GB2048662A

GB2048662A - Armrest for seat in vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2048662A
Application number: GB8013082A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Ikeda Bussan Co Ltd; Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nissan Motor Co Ltd; Ikeda Corp
Priority date: 1979-04-19
Filing date: 1980-04-21
Publication date: 1980-12-17
Also published as: GB2048662B; FR2454387B1; JPS627162Y2; DE3014454C2; JPS55151634U; FR2454387A1; DE3014454A1

Abstract

An armrest (1) for a seat in vehicle including a hard resin blow moulded hollow core (5) having recesses (6 to 10) formed on opposing walls thereof, bottom walls of the recesses being joined together (at 22), and through holes (12) are bored across the thus joined bottom walls of the recesses (6 to 10). A foamed pad (14) encloses the core (5), and the pad (14) is enclosed by a covering member (18). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Armrest for seat in vehicle This invention relates to an armrest for a vehicle seat.

Generally speaking, an armrest used for a vehicle seat is normally stored or pulled back in the central portion of a seat, and when a person on the seat such as a passenger in the vehicle wants to use the armrest, it is pulled out onto the seat for resting an arm or arms thereon. After being used, the armrest can be moved back again into the stored position thereof. The armrest in the stored position can be used as a part of the back of the seat.

Heretofore, the construction of the armrest of the aforesaid type has been such that it has sufficient mechanical strength to hold arms of persons using it and provides a comfortable feeling to them. A typical conventional construction of the arm rest comprises a box-like core member made by upwardly bending edge portions of a steel sheet while leaving the top thereof open, brackets secured to the core member for connection to a link between the armrest and a vehicle seat, a foamed pad enclosing the core 'member, and a covering member enclosing the pad.

The box-like core member may have reinforcing means, such as angle members or brackets. The aforesaid armrest construction of the prior art has shortcomings in that a large amount of pad material is necessary because of the open structure of the core member, and a process of defatting or coating of the steel sheet of the core member is necessary for good adhesion of the pad material to the core member, resulting in a cost increase, and that its strength against bending and twisting was compara- tively low due to the open top structure of the core member.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the aforesaid sho rtcomings of the prior art techniques, by providing an armrest for a vehicle seat which includes a hollow core member made by blovimold- ing of hard resin, instead of a core member made by bending a steel sheet. More particularly, an armrest for a vehicle seat according to the present invention includes a hollow resin core having recesses suitably formed on opposing walls thereof, and the bottom walls of the recesses from the opposing walls of the core member are joined together. Through holes are formed across the thus joined bottom walls of the recesses. A foamed pad encloses the hollow core member, while ensuring good adhesion of the mat erial of the formed pad with the core member by the through holes.A covering member is provided so as to enclose the foamed pad completely.

For a better understanding of the invention, refer ence is made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. lisa perspective view of an armrest for a vehicle seat; Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the rela tionship between a conventional armrest for a vehi cle seat and a core member thereof; Fig. 2A is a cross-section taken on the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the rela tionship between an armrest for a vehicle seat according to the present invention and a core member thereof; Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken on the line B-B of Fig.

3; Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on the line C-C of Fig.

3; Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken on the line D-D of Fig. 3; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section taken on the line E-E of Fig.

3.

