JP5632437B2 - Backrest for car seat - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a backrest for an automobile seat. The backrest includes a headrest whose height can be adjusted by a guide mechanism, and a lateral strut provided in an upper region of the backrest and fixedly connected to the backrest.

  (Patent Document 1) discloses a headrest whose height can be manually adjusted by a latching rod that interacts with an adjustable receiving portion. For this purpose, two guide rods are provided in the back of the vehicle seat that supports the headrest. One end of each guide rod is fixed to the backrest, and the other end of each guide rod is connected to each other by a yoke component. Here, when the height of the headrest is manually adjusted, the headrest slides along the guide rod. However, in this case, there is a problem that there are two holes in the lower region of the headrest, and the guide rod of the headrest protrudes from these holes. Furthermore, different lengths of guide rod areas are visible depending on the position of the headrest latch. Therefore, it does not look like a perfect solution.

  A further headrest is known from US Pat. This headrest is provided with an additional arm. The arms each hold a rod, and the rod is provided with a bearing, and the bearing slides along the rod during the movement of the headrest. This is a structurally complex solution.

  Furthermore, a backrest for this type of car seat is already known from the previous (patent document 3) (unpublished) by the applicant. In this patent application, an apparently good solution is proposed for adjusting the height of the headrest. However, this patent application only offers the possibility of automatic adjustment.

German utility model No. 20 2009 013 635 U1 German Patent No. 32 23 649 C2 German Patent Application No. 10 2010 060 076.8

  The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a backrest of this type in which the headrest can be further adjusted manually.

  This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. According to this, the headrest guide mechanism is assigned a locking unit comprising a first locking part fixed to the lateral strut and a second locking part fixed to the headrest, and is provided with two locking The parts interact according to the latch and hole principle. Thus, means are also provided for manually adjusting the headrest for that type of backrest, which provides a better visual solution due to the appearance of the integrated headrest. The adjusting means is attractive to the eye despite being structurally simple.

  The guiding device of the guiding mechanism fixedly mounted on the lateral strut of the backrest is preferably designed as a bearing, in particular a sliding bearing. And / or the guide element guided by the guide device and attached to the headrest is designed as a guide rod. This ensures high stability.

  By using two guiding devices, the headrest can be guided particularly reliably. By providing guide devices on both the left side and the right side of the headrest, it is possible to further prevent the headrest from being twisted.

  Unlike known solutions, for this type of backrest, the guide device, i.e. the bearing, is fixedly attached to the lateral strut of the backrest. A headrest surrounds the bearing so that the bearing is completely covered by the headrest at both the upper and lower positions of the headrest. In this case, the headrest comprises guide elements, i.e. guide rods, which are fixedly mounted, and when the headrest is adjusted, these guide rods are guided by bearings. As a result, in addition to the attractive visual appearance, the distance between each bearing and guide rod is short, so the size of the lever arm that acts on the headrest is reduced, which also increases the stability of the headrest. It becomes possible. With the locking unit according to the invention comprising two specially arranged locking parts that meet and interact, the advantages of this type of backrest are retained even when the headrest is equipped with manual height adjustment means. .

  In a preferred embodiment of the invention, one of the two locking parts constituting the locking unit is designed as a latching plate. Such a latch plate has one hole, or preferably two or more holes, to accommodate the latches of complementary locking parts that interact with the locking parts. In this case, the locking part designed as a latching plate is preferably attached to the lateral strut of the backrest to increase the locking stability.

  In a likewise preferred embodiment of the invention, one of the two locking parts constituting the locking unit is designed as a comb. Such a comb-shaped part is provided with a plurality of latches, so that the headrest can be easily adjusted while at the same time being securely locked with a complementary locking part interacting with said locking part.

  If the comb extends parallel to the guide element, i.e. the guide rod, the sequence of movements during manual height adjustment of the headrest is simplified. In this case, during manual adjustment of the headrest, the comb is moved in the direction of movement of the headrest in a simple manner and locked in the desired final position of the headrest by means of complementary locking parts.

