JP5605060B2 - Reclining device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reclining device that adjusts the tilt angle between a first member and a second member that are relatively tilted.

  Conventionally, a reclining device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below is known as a reclining device that adjusts the tilt angle between a relatively tilted first member and a second member. In this reclining device, when the operation lever is not operated, each slide pole guided in the guide groove of the fixed disk is received by a rotating cam, and a ratchet formed on each slide pole and the movable disk. The meshing state is maintained. As a result, the movable disk is locked to the fixed disk, and the rotation of the seat back relative to the seat cushion is restricted.

  When the operating lever is turned to release the locked state, the operating plate and the rotating cam rotate together, and the cam pin of each slide pole is pressed radially inward, so that each slide pole is engaged with the ratchet. Is released. Thereby, the seat back can be rotated in the front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion.

  Only one of the cam pins of each slide pole is formed so as to move in the long hole of the unlock plate while the movable disk rotates, and this cam pin is inside the large hole of the long hole of the unlock plate. Within the range of shifting, the slide poles can be engaged with the ratchet, and the meshed state can be released by rotating the operation lever. Thereby, arbitrary adjustment of the inclination angle with respect to the seat cushion of the seat back becomes possible.

  On the other hand, when the cam pin moves to the narrow hole portion of the long hole of the unlock plate, the movement of the cam pin to the outside of the diameter is restricted, and the operating plate and the rotating cam are moved by the slide pole via the cam pin. Even in a state where the lever is pressed in the release direction and the operation of rotating the operation lever is released, all the slide poles are held in the mesh release state with respect to the ratchet. Since the movable disk is in a free state while this pressing state is continued, the seat back can be laid forward until it becomes substantially horizontal with respect to the seat cushion.

Japanese Patent No. 3804453

  By the way, an angle range (hereinafter also referred to as a free rotation range) corresponding to a lock-free state in which the unlocked state continues even if the finger is released from the operation lever is increased in order to improve operability related to the tilting of the seat. There is a need. However, when the unlock plate as described above is used to secure a free rotation range as in the reclining device of Patent Document 1, not only the number of parts increases but also the assembly work becomes complicated and low. There is a problem that it becomes an impediment to cost.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reclining device that can ensure a sufficient free rotation range without increasing the number of components. .

In order to achieve the above object, the reclining device according to claim 1, which is a reclining device that adjusts the tilt angle between the first member and the second member that tilt relative to each other, A base plate attached to the first member, a gear plate attached to the second member and mounted so as to be rotatable relative to the base plate, and having internal teeth; and a guide portion formed on the base plate And a pair of first lock gears and a pair of second lock gears having external teeth that can be engaged with the internal teeth, and the pair of first lock gears and the pair of pairs. A cam that controls movement of the second lock gear radially outward to mesh the outer teeth with the inner teeth; and the pair of first lock gears And the pair of first lock gears and the pair of first lock gears by engaging the first protrusions protruding toward the gear plate and the second protrusions protruding toward the gear plate from the pair of second lock gears, respectively. A cam lever that interlocks the movement of the second lock gear in the radial direction, and step portions formed coaxially with the inner teeth are arranged at 180 ° intervals on the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate. The first protrusion is formed so as to maintain a state where the engagement between the inner teeth and the outer teeth is maintained by contacting the step from the inner peripheral side, and the second protrusion is A spring member that urges the cam in a lock rotation direction that moves the pair of first lock gears and the pair of second lock gears outward in the radial direction. , End Sites other than the said are arranged such that the cam lever is interposed between the cam end is characterized that you have engaged the cam lever side to the cam.

In the first aspect of the present invention, step portions formed coaxially with the inner teeth are arranged at intervals of 180 ° on the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate. The first protrusion is formed so as to maintain a state where the engagement between the inner teeth and the outer teeth is maintained by contacting the step from the inner peripheral side, and the second protrusion is formed on the step. It is formed so as not to contact. The spring member that urges the cam in the lock rotation direction is arranged so that the cam lever is interposed between the portion excluding the end and the cam, and one end is engaged with the cam from the cam lever side. .

