JP4764740B2 - Vehicle seat reclining device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat reclining device, and in particular, is provided with restricting means for restricting a connecting shaft that connects left and right seat reclining units of a seat from coming out of the seat reclining unit at both ends of the connecting shaft.

  A differential transmission mechanism having a large reduction ratio is adopted as an angle adjustment mechanism of the seat back in the vehicle seat reclining device, and the seat back is rotated manually or electrically.

  A vehicle seat reclining device that employs a differential transmission mechanism includes a seat reclining unit that rotates a seat back on the left and right sides of a seat cushion. The seat reclining unit includes an input side rotation member, a speed reduction mechanism that decelerates the rotation of the input side rotation member, and an output side rotation member that outputs rotation decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism, and the output side rotation member Are integrally coupled to the left and right lower portions of the seat back.

  The connecting shaft is inserted into the left and right input-side rotating members via spline engagement, and a restricting means is provided at the left and right ends of the connecting shaft to restrict the connecting shaft from coming off from the input-side rotating member. Yes. Further, driving means is connected to the connecting shaft.

Reference 1 discloses a vehicle seat reclining device using the differential transmission mechanism. In the invention described in the cited document 1, as a restricting means, a circumferential groove is formed at both ends of the connecting shaft, a snap ring is attached to the circumferential groove, and an operating lever as a driving means is provided at one end of the connecting shaft. Is provided.
JP 2000-342369 A

  However, when a snap ring is used, not only the number of parts increases, but also the number of processing steps increases because a circumferential groove must be formed on the connecting shaft. Further, since the circumferential groove is formed, the position of the snap ring cannot be changed.

  On the other hand, when adopting a configuration in which an operation lever is attached to one end of the connecting shaft, it is sufficient to attach a push nut only to the other end, but in the stage before attaching the operating lever, the connecting shaft is There is a problem that the position of the connecting shaft cannot be determined because it is movable in the axial direction.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a seat reclining device configured so that a connecting shaft that connects the left and right seat reclining units is positioned reliably.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a seat is configured by a seat cushion and a seat back that is rotatable with respect to the seat cushion, and a seat reclining unit that rotates the seat back is provided on the left and right of the seat cushion. ,
Each of the seat reclining units includes a cylindrical input side rotation member, a speed reduction mechanism that decelerates rotation of the input side rotation member, and an output side rotation member that outputs rotation decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism. The output-side rotating member is integrally coupled to the left and right lower portions of the seat back, and a connecting shaft is inserted into the left and right input-side rotating members via spline engagements, respectively, at the left and right ends of the connecting shaft. In a vehicle seat reclining device in which a restricting means for restricting movement of the connecting shaft in the axial direction with respect to the input-side rotating member is provided, and a driving means is connected to the connecting shaft, one of the restricting means As described above, a stopper portion is formed on at least one spline tooth of the connecting shaft constituting the spline engagement by projecting a part of the spline tooth to the side of the spline tooth. , As the other regulating means, characterized in that the push nut to the connecting shaft is fitted.

  According to the present invention, since the stopper portion is integrally formed with the connecting shaft in advance at one end of the connecting shaft, the other end of the connecting shaft is inserted into both of the cylindrical input side rotating members in the left and right seat reclining units. When the stopper is in contact with the end surface of the input-side rotating member, the connecting shaft is prevented from coming off and positioned simply by attaching a push nut to the other end of the connecting shaft. Since the distance from the end surface of the connecting shaft to the stopper portion is constant, the position of the connecting shaft relative to the left and right seat reclining units is inevitably determined only by attaching the push nut.

  According to the invention of claim 1, as one of the restricting means, at least one spline tooth of the connecting shaft constituting the spline engagement is caused to project a part of the spline tooth to the side of the spline tooth. Since the stopper part is formed and the push nut is fitted to the connecting shaft as the other of the restricting means, the distance from one end of the connecting shaft to the stopper part is constant, and it is possible to attach the push nut to the left and right seat reclining units. Positioning of the connecting shaft is inevitably performed. Moreover, when the situation where it is necessary to change the relative position of the connecting shaft with respect to the left and right seat reclining units occurs, it can be easily handled by changing the position of the push nut.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a seat reclining device according to the present invention will be described.

  1 is a perspective view of a main part, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a state in which left and right seat reclining units are connected via a connecting shaft, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a seat reclining device, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state seen from the right side with the base plate removed.

  A vehicle seat includes a seat cushion and a seat back that is rotatable with respect to the seat cushion. And the seat reclining unit which rotates a seat back is provided in the right and left of a seat cushion. As shown in FIG. 2, the seat reclining device 1 is configured by connecting the left and right seat reclining units 2 via a connecting shaft 3.

