JPH0239874Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Industrial application field]

This invention relates to the improvement of a locking mechanism for a folding rear seat of an automobile, and in particular to a locking mechanism that reduces the number of parts and improves assembly workability by improving the form of a lock release lever.

[Conventional technology]

The rear seats in vans and other vehicles equipped with back doors are often foldable seats that allow you to choose between using the seat back with it upright and using it as a seat, or folding the seat back to expand the cargo space. be done. Such a folding seat is provided with at least a locking mechanism for locking the seat back in the upright position. Such a locking mechanism, which is attached to the hinge that connects the seat cushion and the seat back, has an engaging part on the lower edge of the hinge arm on the seat back side, and an engaging recess in the fixing plate on the seat cushion side. It basically consists of a locking hook with a claw that can be engaged and is attached so as to be rotatable while being biased in one direction by a spring.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, in a bench-type rear seat that has a left-right width that is almost the same as the width of the vehicle interior, the above-mentioned locking mechanism is installed on both the left and right hinges, so there is a problem that it is very difficult to release the lock. . That is, unless both the left and right lock hooks are rotated and held in the unlocking direction, the seat bag will not be unlocked substantially. One way to solve this problem is to set the above-mentioned lock so that elasticity acts in the opposite direction from the midpoint of its swing range.
It is conceivable to apply the force in a so-called fulcrum over type so that the position is maintained on both the lock hook side and the lock release side. In this way, both lock mechanisms can be freely released by rotating one of the left and right lock hooks from the locked state to the unlocked state, and then releasing the other lock hook. However, with such a locking mechanism, it is necessary to rotate the released locking hook in the locking direction again, and there is a risk that the locking operation may be forgotten. As described above, in conventional locking mechanisms for rear seats, etc., there has been no simple structure that simultaneously satisfies ease of unlocking and reliability of locking. This idea was devised under the circumstances mentioned above, and it satisfies the ease of unlocking operation and the reliability of locking due to the automatic locking method.Moreover, it has a simple structure and a small number of parts. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new locking mechanism that is easy to assemble.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures. That is, the seat back can be fixed by rotatably fitting a fixing plate attached to the seat cushion and a hinge plate attached to the seat back into a supporting shaft protruding from the hinge plate into a support hole drilled in the fixing plate. While the hinge plate is supported rotatably relative to the seat cushion, an engaging recess is formed in the lower part of the hinge plate, and a swingable locking hook is attached in one direction and has a claw that can be engaged with the engaging recess. This is a locking mechanism for a rear seat, etc., which is attached to a fixed plate while moving the support shaft, and the support shaft is provided with a guide shaft portion that protrudes outside the fixed plate, and a flange is provided at the shaft end of this guide shaft portion, and the guide shaft portion is provided with a flange portion at the shaft end of the guide shaft portion. While the locking surface is formed by partially removing the shaft or flange, there is a vertical slide hole with a width larger than the shaft diameter of the guide shaft and smaller than the diameter of the flange, and a similar slide hole. It has a shape in which the horizontal slide hole portion of the width is continuous in a substantially L-shape, and a portion through which the partially removed flange portion of the support shaft can pass, and is fitted into the guide shaft portion of the support shaft. A lock release lever is provided with a guide hole formed in the lock, and a boss portion elastically fitted into a pin protruding from the lock hook at an elastically deflectable end portion.

[Effect]