For this reason, when the first protrusions of the pair of first lock gears come into contact with the stepped portions of the gear plate from the inner peripheral side, not only the pair of first lock gears is brought into the mesh release state but also the pair of the first lock gears by the cam lever. The pair of second lock gears that move in conjunction with the first lock gear is also in a meshing release state. In particular, the stepped portions contact only the first protrusions formed on the pair of first lock gears, respectively, and therefore are arranged at an interval of 180 ° with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate without considering the pair of second lock gears. be able to. As a result, since the four protrusions of the first protrusion and the second protrusion are in contact with the step, the free rotation range is increased as compared with the case where the step is arranged at an interval of 90 °. Can do.
Therefore, a sufficient free rotation range can be ensured without increasing the number of parts.

It is a side view which shows the structure outline | summary of the vehicle seat by which the reclining apparatus of this invention is installed. It is sectional drawing of a reclining apparatus. It is sectional drawing by the cut surface equivalent to the 3-3 line shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing by the cut surface equivalent to the 4-4 line shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing by the cut surface equivalent to the 5-5 line shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the positional relationship of each lock gear and cam lever of an unlocked state. It is sectional drawing which shows the contact state of both the 1st lock gears of a lock free state, and an arc-shaped step part. It is sectional drawing which shows the position of both the 2nd lock gears of a lock free state. It is explanatory drawing which shows the positional relationship of each lock gear and cam lever of a locked state.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a reclining device 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle seat 10 on which a reclining device 20 of the present invention is installed.
As is well known, the vehicle seat 10 includes a seat cushion 11 and a seat back 12 as main components. The seat cushion 11 includes a seat bracket (lower bracket) 11a, and the seat back 12 includes a seat back bracket (upper side). Brackets) 12a are fixed.

  The lower bracket 11a and the upper bracket 12a are coupled to each other so as to be relatively rotatable by being fixed to the relatively rotating portions of the round reclining unit 21, respectively. Thereby, the tilt angle of the seat back 12 with respect to the seat cushion 11 can be adjusted. The seat cushion 11 and the lower bracket 11a correspond to an example of a “first member” described in the claims, and the seat back 12 and the upper bracket 12a include the “second member” described in the claims. It may correspond to an example of “members”.

  A reclining operation lever 23 is attached to the center shaft 22 at the center of the round reclining unit 21. A reclining device 20 is constituted by the round reclining unit 21, the center shaft 22 and the reclining operation lever 23. When the reclining operation lever 23 is pulled upward, the reclining device 20 is unlocked and the tilt angle of the seat back 12 can be adjusted. Here, the range of the angle A shown in FIG. 1 in which the seat back 12 is tilted backward is an inclination adjustment range in which the seat back 12 is locked at the angle position when the finger is released from the reclining operation lever 23. The range of angle B shown in FIG. 1 in which the back 12 is tilted forward is a free rotation range corresponding to a lock-free state in which the unlocked state continues even if the finger is released from the reclining operation lever 23. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the seat back 12 can be rotated from a forwardly tilted position in contact with the seat cushion 11 to a backwardly tilted position that becomes flat with the seat cushion 11. The structure of such a reclining device 20 will be described below.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the reclining device 20. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 shown in FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 shown in FIG. 2, the center shaft 22 and the reclining operation lever 23 are not shown for convenience. In FIG. 4, the gear plate 40 is shown only in the vicinity of the inner teeth 41. In FIG. 5, the gear plate 40 is an arc-shaped step portion. Only the vicinity of 42 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the round reclining unit 21 is configured so that the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40 are rotated relative to each other by assembling the cover bracket 50 by superimposing the substantially disc-shaped base plate 30 and the substantially bowl-shaped gear plate 40. It is configured to be held as possible and to prevent relative movement in the axial direction.

  A cavity (space) C is formed between the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40. In this cavity C, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a total of four lock gears of a pair of first lock gears 61 and a pair of second lock gears 62, a central cam 70, and two substantially arc-shaped spring members. 80 and a substantially disc-shaped cam lever 90 and the like are provided for locking and unlocking members.

  The base plate 30 has a plurality of projections 30b formed on a side surface (hereinafter also referred to as a mounting surface 30a) on one side in the axial direction, and engages each projection 30b with an engagement hole (not shown) of the lower bracket 11a. By attaching it, it attaches to the said lower bracket 11a. As shown in FIG. 3, the base plate 30 is formed with four guide protrusions 31, 32, 31, 32 for guiding the lock gears 61, 62 in the radial direction on the side surface on the other side in the axial direction. ing. In FIG. 2, the following description will be made with the left side of the drawing as one side in the axial direction and the right side of the drawing as the other side in the axial direction. Moreover, each guide convex part 31 and 32 can correspond to an example of the "guide part" as described in a claim.

