JP2001310695A - Protective device of neck for automotive vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a protective device of a neck for an automotive vehicle assuring comfortable drive in normal operation while securely protecting the neck in crush. SOLUTION: The present invention comprises an inflatable protuberance 3 adapted to abut upon the neck K of a passenger or a child and a mounting metal fitting 10 removably fastened on a back squab 22. The inflatable protuberance 3 is made of non-elastic material having no substantial recoil strength in form of a hard urethane foam, a cloth piece, a timber chip, an object cutting plant or the like, or non-recoiling material broken down by predetermined impulse force such as a styrene foam.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a swelling portion provided in connection with a backrest portion of an automobile seat or a child seat, such that the swelling portion abuts mainly on the neck of a passenger sitting on the seat. Car neck protection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3A, a seat of an automobile generally has a seat portion a provided on a floor structure of a vehicle body so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. It comprises a back portion b whose tilt angle can be adjusted with respect to the seat portion a. A headrest c is generally attached to the top of the backrest b. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, the passenger or the driver M sits down on the seat a and places the back S on the backrest b.
If necessary, the head H can be placed on the headrest c so that the user can board or drive in a relaxed state. In addition, for a traffic accident, particularly for a rear-end collision, since a rearward impact force acting on the head H is received by the headrest c, the headrest c is effective for whiplash. It is expected for the time being.

[0003] However, even though the headrest c can reduce muscle fatigue during driving, it can provide the expected effect against the above traffic accidents for the following reasons. There may not be. That is, in the event of a rear-end collision, acceleration acts on all parts of the human body, such as the back S, the head H, and the neck K, but the acceleration acting on the back S is applied to the backrest b and to the head H. The acting acceleration is received by the headrest c, but the rear of the neck K is a space D where there is no backrest b and no headrest c, so that the neck K has a dotted line in FIG. As shown by the arrow, a force acts to bend backward and protrude. Such a force that bends the neck K is fatal to the neck K.

By the way, by filling the space D between the upper end of the backrest portion b and the headrest c,
An automobile safety mat provided with a safety pillow d is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-127705.
The safety pillow d has a rectangular cylindrical shape, is formed of an elastic material such as natural rubber or plastic rubber, and is attached to the surface of the mat body. Therefore, when driving, the driver M leans on the safety pillow d in addition to the head H, as shown in FIG. 3B, and can enjoy a comfortable drive.

[0005]

