JP5589473B2 - Vehicle seat slide device. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat slide device that allows a seat to be slidable with respect to a vehicle floor and that can fix a seat position at a desired position.

  Conventionally, for example, a vehicular seat slide device as described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  This type of vehicle seat slide device includes a pair of lower rails that are fixed to a vehicle floor, and a pair of rail units that are fixed to a vehicle seat and are slidably assembled to the lower rails. Each rail unit includes a lock mechanism that is disposed between the lower rail and the upper rail and locks the upper rail to the lower rail so that the upper rail can be released.

  The locking mechanism is arranged in the cross section of both rails in both rail units, extends in the front-rear direction and is tiltably assembled to the upper rail, and is fitted from the inside to the outside of each rail in each engaging hole formed in both rails. A pair of lock levers having matable claws and a pair of spring means provided in the cross sections of both rails to bias the lock levers in the locking direction, and each lock lever is assembled to each upper rail. An operation handle referred to as a so-called loop handle is provided, which has a pair of operation portions for tilting the lever and a connection portion for connecting the operation portions.

JP 2002-154356 A

  However, in general, the lock lever and the operation handle are made of metal such as iron, and an abnormal noise such as an impact sound or a sliding contact sound is likely to occur at a contact portion between the lock lever and the operation handle. In order to suppress the occurrence of such abnormal noise, it is possible to apply resin paint to the operation handle, or to interpose a buffer material at the contact part between the operation handle and the lock lever. This increases manufacturing costs due to an increase in the number of parts and an increase in assembly and processing man-hours.

  In addition, in order to optimize the support portion of the operation handle to the upper rail and the contact portion with the lock lever, the operation handle needs to have an irregular cross-sectional shape, but the processing man-hour of the operation handle increases. There is a potential problem that the processing shape is likely to be restricted from the viewpoint of ensuring the required strength and the processing performance of the processing apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to suppress the generation of noise caused by the contact between the operation handle and the lock lever, and to achieve high moldability and weight reduction. An object of the present invention is to provide a seat slide device.

In order to solve the above-described problems, in the invention described in claim 1, a pair of lower rails fixed to a vehicle floor, and a pair of lower rails fixed to a vehicle seat and slidably assembled to each lower rail. A vehicle seat slide device comprising: a rail unit comprising an upper rail; and a lock mechanism disposed on the rail unit and individually releasably locking the pair of upper rails to the corresponding lower rail. The mechanism is assembled to the upper rail so as to be tiltable within the cross section of the pair of upper rails and the pair of lower rails, and has a pawl that can be engaged and disengaged with each of the engaging portions provided on the upper rail and the lower rail, respectively. In a normal state, a pair of lock levers set to engage with the engaging portion and a resin material And a pair of operation portions that are assembled to the upper rails so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction and abut against the corresponding lock levers to tilt the lock levers, and a metal material, and the pair of operations. An operating handle having a connecting part for connecting the parts , wherein the operating part has a deformed surface shape and has a reinforcing rib that performs a reinforcing function in a tilting direction with respect to the upper rail. And

According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the weight of the operation handle by forming the operation portion from a resin material, and even if the lock lever is configured from a metal material, it is difficult for abnormal noise to occur at the contact point between the two. . In addition, by forming the operation part with a resin material, the operation part has an irregular cross-sectional shape in order to optimize the support part to the upper rail side member and the contact part with the lock lever in the operation part. The processing man-hours of the operation unit are not easily increased, and the processing shape is not easily limited. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise due to the contact between the operation handle and the lock lever, and to achieve high moldability and weight reduction. In addition, by optimizing the cross section of the operating section, it is possible to optimize the support area for the upper rail side member and the contact area with the lock lever, and increase the strength against the load applied when operating the operation handle. It can be ensured, and breakage and deformation of the operation unit can be suppressed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle seat slide device according to the first aspect, the lock lever is provided at a portion between the rotating shaft portion and the connecting portion of the pair of operation portions. The gist of the present invention is to provide a stopper portion that comes into surface contact with the inner surface of the upper rail when operated to release the engagement with each engagement portion.

  According to the above configuration, by providing the stopper portion in the operation portion, the operation range of the operation handle can be restricted and the operation load can be distributed, and stress concentration on the operation portion can be suppressed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle seat slide device according to the first or second aspect, both ends of the connecting portion are formed in a cylindrical shape and a locking portion is provided on an inner surface thereof, and the operation portion The gist of the present invention is that a locking projection that is locked to the locking portion while being elastically deformed while being inserted into the connecting portion is provided at a connecting portion with the connecting portion.