First, when assembling the lock release lever of the present invention, no fixing or connecting parts such as screws or rivets or special tools are required at all. That is, after passing the collar of the support shaft through the appropriate part of the approximately L-shaped guide hole and sliding the collar so as to hook it to the edge of the guide hole, the boss part is pushed while elastically bending the lower part. Just fit it into the lock pin. The above-mentioned guide hole has a part through which the flange of the support shaft can pass, but in the normal assembled state, the support shaft is located in the vertical slide hole whose width is smaller than the diameter of the flange. , the flange of the support shaft prevents the lock release lever from coming off. That is, the lock release lever is held parallel to the outer surface of the fixed plate by the collar of the support shaft and slides in the direction permitted by the guide hole. Therefore, it is sufficient to connect the lock release lever to the lock hook simply by fitting the boss portion provided at the lower part of the lock hook into the pin protruding from the lock hook. Also,
Since this boss portion is designed to be elastically fitted into the lock hook, there is no looseness between the movement of the lock release lever and the movement of the lock hook, improving operability and reliability of operation. When the seat bag is in a predetermined upright position, the hook of the lock hook engages with the engagement recess of the hinge plate, and the seat bag is locked in the upright position. When the lock release lever is pushed in against the elasticity of the lock hook, the lock hook rotates toward the release side, and its pawl disengages from the engagement recess, resulting in the unlocked state. This movement of the lock release lever is permitted by the vertical slide hole portion of the guide hole sliding vertically relative to the guide shaft portion of the support shaft. By the way, in the present invention, a locking surface is provided by removing a part of the support shaft or its flange, and the vertical slide hole part and the lateral slide hole part are continuous in a substantially L-shape as a guide hole. Therefore, an angular engaging portion is formed at the inner edge of the L-shaped bent portion. Therefore, when this lock release lever is pushed in as described above and then swung slightly laterally, the above-mentioned angular engagement part will be hooked on the locking surface of the support shaft, and this lock release lever will be released. It can be held temporarily in the pressed state. That is, the lock hook can be held in a state where it is rotated toward the release side against the biasing force. When you release the lock in this way and fold down the seat back, the support shaft rotates, and eventually the engagement surface of the support shaft disengages from the engagement part of the guide hole, and the lock release lever or It is rotated back to the lock side. At this time, since the seat back or the hinge plate has already rotated to some extent, the claw of the returned lock hook comes into elastic contact with the lower edge of the hinge plate. When the seat back or hinge plate is folded and rotated in this way, the claw of the locking hook is brought into elastic contact with the lower edge of the hinge plate, so that the seat back or hinge plate can be returned to the predetermined upright position. When rotated, the claw of the lock hook automatically engages the engagement recess of the hinge plate, and the seat back is automatically locked.

【effect】

As described above, the locking mechanism for rear seats, etc. according to the present invention does not require any special fixing or connecting parts or tools when installing the lock release lever, so the number of parts can be reduced and
Also, it is possible to improve the assembly workability. In addition, the lock release lever in the lock mechanism of the present invention has a guide hole guided by the support shaft having a special approximately L-shape with a locking part,
The above-mentioned support shaft rotates with the rotation of the hinge plate, and has a special form in which the guide shaft or flange is removed to form a locking surface. can be retained. Therefore, for example, even if a bench-type rear seat is provided with locking mechanisms on the left and right sides, the left and right locks can be sequentially released. Therefore, the locking mechanism of the present invention is easier to handle than the conventional one in which the seat back could only be folded while manually operating the release levers of the locking mechanisms on both sides toward the release side. becomes much better.