As described above, the conventional headrest c is also disclosed in JP-A-63-127705.
The safety pillow d shown in the item also has a head H or a neck K at the time of normal driving, and a reasonable purpose is achieved in order to enjoy a comfortable driving with less feeling of fatigue. However, the conventional headrest is not always a perfect protection against traffic accidents as described above, and the safety pillow d may have an adverse effect depending on the shape and material in some cases. . For example,
FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view showing only the safety pillow d and the occupant's neck K. As shown in FIG. 3, during normal operation, the cervix K is lightly in contact with the safety pillow d. A comfortable drive is promised. By the way, when a large force such as a rear-end collision acts rearward, the neck K is bent so as to compress the elastic material of the safety pillow d and protrude rearward as described above. When bending, the safety pillow d also deforms in a direction in which the volume decreases. FIG. 3D shows a state in which the neck K is bent and the safety pillow d is compressed and deformed.
By the way, since the safety pillow d is formed of an elastic material, when the rearward force due to the rear-end collision disappears, the safety pillow d is instantly returned by the restoring force. At this time, since the return force also has inertia, it returns beyond the original shape or position.
That is, the neck K is now bent in the opposite direction beyond the normal state due to the restoring force of the elastic material. Thus, at the time of a traffic accident, not only one direction but also two types of forces having different acting directions act on the neck K instantaneously.
As a result, the neck K is severely damaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a neck protector that solves the problems of the conventional headrest or safety pillow as described above, that is, a car neck protector. Specifically, a comfortable drive is provided during normal driving. It is intended to provide a car neck protector that is promised and ensures that the neck is protected in the event of an accident.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects of the present invention are attained by constructing the neck protector from a non-elastic or non-restoring material. In other words, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the bulging portion provided in connection with the backrest portion of the vehicle seat mainly corresponds to the neck of the occupant sitting on the seat. An automotive neck protection device adapted to be in contact with the vehicle, wherein the bulging portion is made of a substantially non-resilient material such as hard urethane, a piece of cloth, sawdust, or cut plant material. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile neck protection in which a bulging portion provided in connection with a backrest portion of an automobile seat mainly comes into contact with a neck of a passenger sitting on the seat. The bulging portion is made of a non-restorable material that is broken by a predetermined impact force, such as styrofoam. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the neck protection device according to the first or second aspect is configured separately from a backrest portion of an automobile seat, and is detachably attached to the backrest portion of the seat. The invention according to claim 4 is configured
The cervical protector according to claim 1 or 2 is provided integrally with a backrest portion of an automobile seat, and the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the cervical protector according to claim 3 or 4 is:
The height of the seat of the vehicle with respect to the seat is adjustable. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the neck protection device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is provided together with a headrest adapted to abut the head of the occupant. According to the invention, the neck protection device according to claim 6 is
It is integrated with a headrest that the passenger's head comes into contact with.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to an adult seat. FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view showing a use state of a neck protection device, (b) is an enlarged side view thereof, and (c) is a view thereof. Although it is a rear view, as shown in these figures, the neck protector 1 according to the first embodiment includes:
It is designed to be removably attached above the backrest of a car seat. More specifically,
As is well known in the art, the seat of the car is provided on a floor structure V of the car so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.
And a backrest portion 22 which is pivotally moved about a point 21 at the rear end of the seat portion 20 and whose tilt angle is adjustable.
It is composed of The neck protector 1 according to the first embodiment is detachably mounted above the backrest 22.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the neck protection device 1 comprises a main body 2 and a pair of mounting brackets 10 and 10 mounted on the back side of the main body 2. I have. The main body 2 includes a back portion located on the backrest portion 22 side,
It comprises a front part located on the occupant M side, and the front part comprises a bulging part 3 which is the thickest, and a connecting part 4 which is smoothly thinned downward from the bulging part 3. Have been. As shown in FIG. 1C, a concave portion 7 having a predetermined width wider than the neck portion K is formed on the front side of the bulging portion 3. In addition, the connecting portion 4 is also concave at the center. The recess 7 stably supports the neck K when the occupant M sits on the seat, and the depression of the connecting portion 4 supports the upper portion of the back S, that is, the shoulder. The back portion has the same shape as the backrest portion 22. The main body 2 having such an outer shape
Is made of an outer skin 6 such as leather, artificial leather or cloth, and is filled with a filling such as hard urethane, a piece of cloth, sawdust, or a cut plant. Since the main body 2, ie, the bulging portion 3, is made of such a material, it is not rigid but is hardly compressed, and does not elastically recover even if compressed.

The pair of mounting members 10, 10 are formed in a substantially U-shape so as to have a mounting portion 11 and a locking portion 15 from an elastic material such as metal. A plurality of through holes 12, 12,... Are formed in the mounting portion 11 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction or the vertical direction. .. Are connected by a slit 16 having a predetermined width that is elastically deformed. On the other hand, a pair of metal fittings 17 is attached to the back of the main body 2 at a predetermined interval. The fittings 17, 17 are provided with a plurality of projections 18, 18,... Which fit into the through holes 12, 12,. Therefore, the plurality of projections 18, 18,.
.. Are inserted after being elastically deformed.
A pair of mounting brackets 10 and 10 are mounted on the main body 2. At this time, when inserted into the selected through holes 12, 12,..., The bulging portion 3 has a predetermined height. The distance between the mounting portion 11 and the locking portion 15 is slightly smaller than the thickness of the backrest portion 22.

According to the present embodiment, a headrest 25 is attached to the upper part of the backrest 22 by legs 24 so as to be adjustable in height. The headrest 25 is also made of the same material as the bulging portion 3 described above, and has a recess 26 of a predetermined size and a predetermined depth formed on the front side thereof. The recess 2 is a portion that stably supports the head H,
As shown by a dotted line in (b) of FIG. 1, the shape is continuous with the bulging portion 3 in a curved manner. That is, the bulging portion 3
The concave portion 7 of the headrest 25 and the concave portion 26 of the headrest 25 have a shape that matches the occupant's body shape.