  According to the above configuration, by inserting the connection end of the operation part into the connection part, it is possible to hold the operation part against the connection part so that the operation part and the connection part can be easily assembled. It can be carried out.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle seat slide device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the lock lever is supported to be tiltable, and the operation handle is pivoted. The gist of the present invention is to provide a mounting bracket that is integrally fixed to the upper rail in the cross section while supporting.

  According to the above configuration, the mounting bracket can be fixed to the upper rail while the lock lever and the operation handle are supported by the mounting bracket. That is, the lock lever, the operation handle, and the mounting bracket can be formed into sub-modules, and the assembling work of the lock lever and the operation handle with respect to the upper rail can be simplified.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise caused by the contact between the operation handle and the lock lever, and to achieve high moldability and weight reduction.

The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the vehicle seat slide apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. The disassembled perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the one part structure of the embodiment. The side view which fractures | ruptures and shows the one part structure of the same embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the partial structure in the AA of FIG. The side view which expands and shows the partial structure of the embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[Configuration of Seat Slide Device 1 for Vehicle]
As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle seat slide device 1 is assembled to a pair of lower rails 10 fixed to a vehicle floor and extending in parallel with each other, and fixed to a vehicle seat so as to be slidable with respect to each lower rail 10. A rail unit 2 including a pair of upper rails 20 is provided.

[Configuration of rail unit 2]
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the lower rail 10 includes a pair of side wall portions 11 erected from both sides in the width direction and a bottom wall portion 12 that connects between the base ends (lower ends) of the side wall portions 11. A folded wall portion 13 is continuously formed at the distal end (upper end) of each side wall portion 11 so as to project inward in the width direction and further bend back to the proximal end side of the side wall portion 11.

  On the other hand, the upper rail 20 includes a pair of side wall portions 21 extending in the vertical direction between the folded wall portions 13 of the lower rail 10 and a lid wall portion 22 that connects between the base ends (upper ends) of the side wall portions 21. Then, folded-back wall portions 23 are continuously formed at the front ends (lower ends) of the respective side wall portions 21 so as to project outward in the width direction and be folded back so as to be surrounded by the side wall portions 11 and the folded-back wall portions 13 of the lower rail 10. Yes.

  That is, the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 each have a U-shaped rail cross section whose opening sides face each other, and are prevented from coming off in the vertical direction mainly by engagement with the folded wall portions 13 and 23. The rail cross section formed by the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 is a so-called box shape having a rectangular shape.

  In addition, a retainer 32 that holds a pair of rolling elements 31 arranged in parallel in the vertical direction is mounted between the folded wall portion 23 of the upper rail 20 and the side wall portion 11 of the lower rail 10 facing the upper rail 20. The upper rail 20 is supported in such a manner that the rolling element 31 rolls between the upper rail 20 and the lower rail 10 so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction (vehicle longitudinal direction in the present embodiment) with respect to the lower rail 10.

  A plurality of lock holes 14 (engagement portions) are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 11 and the folded wall portion 13 on one side in the width direction of the lower rail 10 at a predetermined interval. On the other hand, in the upper rail 20, the side wall 11 provided with the lock hole 14 and the folded wall portion 23 corresponding to the folded wall portion 13 are set to have the same interval as the lock hole 14 in the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction. A plurality (four in this case) of lock holes 24 (engagement portions) are arranged in parallel. These lock holes 24 are arranged so as to match each other in the width direction with respect to the corresponding lock holes 14.

[Configuration of locking mechanism]
A mounting bracket 40 formed by bending a plate material is disposed in an internal space formed by cooperation between the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20. The mounting bracket 40 includes an upper wall portion 41 that faces the lid wall portion 22 of the upper rail 20, and a side wall portion 42 that hangs down from one end of the upper wall 41. The upper wall portion 41 is provided with a plurality of (here, four) attachment portions 41a, and the attachment portion 22a is also provided at a location corresponding to each attachment portion 41a in the lid wall portion 22 of the upper rail 20, and these By fixing the attachment portions 22a and 41a with caulking pins or the like, the upper rail 20 and the mounting bracket 40 are integrally fixed.

  As also shown in FIG. 3, the side wall portion 42 of the mounting bracket 40 is provided with a lever support portion 43 that rotatably supports a lock lever 50 described later. The lever support portions 43 are formed to face each other at a predetermined interval, and the lock lever 50 can be supported therebetween. Furthermore, a handle support portion 44 is rotatably extended at the front end of the side wall portion 42 to rotatably support an operation handle 60 described later. The handle support portion 44 is provided with a through-hole 44a serving as a rotational axis of the operation handle 60, and a protrusion 44b that is loosely fitted to the operation handle 60 is provided at the front end of the handle support portion 44. .