Referring to Fig. 1, an armrest 1 can be normally stored in the central portion of a vehicle seat 15, and can be pulled out onto the vehicle seat 15. Before entering the details of the present invention, a typi cal construction of the prior art will be briefly reviewed, by referring to Fig. 2. The construction of the prior art uses a core member 2 made by upwardly bending edge portions of a steel sheet, so as to form a box-shaped core' member with an open top. Brackets 30 are secured to opposite sides of said core' member 2 at one end thereof, for facilitating the mounting of the armrest onto the vehicle seat 15 through a link'mechanism 20. Reinforcing brackets or angles 4 may be disposed on the inner surface of the box-shaped core member 2.A foamed pad 14 encloses the entire core' member 2, and a covering m8mber-18 covers the entire surface of the foamed pad 14. The open box-shaped core' member results in an increase of the foamed pad material to be acconimodated in the armrest and a comparatively weak mechanical strength, and the steel sheet of the core' member requires a treatment for improving the adhesion of the foamed pad' material thereto.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be now described by referring to Fig. 3. In the figure, an armrest 1 for a vehicle seat 15 according to the present invention uses a hollow core' member 5 made by blow molding of resin. A plurality of reces ses 6 to 10 are suitably formed on opposing walls of the core member 5, for ensuring good adhesion of a foamed pad 14thereto.

A nut 11 with a seat or a reinforcing patch is sec ured to the core' member 5. The bottom walls of the recesses from the opposing walls of the core memberS are joined together at portions 22, and through holes 12 are bored so as to extend through the joined portions 22, so that the formed pad 14 can be integrally adhered to the top and bottom surfaces of the core' member 5. A screw hole 13 is provided on the core' member 5, for fixing a band or the like means for pulling out the armrest 1 from the stored position thereof. The core member 5 is' made hollow by blow' molding of a suitable hard resin, for instance, polypropylene, polyethylene, and the like.

The nut 11 is inserted into a' metallic fold for the blow molding at a predetermined position so as to be buried in the core' memberS. The nut 11 is for connection with a link' mechanism 20 for mounting the armrest 1 to the vehicle seat 15. The through holes 12' may be formed at the time of the blow 'molding or thereafter.

The size of the through holes 12 is selected so as to ensure integral adhesion of the foamed pad 14 onto the opposing surfaces of the core member 5 and integral bonding of the foamed pad itself from opposing sides of the core member 5 in a non separable' manner.

If the surface of the core member 5 is roughened by providing an unevenness of 0.1 to 0.8' rim, the adhesion of the foamed pad 14 to the core' member 5 can be further improved.

The core member 5 thus formed is enclosed by the foamed pad 14, and the surface of the foamed pad 14 is enclosed by a covering'member 18' made of suit able cloth or soft plastics' material. It is also possible to form the covering member 18 about the core 'member 5 and then to foam the pad 14 in the space between the covering member 18 and the core 'member 5, so as to integrally shape the foamed pad 14 and the covering member 18.

With the construction according to the present invention, as described above, a hollow core member is made by blow molding of a hard resin, so that the amount of foamed pad' material can be reduced, while ensuring a high strength against bending and twisting. Besides, the armrest can be 'made light.

Furthermore, through holes are provided on the joined portions of the recesses from opposing walls of the core' member, so that non-separable connection between the foamed pad and the core member is ensured. Further advantages of the present inven tion are in that the number of constituent parts is small and thatthe time for manufacture can be shor tened by simultaneous shaping. In short, the present invention provides a sturdy and yet inexpensive armrest for a vehicle seat

Claims

1. An armrest for a vehicle seat, comprising a 3 hollow hard resin coretmember having recesses suitably disposed on opposing side walls thereof, bottom walls of said recesses from the opposing side walls of the core member being joined together, through holes formed across said joined portion of the recesses, a foamed pad enclosing said core member, and a covering member enclosing said foamed pad.

2. An armrest as set forth in claim 1, wherein said core' member has outer surface thereof roughened with an unevenness of 0.1 to 0.8' trim.

3. An armrest as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein said core' member is' made by blow' molding of a hard resin material selected from the group consist ing of polypropylene and polyethylene.

4. An armrest as set forth in claim 1,2, or 3, wherein said core member has a nut buried in the wall thereof for connection with outside the armrest.

5. An armrest as set forth in claim 1, 2, 3, or 4 wherein said foamed pad extends through said through holes of the bottdm walls of the recesses.

6. An armrest for a vehicle seat substantially as described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Fig.

3 of the accompanying drawings.