  Inner teeth 41 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate 40 over the entire periphery. The gear plate 40 has a plurality of protrusions (not shown) formed on the back surface (the surface on the other side in the axial direction), and engages each protrusion protrusion with an engagement hole (not shown) of the upper bracket 12a. And attached to the upper bracket 12a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, two arc-shaped step portions 42 formed coaxially with the inner teeth 41 are arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate 40 at intervals of 180 °. The arc-shaped step portion 42 is for realizing the above-described lock-free state, and an angle range in which a protrusion 61b (described later) of the first lock gear 61 abuts from the inner peripheral side corresponds to the free rotation range. It is formed as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 3, external teeth 61 a and 62 a that can mesh with the internal teeth 41 of the gear plate 40 are formed on the outer peripheral sides of the first lock gear 61 and the second lock gear 62. Both first lock gears 61 are guided by linear portions (guide portions) between the movable guide 34 guided by the guide convex portion 32 and the side peripheral portion of the guide convex portion 31, and are supported so as to be slidable only in the radial direction. ing. Further, both the second lock gears 62 are supported by the guide portions of the side peripheral portions of the guide convex portions 31 and 32 so as to be slidable only in the radial direction.

  Further, both first lock gears 61 are provided with protrusions 61b projecting to the other side in the axial direction (gear plate side), and both protrusions 61b are brought into contact with the arc-shaped step portion 42 from the inner peripheral side. The inner teeth 41 and the outer teeth 61a are disengaged from each other. Further, both the second lock gears 62 are each provided with a protrusion 62b protruding to the other side in the axial direction (gear plate side), and both the protrusions 62b are formed so as not to contact the arcuate step portion 42. Yes. Specifically, both protrusions 61b are formed so that their protruding heights pass through cam holes 92 (described later) and close to the side surface of the gear plate 40, and both protrusions 62b have their protruding heights. Each is formed to the extent that it does not protrude from the inserted cam hole 93 (described later). That is, the protrusions 61b are formed such that the protrusion height is higher than the protrusion height of both protrusions 62b.

Here, the reason why only the two protrusions 61b are in contact with the arc-shaped step portion 42 and the both protrusions 62b are formed so as not to contact the arc-shaped step portion 42 will be described.
When the range of the angle at which both protrusions 61b and both protrusions 62b contact the arcuate step 42 corresponds to the above-described free rotation range, the arcuate step 42 is installed at 90 ° intervals in order to contact the four protrusions. This is because the operation angle cannot be sufficiently ensured as compared with the case where it is installed at intervals of 180 ° as in the present invention.

  In the center of the base plate 30, a plate-like cam 70 having a through hole 71 formed at the center is rotatably disposed. The cam 70 is formed with a cam surface 72 that contacts the rear end surface of each lock gear 61, 62 on the outer peripheral surface, and protrudes to the other side in the axial direction with two engagement holes 73 that engage one end of the spring member 80 on the side surface. Two columnar projections 74 are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cam 70 is strongly biased in the lock rotation direction (clockwise in FIGS. 3 and 4) by engaging with one end of each of the two spring members 80. As a result, the cam 70 abuts against the rear end surfaces of the lock gears 61 and 62 at the cam surface 72, so that the lock gears 61 and 62 are moved radially outward by the urging force in the lock rotation direction by the spring members 80. It will be strongly urged. Note that the other ends of the spring members 80 are respectively engaged with the base plate 30 so as to penetrate through the through holes of the movable guide 34.

  The center shaft 22 is inserted into the through hole 71 of the cam 70, and the cam 70 is unlocked in the direction of unlocking against the urging force of the two spring members 80 by rotating the center shaft 22 (see FIGS. 3 and 3). 4 in a counterclockwise direction).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cam lever 90 is provided with a through hole 91 that fits into both protrusions 74 of the cam 70, two cam holes 92, and two cam holes 93. The cam lever 90 is fitted with the through holes 91 and the protrusions 74, the protrusions 61b are inserted into the cam holes 92, and the protrusions 62b are inserted into the cam holes 93, respectively. The lock gears 61 and 62 are assembled.