  The lock lever 50 has a flat plate-like main body 51, and a plurality of lock claws 52 are bent from its upper end. These lock claws 52 are set to have the same interval and the same number (here, four) as the lock holes 24 provided in the upper rail 20, and can be inserted into the lock holes 24 and the lock holes 14 provided in the lower rail 10. Is formed. Further, the lock lever 50 has a pair of support pieces 53 bent from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 4 below the main body 51. For this reason, the support pieces 53 are rotatably supported by the lever support portion 43, so that the support pieces 53 can freely rotate in the internal space configured by the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 in cooperation. Accordingly, each lock claw 52 can be inserted into and removed from the lock holes 14 and 24 of the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20. When each lock claw 52 is inserted into the lock holes 14 and 24, the relative movement of the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 is restricted. On the other hand, when the lock claws 52 are removed from the lock holes 14 and 24, relative movement of the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 is allowed. Further, a protruding piece 54 is formed at the front end of the main body 52 of the lock lever 50 so as to bend and extend in a direction opposite to the bending direction of each lock claw 52.

  3 is attached to the mounting bracket 40, and the lock lever 50 is always urged by the torsion spring 45 in the direction in which the lock pawl 52 is inserted into the lock holes 14 and 24.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, operation portions 61 that protrude outward from the front edge of each upper rail 20 are disposed in the internal space configured by the cooperation of each lower rail 10 and each upper rail 20. Has been. A connecting portion 62 that connects both operating portions 61 can be attached to the tips of these operating portions 61. The operation portion 61 and the connecting portion 62 constitute an operation handle 60 having a substantially “U” shape.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the operation unit 61 is disposed in a state of being accommodated in the inner spaces of the lower rail 10 and the upper rail 20 and extends in the longitudinal direction of the rails 10 and 20. The support portion 61b extends obliquely upward from the front end of the functional portion 61a and protrudes outward from the front end of the upper rail 20, and is integrally formed of a resin material.

  More specifically, the functional portion 61a is formed such that the substantially central portion is formed with the largest thickness in the height direction, and the thickness gradually decreases toward the front and rear. A shaft portion (rotating shaft portion) 63 that is rotatably supported by a through hole 44 a provided in the handle support portion 44 of the mounting bracket 40 is provided on the side surface of the central portion. In addition, a contact portion 64 is formed at the rear end portion of the functional portion 61a so as to be wider than other portions, and the lower surface thereof contacts the upper surface of the protruding piece 54 of the lock lever 50. That is, the functional part 61b has an irregular cross-sectional shape along the longitudinal direction, and the support part to the member on the upper rail side (here, the mounting bracket 40) and the contact part with the lock lever 50 are optimized. Yes. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the front side of the attachment shaft portion 63 of the function portion 61a, the protrusion 44b of the handle support portion 44 can be freely fitted to the handle support portion 44 so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle around the attachment shaft portion 63. A hole 65 is provided. Further, on the upper surface in front of the hole 65, as shown in FIG. 3, when the operation handle 60 is rotated in the direction of arrow F1 about the mounting shaft 63, the lid wall portion 22 of the upper rail 20 is provided. A stopper portion 66 is formed to be in surface contact with the inner surface. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the functional portion 61 a is formed not by a solid body but by being thinned, and has a tilt reinforcing function in the inside thereof, particularly in the tilting direction with respect to the upper rail 20 around the mounting shaft portion 63. Reinforcing ribs 67 that are set to exhibit the above are formed. In the present embodiment, the reinforcing rib 67 is constituted by a plurality of protrusions extending vertically and horizontally, and can secure the strength of the operation portion 61 having an irregular cross-sectional shape along the longitudinal direction.

  Further, the support portion 61b has a rod shape, is bent at a connection portion with the operation portion 61a, and extends obliquely upward. A plurality (three in this case) of locking projections 68 project from the upper and lower surfaces of the substantially central portion of the support 61b. On the other hand, the connecting portion 62 is formed of a metal material, and as shown in FIG. 1, both ends have a cylindrical shape into which each supporting portion 61b can be inserted. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality (three in this case) of locking portions 69 that can be engaged with the respective engaging protrusions 68 are provided at both ends of the connecting portion 62. In addition, in this embodiment, each latching | locking part 69 is comprised by the through-hole or the recessed part. And when the support part 61b of each operation part 61 is inserted in the edge part of the connection part 62, the latching protrusion 68 engages with each latching part 69, elastically deforming, and thereby both The operation handle 60 is integrally actuated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the operation handle 60 configured as described above is wound around the mounting shaft portion 63 of each operation portion 61, one end is supported by the mounting bracket 40, and the other end is supported by the operation portion 61. The coil spring 70 is urged in the direction of the arrow F1 shown in FIGS. For this reason, the lower surface of the contact part 64 of the operation part 61 will always be in contact with the upper surface of the protrusion 54 of the lock lever 50, and the backlash between both is suppressed. The urging force of the coil spring 70 is set to be weaker than the urging force of the torsion spring 45, and the lock lever 40 is prevented from being rotated only by the urging force of the coil spring 70.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the lock mechanism is configured including the mounting bracket 40, the lock lever 50, and the operation handle 60.

