bent about an axis parallel to the said direction and open downwardly, is firmly connected to the floor rail, the claw members being in mutual contactless interengagement which is main 85 tained throughout the path of said displacement; said mechanism further including, in the case of at least one of said pairs, a rack associated with one of said slide and said rail and a pronged catch lever associated with the 90 other of said slide and said rail, said catch lever being operable to engage the rack in a releasable manner to lock the slide and the rail to one another in a selected setting thereof 95 According to a second aspect, the present invention consists in a seat slide mechanism which comprises an interengaged slide and rail of which the rail is securable to a floor and of which the slide is securable to a seat 100 tr O mr) ( 19) 1,594,256 and is movable on the rail longitudinally of the rail; first means firmly secured to the rail and second means firmly secured to the slide, each of said first means and said second means having extensions which are located at one and the same side of the interengaged slide and rail, and each extension being so formed that a terminal portion thereof is disposed between and closely adjacent to parallel portions of the other extension but with sufficient clearances to ensure freedom for relative movement therebetween as said slide is moved on and longitudinally of said rail; a seat belt attachment means secured to one of said extensions; a rack associated with one of said slide and said rail; and the other of said slide and said rail carrying a pronged catch lever operable to engage the rack in a releasable manner to lock the slide and the rail to one another in a selected setting thereof In the mechanism according to said second aspect, the seat belt attachment means may be firmly secured to said slide through the intermediary of said second means.

Said second means and the extension thereof are preferably constituted by a bracket which is generally U-shaped in transverse cross-section and which accommodates said slide, the top of said slide and a portion of the base of said U-shaped bracket being firmly secured to one another, that limb of the U-shaped bracket which is to be, in use of the mechanism, nearer to the longitudinal median plane of the vehicle being bent through 180 ' in such a manner that the terminal portion of said limb is directed towards that part of the base of said U-shaped bracket which is not directly connected to and therefore in contact with the top of said slide.

Alternatively, said second means and the extension thereof may be constituted by a bracket which is generally L-shaped in transverse cross-section, the top of said slide and a portion of one limb of the L-shaped bracket being firmly secured to one another, the other limb thereof which is to be, in use of the mechanism, nearer to the longitudinal median plane of the vehicle being bent through 180 ' in such a manner that the terminal portion of said other limb is directed towards that portion of said one limb which is not directly connected to and therefore in contact with the top of said slide.

Said first means and the extension thereof are constituted by a bracket of which a generally flat plate portion is connected to that surface of the base of the rail which, in use of the mechanism, will be the lowermost surface of said rail, corresponding edges of the plate portion and of the extension thereof being joined to one another and said extension being bent along a line parallel to said edges so that first and terminal portions of said extension are contained in parallel planes which are perpendicular to the plane containing said lowermost surface, the first and terminal portions being connected to one another by an arcuate bight and the free edge 70 of said terminal portion being spaced from said plane which contains said lowermost surface.

The parallel portions of each of the extensions may be parallel to the vertical plane 75 which contains the median lines of the interengaged side and rail; alternatively, said parallel portions of each of the extensions may be inclined at an obtuse included angle relative to said vertical plane 80 Each of the extensions of said first and said second means will preferably be shaped to form a U, the terminal portion of one extension being inwardly turned and the terminal portion of the other being out 85 wardly turned, with the result that, when the prefabricated components of the slide are brought together (namely, the floor rail and the seat slide complete with their respective first means and second means), the inwardly 90 and outwardly turned U's of the respective extensions "nest" with one another, the terminal portion of each extension being disposed between and parallel to the limbs of the U of the other extension and closely 95 adjacent thereto with sufficient clearances to permit backwards and forwards adjustments of the seat as desired by the users of the seat.

In a preferred embodiment of the mechanism according to the first or the second 100 aspect of the invention, the rack associated with one of said slide and said rail is associated with the rail and the pronged catch lever is carried by the slide which is securable to a seat The rack preferably 105 consists of a plurality of apertures formed in said rail and uniformly spaced from one another along the rail, alternatively, said first means may include an integral strip at that side of said first means which is remote from 110 said terminal portion of the extension of said first means, said strip having formed therein a plurality of apertures which are uniformly spaced apart from one another and which constitute said rack 115 The pronged catch lever may be mounted directly on the slide for angular movements about a vertical axis or may be indirectly mounted on the slide for angular movements about a horizontal axis 120 It has been stated above that the seat belt attachment means may be secured to said second means However, it will be appreciated that said attachment means could be secured to said first means, the "nesting" U's 125 of the respective extensions being formed the opposite way, namely, that of the first means being inwardly turned and that of the second means being outwardly turned.

