JP7347285B2 - slide device - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a slide device.

In a sliding device for sliding vehicle seats installed in automobiles, etc., the movable rail is slid by removably fitting protrusions provided on the rotating body into multiple openings provided on the fixed rail. A feeding mechanism has been devised to do this (see Patent Document 1).

In this feeding mechanism, sliding of the movable rail is regulated by inserting a locking claw into the opening.

JP2019-119386A

In the slide device described above, a gap (backlash) is provided between the protrusion and the opening in order to smoothly attach and detach the protrusion from the opening of the fixed rail. Therefore, when the movable rail is stopped, the protrusion moves in the sliding direction due to this gap, causing wobbling in the sliding direction of the movable rail.

To prevent such rattling, it is necessary to completely insert the locking claw into the opening. However, due to restrictions on the size and pitch of the openings of the fixed rails, the stopping positions of the movable rails at which such complete locking is possible are limited.

One aspect of the present disclosure aims to provide a slide device that can suppress wobbling of a movable rail that is stopped.

One aspect of the present disclosure includes a movable rail (2) configured to be attached to a seat (11) installed in a vehicle, a fixed rail (3) that slidably supports the movable rail (2), and a movable rail (3) configured to be attached to a seat (11) installed in a vehicle. A drive unit (4) configured to slide the rail (2), a braking unit (5) configured to brake the stationary movable rail (2), a drive unit (4) and a brake. A slide device (1) comprising a control section (6) configured to control a unit (5).

The fixed rail (3) has a plurality of drive openings (36) arranged in line in the sliding direction of the movable rail (2). The drive unit (4) has a plurality of drive protrusions (411C), and the plurality of drive protrusions (411C) fit into the plurality of drive openings (36) and the plurality of drive openings (36). It has a drive rotary body (411) configured to rotate so as to sequentially detach from and detach from the vehicle.

The braking unit (5) has a plurality of braking protrusions (511C), and the plurality of braking protrusions (511C) are connected to a plurality of openings (36) arranged in line in the sliding direction on the fixed rail (3). It has a braking rotary body (511) configured to rotate for sequential entry and exit.

The control unit (6) performs a sliding process of sliding the movable rail (2) by rotating the drive rotor (411) in the first direction, and a slide process of sliding the movable rail (2) by stopping the rotation of the drive rotor (411). A stop process for stopping a slide is configured to be executed. In the stop process, the control unit (6) rotates the brake rotor (511) in a second direction opposite to the first direction after stopping the rotation of the drive rotor (411), thereby opening the plurality of openings ( At least one of the plurality of brake protrusions (511C) is brought into contact with the edge of 36).

According to such a configuration, after the slide stops, one of the brake protrusions (511C) is attached to the edge of the opening (36) of the fixed rail (3) in the forward direction in which the movable rail (2) was sliding. Make contact from the opposite backward direction. This restricts the movement of the movable rail (2) in the backward direction. As a result, in the slide device (1) including the drive unit (4) using the drive rotary body (411), wobbling of the movable rail (2) that is stopped can be suppressed regardless of the position in the sliding direction.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the number of brake protrusions (511C) may be the same as the number of drive protrusions (411C). According to such a configuration, it becomes easy to synchronize the driving rotary body (411) and the braking rotary body (511), and therefore it becomes easy to control the rotation of these rotary bodies.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the width of the plurality of brake protrusions (511C) in the rotational direction of the braking rotary body (511) is greater than the width of the plurality of drive protrusions (411C) in the rotational direction of the drive rotary body (411). may also be small. According to such a configuration, the brake projection (511C) can be inserted into and taken out of the opening (36) while suppressing contact of the brake projection (511C) with the edge of the opening (36) when the movable rail (2) slides. can do. Therefore, the drive protrusion (411C) and the brake protrusion (511C) can be inserted into and removed from the common opening (36).

Note that the symbols in parentheses above are examples showing correspondences with specific configurations, etc. described in the embodiments described later, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific configurations, etc. shown in the symbols in parentheses above. It's not something you can do.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle seat in an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the slide device of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic end view of a cut portion taken along line III--III in FIG. 2. FIG. 4A is a schematic exploded perspective view of the feeding mechanism in the slide device of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4B is a schematic perspective view showing the positional relationship of gears of the feeding mechanism. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the feeding mechanism and braking mechanism in the slide device of FIG. 2. 6 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the braking mechanism in the slide device of FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram comparing the shapes of the drive protrusion and the brake protrusion in the slide device of FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 8 is a flow diagram schematically showing the processing executed by the control unit in the slide device of FIG. 2. FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a fixed rail of a slide device in an embodiment different from FIG. 2. FIG.