[Operation of Vehicle Seat Slide Device 1]
Next, an operation of the vehicle seat slide device 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, when the operating handle 60 is not operated (non-operating state), the torsion spring 45 that biases the lock lever 50 in the locking direction (the direction in which the lock claw 52 engages with the lock holes 14 and 24). Due to this urging force, the contact portion 64 of the operation portion 61 is urged through the protruding piece 54, and the operation handle 60 is rotated in the direction of the arrow F2 shown in FIGS. For this reason, when the lock holes 14 and 24 exist at positions corresponding to the lock claws 52, the lock claws 52 engage with the lock holes 14 and 24 and the upper rail 20 moves relative to the lower rail 10 (forward and backward slide movement). Is regulated.

  The maximum rotation angle of the operation handle 60 in the direction of the arrow F2 is defined by the engagement between the upper end of the inner peripheral surface of the hole 65 provided in the operation portion 61 and the protrusion 44b provided in the mounting bracket 40. Is done. For this reason, the operation handle 60 is prevented from being extremely rotated in the direction of the arrow F2. Moreover, since the operation part 61 is urged | biased by the arrow direction F1 by the coil spring 70, the contact part 64 and the protrusion piece 54 will always be in the contact state, and the impact between both is also suppressed.

  On the other hand, when the connecting portion 62 of the operating handle 60 is operated in the direction of the arrow F1 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by the occupant, the operating portion 61 rotates in the same direction around the mounting shaft portion 63, and the contact portion 64. Presses the projecting piece 54 downward while making sliding contact with the projecting piece 54 of the lock lever 50. As a result, the lock lever 50 is rotated and the lock claw 52 is removed from the lock holes 14 and 24, and the relative movement of the upper rail 20 with respect to the lower rail 10 is allowed.

  The maximum rotation angle of the operation handle 60 in the direction of the arrow F1 is in addition to the engagement between the lower end of the inner peripheral surface of the hole 65 provided in the operation portion 61 and the protrusion 44b provided in the mounting bracket 40. It is defined by the surface contact between the stopper portion 66 provided in the operation portion 61 and the inner surface of the lid wall portion 22 of the upper rail 20. For this reason, even if a large load is applied to the operation handle 60 in the direction of the arrow F1, the load is applied between the engagement portion between the hole 65 and the protrusion 44b, the stopper 66 and the lid wall portion 22. Distributed to the tangent surface.

[Operational effects that can be achieved by this embodiment]
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) The operation handle 60 can be reduced in weight by forming the operation portion 61 of a resin material. Further, even if the lock lever 50 is made of a metal material, it is difficult for abnormal noise to occur at the contact point between the two. Further, by forming the operation portion 61 of a resin material, a support portion of the operation portion 61 (a peripheral portion of the attachment shaft portion 63) with respect to the mounting bracket 40 that is a member on the upper rail 20 side, or a contact portion with the lock lever 50 Even if the operation part 61 (particularly the function part 61a) has an irregular cross-sectional shape in order to optimize the shape of the (formation part of the contact surface 64), the number of processing steps of the operation part 61 is less likely to increase compared to the prior art, It is difficult to be restricted by the processing shape. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise due to the contact between the operation handle 60 and the lock lever 50, and to achieve high moldability and weight reduction.

  (2) Since the operation portion 61 is provided with the stopper portion 66 that comes into surface contact with the lid wall portion 22 of the upper rail 20, the operation range of the operation handle 60 and the distribution of the operation load can be suitably performed. The stress concentration on the operation unit 61 can be suppressed.

  (3) Since the support projection 61b is provided on the support portion 61b of the operation portion 61, and the lock portion 69 that is engaged with the lock projection 68 is provided on the connecting portion 62, the support portion 61b is attached. By inserting the locking protrusion 68 into the locking portion 69 by inserting it into the end portion of the connecting portion 62, it is possible to hold the connecting portion 62 against the operation portion 61. Therefore, the operation part 61 and the connection part 62 can be easily assembled.

