JPH0281739A - Seat slide adjuster - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lock surely a seat irrespective of a position of the seat by mounting a pinion gear and rack meshing with each other on the car body and seat sides moving relative to each other to brake a rotor integrally rotating with the pinion gear by a frictional force. CONSTITUTION:Brake pads 20, 20 respectively mad of frictional members are mounted on positions of the lower plate 6b of a frame 6 and a clamp plate 15 in which the outer periphery of a brake disk 10 is sandwiched from above and below by them. Normally, the brake pads 20, 20 are hardly pressed against the upper and lower surfaces of the brake disk 10 respectively by the clamp plate 15 depressed down by the urging force of a return spring 19 so as to hold the brake disk 10 under the braked condition. Thus, the upper rail 3 for supporting a pinion gear 9 does not slide on a lower rail 2 for fixing a rack gear 5, so that a seat S is held locked in position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a sliding seat used in a vehicle, and in particular to a seat slide adjuster for locking the seat in that position after adjusting the position of the seat. It is related to.

(Prior Art) Sliding type seats are generally used as front seats of automobiles in order to adjust the position in the longitudinal direction. The seat is slidably supported by a pair of left and right slide rails provided in the front and rear directions of the vehicle body, and is locked in that position after being adjusted to an appropriate position by sliding it in the front and back direction. Therefore, in such a sliding seat, it is necessary to provide a seat slide adjuster for locking and unlocking the seat at an arbitrary position.

Conventionally, such seat slide adjusters are
A locking pawl supported on the seat side and rotated around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body by operating a control lever, etc., and a locking pawl provided on the vehicle body side that is engaged and released by rotating the locking pawl. A type consisting of a matching hole was used. A large number of the engagement holes are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, that is, along the sliding direction of the seat, and the locking pawl engages with one of them depending on the position of the seat. In order to prevent the locking pawl from coming off the engagement hole due to vibrations of the vehicle body, the locking pawl is always strongly biased in the direction of engagement with the engagement hole.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, in such a sliding seat,
Even when a large inertial force is applied, such as during a car crash, it is necessary to prevent the locking mechanism from breaking and causing the seat to slide. Therefore, in the case of a conventional seat slide adjuster in which a large number of engagement holes are provided, the interval between the engagement holes cannot be made very small.

Therefore, when the seat position is adjusted, the locking pawl may not engage with the engagement hole at that position. In such a case, after releasing the operating lever, it is necessary to slide the seat slightly to engage the locking pawl with the engagement hole. In other words, the position of the seat slightly deviates from the adjusted position. Moreover, since the locking claw is strongly biased in the direction of engagement with the engagement hole, there is a problem in that an unpleasant impact sound is generated when the locking claw is engaged with the engagement hole in this way. There is also.

Furthermore, when such adjusters are provided on both the left and right slide rails, a half-locked state may occur in which only the locking pawl on one side engages with the engagement hole. In such a state, when the vehicle suddenly accelerates or decelerates, the other side may slide and engage with the adjacent engagement hole, causing the seat to become distorted. Furthermore, at this time as well, an impact sound is generated due to the engagement of the locking pawl with the engagement hole, and furthermore, an impact is generated due to the sliding seat being suddenly locked. Since seats often have a built-in device such as an acceleration sensor for locking the seat belt in an emergency, when such an impact occurs, unnecessary impact is applied to the device.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to provide a seat slide adjuster that can lock the seat at any position.

Another object of the present invention is to obtain a seat slide adjuster that does not generate impact or impact noise.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a seat slide adjuster that can reliably lock the seat even in the event of a vehicle collision.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a rack gear extending in the sliding direction of the seat on either one of the fixed member fixed to the vehicle body and the movable member that moves together with the seat. At the same time, a pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear is rotatably supported on the other side. The pinion gear is provided with a rotating body that rotates in one direction with the pinion gear, and the rotation of the rotating body is held in a stopped state by a friction member that is pressed against the pinion gear. The friction member is separated from the rotating body by operating an operating member such as an operating lever.

It is desirable that the rotating body is provided with a locking pawl that protrudes due to centrifugal force when the rotating body rotates at high speed. In that case, a stopper with which the protruding pawl engages is provided on the rotation locus of the protruding pawl.

(Function) With this configuration, when the friction member is removed from the rotating body, the rotating body becomes rotatable, so that the pinion gear that rotates together with the rotating body also becomes rotatable. Therefore, when a sliding force is applied to the seat in this state, the pinion gear is rotated by the rack gear and moves along the rack gear.

