JP4648062B2 - Seat track equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a seat track device for a vehicle seat, and more particularly to a structure for increasing the strength of a seat track device having a belt anchor.

A seat track device for a vehicle seat generally includes left and right lower rails fixed to a vehicle floor surface, and upper rails slidably engaged with the lower rails. On the upper rails, relative sliding of both rails is provided. Is provided with a lock mechanism for regulating the movement. A belt anchor for detachably supporting the seat belt is supported at the rear part of the upper rail of one of the left and right seat track apparatuses (in the center in the vehicle).
JP-A-11-91418

  A large front load is applied to the seat track device on the side that supports the belt anchor at the time of a vehicle collision (front collision), and a bending load that lifts the rear is applied to the upper rail (and thus the entire seat track device). Conventionally, in order to cope with this bending load, a reinforcement bracket (reinforcing member) has been fixed to the upper rail.

  It is an object of the present invention to obtain a seat track apparatus that can eliminate a reinforcement bracket or reduce the burden thereof.

The present invention has been made based on the viewpoint that a lock-related plate, which is fixed on the upper rail and supports the lock mechanism, is used to reinforce the upper rail.
That is, the present invention provides a lower rail that is fixed to a vehicle floor, an upper rail that is slidably engaged with the lower rail, a lock mechanism that restricts relative sliding between the lower rail and the upper rail, and a belt coupled to the upper rail. In a seat track apparatus having an anchor, a lock-related plate for supporting the lock mechanism and a belt anchor bracket for supporting the belt anchor are provided from a member different from the upper rail, and the lock-related plate and the belt anchor are provided. A lateral wall along the horizontal upper wall of the upper rail is formed on each bracket, and the lateral wall of the lock-related plate is positioned so that the lateral wall of the lock-related plate is positioned before and after the front end of the lateral wall of the belt anchor bracket. Rear and side wall of belt anchor bracket By superimposing the front it is characterized in that fixed on the upper rail.
The lock-related plate and the belt anchor bracket are fixed on the upper rail in a state where the rear portion of the lateral wall of the lock-related plate is sandwiched between the front portion of the lateral wall of the belt anchor bracket and the upper wall of the upper rail. It is preferable.

  If the lock-related plate is formed with a vertical flange extending in the front-rear direction continuously to the lateral wall, resistance against bending load applied to the upper rail via the belt anchor bracket can be increased.

  Further, it is preferable that the lock-related plate and the belt anchor bracket are fastened together by inserting a fastening member with the upper rail into the overlapping portion of the lateral walls.

  According to the present invention, in the seat track device on the side supporting the belt anchor, the reinforcement bracket for preventing the deformation of the upper rail when a collision load is applied is not required, or the burden can be reduced.

  FIG. 11 shows the seat track device 10 on the vehicle center side having the belt anchor 11. That is, the seat track device 10 is generally provided with a pair of left and right below the seat S, each of which is fixed to the floor 12 of the vehicle in the front-rear direction, and is slidable on the lower rail 20. And an upper rail 30 fixed to the lower surface of the seat S. The belt anchor 11 is supported by the upper rail 30 of the seat track device 10 on the vehicle center side. The following “front / rear / left / right / up / down” refers to that of the vehicle.

  The belt anchor 11 is supported by a belt anchor bracket 13 fixed to the upper rail 30 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 13a. As described above, the belt anchor bracket 13 is provided only in one of the left and right seat track apparatuses 10, but the side of the seat track apparatus 10 that does not include the belt anchor bracket 13 corresponds to the belt anchor bracket 13. A riser is provided, and an elevating mechanism 14 for the seat S is provided between the belt anchor bracket 13 and the riser (upper rail 30) and the seat S. Since the lifting mechanism 14 is not related to the feature of the present invention, the description thereof is omitted.

  As is apparent from FIG. 1, the belt anchor bracket 13 has a vertical wall 13b having a shaft 13a and extending in the front-rear direction, and a horizontal wall 13c extending in the horizontal direction from the lower end of the vertical wall 13b. A stepped portion 13 c ′ is formed at the front end of the horizontal wall 13 c so as to form a gap d with the upper wall 31.