Embodiments to which the present disclosure is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[1. First embodiment]
[1-1. composition]
A vehicle seat 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a seat 11 and a slide device 1.

The seat 11 of this embodiment is used as a seat for a passenger car. Note that the directions in the following description and in each drawing refer to the directions when the seat 11 is assembled into a vehicle (that is, a passenger car). Further, in this embodiment, the seat width direction corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle, and the front of the seat corresponds to the front of the vehicle.

The slide device 1 supports the seat 11 so as to be slidable in the seat front and rear directions. As shown in FIG. 2, the slide device 1 includes a movable rail 2, a fixed rail 3, a drive unit 4, a brake unit 5, and a control section 6.

<Movable rail>
The movable rail 2 is a so-called upper rail, and is attached to the seat 11 with a bracket (not shown) or the like.

The movable rail 2 extends in the front-back direction of the seat and is configured to be slidable in the front-back direction of the seat with respect to the fixed rail 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the movable rail 2 has a central portion 21, a first inner wall 22A, and a second inner wall 22B.

The lower part of the central part 21 is disposed inside the fixed rail 3, and the upper part projects above the fixed rail 3. A feeding mechanism 41 of the drive unit 4 and a braking mechanism 51 of the braking unit 5, which will be described later, are attached to the central portion 21.

The first inner wall 22A extends from the lower end of the center portion 21 outward in the rail width direction (that is, to the right side) and folded upward. The first inner wall 22A is arranged within the fixed rail 3.

Here, the "rail width direction" means a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and the sliding direction of the movable rail 2. Note that in this embodiment, the rail width direction coincides with the seat width direction.

The second inner wall 22B extends from the lower end of the central portion 21 outward in the rail width direction (that is, to the left) and folded upward. The second inner wall 22B is arranged within the fixed rail 3.

<Fixed rail>
The fixed rail 3 shown in FIG. 2 is a so-called lower rail, and is directly or indirectly fixed to the floor F of the vehicle on which the vehicle seat 10 is arranged.

The fixed rail 3 extends in the seat front-rear direction and supports the movable rail 2 so as to be slidable in a direction orthogonal to the up-down direction. The fixed rail 3 includes a bottom wall 31, a first outer wall 32A, a second outer wall 32B, a first ceiling wall 33A, a second ceiling wall 33B, a first inner wall 34A, a second inner wall 34B, It has a plurality of driving openings 36.

The bottom wall 31 extends in the sliding direction of the movable rail 2. The first outer wall 32A extends upward from the right end of the bottom wall 31. The second outer wall 32B extends upward from the left end of the bottom wall 31.

The first ceiling wall 33A extends inward in the rail width direction (that is, to the left) from the upper end of the first outer wall 32A. The first ceiling wall 33A covers the first inner wall 22A of the movable rail 2 from above.

The second ceiling wall 33B extends inward in the rail width direction (that is, to the right) from the upper end of the second outer wall 32B. The second ceiling wall 33B covers the second inner wall 22B of the movable rail 2 from above.

The first inner wall 34A extends downward from the left end of the first ceiling wall 33A. The first inner wall 34A is arranged between the lower part of the central portion 21 of the movable rail 2 and the first inner wall 22A in the rail width direction. The first inner wall 34A faces the center portion 21 of the movable rail 2.

The second inner wall 34B extends downward from the right end of the second ceiling wall 33B. The second inner wall 34B is arranged between the lower part of the central portion 21 of the movable rail 2 and the second inner wall 22B in the rail width direction. The second inner wall 34B faces the central portion 21 of the movable rail 2.

The outer walls 32A, 32B, the top walls 33A, 33B, and the inner walls 34A, 34B form two groove-shaped spaces that are open at the bottom and extend in the sliding direction. The upper ends of the inner walls 22A, 22B of the movable rail 2 are inserted into the groove-shaped space formed in the fixed rail 3.

The plurality of driving openings 36 are arranged in the first inner wall 34A in the sliding direction of the movable rail 2. In this embodiment, the lengths in the sliding direction, the intervals, and the positions in the vertical direction of the plurality of drive openings 36 are all equal.

<Drive unit>
The drive unit 4 is configured to slide the movable rail 2. The drive unit 4 includes a feeding mechanism 41 and a first actuator 42 .

(Feeding mechanism)
The sending mechanism 41 is configured to send the movable rail 2 relative to the fixed rail 3. The sending mechanism 41 is attached to the movable rail 2. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the feeding mechanism 41 includes a driving rotary body 411, a first connecting gear 412, and a second connecting gear 413.

