JP7498619B2 - Upper rail and upper rail wire harness mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an upper rail and a mounting structure for a wire harness for the upper rail.

As a device for transmitting and receiving signals from the vehicle body side to a vehicle sliding seat, a signal transmitting device is provided with a first electric wire having one terminal connected to an electronic device provided in the vehicle sliding seat, a second electric wire arranged on the vehicle body side, a signal transmitting means connected to the other terminal of the first electric wire, and a signal receiving means connected to the terminal of the second electric wire and receiving a signal wirelessly transmitted from the signal transmitting means. In this signal transmitting device, the signal transmitting means and the signal receiving means are arranged in a rail arranged below the sliding seat, the signal transmitting means is attached to the underside of the sliding seat and is fixed directly or via another member to an upper rail attached to the rail so as to be freely slidable, the signal receiving means is fixed to one end of the rail, and the signal transmitting means and the signal receiving means are arranged opposite each other in a straight line (Patent Document 1).

In this signal transmission/reception device, the signal receiving means is fixed to one end of the rail, and the signal transmitting means and the signal receiving means are arranged opposite each other in a straight line, so there is no need to provide an extra length in the first electric wire for the distance the slide sheet slides, and the entire device can be configured simply. In addition, it has the effect of preventing a decrease in the reception sensitivity of the wirelessly transmitted signal by utilizing the rail, which is an existing component.

However, while wireless transmission is no problem when sending and receiving signals, sending electricity to a vehicle seat to power the reclining of the vehicle seat or to heat the vehicle seat may require wired transmission.

In such a case, if the wire harness is pulled directly from the vehicle floor to the vehicle seat from a power source installed in the vehicle, the vehicle seat will slide back and forth, so the wire harness must be long enough to follow this movement, and there is a problem that the wire harness moves every time the vehicle seat is slid.

JP 2013-67322 A

Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and its main objective is to provide an attachment structure for an upper rail and a wire harness for the upper rail that can transmit electricity from a power source on the vehicle floor side through the seat rail to a vehicle seat above the upper rail.

The present invention employs the following means to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned objectives.

The mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention comprises:
A seat rail having a lower rail attached to a vehicle floor and an upper rail to which a vehicle seat is directly or indirectly attached;
An upper rail wire harness;
a thin conductor disposed on the lower rail and attached so as to be electrically conductive to the upper rail wire harness;
an upper harness mounting member for mounting the upper rail wire harness and the thin conductor to an upper rail;
The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with:

The mounting structure of the upper rail and upper rail wire harness according to the present invention allows electricity from a thin conductor arranged on the lower rail to be sent to the upper rail wire harness attached to the upper harness mounting member. Since the upper harness mounting member is attached to the upper rail, when the vehicle seat is slid back and forth (when the upper rail is slid), the upper rail wire harness also moves with the movement of the upper rail. Therefore, the relative position between the mounting position of the upper rail wire harness on the vehicle seat side and the mounting position of the upper rail wire harness on the upper rail does not change, so there is an effect that it is no longer necessary to consider the handling of the upper rail wire harness due to the movement of the upper rail or the length due to changes in distance.

In addition, in the mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention, the upper harness mounting member may be characterized by having a base member, a thin conductor mounting member capable of sandwiching and fixing the thin conductor between the base member, and a harness fixing member that fixes the wire harness for the upper rail.

By adopting this configuration, the upper rail wire harness and the thin conductor can be easily attached to the upper harness mounting member.

Furthermore, in the mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention,
The upper rail wire harness has a hook at a tip thereof,
The hook has a hook body and a metal terminal,
The metal terminal may be formed to press against the hook body, and the upper rail wire harness and the thin conductor may be electrically connected by inserting a conductive portion of the thin conductor between the hook body and the metal terminal.

By adopting this configuration, the upper rail wire harness can be easily electrically connected to the thin conductor simply by inserting the thin conductor into the hook, and the upper harness mounting member can be assembled as a sub-assembly for mounting to the upper rail.