  The left and right seat reclining units 2 are configured as shown in FIG. While the arm 4 is attached to a seat cushion (not shown), the arm 5 is attached to a seat back (not shown), and the seat reclining unit 2 is provided between the arm 4 and the arm 5. The seat reclining unit 2 includes a base plate 6 that is integrally coupled to the arm 4, an external tooth gear 7 that is press-fitted into the base plate 6, an internal gear 8 that is integrally coupled to the arm 5, and the base plate A holder ring 9 that restricts axial movement of the inner gear 8 relative to the inner gear 8 and a meshing portion that meshes with the outer gear 7 by decentering the inner gear 8 along the circumference. An eccentric drive mechanism 10 that eccentrically drives the internal gear 8 for movement is provided.

  The arm 4 and the base plate 6 are integrally coupled by fitting the six convex portions 6a into the six holes 4a, and the arm 5 and the internal gear 8 are fitted with the six convex portions 8a into the six holes 5a. Are connected together.

  In the press-fitting of the external gear 7 and the base plate 6, a plurality of press-fitting inner teeth 6 b are intermittently formed on the base plate 6. The external gear 7 and the base plate 6 are integrated. The teeth 8c (not shown in FIG. 3) of the internal gear 8 mesh with the left half of the external gear 7 in the axial direction. Here, the number of teeth 8c of the internal gear 8 is increased by one with respect to the fraction of the teeth 7a of the external gear 7.

  The configuration of the eccentric drive mechanism 10 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 2, a cylindrical portion 8b concentric with the internal gear 8 is formed inside the internal gear 8, and the inner peripheral bearing portion 7b of the cylindrical portion 8b and the external gear 7 is formed as shown in FIG. A circular eccentric space is formed between the two. A pair of lock plates 11 are arranged in the eccentric space. The pair of lock plates 11 is provided in order to always maintain a state free from backlash, and a spring 12 is provided to urge the pair of lock plates 11 in the circumferential direction away from each other. ing.

  A center shaft 13 is provided for pressing and moving the pair of lock plates 11 along the circumferential direction inside the eccentric space. The center shaft 13 presses the end of the one lock plate 11 whose width is narrower along the circumferential direction, and turns the one lock plate 11. The center shaft 13 includes a cylindrical portion 13a inserted into the cylindrical portion 8b of the internal gear 8, a flange portion 13b formed on the one end side of the cylindrical portion 13a along the circumferential direction, and the flange It is comprised by a pair of press part 13c which protrudes substantially parallel to the cylinder part 13a along the axial direction from between the parts 13b.

  The above-mentioned members are assembled in the axial direction, and the internal gear 8 and the base plate 6 are assembled via the holder ring 9 with the external gear 7 and the eccentric drive mechanism 10 sandwiched therebetween. The tooth gear 8 can rotate relatively.

  In the above configuration, the center shaft 13 constitutes a cylindrical input side rotating member of the seat reclining unit 2, and the base plate 6, the external gear 7, the internal gear 8, the holder ring 9, and the eccentric drive mechanism 10 serve as a speed reduction mechanism. The output side rotation member which comprises and outputs the rotation in which the internal gear 8 decelerated is comprised.

  The seat reclining unit 2 is configured as described above, and the connecting shaft 3 is inserted into both the center shafts 3 constituting the left and right seat reclining units 2 via spline engagement. As shown in FIG. 1, seven spline teeth 3 a along the axial direction are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft 3 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction, while the inner peripheral surface of the center shaft 13 is axially formed on the inner peripheral surface. Seven grooves 13d along the circumferential direction are formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction, and the connecting shaft 3 is inserted into the center shaft 13.

  In addition, the right and left ends of the connecting shaft 3 are provided with restriction means for restricting the connecting shaft 3 from moving in the axial direction relative to the center shaft 13. As the restricting means, a stopper portion 3b is formed in the vicinity of the left end of the connecting shaft 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a push nut 3c is fitted into the right end of the connecting shaft 3 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1A, the stopper portion 3b is formed by projecting a part of the spline teeth 3a to the side of the spline teeth 3a on one spline tooth 3a, By pressurizing and compressing the spline teeth 3a with respect to the connecting shaft 3 from the outside in the radial direction, a part of the spline teeth 3a escapes laterally to form the stopper portion 3b. The stopper portion 3b is formed in advance before the connecting shaft 3 is inserted through the center shaft 13, and the push nut 3c is mounted after the connecting shaft 3 is inserted through the two center shafts 13.

  A motor 14 as drive means is connected to the connecting shaft 3 configured in this way. As shown in FIG. 2, a motor 14 is attached to the inside of the left arm 5, and a housing 15 is coupled to the motor 14. A spur gear 16 that is spline-engaged with the connecting shaft 3 is rotatably supported inside the housing 15, and the spur gear 16 is connected to be linked to the output shaft of the motor 14.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle seat reclining device will be described.