The present invention will now be more 130 1,594,256 particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Figure 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of a seat slide pair according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof; Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof; and Figures 4, 5 and 6 are views, similar to those shown in Figures 1 and 3 respectively, of another embodiment of a seat slide pair according to the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, there are illustrated therein two rails 10 and two slides 11 which are arranged parallel to one another in interengaged relationships The slides 11 are arranged to move relative to the rail 10 on rollers 12 which are accommodated in roller retainer cages which also serve to eliminate metal-to-metal contact between the slides and the respective rails.

The rails 10 are intended to be secured to the floor of a vehicle and the slides are intended to be secured to the vehicle seat.

Fore and aft adjustment of the seat is facilitated by said rollers 12 and the selected setting is maintained by pivotally mounted pronged catch levers 13 which are connected to an operating lever 14 and which are spring-urged at all times into releasable engagement with a rack 15 The rack is formed in the rail 10 and the catch lever 13 is carried by the slide 11.

The roller retainer cages have been described in United Kingdom Patent Specification No 1,392,123 and a catch mechanism similar to that described above has been described in United Kingdom Patent Specification No 1,392,124 The seat slide locking mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings is provided in each interengaged rail and slide, thereby providing dual locking but it will be appreciated that economy or other factors may necessitate the locking of only one slide/rail of the pair.

A first means consisting of a bracket 20 is welded to the underside of one of the rails 10 and a second means consisting of a substantially U-shaped bracket 30 is welded to the top of the slide 11 which is engaged with said rail 10 The bracket 20 has an extension 21 which is bent upwardly (in relation to the floor) through 90 and thereafter a terminal portion 22 of said extension is bent through ' and outwardly so as to lie parallel to the first portion of the extension 21 The bracket has an extension 31 which is bent downwardly (in relation to the floor) through 90 ' and thereafter a terminal portion 32 of said extension is bent through 180 ' and inwardly so as to lie parallel to the first portion of the extension 31.

The positionings and dimensions of the brackets 20, 30 on the respective rail 10 and slide 11 are not only such that the bent extensions are always nested one within the other but also such that there is no contact between any parts of the two extensions (see Figure 3), the terminal portions 22, 32 lying adjacent to and parallel to one another and the four portions of the two extensions being 70 parallel to one another.

A seat belt attachment point indicated generally by the reference numeral 40 is welded to the outside flat surface of the extension 31 75 It will be assumed that one end of one part of a seat belt being worn by the seat occupant is secured to the attachment point 40 and that the vehicle in which the occupant is sitting is violently decelerated The G forces which 80 arise are resisted (ignoring the seat belt itself) by the strength of the connection between the attachment point 40 and the bracket 30 and also by the interengagement between the slide 11 and the rail 10 and also by the 85 connection between the rail 10 and the vehicle Any tendency of the slide 11 to separate from the floor rail 10 will be additionally resisted when the free edge of the terminal portion 22 comes into contact 90 with the bottom of the channel which is created by the two parallel limbs and arcute bight portion of the extension 31.

Turning now to Figures 4 to 6, in which the same reference numerals have been 95 applied to parts which are identical with those illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, it will be noted, firstly, that seat belt attachment points are provided at each side (i e for each element of the slide pair) and, secondly, that 100 the seat slide locking mechanism is different.

In this case, racks 50 are not formed directly in the rails 10 but are formed in a part 51 of the bracket 20 Moreover, as the racks are horizontally disposed, pronged catches 52 are 105 mounted on the slides 11 for angular movements about horizontal axes A common operating lever 53 is connected to the catches which, as before, are spring-urged into engagement with the racks 110

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1 A seat slide mechanism for a vehicle seat, the mechanism including two mutually parallel slide/rail pairs arranged along the 115 sides of the seat, each pair including a seat slide and a floor rail which are mutually interengaged and are displaceable one relatively to the other and the seat slide of one of the said pairs being firmly connected with 120 attachment means for a safety belt, wherein a seat claw member, having a hook-shaped portion bent about an axis parallel to the direction of displacement of the slides and open upwardly, is connected in the vicinity 125 of the attachment means to the seat slide, and a floor claw member, having a hook-shaped portion bent about an axis parallel to the said direction and open downwardly, is firmly connected to the floor rail, the claw members 130 1,594,

256 being in mutual contactless interengagement which is maintained throughout the path of said displacement; said mechanism further including, in the case of at least one of said pairs, a rack associated with one of said slide and said rail and a pronged catch lever associated with the other of said slide and said rail, said catch lever being operable to engage the rack in a releasable manner to lock the slide and the rail to one another in a selected setting thereof.