The drive rotary body 411 is a composite gear that rotates around an axis parallel to the vertical direction. The drive rotating body 411 is housed in a casing made up of a first housing 414A and a second housing 414B.

The drive rotary body 411 has a pinion 411A and a first helical gear 411B. The pinion 411A and the first helical gear 411B are connected in the axial direction. The center axis of the pinion 411A and the center axis of the first helical gear 411B coincide.

The pinion 411A has a plurality of drive protrusions 411C. The plurality of drive protrusions 411C constitute teeth of the pinion 411A, and are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the pinion 411A. Further, the shapes of the plurality of drive protrusions 411C are the same. In addition, in this embodiment, although the drive rotating body 411 has seven drive protrusions 411C, the number of drive protrusions 411C is not limited to seven.

The drive rotary body 411 rotates so that the plurality of drive protrusions 411C sequentially fit into the plurality of drive openings 36 of the fixed rail 3 and separate from the plurality of drive openings 36. As shown in FIG. 5, as the pinion 411A rotates, the drive protrusion 411C is detachably fitted into the drive opening 36 from the inside in the seat width direction (that is, from the left side) and then detached from the drive opening 36. do.

The drive rotating body 411 rotates so that at least one drive protrusion 411C always comes into contact with the edge of at least one drive opening 36. Thereby, the feeding mechanism 41 receives a reaction force from the fixed rail 3 via at least one drive protrusion 411C. As a result, the rotation of the drive rotary body 411 causes the movable rail 2 to which the feeding mechanism 41 is attached to be fed relative to the fixed rail 3.

The drive rotary body 411 rotates counterclockwise when viewed from above when the movable rail 2 is slid toward the front of the seat, and rotates clockwise when viewed from above when the movable rail 2 is slid toward the rear of the seat.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the first helical gear 411B meshes with the first connection gear 412, and transmits the rotation transmitted from the first connection gear 412 to the pinion 411A.

The first connecting gear 412 is a composite gear that rotates around an axis parallel to the sliding direction. The first connecting gear 412 is rotatably supported by a first bearing 415A, a second bearing 415B, and a cover 416 shown in FIG. 4A. The first connection gear 412 is housed together with the drive rotary body 411 in a casing composed of a first housing 414A and a second housing 414B.

The first connection gear 412 includes a second helical gear 412A and a worm gear 412B. The second helical gear 412A and the worm gear 412B are connected in the axial direction. The central axis of the second helical gear 412A and the central axis of the worm gear 412B coincide.

The second helical gear 412A meshes with the second connection gear 413. Worm gear 412B meshes with first helical gear 411B. The first connecting gear 412 transmits the rotation transmitted from the second connecting gear 413 to the drive rotating body 411.

The second connection gear 413 is a helical gear that rotates around an axis parallel to the rail width direction. The second connection gear 413 is rotatably supported by a bush 417 and a cover 418. The second connection gear 413 is housed together with the drive rotating body 411 in a casing composed of a first housing 414A and a second housing 414B.

A rod (not shown) that transmits the rotation of the first actuator 42 is connected to the second connecting gear 413 in the axial direction. The second connection gear 413 transmits the rotation generated by the first actuator 42 to the first connection gear 412.

(1st actuator)
The first actuator 42 shown in FIG. 2 drives the feed mechanism 41. The first actuator 42 is attached to the movable rail 2. The first actuator 42 may be electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic.

<Brake unit>
The braking unit 5 is configured to brake the movable rail 2 that is stopped. The brake unit 5 includes a brake mechanism 51 and a second actuator 52.

(braking mechanism)
The braking mechanism 51 is attached to the movable rail 2. The braking mechanism 51 includes a braking rotating body 511, a first connecting gear 412, and a second connecting gear 413, as shown in FIG.

The first connecting gear 412 and the second connecting gear 413 of the braking mechanism 51 are the same as the first connecting gear 412 and the second connecting gear 413 of the feeding mechanism 41. The rotation generated by the second actuator 52 is input to the second connection gear 413 . The rotation input to the second connecting gear 413 is transmitted to the braking rotary body 511 via the first connecting gear 412.

The braking rotary body 511 is a composite gear that rotates around an axis parallel to the vertical direction. The braking rotary body 511 is housed in a casing composed of a first housing 514A and a second housing 514B.

The braking rotary body 511 has a pinion 511A and a first helical gear 511B. The pinion 511A and the first helical gear 511B are connected in the axial direction. The central axis of the pinion 511A and the central axis of the first helical gear 511B coincide.

