JP2006290233A - Seat track device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seat track device with a small number of parts capable of supporting a lock member without requiring a shaft member as another member and an urging spring and reducing assembling cost in the seat track device having a lower rail having a lock hole row and fixed to a floor surface of a vehicle; an upper rail slidably engaged with the lower rail and fixed to a seat; a lock member having a lock claw supported on the upper rail and selectively engageable with any one or more of lock holes of the lock hole row according to a slide position relative to the lower rail of the upper rail; and an operation member for moving the lock member to an unlocked position where the lock claw is removed from the lock hole. <P>SOLUTION: The lock member is constituted by a spring-like cantilever lock lever having one end fixed to the upper rail and the lock claw engaged with the lock hole of the lower rail is formed at a free end side of the cantilever lock lever in the free state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a seat track device for a vehicle seat, and more particularly to a locking device thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a seat track device for a vehicle seat includes a pair of left and right lower rails fixed to a vehicle floor, and a pair of upper rails slidably engaged with the lower rail and fixed to a seat. At least one of the lower rails is formed with a row of lock holes aligned in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction). The upper rail has one of the lock hole rows according to the front-rear position of the upper rail (seat). A lock member that is selectively engaged with the above-described lock holes is rotatably supported.
JP 2002-172959 A

  Conventionally, this seat track device supports a lock member in a pivotable manner and urges the lock member to pivot in the locking direction. In addition, the seat track device has a shaft member formed separately from the upper rail, and the locking member around the shaft member in the locking direction. An urging spring that urges rotation is essential. However, the necessity of the shaft member and the urging spring requires its assembling work and a retaining structure, which is a cost increase factor. In addition, in order to meet the demand for thinner slide rails, a type in which the lock member is pivotally mounted by an axis in the vertical direction is also known, but in order to transmit the movement of the operation handle to the lock member, it is complicated. A simple link mechanism is required (Patent Document 1).

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a seat track apparatus that can support a lock member without requiring a shaft member and a biasing spring as separate members, reduce the number of components, and reduce assembly costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat track device that can simplify an operation mechanism for moving a lock member in an unlocking direction.

The present invention has been made based on the viewpoint that if the lock member is formed of a cantilever spring material, neither a shaft member as a separate member nor a biasing spring is required.
That is, the present invention relates to a lower rail fixed to a vehicle floor surface in which lock hole rows aligned in the longitudinal direction are formed; an upper rail slidably engaged with the lower rail and fixed to a seat; And a lock member having a lock claw that can be selectively engaged with one or more lock holes in the row of lock holes according to the sliding position of the upper rail with respect to the lower rail; And an operation member that moves the lock claw to an unlock position where the lock claw is removed from the lock hole. The lock member has one end in the front-rear direction fixed to the upper rail and the other free end is elastic in the left-right direction. It is composed of a deformable spring-loaded cantilever lock lever. And the locking pawl which engages either during, is characterized in that the formation of the force application portion for deforming said lock lever in the unlocking direction by receiving the vertical direction of the operation force of the operation member.

  In order to move the cantilevered lock lever to the unlocked position by the operating member, the force application part of the cantilevered lock lever is composed of, for example, an inclined pressing surface that opens upward, and the operating member is supported on the upper rail so as to be rotatable. The rotation lever is provided, and when the rotation operation lever is rotated in the unlocking direction, the rotation lever is engaged with the inclined pressing surface of the cantilever lock lever to unlock the lock lever. An action part that is deformed and moved to a position can be formed.

  According to the present invention, since the lock member can be configured without the need for the shaft member and the biasing spring as separate members, a seat track device with a reduced number of parts and reduced weight and assembly cost can be obtained. . Further, since the operation member only needs to be able to apply an operation force to the force applying portion of the lock lever, the operation member has a degree of freedom in shape and the like, and a simple link mechanism can be used.

  The seat track device 10 is generally provided with a pair of left and right below the seat S (FIG. 6). The seat track device 10 includes a lower rail 20 fixed to the vehicle floor 11 in the front-rear direction, and an upper rail 30 that is slidably fitted to the lower rail 20 and fixed to the lower surface of the seat S. Yes. Both the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 are made of a long uniform cross-section material. The following “front / rear / left / right / up / down” refers to that of the vehicle.

  1 to 5 show an embodiment of a seat track apparatus 10 according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the lower rail 20 has a bottom wall 21, a left and right vertical wall 22 that extends upward from the left and right ends of the bottom wall 21, and an upper end of the left and right vertical wall 22 that is U-shaped. The left and right inner vertical walls 24 are folded in a shape, and an upper rail passage gap 25 is formed at the center of the left and right inner vertical walls 24. The heights of the left and right vertical walls 22 are different in size, and each has a ball storage convex portion 23 that swells outward.