  When the connecting shaft 3 is rotated in any direction by the motor 14 via the spur gear 16, the left and right center shafts 13 that are spline-engaged with the connecting shaft 3 are rotated in either direction. Then, the pressing portion 13 c of the center shaft 13 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 rotates to press one of the pair of lock plates 11. At this time, the spring 12 is slightly compressed, and the pair of lock plates 11 is formed in an eccentric space without causing a gap between the members while repeating that the other lock plate 11 is slightly rotated in the same direction by the amount of compression. Swirl along the circumference inside. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the internal gear 8 meshes with the external gear 7 at the upper position corresponding to the position of the pair of lock plates 11 in the circumferential direction, and the meshing portion that is the meshing portion is the pair of lock plates 11. It moves along the circumferential direction with the movement of. When the meshing portion makes one turn, the number of teeth of the internal gear 8 is one more than that of the external gear 7, so that the internal gear 8 is in the same direction as the turning direction of the pair of lock plates 11 and the meshing portion. Rotates one tooth. That is, when the center shaft 13 is rotated, the internal gear 8 is decelerated at a large reduction ratio together with the seat back with respect to the base plate 6 and the external gear 7 fixed to the seat cushion, and is the same as the direction in which the center shaft 13 rotates. Will rotate in the direction. When the rotation direction of the motor 14 is reversed, the rotation direction of the seat back is also reversed.

  According to the present invention, since the stopper 3b is formed integrally with the connecting shaft 3 at one end of the connecting shaft 3, the other end of the connecting shaft 3 is inserted into both the center shafts 13 of the left and right seat reclining units 2. Then, the connecting shaft 3 is prevented from coming off and positioned only by attaching the push nut 3c to the other end of the connecting shaft 3 in a state where the stopper portion 3b is in contact with the end surface of the center shaft 13. Since the distance from the end surface of the connecting shaft 3 to the stopper portion 3b is constant, the position of the connecting shaft 3 with respect to the left and right seat reclining units 2 is inevitably determined only by attaching the push nut 3c.

  Moreover, when the situation where it is necessary to change the relative position of the connecting shaft 3 with respect to the left and right seat reclining units 2 can be easily handled by moving the push nut. When a push nut is used, it is not necessary to form a circumferential groove on the connecting shaft as in the case where a snap ring is attached, so that it is easy to change the position of the restricting means.

  In the present embodiment, the output side rotation member coupled to the seat back is the internal gear 8. However, the output side rotation member may be the base plate 6 and the base plate 6 may be coupled to the arm 5. . Further, the stopper portion 3b is formed on only one of the seven spline teeth 3a. However, the stopper portion 3b is not limited to one, but may be formed alternately, or may be formed on any number. . In the present embodiment, the motor 14 is provided as a driving means for driving the connecting shaft 3, but a handle for manual operation may be provided.

1 is a perspective view showing a state before a connecting shaft is inserted through a center shaft, and (b) is a perspective view showing a state after insertion (embodiment). The block diagram (embodiment) of the seat reclining device for vehicles. The disassembled perspective view which shows a seat reclining unit (embodiment). FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the state viewed from the right side with the base plate removed (embodiment).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle seat reclining device 2 ... Seat reclining unit 3 ... Connecting shaft 3a ... Spline tooth 3b ... Stopper part 3c ... Push nut 4,5 ... Arm 6 ... Base plate 7 ... External gear 8 ... Internal gear (output side rotation) Element)
9 ... Holder ring 10 ... Eccentric drive mechanism 13 ... Center shaft (input side rotating member)
14 ... Motor (drive means)

Claims (1)

The seat is composed of a seat cushion and a seat back that can rotate with respect to the seat cushion, and a seat reclining unit that rotates the seat back is provided on the left and right of the seat cushion,
Each of the seat reclining units includes a cylindrical input side rotation member, a speed reduction mechanism that decelerates rotation of the input side rotation member, and an output side rotation member that outputs rotation decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism. The output-side rotating member is integrally coupled to the left and right lower portions of the seat back,
A connecting shaft is inserted into each of the left and right input-side rotating members via spline engagement, and the connecting shaft moves axially relative to the input-side rotating member at the left and right ends of the connecting shaft. In the vehicle seat reclining device in which the regulating means for regulating is provided and the driving means is coupled to the coupling shaft.
As one of the restricting means, a stopper portion is formed on at least one spline tooth of the connecting shaft constituting the spline engagement by projecting a part of the spline tooth to the side of the spline tooth. A vehicle seat reclining device characterized in that, as the other means, a push nut is fitted into the connecting shaft.

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