[Explanation of Examples]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. The locking mechanism for a rear seat, etc. of the present invention is particularly suitable for application to the left and right hinge portions of a bench-type folding seat, which is installed approximately across the entire width of a vehicle interior, as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows an external appearance of an example in which the locking mechanism of the present invention is applied to the left hinge portion. A hinge plate 4 fixed to the lower part of the seat back 2 is rotatably supported by a fixed plate 3 attached to the rear of the seat cushion 1. In particular, in the present invention, a support shaft 5 protruding laterally on the hinge plate 4 side is rotatably fitted into a support hole 6 formed in the fixed plate 3, so that when the seat back 2 rotates, This support shaft 5 is made to rotate. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, this support shaft 5 has an outer end flange 5a, a large diameter guide shaft 5b that is guided and fitted into a guide hole 8 of a lock release lever 7, which will be described later, and a fixed An intermediate diameter portion 5c rotatably fitted into the support hole 6 of the plate 3, and a small diameter portion 5 tightly fitted into the caulking hole 9 of the hinge plate 4.
d, and is attached by inserting the intermediate diameter portion 5c and the small diameter portion 5d from the outside into the support hole 6 and the caulking hole 9, respectively, and caulking the inner end to the inside of the hinge plate. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a flat locking surface 10 is formed on the guide shaft portion 5b or the collar portion 5a of the support shaft 5 by removing a portion of the outer circumference in an arc shape. The locking surface 10 is formed so as to face downward when the seat bag is in an upright position, that is, when the seat bag is in a rotational position where it should be locked. A locking mechanism 11 for fixing the hinge plate 4, which is rotatably supported around the support shaft 5 with respect to the fixed plate 3 in a predetermined upright position, is located under the approximately arc-shaped portion of the hinge plate 4. Edge 1
2 and a lock hook that is swingably supported on the fixed plate 3 and is biased by a spring 15 so that the claw 14 at the tip moves toward the lower edge 12. Basically configured. When the hinge plate 4 is folded and rotated, the pawl 14 is elastically abutted against the lower edge 12, and when the hinge plate 4 is rotated to a predetermined upright position, the pawl that has slid on the lower edge 12 1
4 automatically engages in the engagement recess 13. Furthermore, the present invention is provided with a lock release lever 7 for rotating the lock hook 16 in the release direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the lock release lever 7 is a thin plate-like member as a whole, which has a pressing actuating portion 7a bent outward in an L-shaped cross section at the upper end, and is made of elastically deformable material such as resin. It is made of a material that can be used. A guide hole 8 for guiding and accommodating the guide shaft portion 5b of the support shaft 5 is provided at the vertically intermediate portion thereof, and a boss portion fitted into the headed pin 17 protruding from the outer surface of the lock hook 16 is provided at the lower end portion. 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide hole 8 includes a vertical slide hole 8a extending in the vertical direction and having a width larger than the diameter of the guide shaft portion 5b of the support shaft and smaller than the diameter of the flange portion 5a. The vertical slide hole 8a has a continuous horizontal slide hole 8b extending laterally from the top and has a substantially L-shape. As a result of the width of both slide holes 8a and 8b being smaller than the diameter of the collar portion 5a of the support shaft, when the guide shaft portion 5b is located within the vertical slide hole portion 8a and the horizontal slide hole portion 8b, The flange 5a catches on the edge of the guide hole 8 and prevents the lock release lever 7 from coming off the support shaft 5, but the support shaft 5 has a chord-shaped cut-out shape as described above. Since the locking surface 10 is provided,
When the support shaft 5 is positioned at the L-shaped bent portion of the guide hole 8 and the hole 8 is rotated as shown by the solid line in FIG.
It is designed so that a can pass through. After passing the guide hole 8 through the support shaft 5 in this way, when the entire lock release lever 7 is returned to its original position as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 7 will not come off from the support shaft 5. In addition, as a result of the above-mentioned guide hole 8 having a substantially L-shaped form, an angular, step-shaped engagement portion 19 is formed at the inner edge of the L-shaped bent portion. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the boss portion 18 formed at the lower part of the lock release lever 7 has a plurality of tongue pieces 18a extending inwardly formed into a cylinder by inserting slits 20 in the axial direction. Each tongue piece 18 has a specific form as if arranged in a shape.
A hook portion 21 facing inward in the radial direction is formed at the tip of each of the portions a. This boss portion 18 is the third
It is easily connected to the pin 17 by bending it outward as shown by the imaginary line in the figure, pressing the tip against the head 17a of the headed pin 17, and pushing it in the axial direction of the pin 17. Ru. That is,
When the tip of the boss portion 18 is pressed against the head 17a of the pin 17, each tongue piece 18a is pushed apart by the slope effect of the front slope of the hook portion 20, and the hook portion 20 that has slid on the outer surface of the head 17a The inner surface of each tongue piece 18a elastically holds the outer periphery of the head 17a. In this way, the boss portion 18