The lateral wall 13 c of the belt anchor bracket 13 is fixed to the rear end portion of the upper wall 31 in the horizontal direction of the upper rail 30. On the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30, a composite bracket (lock-related plate) 40 is positioned in front of the belt anchor bracket 13 as a support plate for the locking mechanism of the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30. That is, the lock mechanism of this embodiment is composed of three members: the composite bracket 40, the lock member 50, and the operation handle 60. Regarding the characteristics of the lock mechanism itself, the applicant has applied for a patent separately ( Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2006-224912 and 2006-224913 ).

  The composite bracket 40 has a lateral wall (substrate part) 41 extending in the horizontal direction along the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30. The rear end portion of the lateral wall 41 is overlapped with the lower surface of the step portion 13c ′ of the belt anchor bracket 13 (sandwiched between the step portion 13c ′ and the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30), and a common fixing bolt (fastening) It is fastened to the upper wall 31 by a member 15. In this way, the lateral wall 13c along the upper surface of the upper wall 31 is formed on the belt anchor bracket 13, and the front end portion of the lateral wall 13c is overlapped and fixed on the rear end portion of the lateral wall 41 that is similarly fixed on the upper wall 31. As a result, the bending strength of the upper rail 30 can be increased. The composite bracket 40 and the belt anchor bracket 13 can be fastened to the upper wall 31 by rivet caulking or the like.

  Further, the composite bracket 40 is formed with a vertical flange 41 ′ extending in the front-rear direction continuously to the lateral wall 41 at the inner end of the lateral wall 41. The flange 41 'provides a large resistance when the lateral wall 41 (composite bracket 40) is bent in the vertical direction.

  A specific configuration of the illustrated embodiment will be described next. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7 to 10, the lower rail 20 includes 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. The upper wall 23 that extends inward from the inner wall and the left and right inner vertical walls 24 that extend downward from the inner end of the upper wall 23 have a substantially symmetric box-shaped cross section. An upper rail passage gap 25 is formed.

  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 the left and right end portions thereof, an inclined wall 33 extending obliquely outwardly from the lower end portion of the left and right vertical walls 32, and It has a left-right symmetric cross-sectional shape having outer left and right vertical walls 34 extending upward from the end of the inclined wall 33. The left and right inner vertical walls 24 of the lower rail 20 are located between the left and right vertical walls 32 and the outer left and right vertical walls 34 of the upper rail 30, and a plurality of lock holes 26 are aligned at a constant pitch in the longitudinal direction. ing. A lock member insertion hole 35 is formed in the upper wall 31. Between the inclined wall 33 of the upper rail 30 and the corners of the bottom wall 21 and the left and right vertical walls 22 of the lower rail 20, rolling balls 37 that reduce the frictional resistance between the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 are inserted.

The lower rail 20 is provided with a stopper 27 as a cut and raised piece at a substantially central portion in the length direction (see FIGS. 8 and 9). That is, the stopper 27 cuts and raises a part of the bottom wall 21 of the lower rail 20 and protrudes at a predetermined angle. Stoppers 38a and 38b for regulating the front and rear sliding ends of the upper rail 30 in cooperation with the stopper 27 are provided on the front and rear sides of the upper rail 30, respectively (see FIGS. 6 to 8). The stoppers 38a and 38b are formed so as to protrude from the left and right vertical walls 32 of the upper rail 30 at a predetermined angle. The cut-and-raised angle of the stopper 27 and the stoppers 38a and 38b can be arbitrarily set so that the stopper 27 and the stopper 38a and the stopper 27 and the stopper 38b can come into contact with each other.
When the upper rail 30 (seat S) moves rearward, the stopper 38a and the stopper 27 come into contact with each other to restrict the rear moving end of the upper rail 30, and when the upper rail 30 moves forward, the stopper 38b and the stopper 27 come into contact with each other. The front moving end of the upper rail 30 is regulated.
Thus, if the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 are each provided with the stopper 27 and the stoppers 38a and 38b as cut-and-raised pieces, the front and rear sliding ends of the upper rail can be regulated without requiring separate stoppers. it can. In contrast to the illustrated example, it is possible to form two stoppers before and after the lower rail 20 and to form one stopper on the upper rail 30.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, a resin protective piece 39 is attached to the upper rail 30 along the front-rear direction on the outer left and right vertical walls 34. The protective piece 39 made of resin has an engaging claw 39a that engages with a longitudinal hole 34a formed in the outer left and right vertical walls 34, and a drop prevention portion 39b that is substantially orthogonal to the outer left and right vertical walls 34. The sliding resistance between the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 is reduced. The resin protection piece 39 is placed along the edge portion of the outer left and right vertical walls 34, and when the engaging claw 39 a is engaged with the elongated hole 34 a, the drop prevention portion 39 b comes into contact with the inner walls of the left and right vertical walls 22 of the lower rail 20. . The engaging claw 39a and the drop-off preventing portion 39b prevent the resin protective piece 39 from easily falling off the outer left and right vertical walls 34.
Further, since the resin protective piece 39 is made of a resin material and covers the edge portions of the outer left and right vertical walls 34, when the upper rail 30 protrudes forward and backward of the lower rail 20, the operator's hand is temporarily placed on the outer left and right vertical walls 34. Touching the edge of the hand will not hurt your hand.