The pinion 511A has a plurality of brake protrusions 511C. The plurality of brake protrusions 511C constitute teeth of the pinion 511A, and are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the pinion 511A. Furthermore, the shapes of the plurality of brake protrusions 511C are the same. In this embodiment, the number of brake protrusions 511C is the same as the number of drive protrusions 411C.

As shown in FIG. 7, the width of the plurality of braking protrusions 511C in the rotational direction of the braking rotary body 511 (that is, the tooth thickness of the pinion 511A of the braking rotary body 511) is It is smaller than the width in the rotation direction (that is, the tooth thickness of the pinion 411A of the drive rotor 411).

The brake rotating body 511 rotates so that the plurality of brake protrusions 511C sequentially move in and out of the plurality of drive openings 36 of the fixed rail 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the brake protrusion 511C enters the drive opening 36 from the inside (ie, left side) in the seat width direction as the pinion 511A rotates, and then leaves the drive opening 36.

The brake rotor 511 rotates at the same speed and in the same direction as the drive rotor 411 so that the brake protrusion 511C does not come into contact with the edge of the drive opening 36 (that is, so as to miss the fixed rail 3). In this embodiment, the phase of the brake protrusion 511C on the brake rotor 511 is out of phase with the phase of the drive protrusion 411C on the drive rotor 411.

Specifically, when one driving projection 411C is fitted into one driving opening 36, two brake projections 511C are inserted one by one into two adjacent driving openings 36. The phase is shifted.

(Second actuator)
The second actuator 52 shown in FIG. 2 drives the braking mechanism 51. The second actuator 52 is attached to the movable rail 2. The second actuator 52 may be electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic.

<Control unit>
The control unit 6 is configured to slide the movable rail 2 by controlling the drive unit 4 and the brake unit 5 based on the sliding operation by the seated person. Note that the sliding operation is performed by, for example, a physical or electronic switch, lever, etc. attached to the vehicle or the vehicle seat 10.

The control unit 6 is configured by, for example, a computer including a processor, a storage medium such as a RAM or ROM, and an input/output unit. The control unit 6 controls the drive unit 4 and the braking unit 5 by executing a pre-stored program. Note that the control section 6 may be incorporated into an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on a vehicle.

The control unit 6 is configured to perform a slide process for sliding the movable rail 2, a stop process for stopping the movable rail 2, and a preliminary process executed before the slide process.

In the sliding process, the control unit 6 slides the movable rail 2 by rotating the driving rotary body 411 and the braking rotary body 511 in the first direction D1. Note that in FIG. 5, the first direction D1 is clockwise when the seat is slid toward the rear, but when the seat is slid toward the front, the first direction D1 is counterclockwise.

In the stop process, the control unit 6 stops the sliding of the movable rail 2 by stopping the rotation of the driving rotary body 411 and the braking rotary body 511. Further, after the rotation of the drive rotor 411 is stopped, the control unit 6 rotates the brake rotor 511 in a second direction D2 opposite to the first direction D1, so that a plurality of at least one of the braking protrusions 511C of.

Specifically, after the movable rail 2 stops, the control unit 6 moves the brake rotor 511 to a position where the brake protrusion 511C contacts the edge of the drive opening 36, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Rotate in two directions D2. During this time, the drive rotary body 411 is not rotated.

In the example of FIG. 5, as a result of the stop processing of the control unit 6, one drive protrusion 411C contacts the edge of the drive opening 36 from the front of the seat, and two brake protrusions 511C contact the edge of the drive opening 36 with the seat. Hit from behind.

In the preliminary process, before starting the slide process, the control unit 6 rotates the brake rotor 511 in the first direction D1 while keeping the drive rotor 411 stopped, and moves the brake protrusion 511C from the edge of the drive opening 36. Separate.

[1-2. process]
The process executed by the control unit 6 when sliding the sheet 11 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 8.

When the control unit 6 receives an input to start sliding from the seated person, it executes preliminary processing (step S110). After executing the preliminary process, the control unit 6 continues to execute the slide process (step S120).

After executing the slide process, the control unit 6 determines whether or not there is a stop flag (step S130). The stop flag is generated when the target slide position is reached, when the slide limit position is reached, when an input to stop the slide is received from a seated person, and the like.

If there is a stop flag (S130: YES), the control unit 6 executes a stop process (Step S140) and ends the process. If there is no stop flag (S130: NO), the control unit 6 continues the slide process (S120).

[1-3. effect]
According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1a) After the slide stops, one of the brake protrusions 511C comes into contact with the edge of the drive opening 36 of the fixed rail 3 from the backward direction opposite to the forward direction in which the movable rail 2 was sliding. This restricts the movement of the movable rail 2 in the backward direction. As a result, in the slide device 1 including the drive unit 4 using the drive rotary body 411, the wobbling of the movable rail 2 that is stopped can be suppressed regardless of the position in the sliding direction.

