GB2315468A - Method and part for fitting a seat to a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of mounting a seat 25 in a vehicle uses a part 1 that clips onto the seat and onto the vehicle floor prior to securing the seat with a screw. A number of the parts may be clipped to the seat and then the seat may be introduced into the vehicle and the parts clipped into holes 36 in the vehicle floor 35. The part may be a one piece moulding with a hook (7 figure 3) and a shaft 6 intended to clip onto a rail 27 of the seat and a stem 20 with resilient edges 22 intended to clip into the hole in the vehicle floor.

Description

2315468 Method and part for Fitting a Seat to a Vehicle The invention

relates to the fitting of seats in vehicles.

It aims to allow the said fitting to be performed simply and conveniently, in particular with regard to the constraints which are encountered on automobile mass production lines.

For this purpose, it provides a method for mounting a seat on the floor of a vehicle in which a screw is used which becomes f ixed, on the one hand, to the f loor of the vehicle and, on the other hand, to the seat, characterised in that an intermediate part is also used, between the seat and the f loor, which is adapted to clip, on the one hand, to the seat and, on the other hand, to the floor and in that the intermediate part is clipped to the seat and to the floor before the screw is finally tightened.

It will be seen that the intermediate part provides a temporary fixing of the seat to the floor, in such a manner that it is possible to perform a certain number of operations of fitting other elements of the vehicle before making the fixing of the seat to the floor rigid by tightening the screw, the temporary fixing provided by the intermediate part preventing the seat losing its position relative to the floor in the meantime.

It is thus possible to perform the operation of tightening the screw well after the positioning of the seat on the floor, at a time when this operation may be much more convenient (for example it is possible to install the seat whilst the vehicle is close to the ground, and to finally tighten the screw when the vehicle has been raised and it is possible to gain easy access to the underside of the floor).

2 According to preferred characteristics of the method in accordance with the invention, each said intermediate part is first clipped to a lower element of the said seat, then each said intermediate part is clipped through a corresponding hole provided in the said floor.

The prior equipping of the seat with intermediate parts makes possible the installation of the latter in the vehicle in almost a single movement during which the clipping of the different intermediate parts occurs, and this enables a shorter access time to be needed on the vehicle production line than if the intermediate parts had first to be installed on the floor and then the seat clipped on.

Another aspect of the invention also describes the intermediate part, suitable for the method which has just been described, which is characterised in that it is moulded in a single piece of plastics material and that it comprises, on the one hand, means for clipping to the said seat and, on the other hand, means for clipping to the said floor.

Besides making possible the employment of the mounting method in accordance with the invention, the said part is simple, convenient and inexpensive to manufacture, because it is moulded from plastics material in a single piece.

The invention will now be described in more detail by means of the following illustrative and nonlimiting example of an embodiment, with reference to the attached Figures.

Figure 1 is a top view of an intermediate part in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is the view of the vertical cross-section along the broken line IIII in Figure 1.

3 Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 showing, in addition, part of a seat of the vehicle to which the intermediate part is clipped, and Figure 4 is a similar view additionally showing part of the floor of the vehicle to which the intermediate part is clipped.

As can be seen in particular in Figures 1 and 2, the intermediate part 1 comprises a plate 2, a seating 3 which projects below the plate 2 and a foot 4 coaxial with the seating 3 and extending below the latter. All of the part 1 is produced by moulding a plastics material, except for a metallic annular support reinforcing the seating 3 (it is placed in the mould before the injection of the plastics material).

The plate 2 has an upper surface 5 which is flat and above which project, respectively, a clipping shaft 6, a clipping hook 7 and two laterally opposed edges 8A and 8B.

The shaft 6 comprises a stem 9, having an oblong crosssection, carrying two opposite resilient blades 10A, 10B and a stud 11 located above the stem 9.

The hook 7 is substantially Lshaped, having a section 12 which is joined transversely to the surface 5 and a section 13 which is parallel to the said surface, the section 12 being wider than the section 13 (see Figure 1), a strengthening rib 14 being joined centrally to the sections 12 and 13.

The edges 8A and 8B extend transversely to the surface 5 and each is prolonged, on the side which is seen to the right in the Figures, by a support 15 comprising a hole 16 for mounting a decorative element.

4 The seating 3 has a circular cross-section. It has a bore 17 in its centre and it comprises near its periphery a reinforcing element 18 which has a substantially tubular shape.

The lower surface 19 of the seating 3 is flat and parallel to the upper surface 5 of the plate 2.

The foot 4 comprises a stem 20, coaxial with the seating 3, with a bore 21 which is in alignment with the bore 17 and with resilient blades 22 at the top of the stem 20 which spontaneously adopt the position shown, in which they project relative to the external surface of the stem 20, and which can bend towards the interior of the stem.

The manner in which the intermediate part 1 is employed during mounting of a seat on the floor of a vehicle will now be explained with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

The seat 25 for which the part 1 is provided comprises, in its lower portion, two pairs of rails adapted to slide relative to one another, each pair comprising an upper rail 26 designed to be movable and a lower rail 27 designed to be permanently fixed to the floor of the vehicle.