  The composite bracket 40 has both a support function of the lock member 50, a rotation urging function, and a support function of the operation handle 60, and is formed by pressing a single leaf spring material. The composite bracket 40 includes a rotation fulcrum protrusion 42 formed by projecting a part of the lateral wall 41 upward, a leaf spring portion 43 that applies a rotation urging force in the locking direction to the lock member 50, and an operation handle 60. It has an urging support portion 44 to support. A locking member insertion hole 41 a is formed in the lateral wall 41 at the side of the rotation fulcrum protrusion 42 so as to match the position of the locking member insertion hole 35 of the upper wall 31.

  The rotation fulcrum protrusion 42 has a substantially U-shape (J) in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction) having a vertical wall 42a and a convex semi-cylindrical convex cylindrical surface 42b connected to the upper end of the vertical wall 42a. In this embodiment, it is divided into two parts.

  The lock member 50 is inserted into the lock member insertion hole 41a of the composite bracket 40 and the lock member insertion hole 35 of the upper rail 30, and its length A in the front-rear direction (FIG. 1) and the same direction of the lock member insertion hole 41a. The length A (same as above) and the length A (same as the same) of the lock member insertion hole 35 allow play in the front-rear direction within the lock member insertion hole 41a (lock member insertion hole 35) of the lock member 50. It is set to be as small as possible. The locking member 50 is supported at one end portion (outer end portion) projecting on the lateral wall 41 (upper wall 31) so as to be rotatable in surface contact with the convex cylindrical surface 42b of the rotation fulcrum protrusion 42. The concave cylindrical surface 51 is formed, and the other end (inner end) is formed with a lock claw 52 that engages with one or more (four in the illustrated example) of the lock holes 26 of the lower rail 20. Yes. The concave cylindrical surface 51 consists of a part of cylindrical surface corresponding to the convex cylindrical surface 42b. In the lock member 50, a force applying portion 53 that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the concave cylindrical surface 51 is formed on the opposite side of the locking claw 52 at the center in the front-rear direction of the concave cylindrical surface 51. Lock holes 36 through which the lock claws 52 enter and exit are formed at the same pitch as the lock holes 26 in the left and right vertical walls 32 and the outer left and right vertical walls 34 of the upper rail 30.

  Further, the lock member 50 is formed with a protruding bent piece 54 protruding at the front and rear end portions thereof. The retaining bent piece 54 extends below the convex cylindrical surface 42b to prevent the lock member 50 from falling off when the concave cylindrical surface 51 is placed on the rotation fulcrum protrusion 42, and rotates with the concave cylindrical surface 51. The surface contact with the convex cylindrical surface 42b of the fulcrum protrusion 42 is maintained.

The plate spring portion 43 of the composite bracket 40 is formed by bending a part of the lateral wall 41 upward in a U-shape, and the tip applying force portion 43a is located in the middle of the pivot fulcrum protrusion 42 divided into two. It extends. The tip applying force portion 43 a is placed on the opposite side of the applying force portion 53 in a state where the series of concave cylindrical surfaces 51 of the lock member 50 are placed on the convex cylindrical surface 42 b of the pair of rotation fulcrum protrusions 42. The convex cylindrical surface 42b and the concave cylindrical surface 51 are brought into close contact with the member 50, and the lock member 50 is rotationally biased in the locking direction, that is, the direction in which the lock claw 52 is engaged with the lock hole 26. . For this reason, the leading force applying portion 43a does not extend up to the generatrix connecting the apexes of the convex cylindrical surface 42b divided into two, but has a length immediately before the generatrix (extends directly above the generatrix). And the rotation biasing force cannot be applied to the lock member 50). The locking member 50 is prevented from falling off by the leaf spring portion 43, but it is preferable to provide a retaining bent piece 54 in order to prevent the falling off more reliably.
In addition, the front-end | tip force-applying part 43a can set the length beyond a bus line, when it has an action point (power point) with respect to the locking member 50 just before a bus line.