(1b) Since the number of brake protrusions 511C is the same as the number of drive protrusions 411C, it becomes easy to synchronize the drive rotary body 411 and the brake rotary body 511, so that rotation control of these rotary bodies is facilitated. Become.

(1c) Since the width of the brake protrusion 511C is smaller than the width of the drive protrusion 411C, the brake protrusion 511C can be suppressed from coming into contact with the edge of the drive opening 36 when the movable rail 2 slides. 511C can be taken in and out of the drive opening 36. Therefore, the drive protrusion 411C and the brake protrusion 511C can be inserted into and removed from the common drive opening 36.

(1d) By rotating the driving rotary body 411 and the braking rotary body 511 using a combination of a worm gear and a plurality of helical gears, the driving rotary body 411 and the braking rotary body 511 are prevented from reversing. Therefore, rattling caused by the rotation of the driving rotary body 411 and the braking rotary body 511 when the movable rail 2 is stopped is suppressed.

[2. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can take various forms.

(2a) In the slide device 1 of the above embodiment, the number of brake protrusions 511C does not necessarily have to be the same as the number of drive protrusions 411C. Further, the width of the brake protrusion 511C does not necessarily have to be smaller than the width of the drive protrusion 411C. The width of the brake protrusion 511C may be greater than or equal to the width of the drive protrusion 411C, as long as the feeding function of the fixed rail 3 by the drive rotary body 411 is not inhibited.

(2b) In the slide device 1 of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the fixed rail 3 has a plurality of braking openings 37 arranged in line in the sliding direction, in addition to the plurality of driving openings 36. You may. The brake protrusion 511C may enter and exit the brake opening 37 instead of the drive opening 36.

(2c) The vehicle seat 10 of the above embodiment can also be applied to seats used in automobiles other than passenger cars, and seats used in vehicles other than automobiles, such as railway vehicles, ships, and aircraft.

(2d) The function of one component in the above embodiment may be distributed as multiple components, or the functions of multiple components may be integrated into one component. Further, a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Further, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added to, replaced with, etc. in the configuration of other embodiments. Note that all aspects included in the technical idea specified from the words in the claims are embodiments of the present disclosure.

1... Slide device, 2... Movable rail, 3... Fixed rail, 4... Drive unit,
5... Braking unit, 6... Control unit, 10... Vehicle seat, 11... Seat,
34A...first inner wall, 34B...second inner wall, 36...driving opening, 37...braking opening,
41... Feeding mechanism, 42... First actuator, 51... Braking mechanism,
52...Second actuator, 411...Drive rotating body, 411A...Pinion,
411B...first helical gear, 411C...drive protrusion, 412...first connection gear,
412A...second helical gear, 412B...worm gear, 413...second connection gear,
414A...first housing, 414B...second housing, 511...braking rotor,
511A...pinion, 511B...first helical gear, 511C...braking protrusion,
514A...first housing, 514B...second housing.

Claims (3)

a movable rail configured to be attached to a seat installed in a vehicle;
a fixed rail that slidably supports the movable rail;
a drive unit configured to slide the movable rail;
a braking unit configured to brake the movable rail when it is stationary;
a control section configured to control the drive unit and the braking unit;
Equipped with
The fixed rail has a plurality of driving openings arranged in a sliding direction of the movable rail,
The drive unit has a plurality of drive protrusions, and rotates so that the plurality of drive protrusions sequentially fit into the plurality of drive openings and detach from the plurality of drive openings. It has a driving rotating body configured as follows,
The braking unit includes:
A brake rotating body having a plurality of brake protrusions and configured to rotate so that the plurality of brake protrusions sequentially move in and out of a plurality of openings arranged in the sliding direction on the fixed rail. has
The control unit includes:
a sliding process of sliding the movable rail by rotating the drive rotary body in a first direction;
a stopping process of stopping the sliding of the movable rail by stopping the rotation of the driving rotary body;
is configured to run
In the stop process, the control unit rotates the braking rotor in a second direction opposite to the first direction after stopping the rotation of the drive rotor, thereby causing the edges of the plurality of openings to have the A slide device that abuts at least one of the plurality of brake protrusions. The slide device according to claim 1,
The number of the plurality of brake projections is the same as the number of the plurality of drive projections. The slide device according to claim 1 or claim 2,
In the slide device, a width of the plurality of brake protrusions in the rotation direction of the brake rotor is smaller than a width of the plurality of drive protrusions in the rotation direction of the drive rotor.

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