can be easily connected to the headed pin 17a without any play without requiring any connecting parts or tools. Next, the operation at the time of unlocking will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The solid line in FIG. 6 shows a state in which the hinge plate 4 is locked at a predetermined upright position, and the lock hook 1
The claw 14 of 6 is engaged with the engagement recess 13 of the hinge plate 4, and the lock release lever 7 is engaged with the engagement recess 13 of the hinge plate 4.
It is located relatively above. When the lock release lever 7 is pushed downward from this state, the lock hook 16 is pushed downward against the elasticity of the spring 15, and its pawl 14 is disengaged from the engagement recess 13. In this state, the support shaft 5 is moved to the vertical slide hole 8a of the guide hole 8 as shown by the dashed line.
The engaging portion 19 of the guide hole 8 is located at approximately the same position in the vertical direction as the locking surface 10 of the support shaft, or located slightly below the locking surface 10 of the support shaft. When the lock release lever 7 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 6 about the pin 17, the support shaft 5 enters into the horizontal slide hole 8b of the guide hole 8 as shown by the two-dot chain line. The engaging portion 19 is the locking surface 1 of the support shaft 5
It is tied to 0. As a result, the lock release lever 7 is temporarily held in the downwardly pushed state, that is, in the unlocked state. In this state, the lock release lever 7 can be released, and the lock mechanism on the opposite side can then be released in the same way. When the left and right lock mechanisms are released in this manner, the seat bag 2 can be folded and rotated. FIG. 7 shows the movement of the lock mechanism 11 at this time. When the hinge plate 4 is tilted forward from the state where the lock release lever 7 is pushed in as shown by the solid line in FIG. 5, the support shaft 5 also rotates in the same way. When the locking surface 10 is rotated until the edge 10a of the locking surface 10 is separated from the end 19a of the engaging portion 19 as shown by the dashed line in FIG.
9 is released, and is moved upward by the elasticity of the lock release lever 7 or lock hook 16 and spring 15, as shown by the two-dot chain line. At this time, the claw 14 of the lock hook 16 is attached to the hinge plate 4.
It comes into elastic contact with the lower edge 12 of. When the hinge plate 4 is folded down, the claw 14 of the lock hook 16 touches the lower edge 12 of the hinge plate.
Since the seat bag 2 is brought into elastic contact with the hinge plate, simply by rotating the seat back 2 to the predetermined upright position, the pawl 14 sliding on the lower edge 12 will automatically engage the engagement recess 13, and thus the hinge plate 4 or the seat bag 2 are automatically locked in a predetermined upright position. Of course, the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. In particular, the shape of the lock release lever can be modified in various ways. In the scope of the utility model registration claims, the member expressed as a lock release lever includes a member in which the operating portion extends in the shape of an arm, or a member in which the operating portion is moved via a separate arm-shaped operating body.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of a rear seat of an automobile suitable for applying the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the main parts of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2, Figure 4 shows the guide hole of the lock release lever,
FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the boss portion of the lock release lever, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of the operation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Seat cushion, 2... Seat back, 3... Fixed plate, 4... Hinge plate, 5... Support shaft, 5a... Flam part, 5b... Guide shaft part, 7... Lock release lever, 8...Guide hole, 8a...Vertical slide guide part, 8b...
Lateral slide guide portion, 10...Locking surface, 11...
...Lock mechanism, 13...Engagement recess, 14...Claw,
15...Spring, 16...Rock, 17...
Pin, 18...boss part, 19...engaging part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The seat bag can be fixed by rotating the fixing plate attached to the seat cushion and the hinge plate attached to the seat bag by fitting the support shaft protruding from the hinge plate into the support hole drilled in the fixing plate. The hinge plate is supported rotatably relative to the hinge plate, while an engagement recess is formed in the lower part of the hinge plate, and a swingable lock hook is biased in one direction, and has a claw that can engage with the engagement recess. This is a locking mechanism for a rear seat, etc., which is attached to a fixed plate, and the support shaft is provided with a guide shaft portion that protrudes outside the fixed plate, and a flange is provided at the shaft end of this guide shaft portion. The locking surface is formed by partially removing the flange, and a vertical slide hole with a width larger than the diameter of the guide shaft and smaller than the diameter of the flange, and a slide hole with the same width as the slide hole. The horizontal slide hole has a continuous approximately L-shape, and a portion through which the partially removed flange of the support shaft can pass, and is fitted into the guide shaft of the support shaft. A folding rear seat, etc., characterized in that a lock release lever is provided with a guide hole and a boss portion elastically fitted into a pin protruding from a lock hook at an elastically deflectable end portion. lock mechanism.