  As a result, when the cam lever 90 rotates together with the cam 70 in the unlock rotation direction, the inner peripheral edge of the cam hole 92 abuts against the protrusion 61b of the first lock gear 61, and the inner peripheral edge of the cam hole 93 corresponds to both the second lock gears 62. Each of the projections 62b comes into contact with each other. When the cam lever 90 is further rotated in the unlock rotation direction, the protrusions 61b and 62b are urged radially inward by the inner peripheral edges of the cam holes 92 and 93, and the lock gears 61 and 62 are moved radially inward. It will move in conjunction.

  The reclining device 20 configured as described above is configured such that the side periphery of the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40 in which the lock gears 61 and 62 and the cam 70 are disposed in the cavity C and integrally assembled is ring caulked by the cover bracket 50. And integrated. As a result, the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40 are held so as to be relatively rotatable and the relative movement in the axial direction is suppressed.

  And the reclining operation lever 23 is assembled | attached with respect to the center shaft 22 inserted in the through-hole 71 of the cam 70, and the reclining apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 2 is completed. In the reclining device 20 configured as described above, the protrusions 30b of the base plate 30 are engaged with the engagement holes of the lower bracket 11a, and the protrusions of the gear plate 40 are engaged with the engagement holes of the upper bracket 12a. By combining, the seat cushion 11 and the seat back 12 are connected by the reclining device 20 so as to be capable of relative tilting. The base plate 30 may be attached to the upper bracket 12a and the gear plate 40 may be attached to the lower bracket 11a.

  The unlocked state and the locked state of the reclining device 20 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the lock gears 61 and 62 and the cam lever 90 in the unlocked state. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact state between the first lock gear 61 and the arc-shaped stepped portion 42 in the lock-free state. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the positions of both the second lock gears 62 in the lock-free state. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the lock gears 61 and 62 and the cam lever 90 in the locked state. 6 and 9 correspond to a cross section taken along the line 4-4 shown in FIG. 2, and for convenience, both spring members 80 are omitted from FIG.

(Unlocked)
First, the unlocked state in the reclining device 20 will be described.
When the occupant releases the lock to adjust the tilt angle of the seat back 12, the reclining operation lever 23 is operated to rotate the center shaft 22 in the unlocking rotation direction. Then, the cam 70 rotates together with the center shaft 22 in the unlock rotation direction against the urging force of both spring members 80.

  When the cam 70 rotates in the unlocking rotation direction, the contact between the cam surface 72 of the cam 70 and the rear end surfaces of the lock gears 61 and 62 is released, and the lock gears 61 and 62 are moved radially outward. The urging force by the cam 70 that is urging is released. As a result, the lock gears 61 and 62 can move inward in the radial direction, and the engagement between the inner teeth 41 of the gear plate 40 and the outer teeth 61a and 62a of the lock gears 61 and 62 can be released.

  Then, as the cam lever 90 rotates in the unlock rotation direction together with the cam 70, the inner peripheral edges of the cam holes 92, 93 of the cam lever 90 are projected 61b, 62b of the lock gears 61, 62 as shown in FIG. The lock gears 61 and 62 are positively moved radially inward to release the engagement between the inner teeth 41 and the outer teeth 61a and 62a.

  As described above, when the meshing between the inner teeth 41 and the outer teeth 61a and 62a is released, the rotation of the gear plate 40 becomes free and the round reclining unit 21 is unlocked. When the round reclining unit 21 is unlocked, the reclining device 20 is unlocked, and when the seat back 12 is tilted backward, the tilt angle of the seat back 12 can be freely adjusted ( (See angle A in FIG. 1).

(Lock free state)
Next, the lock free state in the reclining device 20 will be described.
In the unlocked state as described above, when the seat back 12 is tilted forward, the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40 are rotated relative to each other so that the protrusion 61b can contact the arcuate step 42 of the gear plate 40. Both the first lock gears 61 move. When the reclining operation lever 23 is loosened in this state, the cam 70 is rotated in the lock rotation direction by the urging force of the two spring members 80, and the lock gears 61 and 62 are attached to the outer side in the radial direction by the rotation of the cam 70. Be forced.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, only the projections 61b of the first lock gears 61 abut each of the arc-shaped step portions 42, so that the state where the engagement between the inner teeth 41 and the outer teeth 61a and 62a is released is maintained. Is done. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the protrusions 62 b of both the second lock gears 61 do not contact the arcuate step 42. For this reason, even if the seat back 12 is tilted forward so that the base plate 30 and the gear plate 40 rotate relative to each other while the protrusion 61b is in contact with the arc-shaped step portion 42, the unlocked state is maintained ( (See angle B in FIG. 1).