Next, a method of using the above embodiment will be described. A pair of mounting brackets 10, 10 are mounted on the back of the main body 2 by through holes 12, 12,. This allows
Neck protector 1 consisting of main body 2 and mounting hardware 10
Is configured. The seat back 22 is inserted from above so that the seat back 22 is sandwiched between the mounting portions 11 and the locking portions 15 of the mounting brackets 10 and 10. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, it is mounted on the backrest 22. At this time, the through holes 12, 1,
.., And the pair of mounting brackets 10, 10
, The bulging portion 3 has a predetermined height with respect to the seat portion 20. When the occupant M is seated, the upper shoulder portion of the back S is formed in the recess of the connection portion 4 of the main body 2, the neck K is formed by the recess 7 of the bulging portion 3, and the head H is formed by the headrest 2.
5 are stably supported. This allows
A comfortable drive is promised.

If, for example, a rear-end collision occurs during driving, a large acceleration acts on the occupant or the driver M rearward. The back S of the occupant or the driver M is caused by the backrest portion 22, the shoulder portion is caused by the connection portion 4, and the head H is moved. Is secured by the headrest 25 and the important neck K by the bulge 3 of the neck protection 1. In particular, in the conventional safety pillow, the neck K whose safety was not guaranteed due to the elastic material is completely protected. That is, the bulging portion 3 of the main body 2
Is made of an inelastic material having no substantial restoring force, such as hard urethane or a piece of cloth, so that the neck K is not deformed as described with reference to FIG. Further, since the bulging portion 3 does not deform significantly and has no substantial restoring force, the neck portion K is not damaged by the restoring force or the reaction force.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. According to the second embodiment, the neck protection 1 'is formed integrally with the backrest 22'.
That is, the same components as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals with a dash "'" to overlap. Although not described, according to the present embodiment, inside the flexible outer skin 26 forming the backrest 22 ′,
A bulging portion 3 'having the same shape as the bulging portion 3 of the first embodiment is provided. In the second embodiment, the bulging portion 3 'is made of a filling material such as hard urethane, a piece of cloth, sawdust, or a cut plant material.
6 and is attached to the moving table 30. The moving table 30 can be moved up and down as described later. Therefore, the bulging portion 3 ′ moves up and down while deforming the flexible outer skin 26, and its height with respect to the seat portion 20 is adjusted.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the movable table 30 is provided so as to be vertically slidable by a fixed guide member. The rack 31 is formed on one side. On the other hand, the driving member 33 is also provided so as to be slidable in the vertical direction by the guide member. And that one
A rack 34 is formed on the side. These racks 3
A pinion 35 is provided which meshes with the pins 1 and 34. The pinion 35 rotates at a fixed point. Therefore, the driving member 3
When the 3 is driven up and down, the moving table 30 moves down and up. In this embodiment, wires 36 are attached to upper and lower ends of the driving member 33 in order to drive the driving member 33 in the vertical direction. These wires 36 are connected to the seat 2 via guide pulleys.
0, and are attached to the upper and lower ends of the operation lever 37, respectively. The operation lever 37 swings around a fixed point 38. Therefore, when the driver turns the operation lever 37 in a predetermined direction as indicated by an arrow, the driving member 33 is driven in a predetermined direction, and
0 moves in a predetermined direction. That is, it is driven to a predetermined height. Thereby, the height position of the bulging part 3 'is adjusted. In addition, according to the second embodiment, FIG.
Although not shown, a connection portion is formed below the bulging portion 3 ', and a headrest 25 having the above-described shape is attached above the backrest portion 22' in relation to the bulging portion 3 '. I have. As a whole, it is clear that the above-described functions and effects can be obtained.

The present invention can be implemented in various forms without being limited to the above embodiment. For example, wires 36, 36
It is obvious that the moving table 30 can be driven by a link mechanism instead of. It is also clear that the bulging portion 3 'can be driven up and down by a cam. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the height adjustment of the bulging portion 3 ′
Although the operation is manually performed by the operation lever 37, the operation can be performed by an electric motor. In the above embodiment, the bulging portions 3 and 3 ′ are made of hard urethane,
It is composed of pieces of cloth, sawdust, plant cuts, etc.
It can also be composed of a non-restorable material that is destroyed by a predetermined impact force, such as Styrofoam. When made of such a non-restorable material, the impact energy is absorbed when the non-restorable material is destroyed in an accident, and no reaction occurs, so that the neck K is protected.