Furthermore, in the mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention,
The thin conductor may be characterized by being provided with a reinforcing film made of plastic having a conductive portion.

By adopting this configuration, the thin conductor can be easily inserted into the hook.

Furthermore, in the mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention,
The thin conductor may be characterized in that a dimensional variation absorbing portion curved approximately in a U-shape is provided between the conductive portion and the portion of the thin conductor that is clamped and fixed between the base member and the thin conductor mounting member.

By adopting this configuration, even if there is an error in the length of the thin conductor, the conductive part can be reliably attached to the thin conductor mounting member while adjusting the U-shape.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat rail 10 having a mounting structure for a lower rail 11 and a wire harness 21 for a lower rail according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view and a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the seat rail 10 having the mounting structure for the lower rail 11 and the wire harness 21 for the lower rail according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing the mounting structure of the lower rail 11 and the wire harness 21 for the lower rail. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the lower thin conductor mounting member 45. As shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the upper harness attachment member 50. As shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a base member 51, a thin conductor mounting member 52 capable of sandwiching and fixing the thin conductor 40 between the base member 51, and the thin conductor 40. As shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an attachment structure between the seat rail 10, the lower rail 11, the lower rail wire harness 21, and the upper rail 12. As shown in FIG.

Next, the mounting structure of the upper rail 12 and the upper rail wire harness 25 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The embodiments and drawings described below are examples of some of the embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to be used for the purpose of limiting the present invention to these configurations, and may be modified as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. Note that the same or similar symbols are used to designate corresponding components in each drawing.

As shown in Fig. 1, the mounting structure of the seat rail 10 and the wire harness 20 mainly includes a mounting structure between the lower rail 11 and the lower rail wire harness 21, and a mounting structure between the upper rail 12 and the upper rail wire harness 25, with a thin conductor 40 provided between the respective mounting structures. In the present invention, electricity obtained from a power source provided in the vehicle body is conducted through the lower rail wire harness 21 attached to the bottom side of the lower rail 11 to the thin conductor 40 guided into the lower rail 11, and electricity can be taken out from within the lower rail 11, or electricity can be sent to the upper rail wire harness 25 attached to the upper rail 12 by conducting the electricity to the upper rail wire harness 25, and electricity can be taken out from the upper rail wire harness 25. Therefore, since the upper rail wire harness 25 moves with the movement of the vehicle seat, i.e., with the movement of the upper rail 12, the upper rail wire harness 25 can be made to a length that corresponds to the distance between the upper rail 12 and the power supply position of the vehicle seat, eliminating the need to ensure extra length due to the movement.

The seat rail 10 is a rail for sliding a vehicle seat (not shown) back and forth, and as shown in FIG. 1, is mainly equipped with a lower rail 11 attached to the vehicle body side, and an upper rail 12 to which the vehicle seat is directly or indirectly attached. Various configurations have been proposed for the structure of the lower rail 11 and the upper rail 12, and the structure is not particularly limited as long as the lower rail 11 and the upper rail 12 have a mechanism for sliding against each other.

In this embodiment, the lower rail 11 has a bottom surface 11a and both side surfaces 11b, 11c as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3. One side surface 11c has a top surface 11d formed from the top end toward the inside, and a vertical surface portion 11e formed downward from the end of the top surface 11d. In the lower rail 11 thus manufactured, as shown in FIG. 3, the main body 12a of the upper rail 12 is slidably inserted into the area α formed by the bottom surface 11a, the side surface 11b, and the vertical surface portion 11e. In addition, the wheel portion 12b of the upper rail 12 is arranged in the area β surrounded by the bottom surface 11a, the side surface 11c, the top surface 11d, and the vertical surface portion 11e, ensuring smooth sliding of the upper rail 12.

The upper rail 12 has a main body 12a to which the vehicle seat is directly or indirectly attached, and a wheel portion 12b that ensures sliding within the lower rail 11.

