JPH033068Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a seat adjuster that supports an automobile seat and adjusts the position of the seat in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.

[Prior art]

This type of seat adjuster is widely used in automobile driver's seats, and the latest technology is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-39285.

The basic structure of this type of seat adjuster is that the upper rail, which carries the seat, is slidably supported in the longitudinal direction of the lower rail attached to the vehicle body, and a through hole or notch is provided in the longitudinal direction of the lower rail. At least one of them is arranged in a row, and a lock that engages with at least one of the through hole and the notch is fixed to the operating lever,
This operating lever is rotatably supported on the upper rail via a bracket, and a torsion coil spring that biases the rotating force in the direction of engaging the lock with either the through hole or the notch is attached to the operating lever. One end of the torsion coil spring is engaged with the bracket, and the other end is engaged with the operating lever.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of this type of seat adjuster, and the left side of the figure corresponds to the front of the vehicle body.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3.

1 is a lower rail fixed to the vehicle body, and 1a is a mounting bracket.

An upper rail 4 is slidably supported on the lower rail 1 via rollers 2 and balls 3.

A stopper plate 5 is fixed to the lower rail 1, and this stopper plate 5 is provided with a row of notches 5a (there is also a seat adjuster in which a row of through holes are provided in place of the notches).

On the other hand, the bracket 6 fixed to the top rail 4
The operating lever 7 is rotatably supported by. 7a is a grip.

A lock pawl 8 is fixed to the above-mentioned operating lever 7,
This lock pawl 8 engages with the aforementioned notch 5a.

A torsion coil spring 9 is provided to bias the lock pawl 8 in the direction of engagement with the notch 5a, that is, in the clockwise direction about the rotation axis 7b of the operating lever 7 in FIG. FIG. 5a is a side view of the torsion coil spring 9, and FIG. 5b is an end view thereof. This torsion coil spring 9 is generally constructed so that the wire diameter d and the coil pitch dimension p are equal, and the wires are in contact with each other.

One end 9a of this torsion coil spring 9 is bent parallel to the coil center axis, and the other end 9b is bent in the coil diameter direction.

One end 9 of a torsion coil spring 9 as shown in FIG.
a is hung on the bracket 6, and the other end 9b is crimped to the rear end (the right end in FIG. 3) of the operating lever 7.

When the operating lever 7 is rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow A in FIG. 4 against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 9, the state shown in FIG. do. When operated in this way, the top rail 4 carrying the sheet 10 will
It is now possible to freely slide on the lower rail 1 fixed to the vehicle body, and when you let go of the operating lever 7, the operating lever 7 is rotated in the opposite direction of arrow A by the action of the torsion coil spring 9 and is fixed thereto. The locked claw 8 engages with the notch 5a (the state shown in FIG. 4) and locks the upper rail 4 from sliding.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In the seat adjuster constructed as described above, if the clearance in the thrust direction between the operating lever to which the lock pawl is fixed and the bracket supporting it is reduced to zero, smooth operation becomes difficult.
For this reason, it is necessary to provide some clearance. However, if a clearance is provided between the locking pawl 8 and the bracket, looseness will occur in the locking of the front and rear slides of the upper rail 4 that supports the seat 10, which may cause abnormal noises while driving or cause sudden danger to the driver. It may give an abnormal feeling when braking.

This idea was created in view of the above circumstances.
The object of the present invention is to provide a structure that can prevent backlash of a seat adjuster in the longitudinal direction with a simple structure using one small, lightweight, and inexpensive component.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the seat adjuster of the present invention includes a spring clip interposed between the torsion coil spring and the bracket, and the spring hook is fitted onto the operating lever.

A spring hook is a small, lightweight, and inexpensive component that is mass-produced and sold on the market. It is generally manufactured by press-forming a spring steel plate, and has a washer shape that is widely used to fit onto the shaft and prevent it from falling out. It is a member of

[Effect]

A spring hook generally has a shape in which a tongue piece is cut and raised in the center of an annular spring steel plate by press working, and this tongue piece has spring elasticity in the thickness direction (that is, in the direction of the center axis of the annular ring). are doing.

On the other hand, the torsion coil spring described above has spring elasticity in the torsion direction, but has a structure that is difficult to compress in the axial direction (see FIG. 5a).

The torsion coil spring and spring hook are fitted onto the operating lever in an overlapping manner, and
When the spring hook is interposed between the bracket and the operating shaft, the operating lever receives an urging force in the thrust direction with respect to the bracket.

As is clear from the above structure, the bracket is fixed to the upper rail, and the lock pawl is fixed to the operating lever. Therefore, if a spring hook is inserted to bias the operating lever against the bracket, the lock pawl will be biased against the upper rail, and even if a clearance is provided between the lock pawl and the bracket, play will occur. No (because the spring force pulls it to one side).

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is also a sectional view. The structure of this embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to improve the seat adjuster shown in FIG. 3, and the stopper plate 5, bracket 6, and The operating lever 7, the lock pawl 8, and the torsion coil spring 9 are the same or similar structural members to those in the conventional example.

As shown in the figure, a spring hook 11 is fitted onto the operating lever 7, and the spring hook 11 is interposed between the bracket 6 and the torsion coil spring 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the right end 9b of the torsion coil spring is clamped and tightened by the two halves 7b at the right end of the operating lever 7, so that in FIG.
When the lever 7 is biased to the right (relative to the bracket 6), the operating lever 7 is biased to the right in the figure.

That is, in FIG. 1, the operating lever 7 is urged in the direction of the arrow S with respect to the bracket 6, and therefore the lock pawl 8 fixed to the operating lever 7 is urged in the direction of the arrow S.

Therefore, the clearance provided between the bracket 6 and the lock pawl 8 is shifted to one side, eliminating backlash.

[Effect of idea]

As detailed above, by applying the present invention, it is possible to prevent the rattling of the seat adjuster with a simple configuration using one small, lightweight, and inexpensive spring hook, and to prevent abnormal noises during driving. It is possible to prevent the strange feeling of sudden braking.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the seat adjuster of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same. FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining a conventional seat adjuster, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken from the side shown in FIG. 3, FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the conventional example. 1...Lower rail, 4...Atsupa rail, 5...
...Stopper plate, 5a...Notch, 6...Bracket, 7...Operation lever, 7a...Grip, 7b
...Half part, 7c... Holding part, 8... Lock claw, 9... Torsion coil spring, 10... Sheet,
11...Spring hook.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A lower rail that is attached to the vehicle body supports an upper rail that carries a seat so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction, and at least one of a through hole and a notch is provided in a row in the longitudinal direction of the lower rail, and the above-mentioned A lock that engages at least one of the through hole and the notch is fixed to the operating lever,
This operating lever is rotatably supported on the upper rail via a bracket, and a torsion coil spring that biases the rotating force in the direction of engaging the lock with either the through hole or the notch is attached to the operating lever. In the seat adjuster, which is fitted onto the torsion coil spring and has one end of the torsion coil spring engaged with the bracket and the other end of the torsion coil spring with the operating lever, a spring clip is interposed between the torsion coil spring and the bracket. A structure for preventing rattling in the longitudinal direction of a seat adjuster, characterized in that the lever is externally fitted onto the operating lever, and the operating lever is biased in the thrust direction with respect to the bracket by the spring elasticity of the spring clip.