  By assigning a slider to the rotatably attached comb-like portion, a particularly simple operation for manual height adjustment of the headrest becomes possible. The comb-shaped portion is rotated by moving the slider, and as a result, the locking unit is locked or unlocked.

  In particular, the operation of the slider is simplified by the push button key attached to the outside of the headrest. Therefore, when adjusting the height of the headrest manually, the push button key is pressed first, thereby actuating the slider, and the comb-like portion is rotated to disengage from the initial locking position, so that the locking unit is locked. Canceled. Therefore, simple manual height adjustment of the headrest is possible as long as the push button key is pressed. When the push button key is released, the comb rotates back to its original locking position, so that the locking unit is locked in the new desired headrest position.

  Manipulation is further simplified by applying mechanical prestress to the combs, in particular with springs. This reduces the force required to actuate the comb.

  By designing the lateral struts and backrest as a single part, in particular in the form of a light metal casting, a backrest that is particularly lightweight and that can be manufactured economically is realized.

  Further advantages, features and details of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, which will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper section of a backrest of this type with an adjustable height headrest. It is a figure similar to FIG. 1 which shows the guide mechanism for height adjustment inside a headrest. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the upper section of the backrest according to the present invention showing a manually adjustable height headrest and the locking device in the locked state. It is a detailed view of the locking device in the locked state. It is a figure similar to FIG. 3 which shows the latching device in a latch release state. It is a detailed view of the locking device in the unlocked state.

  Various figures show a portion of the vehicle seat 1 including the upper end of the backrest 2. A headrest 4 is attached to the backrest 2 so as to be adjustable in height. Preferably, the headrest 4 is further adjustable in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

  The backrest 2 comprises a backrest support 5, which is covered by cushion parts 8, 9. Similarly, the headrest 4 is also covered with a cushion 6. A support structure 10 having an arcuate portion 12 extends from the backrest support 5. The arcuate portion 12 is designed to be substantially U-shaped and defines a gap 15 with the upper edge of the seat back portion 14 of the support structure 10. Preferably, the back support 5 and the support structure 10 are formed of an arcuate portion 12 and a piece, particularly in the form of a light metal casting.

  At the upper end of the backrest 2, the arcuate part 12 comprises a lateral strut 18 that is fixedly connected to the backrest support 5 via a support structure 10. The lateral struts 18 extend in the lateral direction of the automobile. It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the lateral struts 18 extend into the headrest 4. Therefore, the cushion of the headrest extends between the upper end and the lower end of the headrest. For this purpose, a slot 20 is provided inside the headrest. The lateral struts 18 are covered laterally by the cushion part 8 from the outside.

  The height adjustment of the headrest 4 can be performed by a guide mechanism 22 including two guide devices 24 and 25. The two guiding devices 24, 25 are specifically designed as sliding bearings and are fixedly connected to the lateral strut 18, for example welded to the lateral strut 18. Within the guide devices 24, 25, guide elements, in particular designed as guide rods 28, 29, are guided in an adjustable manner. The ends of the guide rods 28 and 29 are fixed to the upper part 40a and the lower part 40b of the headrest on the inner side. For this purpose, the upper portion 40 a and the lower portion 40 b of the headrest form a frame 40 and constitute a support structure inside the headrest 4.

  Here, the headrest 4 can be manually adjusted by the user. In this case, the height adjustment position of the headrest 4 desired by the user is fixed by the locking unit 50. The locking unit 50 includes a first locking component 51. The first locking part 51 is fixed to the lateral strut 18 and is designed as a latching plate. The latch plate includes a plurality of vertically arranged holes or recesses (not shown). The hole or recess is provided to selectively receive a latch of the second locking part 52 designed as a comb. The comb-like portion 52 is rotatably fixed to the lower side of the support structure 10 of the headrest 4. The comb has a plurality of latches, which can best be seen in FIGS. All the latches of the comb-shaped portion 52 are equally spaced from each other, and the spacing accurately corresponds to the spacing of the recesses or holes of the latch plate 51. A plurality of positions are defined by these latches, and the comb-like portion 52 is locked to the latch plate 51.