Next, the mounting structure of the lower rail 11 and the lower rail wire harness 21 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4, the mounting portion of the lower rail 11 and the lower rail wire harness 21 mainly includes the lower rail 11, the lower rail wire harness 21, a lower harness mounting member 30 for mounting the lower rail wire harness 21 to the lower rail 11, a thin conductor 40 for extracting electricity from the lower rail wire harness 21, and a lower thin conductor mounting member 45 for mounting the thin conductor 40 to the lower rail 11. Note that the side surface 11c, the top surface 11d, and the vertical surface portion 11e of the lower rail 11 in FIG. 4 are omitted in order to improve visibility of the inside.

A through hole 11f is provided in the mounting portion of the lower rail 11 for the lower rail wire harness 21. The thin conductor 40 is disposed on the upper side of the through hole 11f, and the lower rail wire harness 21 is disposed on the bottom side of the through hole 11f. As described below, the respective terminals are attached so as to be in contact and conductive, so that electricity can be taken out from the lower rail wire harness 21 to the thin conductor 40. In addition, around the through hole 11f, screw member holes 11g are provided for mounting the lower harness mounting member 30 and the lower thin conductor mounting member 45.

The lower rail wire harness 21 is not particularly limited, and various known wire harnesses can be used. A terminal 21a is provided at the end of the lower rail wire harness 21, and a positioning member 22 is provided to fix the terminal 21a and to attach it to a predetermined position on the lower harness mounting member 30. The terminal 21a is preferably formed as a flat plate formed so as to be convex toward the thin conductor 40. This configuration makes it easier to contact the thin conductor 40, reducing poor contact.

The lower harness mounting member 30 can fix the lower rail wire harness 21 in a state where the terminal 21a is exposed by covering it with the cover member 31 after the positioning member 22 of the lower rail wire harness 21 is attached to a predetermined position. The lower harness mounting member 30 is attached to the screw member hole 11g with the screw member 80 so that the terminal 21a is exposed to the through hole 11f of the lower rail 11 on the bottom side of the lower rail 11 with the lower rail wire harness 21 fixed in a predetermined position.

The thin conductor 40 is a bendable, flat, band-shaped conductor, such as a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC). The thin conductor 40 must be flexible enough to be bent and arranged within the lower rail 11, and to be able to change the bent state at any time.

The lower thin conductor mounting member 45 is formed in an L-shaped cross section having a bottom surface 45a and a side surface 45b so that it can be arranged along the bottom surface 11a and the side surface 11b of the lower rail 11. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the thin conductor 40 is provided on the bottom surface 45a of the lower thin conductor mounting member 45 so that the conductive portion 41 that can contact and conduct with the terminal 21a of the lower rail wire harness 21 faces the through hole 11f side, and the main body of the thin conductor 40 is guided to the back side of the side surface 45b and is bent and attached so as to extend to the side of the lower thin conductor mounting member 45 so as to be arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lower rail 11. The bottom surface 45a and the side surface 45b of the lower thin conductor mounting member 45 are provided with a recess 45c, and a mounting hook 45d is provided so that the thin conductor 40 can be attached. By providing such a recess 45c, the lower thin conductor mounting member 45 can be attached without any gaps to the bottom surface 11a and side surface 11b of the lower rail 11. The lower thin conductor mounting member 45 with the thin conductor 40 attached in this way is attached to the bottom surface 11a of the lower rail 11 with the screw member 80 in the screw member hole 11g so that the conductive portion 41 faces the through hole 11f from the top side, and is attached to contact the terminal 21a of the lower rail wire harness 21 so as to be conductive.

In this way, with the mounting structure of the lower rail 11 and the lower rail wire harness 21 according to the present invention, electricity can be taken from the thin conductor 40 arranged inside the lower rail 11 via the lower rail wire harness 21, which is connected to a power source on the floor side of the vehicle body.