2 A seat slide mechanism which comprises an interengaged slide and rail of which the rail is securable to a floor and of which the slide is securable to a seat and is movable on the rail longitudinally of the rail; first means firmly secured to the rail and second means firmly secured to the slide, each of said first means and said second means having extensions which are located at one and the same side of the interengaged slide and rail, and each extension being so formed that a terminal portion thereof is disposed between and closely adjacent to parallel portions of the other extension but with sufficient clearances to ensure freedom for relative movement therebetween as said slide is moved on and longitudinally of said rail; a seat belt attachment means secured to one of said extensions; a rack associated with one of said slide and said rail; and the other of said slide and said rail carrying a pronged catch lever operable to engage the rack in a releasable manner to lock the slide and the rail to one another in a selected setting thereof.

3 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the seat belt attachment means is firmly secured to said slide through the intermediary of said second means.

4 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said second means and the extension thereof are constituted by a bracket which is generally U-shaped in transverse cross-section and which accommodates said slide, the top of said slide and a portion of the base of said U-shaped bracket being firmly secured to one another, that limb of the U-shaped bracket which is to be, in use of the mechanism, nearer to the longitudinal median plane of the vehicle being bent through 180 ' in such a manner that the terminal portion of said limb is directed towards that part of the base of said U-shaped bracket which is not directly connected to and therefore in contact with the top of said slide.

A mechanism as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said second means and the extension thereof are constituted by a bracket which is generally L-shaped in transverse cross-section, the top of said slide and a portion of one limb of the L-shaped bracket being firmly secured to one another, the other limb thereof which is to be, in use of the mechanism, nearer to the longitudinal median plane of the vehicle being bent through 180 ' in such a manner that the terminal portion of said other limb is directed towards that portion of said one limb 70 which is not directly connected to and therefore in contact with the top of said slide.

6 A mechanism as claim in any one of Claims 2 to 5, wherein said first means and the extension thereof are constituted by a 75 bracket of which a generally flat plate portion is connected to that surface of the base of the rail which, in use of the mechanism, will be the lowermost surface of said rail, corresponding edges of the plate portion 80 and of the extension thereof being joined to one another and said extension being bent along a line parallel to said edges so that first and terminal portions of said extension are contained in parallel planes which are per 85 pendicular to the plane containing said lowermost surface, the first and terminal portions being connected to one another by an arcuate bight and the free edge of said terminal portion being spaced from said 90 plane which contains said lowermost surface.

7 A mechanism as claimed in any of Claims 4, 5 and 6, wherein the parallel portions of each of the extensions are parallel to the vertical plane which contains the 95 median lines of the interengaged side and rail.

8 A mechanism as claimed in any of Claims 4, 5 and 6, wherein said parallel portions of each of the extensions are in 100 dined at an obtuse included angle relative to said vertical plane.

9 A mechanism as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 8, wherein each of the extensions of said first and said second means is shaped 105 to form a U, the terminal portion of one extension being inwardly turned and the terminal portion of the other being outwardly turned, with the result that, when the prefabricated components of the slide are 110 brought together (namely, the floor rail and the seat slide complete with their respective first means and second means), the inwardly and outwardly turned U's of the respective extensions "nest" with one another, the 115 terminal portion of each extension being disposed between and parallel to the limbs of the U of the other extension and closely adjacent thereto with sufficient clearances to permit backwards and forwards adjustments 120 of the seat as desired by the users of the seat.

A mechanism as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the rack associated with one of said slide and said rail is associated with the rail and wherein the pronged catch 125 lever is carried by the slide which is securable to a seat.

11 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 10, wherein said rack consists of a plurality of apertures formed in said rail and uniformly 130 1,594,256 spaced from one another long the rail

12 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 10, wherein said first means includes an integral strip at that side of said first means which is remote from said terminal portion of the extension of said first means, said strip having formed therein a plurality of apertures which are uniformly spaced apart from one another and which constitute said rack.

13 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the pronged catch lever is mounted directly on the slide for angular movements about a vertical axis.

14 A mechanism as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the pronged catch lever is mounted indirectly on the slide for angular movements about a horizontal axis.

A seat slide mechanism constructed, arranged and operable substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 or Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

For the Applicants:

G F REDFERN & COMPANY, Marlborough Lodge, 14, Farncombe Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN 11 2 BT, and 24, High Street, Kidderminster, Worcs.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd 1981 Published at The Patent Office.

Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY, from which copies may be obtained.