  Here, the comb-like portion 52 is mechanically prestressed by a spring (not shown). Further, a slider 53 is provided, and one end of the slider 53 acts on the leg portion of the comb-like portion 52. The other end of the slider 53 is directed to the side region of the frame 40 of the headrest 4. The end extends to a mechanical push button key 54 in the side region of the frame 40. 3 and 4 show the locking unit 50 in the locked state.

  When the user presses the push button key 54 from this state, the slider 53 is moved toward the comb-shaped portion 52. Since the slider 53 is connected to the bottom of the rotatable comb-shaped portion 52 in an articulated manner, the comb-shaped portion 52 is pivoted during the operation, and the slider 53 is disengaged from the locking position with the latch plate 51. Therefore, when the slider 53 rotates the bottom part of the comb-shaped part 52, the latch of the comb-shaped part 52 pivots and comes off from the hole or the recessed part (not shown) of the latching plate 51. Accordingly, the headrest 4 is not locked and can be moved to a position desired by the user. 5 and 6 show the locking unit 50 in the unlocked state.

  After the headrest 4 reaches the position desired by the user, the user releases the push button key 54. As a result, the comb-like portion 52 pivots back to the locking position again due to the prestress by the spring. If the position selected by the user does not correspond exactly to the locking position, i.e. if the latch of the comb-like part 52 is located exactly between the two recesses or holes of the latching plate 51, the user However, by moving the headrest 4 slightly upward or downward, the closest locking position of the locking unit 50 is reached by the mechanical prestress of the comb-shaped portion 52.

  Since the headrest 4 is directly supported by the fixed support structure 10 of the backrest 2, the load on the guide elements 28 and 29 is reduced. Therefore, the guide elements 28 and 29 can be designed to be thinner, more cost-effective and lighter than in the case of a conventional headrest.

  The forces acting on the headrest 4 are applied by the guide elements 28, 29 to the back support structure 10 via the guide devices 24, 25 and the lateral struts 18. The guidance provided by the guide devices 24, 25 considerably reduces the size of the lever arm constituted by the guide elements 28, 29 when applying a load to the headrest 4.

  By using the comb-shaped portion 52 together with the latch plate 51, a plurality of combinations of latches and holes can be obtained at a desired locking position of the locking unit 50. This makes the stability particularly high for an undesirable height adjustment of the headrest 4.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle seat 2 Backrest 4 Headrest 5 Backrest support body 6 Cushion 8, 9 Cushion part 10 Support structure 12 Arc part 14 Seat back part 15 Gap 18 Lateral strut 20 Slot 22 Guide mechanism 24, 25 Guide device 28, 29 Guide element 40 Frame 40a Upper part of headrest 40b Lower part of headrest 50 Locking unit 51 First locking part 52 Second locking part 53 Slider 54 Push button key

Claims (8)

A backrest for an automobile seat, comprising: a headrest whose height is adjustable by a guide mechanism; and a lateral strut provided in an upper region of the backrest and fixedly connected to the backrest, wherein the guide mechanism includes the siderest. A guide device fixedly attached to a directional strut for guiding a guide element, wherein the guide element is attached to the headrest and incorporated in the headrest;
The guide mechanism (22) includes a first locking part (51) fixed to the lateral strut (18) and a second locking part (52) fixed to the headrest (4). Provided with a locking unit (50) comprising, the two locking parts (51, 52) being formed to interact according to the latch and hole principle ;
A backrest, characterized in that the second locking part (52) is designed as a comb and the comb is designed to be rotatable .   2. The backrest according to claim 1, wherein the guiding device (24, 25) is designed as a bearing, in particular a sliding bearing, and / or the guiding element (28, 29) is designed as a guiding rod.   The backrest according to claim 2, wherein one guide rod is provided for each of the two bearings.   4. A backrest according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the locking part, in particular the locking part fixed to the lateral strut, is designed as a latching plate. The backrest according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the comb-like portion is assigned a slider (53) for rotating the comb-like portion. 6. The backrest according to claim 5 , wherein the slider can be actuated by a push button key (54) mounted outside the headrest. The backrest according to claim 5 or 6 , wherein mechanical stress is applied to the comb-like portion by a spring. The backrest according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , especially designed as a single part in the form of a light metal casting.

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