  The upper rail 30 includes an upper wall 31 fixed to the lower surface of the seat S, left and right vertical walls 32 extending downward from left and right ends thereof, and outer left and right vertical walls 34 formed by folding the lower ends of the left and right vertical walls 32 upward. Have. The height of the outer left and right vertical walls 34 varies depending on the height of the left and right vertical walls 22 of the lower rail 20, and each ball storage convex portion 33 swells inward corresponding to the ball storage convex portion 23 of the lower rail 20. have. The left and right inner vertical walls 24 of the lower rail 20 are positioned between the left and right vertical walls 32 and the outer left and right vertical walls 34 of the upper rail 30, and the higher left and right inner vertical walls 24 are constant in the longitudinal direction thereof. Between the ball storage convex portion 23 of the lower rail 20 and the ball storage convex portion 33 of the upper rail 30 formed by aligning a number of lock holes 26 at a pitch, there is a ball retainer 35 that reduces the frictional resistance of both rails. It is stored. The ball retainer 35 holds a large number of balls 35b on a retainer plate 35a.

  In the present embodiment, one end of a cantilever lock lever 40 made of a spring material (plate spring material) is fixed to the upper rail 30 with respect to the seat track apparatus 10 having the above configuration. The cantilever lock lever 40 is long in the front-rear direction, and has an L-shaped cross-sectional portion 41 along the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30 and one of the left and right vertical walls 32 at the front end thereof. It is fixed to the upper wall 31 by a fixing pin 41a. The cantilever lock lever 40 has an elastically deformable arm 42 in which the plate thickness plane extending backward in the upper rail 30 from the L-shaped cross-section 41 is directed in the vertical direction. Four lock claws 43 are formed in a direction perpendicular to the plate thickness direction of the elastically deformable arm 42 to selectively engage with one or more of the lock holes 26 (four in the illustrated example). In addition, the elastically deformable arm 42 is formed with an inclined pressing surface (forced portion) 44 that is open upward from the lock claw 43 toward the L-shaped cross section 41. In addition, a lock hole 36 in which the lock claw 43 of the cantilever lock lever 40 advances and retreats is formed in one of the left and right vertical walls 32 and the outer left and right vertical walls 34 of the upper rail 30. In a free state in which the positions of the lock claw 43 and the lock hole 26 and the lock hole 36 coincide with each other, the elastic claw 43 returns into a straight shape and enters the lock hole 26 and the lock hole 36 due to the spring property of the elastic deformation arm 42 (see FIG. 4).

  A support bracket 50 of the operation handle is fixed on the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30 by welding, for example. The support bracket 50 has a left and right flat surface portion 50a along the upper wall 31, and an upper and lower flat surface portion 50b bent downward at the inner end of the left and right flat surface portion 50a. A dynamic support cylinder portion 50c is formed. A pipe-shaped rotation operation lever 51 is rotatably inserted into the rotation support cylinder portion 50c, and a retaining ring 51e is coupled to the insertion end. The rotation operation lever 51 constitutes an operation portion 51a whose front extends to the lower surface of the sheet S. Further, a working arm 51b extending rearward is fixed to the rotation operation lever 51 by welding, and a working portion 51c that engages with the inclined pressing surface 44 is formed at a free end portion (rear end portion) of the working arm 51b. Has been. The action part 51 c is formed of a part of a cylindrical surface, and as is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, has an inclined shape along the inclination of the inclined pressing surface 44 in front view, and is formed on the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30. It faces the inside of the upper rail 30 through the formed cutout hole 31a. The torsion spring 52 is hooked between a spring hooking portion 50d formed on the support bracket 50 and a spring hooking projection 51d formed on the action arm 51b, and the action portion 51c of the rotating operation lever 51 is inclined to the inclined pressing surface 44. It is urged to rotate in the direction of contact. The urging force of the torsion spring 52 is sufficiently weaker than the urging force of the elastically deformable arm 42 of the cantilever lock lever 40, and in the free state, the action portion 51c simply abuts against the inclined pressing surface 44 (FIG. 4).