Therefore, the seat becomes slidable. After adjusting the position of the seat, when the friction member is brought into pressure contact with the rotating body, both the rotating body and the pinion gear become unrotatable. The seat is therefore locked in that position. At this time, since the rotating body is locked by the frictional force between the rotating body and the friction member, the seat may be positioned anywhere.

Also, if you provide a locking claw that protrudes due to centrifugal force,
When an extremely sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, such as during a vehicle collision, and a large force is applied to the seat, and the frictional force of the friction member cannot keep the rotation of the rotating body in a stopped state. When the rotating body rotates at high speed, the locking pawl projects, and when the locking pawl engages with the stopper, the rotation of the rotating body is stopped. Therefore, the seat is reliably locked even in such a case.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

The figures show an embodiment of the seat slide adjuster according to the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a perspective view thereof and FIG. 2 being a sectional view thereof. Further, FIG. 3 is a cutaway plan view of a brake disc used in the seat slide adjuster.

As is clear from FIG. 1.2, the slide rail 1 that supports the seat S is composed of a lower rail 2 fixed to the vehicle body and an upper rail 3 fixed to the seat S. The upper rail 3 is provided with a large number of balls 4.4. It is slidably supported by the lower rail 2 via... The seat S is supported so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction with respect to the vehicle body by such slide rails 1 installed at the lower portions of the left and right sides thereof, respectively, facing in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.

A rack gear 5 is attached to the lower part of the lower rail 2, which is a fixed member fixed to the vehicle body. The rack gear 5 is fixed to the lower rail 2 so that its tooth surface faces the center side of the seat S and is parallel to the sliding direction of the seat S.

On the other hand, a case-shaped frame 6 that surrounds the slide rail 1 from above and below is fixed to the upper rail 3, which is a movable member that moves together with the seat S. That frame 6
, a pinion shaft 7 extending in the vertical direction is attached to a portion on the side of the slide rail 1 on the center side of the seat S. The pinion shaft 7 has resin bearings 8 attached to the upper plate 6a and lower plate 6b of the frame 6, respectively.
．． It is rotatably supported by the frame 6 via 8.

A pinion gear 9 and a brake disc 1o, which are integrally formed, are fixed to the pinion shaft 7.

In this way, the pinion gear 9 is rotatably supported by the upper rail 3, which is a movable member. The brake disc lO is configured to rotate together with the pinion gear 9.

The pinion gear 9 is meshed with a rack gear 5 fixedly supported by the lower rail 2, which is a fixed member. Therefore, when the upper rail 3 slides with respect to the lower rail 2, the pinion gear 9 is rotated by the rack gear 5. The direction of rotation is clockwise in the plan view when the upper rail 3 slides forward, that is, toward the lower left in FIG. 1.

The brake disc lO, which is a rotating body that rotates integrally with the pinion gear 9, is relatively thick and has a large diameter. As shown in FIG. 2.3, the outer periphery of the brake disc 10 has a plurality of concave grooves 11, 11. ...is provided. A locking pawl 12 is accommodated in each of the grooves 11 . The locking pawl 12 rotates in the direction of rotation of the brake disc 10 when the seat S slides forward.
That is, the base opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3 is rotatably supported by the bottle 13, and the tip is urged inward by a spring 14. Therefore, under normal conditions, the locking pawl 12 is attached to the brake disc 10.
However, when the brake disc 10 rotates at a high speed higher than a predetermined speed, the tip of the locking pawl 12 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the brake disc IO due to centrifugal force.

The lower plate 6b of the frame 6 protrudes from the outer periphery of the brake disc 10 toward the center of the seat S, and its tip is bent upward. A clamp plate 15 extending above the brake disc 10 is rotatably connected to the upper end of the clamp plate 15 via a hinge 16. The clamp plate 15 has a hinge 16
It is urged to rotate upward by a weak spring (not shown) provided in the section. Also,
The clamp plate 15 includes a cam 1 integrated with a shaft 17a of an operating lever 17 rotatably supported by the frame 6.
8, it is pressed downward. The operating lever shaft 17a is always strongly urged by a return spring 19 provided between the operating lever shaft 17a and the frame 6 in a direction in which the clamp plate 15 is pressed downward via the cam 18.