Next, the mounting structure of the upper rail 12 and the upper rail wire harness 25 will be described. As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the mounting portion of the upper rail 12 and the upper rail wire harness 25 mainly includes the upper rail 12, the upper rail wire harness 25, a thin conductor 40 that conducts electricity to the upper rail wire harness 25, and an upper harness mounting member 50 for mounting the upper rail wire harness 25 and the thin conductor 40 to the upper rail 12.

The upper rail wire harness 25 is not particularly limited, and a known wire harness can be used. A hook 26 is provided at the tip of the upper rail wire harness 25. As shown in FIG. 6, the hook 26 has a hook body 26a and a metal terminal 26b that can be electrically connected to the conductive portion 48 of the thin conductor 40 (see FIG. 7). The metal terminal 26b is formed to press against the hook body 26a, and the electrical connection is achieved by inserting the conductive portion 48 of the thin conductor 40 between the hook body 26a and the metal terminal 26b.

The thin conductor 40 is attached to the upper harness mounting member 50 at the conductive portion 48 at the end (hereinafter referred to as the "upper end") opposite the conductive portion 41 at the end of the thin conductor 40 attached to the lower thin conductor mounting member 45. As described above, the upper end of the thin conductor 40 is inserted between the hook body 26a and the metal terminal 26b, so in order to ensure rigidity during insertion, a reinforcing film 49 made of plastic or the like and having the conductive portion 48 may be provided as shown in FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 6, the upper harness mounting member 50 can be assembled to the upper rail wire harness 25 and the thin conductor 40 in an electrically conductive state, and can be fixed to the upper rail 12 in the assembled state. The upper harness mounting member 50 mainly includes a base member 51, a thin conductor mounting member 52 that can sandwich and fix the thin conductor 40 between the base member 51, and a harness fixing member 54 that fixes the upper rail wire harness 25. As shown in FIG. 7, the base member 51 is a member that sandwiches and fixes the thin conductor 40 between the thin conductor mounting member 52, and the form is not particularly limited. The thin conductor mounting member 52 is formed so that the thin conductor 40 can be sandwiched and fixed between the base member 51 and the screw member 90, and can also be fixed to the upper rail 12 at the same time with the screw member 90. The thin conductor mounting member 52 is attached upright so that the conductive portion 48 of the upper end of the thin conductor 40 is exposed. The back surface of the conductive portion 48 of the thin conductor 40 has a back support plate 52a that supports the conductive portion 48, and maintains the upright state of the thin conductor 40. Between the conductive portion 48 and the portion of the thin conductor 40 that is clamped and fixed between the base member 51 and the thin conductor mounting member 52, there is a dimensional variation absorbing portion 40c that is curved into an approximately U-shape to eliminate variations due to mounting errors and dimensional errors. By providing such a dimensional variation absorbing portion 40c, even if there is an error in the length of the thin conductor 40, the U-shape can be adjusted and the conductive portion 48 can be reliably mounted on the thin conductor mounting member 52. In this way, the hook 26 provided at the tip of the upper rail wire harness 25 described above is attached to the upper end of the thin conductor 40 where the conductive portion 48 is exposed, so that the metal terminal 26b contacts the conductive portion 48 and the hook body 26a and the metal terminal 26b sandwich the conductive portion 48 and the back support plate 52a, thereby attaching the upper rail wire harness 25 and the thin conductor 40 in a state where electricity can flow. In this state, the hook 26 provided at the tip of the upper rail wire harness 25 is fixed to the upper harness mounting member 50 by sandwiching and fixing the hook 26 and the thin conductor mounting member 52 with the harness fixing member 54 so that the hook 26 provided at the tip of the upper rail wire harness 25 does not come off.