The horizontal wing 28 of the rail 27 comprises an oblong hole 29, with a shape corresponding to that of the stem 9 of the shaft 6, and a circular hole 30 having a diameter corresponding to the smallest diameter of the bare 17, a nut 31 being welded to the upper surface of the wing 28, coaxial to the hole 30, the spacing between the holes 29 and 30 corresponding to the distance between the stem 9 and the bore 17 of the part 1 and the spacing between the edges 8A and 8B of the latter correspQnding to the width of the rail 27.

To install the part 1 on the latter, the part 1 is brought towards the end of the rail 27 in such a manner that the latter is inserted between the edges 8A and 8B whilst the wing 28 becomes engaged in the hook 7, that is to say between the surface 5 and the section 13 of the hook 7, until the end of the wing 28 abuts against the section 12 of the hook. The part 1 is pivoted so that the stem 9 can penetrate into the hole 29, the resilient blades 10A and 10B being deflected during the insertion by coming into contact with the edges of the hole 29, and when the upper surface 5 of the plate 2 of the part 1 becomes located approximately against the lower surface of the wing 28, the blades 10A and 10B expand again and are therefore above the upper surface of the wing 28, thus preventing withdrawal of the stem 9. The part 1 is thus clipped to the seat 25.

In the example shown, the seat 25 is fixed to the floor (Figure 4) at four installation positions in exactly the same way.

At each of these installation positions the metal sheet of the floor 35 (Figure 4) has a hole 36 the diameter of which is the same as the external diameter of the stem 20, and at each of these installation positions, a housing 37 for receiving the foot is welded under the floor plate 35 coaxially to the hole 36, the housing 37 having in its base a hole 38 with approximately the same diameter as the bore 21 of the foot 4.

Once the four intermediate parts 1 have been fitted on the seat 25, the latter is positioned relative to the floor plate 35 so that each of the feet 4 is facing a hole 36. Then each of the feet 4 is inserted in the corresponding hole 36, the resilient blades 22 being deflected when they come against the edges of the holes 36 and when they are completely through the opening 36 they spread out again and adopt the position shown in Figure 4 6 In which they are facing the lower surface of the floor plate 35 so that they prevent the withdrawal of the foot 4, whereas the lower surface 19 of the spacer 3, for its part, rests on the upper surface of the plate 35.

The seat 25 is thus held in place without there being any chance that its position will change whilst other vehicle fitting operations are being performed, and when a time arrives which has been selected as particularly convenient for performing the final fixing of the seat, the threaded rod of a screw is introduced through the hole 38, the said rod is passed into the bore 21 and then into the bore 17 and through the hole 30, and the screw is engaged in the nut 31 and screw tightening is completed.

When this has been done at each of the four installation positions, mounting of the seat on the floor is finished.

In, not shown, alternative embodiments, the nut 31 welded to the lower rail of the seat is replaced by a screw which projects below the lower wing 28 of the said rail in such a manner that, instead of it engaging by its head on the floor and by the nut 31 on the seat, it engages by its head on the seat 25 and by a nut on the f loor, the said nut being installed on the lower surface of the housing 38, and the plate 2 of the intermediate part 1 comprises, instead of the shaft 6 and the hook 7, other clipping means which allows the screw to be installed coaxially.

Numerous other alternative embodiments are possible depending on the circumstances, in particular with regard to the means provided for clipping the intermediate part to the seat or the intermediate part to the f loor of the vehicle or alternatively more or fewer than four fixing points are provided between the seat or the floor of the vehicle.

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Claims (6)

1 A method for mounting a seat on the f loor of a vehicle in which a screw is used which becomes fixed, on the one hand, to the floor of the vehicle and, on the other hand, to the seat, characterised in that an intermediate part (1) is also used, between the seat and the floor, which is adapted to clip, on the one hand, to the seat (25) and, on the other hand, to the floor (35, 37), and in that the intermediate part (1) is clipped to the seat (25) and to the floor (35, 37) before the screw is finally tightened.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that each said intermediate part (1) is first clipped to a lower element (27) of the said seat (25) then each said intermediate part (1) is clipped through a corresponding hole (36) provided in the said floor (35, 37).

3. An intermediate part for mounting between a seat and the floor of a vehicle suitable for the employment of the method in accordance with either one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that it is moulded in a single piece of plastic and that it comprises, on the one hand, means (6, 7) for clipping to the said seat and, on the other hand, means for clipping to the said floor (35, 37).

4. A part according to claim 3, characterised in that the said means for clipping to the said seat (25) comprise a hook (7) adapted to catch on the end of a lower rail (27) of the said seat and a shaft (6) equipped with resilient blades (10A, lOB) 8 adapted to penetrate into a hole (29) made in the said lower rail (27).

5. A part according to either one of claims 3 or 4, characterised in that the said means for clipping on to the said floor (35, 37) comprise a foot (4) comprising a stem (20) equipped with resilient edges (22) the said stem being adapted to penetrate into a hole (36) made in the said floor.

6. An intermediate part for fitting a seat to the floor of a vehicle substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.