The lower plate 6b of the frame 6 and the clamp plate 15 include
At a position sandwiching the outer circumference of the brake disc 10 from above and below,
Brake pads 20, 20, which are friction members, are respectively attached. Therefore, under normal conditions, the clamp plate 15 is pressed downward by the biasing force of the return spring 19, so that the brake disc lO
Brake pads 20 and 20 are strongly pressed against the upper and lower surfaces of the brake disc lO, respectively, so that the brake disc lO is held in a braked state.

Further, the frame 6 is provided with a brake disc lO with the locking pawl 12 protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the brake disc 10.
When the locking pawl 12 rotates, the protruding end of the locking pawl 12 passes through, that is, near the outer circumferential surface of the brake disc 10, the locking pawl 12 engages on the rotation locus of the protruding locking pawl 12, thereby locking the brake. A stopper 21 for stopping the rotation of the disk IO is fixedly provided.

Next, the operation of the seat slide adjuster configured as described above will be explained.

Under normal conditions, the operating lever 17 is operated by the return spring 19.
is held in the downward position by the biasing force of. At this time, the cam 18 integrated with the operating lever shaft 17a is biased clockwise in FIG. 2 by the return spring 19, so the clamp plate 15 is pressed downward by the biasing force. Therefore, the brake pad 20 attached to the clamp plate 1" 5 is pressed against the upper surface of the outer periphery of the brake disc 10. Also, the outer periphery of the brake disc 10 is pressed downward by the pressing force, and the brake pad 20 is pressed against the upper surface of the outer periphery of the brake disc 10. By slightly bending the disc 10 or the resin bearing 8.8, the lower surface of the outer periphery of the brake disc 10 is pressed against the lower brake pad 20. In this way, the outer periphery of the brake disc 10 is brought into contact with the brake pad 20. .20, and the brake disc 10 is braked by the frictional force thereof.

In this state, the pinion gear 9, which is integral with the brake disc 10, cannot rotate. Therefore, the pinion gear 9 cannot move relative to the rack gear 5 with which it meshes. That is, the upper rail 3 on which the pinion gear 9 is supported cannot slide with respect to the lower rail 2 on which the rack gear 5 is fixed. In this way, the seat S is held locked in that position.

At this time, a brake pad 20.
are pressed against each other, so that the holding force is sufficiently large even though the sheet S is locked only by the frictional force.

When adjusting the longitudinal position of the seat S, the operating lever 17, which is an operating member, is pulled up against the return spring 19 as indicated by the arrow in FIG. Then, the cam 18 integrated with the operating lever 17 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2, and the pressing force against the clamp plate 15 is removed. As a result, the clamp plate 15 is rotated upward by the spring provided on the hinge 16, and the brake pad 20 attached to the clamp plate 15 is separated from the upper surface of the brake disc 10. Moreover, by removing the pressing force in this way, the brake disc 10 returns to its original position, and the lower brake pad 2
Stay away from 0. In this way, the brake disc 10 becomes rotatable.

Therefore, force is applied to the seat S in the longitudinal direction.

Then, the force is transmitted from the upper rail 3 to the pinion shaft 7 via the frame 6, and a force is applied to the pinion gear 9 in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the pinion gear 9 meshing with the rack gear 5 moves in the front-rear direction while being rotated by the rack gear 5. Therefore, the upper rail 3 slides with respect to the lower rail 2, and the seat S moves in the front-rear direction.

During this period, when the pinion gear 9 rotates, the brake disc 10 integrated therewith also rotates. Since the brake disc 10 acts as a flywheel, the feeling of sliding the seat is improved.

When the seat S reaches the appropriate position, release the operating lever 17. Then, the operating lever 17 is rotated downward by the return spring 19, the cam 18 is rotated together with it, and the clamp plate 15 is pressed downward. As a result, the rotation of the brake disc 10 is stopped, and the rotation of the pinion gear 9 is also stopped. In this way, the upper rail 3 is locked to the lower rail 2, and the seat S is fixed in that position.

In this way, in this seat slide adjuster, the seat S is locked by the frictional force between the brake pad 20.degree. 20 and the brake disc 10, so the seat S can be locked at any position. Therefore, delicate adjustment of the seat position is also possible. Such adjusters are provided on the slide rails 1 on both the left and right sides, and even if there is a slight error in the mounting position of the rack gear 5, the adjusters can be securely fixed on both the left and right sides. This prevents the seat S from shifting due to sudden acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. In addition, since there is no impact sound when the vehicle is locked and no impact is applied to the seat S, devices built into the seat S are prevented from operating unnecessarily.