The upper harness mounting member 50 manufactured as described above is attached to the upper rail 12 by a screw member 90 as shown in FIG. 3. Note that the method of attaching to the upper rail 12 is not limited to this embodiment, and various means can be used.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, when the upper rail 12 is located in the main movable area (when the vehicle seat is in the seating area) (as shown in FIG. 8), the thin conductor 40 is extended from the lower thin conductor mounting member 45 to the side opposite the upper rail 12, and then curved and U-turned to be attached to the upper harness mounting member 50 of the upper rail 12. By attaching in this manner, when the upper rail 12 moves, the curved position of the thin conductor 40 moves and the thin conductor 40 moves so as to be parallel to the side surface 11b of the lower rail 11, so that the thin conductor 40 can be prevented from getting in the way when the upper rail 12 moves. In addition, a thin conductor regulating member 70 is provided to prevent the thin conductor 40 from falling toward the bottom side 11a inside the lower rail 11 when the thin conductor 40 moves, and the top surface is positioned higher than the head of the bolt, etc., and from getting caught on the fastening bolt 96 to the vehicle body, etc.

The mounting structure between the seat rail 10 and the wire harness 20 thus created conducts electricity from the power source from the lower rail wire harness 21 to the thin conductor 40 in the mounting structure between the lower rail 11 and the lower rail wire harness 21, and then from the upper end of the thin conductor 40 to the upper rail wire harness 25.

Therefore, by placing the upper rail wire harness 25 attached to the upper rail 12 inside the vehicle seat, the power supply required for the vehicle seat can be secured. Furthermore, when the upper rail wire harness 25 is attached to the vehicle seat in this way, even if the vehicle seat slides, the upper rail wire harness 25 moves with the movement of the upper rail 12. Therefore, compared to when the upper rail wire harness 25 is attached directly from the vehicle floor, there is no need to secure extra length for sliding movement, and the length of the upper rail wire harness 25 can be shortened.

As shown in the above embodiment, it can be used as a means of securing power for a vehicle seat.

Reference Signs List 10...seat rail, 11...lower rail, 11a...bottom surface, 11b, 11c...side surface, 11d...top surface, 11e...vertical surface portion, 11f...through hole, 11g...hole for screw member, 12...upper rail, 12b...wheel portion, 12a...main body, 20...wire harness, 21...wire harness for lower rail, 21a...terminal, 22...positioning member, 25...wire harness for upper rail, 26...hook, 26a...hook main body, 26b...metal terminal , 30...lower harness mounting member, 31...cover member, 40...thin conductor, 40c...dimensional variation absorbing portion, 41...conductive portion, 45...lower thin conductor mounting member, 45a...bottom surface, 45b...side surface, 45c...recess, 45d...mounting hook, 48...conductive portion, 49...reinforcing film, 50...upper harness mounting member, 51...base member, 52...thin conductor mounting member, 52a...rear support plate, 54...harness fixing member, 80...screw member, 90...screw member

Claims (4)

A seat rail having a lower rail attached to a vehicle floor and an upper rail to which a vehicle seat is directly or indirectly attached;
An upper rail wire harness;
a thin conductor disposed on the lower rail and attached so as to be electrically conductive to the upper rail wire harness;
an upper harness mounting member for mounting the upper rail wire harness and the thin conductor to the upper rail;
Equipped with
The upper rail and upper rail wire harness mounting structure is characterized in that the upper harness mounting member comprises a base member, a thin conductor mounting member capable of sandwiching and fixing the thin conductor between the base member, and a harness fixing member that fixes the upper rail wire harness. The upper rail wire harness has a hook at a tip thereof,
The hook has a hook body and a metal terminal,
2. The mounting structure for an upper rail and a wire harness for an upper rail as described in claim 1 , characterized in that the metal terminal is formed so as to press the hook body, and the thin conductor is electrically connected to the upper rail wire harness by inserting the conductive portion of the thin conductor between the hook body and the metal terminal. 4. The mounting structure for an upper rail and a wire harness for an upper rail according to claim 1, wherein the thin conductor is provided with a reinforcing film made of plastic or the like having a conductive portion. Furthermore, in the mounting structure of the upper rail and the wire harness for the upper rail according to the present invention,
The mounting structure of an upper rail and a wire harness for an upper rail as described in claim 2, characterized in that a dimensional variation absorbing portion curved approximately in a U-shape is provided between the portion of the thin conductor clamped and fixed between the base member and the thin conductor mounting member and the conductive portion.

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