  The urging support portion 44 of the composite bracket 40 is located on the opposite side of the leaf spring portion 43 in parallel with the rotation fulcrum protrusion 42 and is located on the same plane as the lateral wall 41, and the lower support surface. A rear extension arm portion 44b that is bent in a U-shape and a clip shape at the front and rear of the front end 44a via a first bent portion 44b ′, and a rear end portion of the rear extended arm portion 44b is a second bent portion 44c ′. And a front extension arm portion 44c bent in a U-shape in a clip shape at an upper front side. “Clip-like” means that the rear extension arm portion 44b approaches the lower support surface 44a as it moves away from the first bent portion 44b ′, and the front extension arm portion 44c moves away from the second bent portion 44c ′. Means approaching. The radius of curvature of the second bent portion 44c 'of the front extended arm portion 44c is set smaller than the radius of curvature of the first bent portion 44b' of the rear extended arm portion 44b.

  An insertion window 44d for the operation handle 60 is formed in the first bent portion 44b 'extending from the lower support surface 44a to the rear extension arm portion 44b, and a viewing window 44e is formed in the rear extension arm portion 44b. The insertion window 44 d is positioned in front of the force applying portion 53 of the lock member 50 supported by the rotation fulcrum protrusion 42. An upward pressing piece 44f that pushes upward on the operation handle 60 inserted from the insertion window 44d is formed as a raised piece on the rear extension arm 44b. The front extension arm 44c is formed with a retaining projection 44g of the operation handle 60 at its free end. The lower support surface 44a is formed with a guiding bent piece 44h positioned below the insertion window 44d.

  The operation handle 60 is formed by gradually processing the rear end portion of the pipe material into a flat cross section. After being inserted into the insertion window 44d through the lead-in bent piece 44h, the operation handle 60 is guided on the upper pressing piece 44f, and the rear end. The part fits between the bent parts of the rear extension arm part 44b and the front extension arm part 44c. The operation handle 60 is formed with a retaining recess 61 that fits into the retaining projection 44g when the rear end thereof is pushed into the insertion end between the bent portions extending from the rear extension arm portion 44b to the front extension arm portion 44c. Yes. In a state where the retaining protrusion 44g is fitted in the retaining recess 61, the rear end taper portion of the operation handle 60 is closely attached between the rear extension arm portion 44b and the front extension arm portion 44c (upward pressing piece 44f), and the insertion window 44d. And the operation handle 60 are fitted with a minimum clearance. The lead-in bent piece 44h facilitates insertion of the operation handle 60 into the urging support portion 44. In the free state in which the operation handle 60 is correctly inserted and supported by the biasing support portion 44, the insertion window 44d is driven by the spring force of the biasing support portion 44 (mainly the rear extension arm portion 44b and the front extension arm portion 44c). With the vicinity as a swing fulcrum, the rear end action part 62 is urged to rotate so as to be positioned below the front (approaching the lower support surface 44a).

  In the assembled state, the rear end action portion 62 of the operation handle 60 is positioned immediately above the force-applying portion 53 of the lock member 50 against the spring force of the biasing support portion 44. The rotational biasing force of the lock member 50 by the leaf spring portion 43 is set to be stronger than the rotational biasing force of the biasing support portion 44. For this reason, in a state where the rear end action part 62 is positioned on the force applying part 53, the operation handle 60 is lifted by the force applying part 53 and swings around the vicinity of the insertion window 44d to move forward. The operation unit is lowered. The front operation portion of the operation handle 60 extends, for example, to the lower surface of the seat S, and when the operator lifts it, the rear end action portion 62 resists the force of the leaf spring portion 43 of the composite bracket 40 and the force applied to the lock member 50. The portion 53 is pressed downward and rotated in the unlocking direction, and the lock claw 52 is detached from the lock hole 36 of the upper rail 30 and the lock hole 26 of the lower rail 20.

  Accordingly, in the seat track device 10, when no external force is applied to the operation handle 60, the lock claw 52 of the lock member 50 locks the lock hole 36 of the upper rail 30 and the lower rail 20 by the spring force of the plate spring portion 43 of the composite bracket 40. By engaging with the hole 26, sliding of the upper rail 30 (seat S) with respect to the lower rail 20 (vehicle floor 12) is prevented (locked).