  (4) By making the operation portion 61 have an irregular cross-sectional shape, it is possible to optimize the shape of the portion that supports the member (mounting bracket 40) on the upper rail side and the portion that contacts the protruding piece 54 of the lock lever 50. In addition, it is possible to ensure strength against a load applied when operating the operation handle 60, and to suppress damage and deformation of the operation unit 61.

  (5) The mounting bracket 40 can be fixed to the upper rail 20 with the lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60 supported by the mounting bracket 40. That is, the lock lever 50, the operation handle 60, and the mounting bracket 40 can be formed into sub-modules, and the assembly work of the lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60 with respect to the upper rail 20 can be simplified. Further, relative positioning of the lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60 can be easily performed, and high operation reliability can be obtained.

  (6) By providing the operation part 61 with the hole 65 and providing the mounting bracket 40 with the protrusion 44b loosely fitted into the hole 65, the rotation range of the operation part 61 can be easily and reliably defined. .

[Modification of this embodiment]
In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.

  The stopper portion 66 provided in the operation portion 61 is not always necessary, and the stopper portion 66 may be omitted.

  The connection between the operation part 61 and the connection part 62 is not necessarily limited to the engagement relationship between the engagement protrusion 68 and the engagement part 69. For example, the operation part 61 and the connection part 62 are fastened using screws or the like. Or may be connected by caulking. Further, the end portion of the connecting portion 62 does not necessarily have to be formed in a cylindrical shape, and the operation portion 61 does not necessarily have to be connected to the connecting portion 62 in an inserted manner.

  The lock lever 50 does not need to be supported by the rotation axis along the longitudinal direction of the rail unit 2, and is supported so as to be the rotation axis in the same direction as the operation unit 61, for example. A known lock structure that engages and disengages with respect to the lock holes 14 and 24 by moving up and down with respect to the wall portion 13 and the folded wall portion 23 of the upper rail 20 may be formed. In this case, it is necessary to form the lock holes 14 and 24 so as to open downward.

  The lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60 do not necessarily have to be attached to the upper rail 20 via the mounting bracket 40. For example, the lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60 may be directly attached to the upper rail 20 without the mounting bracket 40. Good. In this case, it is necessary to provide the upper rail 20 with a structure for rotatably supporting the lock lever 50 and the operation handle 60.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle seat slide apparatus, 2 ... Rail unit,
10 ... Lower rail, 14, 24 ... Lock hole as engaging part,
20 ... Upper rail,
40 ... Mounting bracket, 43 ... Lever support, 44 ... Handle support, 44b ... Projection,
50 ... Lock lever, 52 ... Lock claw, 53 ... Support piece, 54 ... Projection piece,
60 ... Operation handle 61 ... Operation part 62 ... Connection part 63 ... Shaft part 64 ... Abutting part 65 ... Hole part 66 ... Stopper part 67 ... Reinforcement rib 68 ... Locking projection part 69 ... Locking part.

Claims (4)

A rail unit comprising a pair of lower rails fixed to the vehicle floor and a pair of upper rails fixed to the vehicle seat and slidably assembled to the respective lower rails;
A vehicular seat slide device comprising: a lock mechanism disposed on the rail unit and configured to individually and releasably lock the pair of upper rails to the corresponding lower rails;
The locking mechanism is
In the section of the pair of upper rails and the pair of lower rails, the upper rails and the lower rails are assembled so as to be tiltable. A pair of lock levers set to engage the engagement portion;
It is composed of a resin material, and is composed of a pair of operation parts that are attached to the respective upper rails so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction and abut against the corresponding lock levers to tilt the lock levers, and a metal material, An operation handle having a connecting portion for connecting a pair of operating portions;
Equipped with a,
The vehicle seat slide device is configured such that the operation portion has a deformed surface shape and has a reinforcing rib that performs a reinforcing function in a tilting direction with respect to the upper rail .   The upper rail when the lock lever is operated to release the engagement with each engagement portion at a portion between the rotation shaft portion and the connection portion of the connection portion in the pair of operation portions. The vehicle seat slide device according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper portion that is in surface contact with the inner surface of the vehicle.   Both ends of the connecting portion are formed in a cylindrical shape, and a locking portion is provided on the inner surface thereof, and the locking portion is connected to the connecting portion of the operation portion while being elastically deformed with insertion into the connecting portion. The vehicle seat slide device according to claim 1, further comprising a locking projection that locks the vehicle. 4. The mounting bracket according to claim 1 , further comprising a mounting bracket that is integrally fixed to the upper rail in the cross section while supporting the lock lever so as to be tiltable and supporting the operation handle so as to be rotatable . The vehicle seat slide device according to claim 1.

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