During such normal seat sliding, the rotational speed of the brake disc 10 is kept relatively low. Therefore, the locking pawl 12 attached to the brake disc 10
is held in the groove 11.

When a vehicle crashes, an extremely large inertial force is applied to the seat S in the forward direction. The force is transmitted to the pinion shaft 7. Therefore, an extremely large rotational force is applied to the pinion gear 9 and the brake disc 10 integrated therewith. In such a case, the rotation of the brake disc 10 may not be able to be stopped solely by the frictional force of the brake pads 20, 20.

However, in such a case, since the brake disc 10 rotates rapidly, a large centrifugal force acts on the locking pawl 12, and as shown in phantom lines in FIG. brake disc 10 against 14
protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the As a result, the locking claw 12
It engages with a stopper 21 provided close to the outer peripheral surface of the brake disc 10, and the rotation of the brake disc IO is stopped. Once the locking pawl 12 engages with the stopper 21 in this way, the engagement will not come off unless the rotational force is removed. Therefore, even in such a case, the seat S is reliably locked.

In the above embodiment, the pinion gear 9 is supported by the upper rail 3 of the slide rail 1, and the rack gear 5 is supported by the upper rail 3 of the slide rail 1.
Although it is assumed that the pinion gear 9 is fixed to the lower rail 2, for example, the pinion gear 9 may be supported on the frame of the seat S, and the rack gear 5 may be directly fixed to the vehicle floor.

Furthermore, in the case of a power seat or the like, the rack gear 5 may be provided on the seat S side, and the pinion gear 9, brake disc 10, and its brake mechanism may be provided on the vehicle body side. In that case, an actuator or the like is used as the brake operating member.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, a disc brake mechanism consisting of a brake disc 10 and a brake pad 20 is used as a brake mechanism for braking the pinion gear 9, but the brake (coal tank) may also include a drum brake mechanism, a band brake mechanism, etc. It is also possible to use a friction brake mechanism such as a brake mechanism.

In addition, as a centrifugal brake mechanism for braking the pinion gear 9 in an emergency, the locking pawl 12 rotates and protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the brake disc 10 as in the above embodiment, or the locking pawl 12 rotates in the axial direction. It is possible to use a type that slides and protrudes, a type that protrudes from the upper and lower surfaces of the brake disc IO, and the like.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a pinion gear and a rack gear that mesh with each other are attached to the vehicle body side and the seat side that move relatively, and rotate integrally with the pinion gear. Since the rotating body that rotates is braked by frictional force, the seat can be reliably locked regardless of the position of the seat. Therefore, delicate adjustment of the seat position is possible.

Furthermore, no impact or impact noise is generated when the seat is locked. When the seat slides, the rotating body rotates and acts as a flywheel, improving the feeling of sliding the seat.

Furthermore, by using such a rotating body, it is possible to incorporate a centrifugal brake mechanism that operates at a predetermined rotational speed or higher. This makes it possible to securely lock the seat in the event of a vehicle collision or the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of the seat slide adjuster according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the seat slide adjuster, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a brake disc as a rotating body. 1... Slide rail 2... Lower rail (fixed member) 3... Upper rail (movable member) 5... Rack gear 9... Pinion gear 0...
Brake disc (rotating body) 2...Latching claw 15...Clamp plate 7.
...Operation lever (operation member) 8...Cam 19...Return spring 0
... Brake pad (friction member) 1 ... Stopper S ... Seat Patent applicant Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A rack gear that is fixedly supported by either a fixed member that is fixed to the vehicle body or a movable member that moves together with the seat that is slidably supported with respect to the vehicle body and that extends in the sliding direction of the seat; A pinion gear rotatably supported by the other movable member and meshed with the rack gear, a rotating body that rotates integrally with the pinion gear, and friction that is pressed against the rotating body and holds the rotating body in a braked state. A seat slide adjuster comprising: a member; and an operating member for releasing the friction member from pressure contact with the rotating body. (2) A locking pawl that is provided on the rotating body and protrudes due to centrifugal force when the rotating body rotates at high speed, and a locking pawl that is provided on the rotation locus of the protruding locking pawl, and that when the locking pawl engages, the rotation The seat slide adjuster according to claim 1, further comprising: a stopper for stopping rotation of the body.