Although not shown in the drawing, it is clear that the neck protector 1 and the headrest 25 can be integrally formed, and can be attached to the backrest in a height-adjustable and detachable manner. Furthermore, neck protection equipment 1
It is also apparent that the headrest 25 and the headrest 25 are integrally provided on the backrest portion, and the height of the neck protection device 1 and the headrest 25 can be adjusted by the moving device as described above.

In the above embodiment, the neck protector of the adult seat has been described. However, since the child seat also includes a backrest and a headrest located above the backrest, the child seat will be described with particular reference to the drawings. Clearly, it is equally applicable to child seats. Therefore, the expression "car seat" in the claims includes "child seat" and "occupants" include "infant or child".
Will also be included.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the neck protector is provided with the bulging portion which mainly comes into contact with the cervix. You can enjoy a comfortable drive. Since the bulging portion is made of an inelastic material having no substantial restoring force, such as hard urethane, a piece of cloth, sawdust, or a cut piece of plant, for example, in the event of a rear-end collision, the occupant's neck is protected. The safety is maintained by being supported by the bulging portion of the tool. In particular, since the bulging portion is made of an inelastic material having no substantial restoring force, such as hard urethane or a piece of cloth, the neck is not deformed. Further, since the bulging portion does not deform significantly and has no substantial restoring force, an effect unique to the present invention that the neck portion is not damaged by the restoring force or the reaction force is obtained. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the swelling portion is made of a non-restorable material such as styrene foam, which is broken by a predetermined impact force, the swelling portion has an impact force when the swelling portion is broken. Is absorbed. This keeps the neck safe. Also,
According to the invention, the cervical protector is configured separately from the backrest of the seat of the car, and is detachably attached to the backrest of the seat. According to the invention in which the neck protection device is provided integrally with the backrest of the car seat, the user can be prevented from forgetting to wear the neck protection device, and the safety is always guaranteed. Is obtained. Furthermore, according to the invention in which the neck protection device is provided together with the headrest that the head of the occupant comes into contact with, the safety of the occupant's whole body is maintained in cooperation with the backrest of the seat. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view showing a use state of a neck protection device, (b) is an enlarged side view thereof, and (c) is a view thereof. It is a rear perspective view.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention in partial cross section.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a conventional example, in which (a) is a side view showing a first conventional example, and (b) is a side view showing a second conventional example.
(C) is an enlarged view of a main part of the second conventional example, and (d)
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing an operation state of a main part of the second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1 'Neck protector 2 Main body 3, 3' Swelling part 10 Mounting bracket 22 Backrest part 25 Headrest

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An automobile neck protector, wherein a bulging portion provided in connection with a backrest portion of a vehicle seat mainly comes into contact with a neck of an occupant sitting on the seat. The neck protector for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the bulging portion is made of an inelastic material having no substantial restoring force, such as hard urethane, a piece of cloth, sawdust, or cut plant material. 2. An automobile neck protector, wherein a bulging portion provided in connection with a backrest portion of a vehicle seat mainly comes into contact with a neck of a passenger sitting on the seat. The bulge portion is made of a non-restorable material such as styrofoam which is destroyed by a predetermined impact force. 3. An automobile, wherein the neck protection device according to claim 1 or 2 is configured separately from a backrest of a seat of the automobile, and is detachably attached to the backrest of the seat. Neck protection. 4. A neck protector for an automobile, wherein the neck protector according to claim 1 or 2 is provided integrally with a backrest of an automobile seat. 5. A neck protector for an automobile, wherein the height of the neck protector according to claim 3 or 4 is adjustable with respect to a seat of a vehicle. 6. A neck protector for an automobile, wherein the neck protector according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided together with a headrest adapted to abut the head of an occupant. 7. A neck protector for an automobile, wherein the neck protector according to claim 6 is integrated with a headrest adapted to abut an occupant's head.