  Therefore, the seat track device 10 having the above configuration is configured so that the lock claw 43 is locked with either of the lock holes 26 by the force of the elastically deformable arm 42 of the cantilever lock lever 40 when no operation force is applied to the rotation operation lever 51. 36 is engaged (blocked) with the upper rail 30 (seat S) against the lower rail 20 (vehicle floor) (solid lines in FIGS. 4 and 2). When the operation portion 51a is lifted upward and the rotation operation lever 51 is rotated about the rotation support cylinder portion 50c, the action portion 51c presses the inclined pressing surface 44 and elastically deforms the elastic deformation arm 42 of the cantilever lock lever 40. The lock claw 43 is detached from the lock holes 26 and 36 (FIG. 5, FIG. 2 chain line). In this state, the front and rear positions of the seat can be adjusted by sliding the upper rail 30 with respect to the lower rail 20. After the adjustment, when the operation force to the operation portion 51a is released, the elastically deformable arm 42 of the cantilever lock lever 40 returns to the linear shape again, and the lock claw 43 is placed in one of the lock holes 26 and the lock hole 36. The upper rail 30 is slidable with respect to the lower rail 20 by engaging.

  The above-described lock / unlock operation is not different from a normal seat track apparatus. In this embodiment, the L-shaped cross-section 41 at one end of the cantilever lock lever 40 is fixed to the upper rail 30, and the lock claw 43 at the free end of the elastically deformable arm 42 is engaged with and disengaged from the lock hole 26. The shaft member for supporting the lock member and the biasing spring for biasing in the locking direction can be omitted.

  Many cross-sectional shapes of the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 are known, and the illustrated shape is merely an example. In the present invention, the cross-sectional shapes of the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 are not particularly limited as long as the cantilever lock lever 40 can be fixed.

  In the above embodiment, in order to act on the force applying portion 44 of the cantilever lock lever 40 and elastically deform and move it to the unlock position, the rotation operation lever 51 that rotates about the left-right axis is used. For example, the cantilever lock lever 40 can be similarly elastically deformed by an operation lever that rotates about a longitudinal axis. Furthermore, a more complicated link mechanism may be used depending on the installation environment (location and distance between the operation position and the lock position).

  In the above embodiment, the lock rail 36 corresponding to the lock hole 26 of the lower rail 20 is provided in the upper rail 30, but the position of the cantilever lock lever 40 (lock claw 43) in the front-rear direction with respect to the upper rail 30 is an L-shaped cross section. Since it is determined by the (fixed portion) 41, the lock hole 36 of the upper rail 30 can be a simple through hole through which the entire four lock claws 43 pass.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the principal part which shows one Embodiment of the seat track apparatus by this invention. It is a top view of the principal part. It is the same side view. It is sectional drawing of the locked state which follows the IV-IV line of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the unlocked state which follows the IV-IV line of FIG. It is a side view of a vehicle seat having a seat track device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seat track apparatus 11 Floor surface 20 Lower rail 21 Bottom wall 22 Left and right vertical wall 23 Ball storage convex part 24 Right and left inner vertical wall 25 Upper rail passage clearance 26 36 Lock hole 30 Upper rail 31 Upper wall 31a Notch hole 32 Left and right vertical wall 33 Ball storage convex Part 34 outer left and right vertical wall 35 ball retainer 35a retainer plate 35b ball 40 cantilever lock lever 41 L-shaped cross section (fixed part)
41a Fixed pin 42 Elastically deformable arm 43 Lock claw 44 Inclined pressing surface (forced portion)
50 support bracket 50a left and right plane part 50b upper and lower plane part 50c rotation support cylinder part 50d spring hook part 51 rotation operation lever 51a operation part 51b action arm 51c action part 51d spring hooking protrusion 51e retaining ring 52 torsion spring S sheet

Claims (2)

A lower rail fixed to the vehicle floor formed with a row of lock holes aligned in the longitudinal direction;
An upper rail slidably engaged with the lower rail and fixed to the seat;
A lock member supported on the upper rail and having a lock claw that can be selectively engaged with any one or more of the lock hole rows according to the sliding position of the upper rail with respect to the lower rail;
An operation member for moving the lock member to an unlock position where the lock claw is removed from the lock hole;
In a seat track device having
The lock member is composed of a spring-like cantilever lock lever whose one end in the front-rear direction is fixed to the upper rail and the other free end is elastically deformable in the left-right direction. The free end side of the cantilever lock lever In addition, the lock claw that engages with any one of the lock hole rows of the lower rail in a free state, and the attachment portion that deforms the lock lever in the unlocking direction by receiving the operation force in the vertical direction of the operation member are formed. A seat track device. 2. The seat track device according to claim 1, wherein the force-applying portion of the cantilever lock lever comprises an inclined pressing surface opened upward, and the operation member includes a rotation operation lever supported on the upper rail so as to be freely rotatable. When the turning lever is turned in the unlocking direction, the turning lever engages with the inclined pressing surface of the cantilevered lock lever and deforms and moves the lock lever to the unlocked position. A seat track device in which an action part is formed.

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