  In this locked state, when the front operation portion of the operation handle 60 extending to the lower surface of the seat S is lifted, the rear end action portion 62 (more precisely, the lower surface of the rearward extension arm portion 44b of the biasing support portion 44) The force applying portion 53 of the lock member 50 is directly pressed against the force to rotate the lock member 50 in the unlocking direction. This rotation occurs along the cylindrical surface contact between the convex cylindrical surface 42 b of the rotational fulcrum protrusion 42 and the concave cylindrical surface 51 of the lock member 50. Then, since the lock claw 52 is detached from the lock hole 36 of the upper rail 30 and the lock hole 26 of the lower rail 20, the upper rail 30 can be freely slid with respect to the lower rail 20, and the front-rear position of the seat S can be adjusted.

The locking mechanism of the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 described in the above embodiment shows an example. In the above embodiment, the composite bracket 40 is shown as a lock-related plate that overlaps the front portion of the belt anchor bracket 13 and is fixed on the upper rail. However, the composite bracket 40 does not have to be a composite bracket and supports the lock mechanism. Any plate can be used. As long as the belt anchor bracket 13 and the lock-related plate have a lateral wall along the upper wall 31 of the upper rail 30, the shape structure of other parts is not limited.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the principal part which shows one Embodiment of the seat track apparatus by this invention. It is the same side view. It is the same top view. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in a locked state along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3. It is sectional drawing of the unlocked state. It is a side view of the disassembled state of an upper rail and a lower rail. It is sectional drawing which follows the VII-VII line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VIII-VIII line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the IX-IX line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the XX line of FIG. It is a side view of the seat track device which has the belt anchor bracket made into the object of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seat track apparatus 11 Belt anchor 12 Floor 13 Belt anchor bracket 13a Shaft 13b Vertical wall 13c Horizontal wall 13c 'Level difference part
13 '' front end 14 lifting mechanism 15 fixing bolt (fastening member)
20 Lower rail 21 Bottom wall 22 Left and right vertical wall 23 Upper wall 24 Left and right inner vertical wall 25 Upper rail passage gap 26 36 Lock hole 27 38a 38b Stopper 30 Upper rail 31 Upper wall 32 Left and right vertical wall 33 Inclined wall 34 Outside left and right vertical wall 34a Long hole 35 41a Lock member insertion hole 37 Rolling ball 39 Resin protective piece 39a Engaging claw 39b Fall-off prevention part 40 Composite bracket (lock-related plate)
41 Horizontal wall (board part)
41 'Flange 42 Rotating fulcrum protrusion 42a Vertical wall 42b Convex cylindrical surface 43 Leaf spring portion 43a Tip force applying portion 44 Energizing support portion 44a Lower support surface 44b Rear extension arm portion 44c Front extension arm portion 44d Insertion window 44e Viewing window 44f Upper Pressing piece 44g Stopping protrusion 44h Guide bending piece 50 Locking member 51 Concave cylindrical surface 52 Locking claw 53 Adhering portion 54 Stopping bending piece 60 Operation handle (operation member)
61 Retaining recessed part 62 Rear end action part S sheet

Claims (4)

A seat having a lower rail fixed to a vehicle floor, an upper rail slidably engaged with the lower rail, a lock mechanism for restricting relative sliding of the lower rail and the upper rail, and a belt anchor coupled to the upper rail In truck equipment,
A lock-related plate for supporting the lock mechanism and a belt anchor bracket for supporting the belt anchor are provided from a member different from the upper rail,
Each of the lock-related plate and the belt anchor bracket forms a lateral wall along the horizontal upper wall of the upper rail,
The rear part of the side wall of the lock-related plate and the front part of the side wall of the belt anchor bracket are overlapped on the upper rail so that the side wall of the lock-related plate is positioned across the front end of the side wall of the belt anchor bracket. A seat track device characterized by being fixed. 2. The seat track apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock-related plate and the belt anchor bracket are sandwiched between a front portion of the side wall of the belt anchor bracket and an upper wall of the upper rail. The seat track device fixed on the upper rail in a state of being applied. 3. The seat track apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock-related plate is formed with a vertical flange extending in the front-rear direction so as to be continuous with the lateral wall. 4. The seat track apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a fastening member for an upper rail is inserted into an overlapping portion of the lock-related plate and a lateral wall of the belt anchor bracket and fastened together. .

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