(Locked state)
Next, the locked state in the reclining device 20 will be described.
When the adjustment of the inclination angle of the seat back 12 by the occupant is completed, the reclining operation lever 23 is loosened, so that the cam 70 is rotated in the lock rotation direction by the urging force of both spring members 80.

  When the cam surface 72 of the rotating cam 70 comes into contact with the rear end surfaces of the lock gears 61 and 62, the lock gears 61 and 62 are urged radially outward. Accordingly, the outer teeth 61 a and 62 a of the lock gears 61 and 62 move radially outward so as to mesh with the inner teeth 41 of the gear plate 40.

  And as shown in FIG. 9, when the external teeth 61a and 62a of each lock gear 61 and 62 mesh with the internal teeth 41 of the gear plate 40, the rotation of the gear plate 40 is restricted, and the reclining device 20 is locked. become.

  As described above, in the reclining device 20 according to the present embodiment, the arc-shaped step portions 42 formed coaxially with the inner teeth 41 are arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate 40 at intervals of 180 °. . The first protrusion 61b is formed so as to maintain the state where the engagement between the inner teeth 41 and the outer teeth 61a is maintained by contacting the arc-shaped step portion 42 from the inner peripheral side. The portion 62b is formed so as not to contact the arcuate step portion 42.

For this reason, when the first protrusions 61b of the first lock gears 61 abut on the arc-shaped stepped portion 42 of the gear plate 40 from the inner peripheral side, not only the first lock gears 61 are disengaged. Both the second lock gears 62 that move in conjunction with the first lock gears 61 by the cam lever 90 are also brought into the meshing release state. In particular, the arc-shaped stepped portion 42 abuts only on the first protrusions 61 b formed on the first lock gears 61, respectively, so that it is 180 relative to the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate 40 without considering the second lock gears 62. Can be arranged at intervals. As a result, since the four protrusions of both the first protrusions 61b and the two second protrusions 62b abut against the arcuate step 42, the arcuate steps 42 are arranged at 90 ° intervals. The operating angle can be increased.
Therefore, a sufficient operating angle can be ensured without increasing the number of parts.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle seat 11 ... Seat cushion (1st member)
11a: Lower bracket (first member)
12 ... Seat back (second member)
12a ... Upper bracket (second member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Reclining apparatus 30 ... Base plate 40 ... Gear plate 41 ... Internal tooth 42 ... Arc-shaped step part 50 ... Cover bracket 61 ... 1st lock gear 61a ... External tooth 61b ... 1st projection part 62 ... 2nd lock gear 62a ... External tooth 62b ... Second projection 70 ... Cam 80 ... Spring member 90 ... Cam lever

Claims (1)

A reclining device that adjusts a tilt angle between a first member and a second member that tilt relatively,
A base plate attached to the first member;
A gear plate attached to the second member and assembled to be rotatable relative to the base plate and having internal teeth;
A pair of first lock gears and a pair of second lock gears which are assembled so as to be guided so as to be movable only in the radial direction with respect to the guide portion formed on the base plate, and which have external teeth meshable with the internal teeth;
Cams for controlling movement of the pair of first lock gears and the pair of second lock gears outward in the radial direction to mesh the outer teeth with the inner teeth;
By engaging the first protrusions protruding from the pair of first lock gears toward the gear plate and the second protrusions protruding from the pair of second lock gears toward the gear plate, respectively, A cam lever that interlocks the movement of one lock gear and the pair of second lock gears in the radial direction,
On the inner peripheral surface of the gear plate, step portions formed coaxially with the inner teeth are arranged at intervals of 180 °,
The first protrusion is formed so as to maintain a state in which the engagement between the inner teeth and the outer teeth is maintained by contacting the stepped portion from the inner peripheral side,
The second protrusion is formed so as not to contact the stepped portion ,
A spring member that biases the cam in a lock rotation direction that moves the pair of first lock gears and the pair of second lock gears radially outward;
Said spring member is reclining apparatus portion except the end, the disposed such that the cam lever is interposed between the cam end is characterized that you have engaged the cam lever side to the cam.

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