JPH04325111A - Reclining device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the backlash of a planet gear in a planet gear mechanism, to execute a smooth and quiet operation, and also, to improve the reliability, etc., on the strength. CONSTITUTION:In a circular hole opposed to a base 11 and an arm 12 supported so as to be freely turnable on the same axis, internal teeth parts 13a, 14a whose pitch circle diameters are different, and also, whose number of teeth is also different are formed. Also, a first and a second teeth parts 16, 17 of one piece or plural pieces of stepped planet gears 15 provided so as to be engaged to the inner teeth part of each plate are formed so that the pitch circle diameters are different, and also, the number of teetch become the same. Moreover, a control gear 18 engaged to the teeth part of one of these stepped planet gears is provided on a rotation axis 19 of said both the planets. Between a first and a second teeth parts of the planet gear, a shaft part 20 is formed. A carrier plate 22 having a shaft holding hole part 21 for holding this shaft part 20 is fitted into a circular recessed part 24 formed in one of the base and the arm and held.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved reclining device in which the tilting position of a seat back relative to a seat cushion can be adjusted by skillfully utilizing a planetary gear mechanism as a differential gear reduction mechanism.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a vehicle seat, a reclining device is generally provided between a seat cushion and a seat back so that the seat back can be tilted relative to the seat cushion. In this way, the seat can be freely adjusted according to the body shape and preference of the person sitting on the seat. By the way, what is required of this type of reclining device is that it not only has a simple configuration, is excellent in terms of workability and assembly of each part, is inexpensive, but also has the ability to freely move the seat back. The tilting can be adjusted at an appropriate angle, and the adjustment operation is extremely easy with no rattling and requires a light operating force, and the locking state can be maintained reliably against the load of the seated person. This is something that can be maintained. Taking these points into consideration, various configurations have been proposed in the past, one of which is a system that allows stepless rotational adjustment by cleverly utilizing a planetary gear mechanism as a differential gear reduction mechanism. Various reclining devices have been known, such as those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 63-85138 and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-95853.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to a reclining device that employs such a planetary gear mechanism, one or more first planetary gears are formed on the internal teeth of the base plate and the arm plate. and a second tooth portion are meshed with each other, and a control gear pivotally supported on a rotating shaft serving as an operating shaft is meshed with one of the tooth portions of these planetary gears, and in this case, A differential gear reduction mechanism requires that the pitch circle diameter and number of teeth of each gear be made to be different as appropriate.Each tooth becomes a special tooth, and each meshing part has a different pitch diameter and number of teeth. It tends to stick, making it difficult to obtain smooth operating conditions, which not only poses problems in terms of operability, but also causes a rough feeling when operating.
This resulted in problems such as operational noise and torque fluctuations.

[0004] As a holding means for suppressing such rattling of the planetary gears and holding them at a predetermined orbital position in a state in which they are meshed with the internal teeth of the control gear and each plate, conventional methods have been proposed. Therefore, a plate body made of a metal plate having a substantially star-shaped shape is used, and the teeth of one of the planetary gears are held in a cantilevered state in the recessed part, and meshed with the internal tooth part side of each plate. However, even if such a plate body is used, repeated adjustment of the device will cause the planetary gear to oscillate, causing wear on the teeth, etc. over time. It was inevitable that the amount of rattling would gradually increase. In addition, if such rattling occurs, the smooth and quiet movement of the planetary gear cannot be expected, leading to the generation of abnormal noise, and furthermore, the load acts locally due to loads, etc., resulting in strength problems. This not only impairs the durability of the device itself, but also
There were operational problems as well, and the device was unable to demonstrate its performance as a reclining device. In particular, such problems
This problem was noticeable when a load was applied to the seat back side and the reclining adjustment operation was performed from the locked state.

Furthermore, in the conventional structure using a star-shaped plate body as a holding means, due to the above-mentioned problems such as wobbling, not only a large operating force is required when adjusting the rotation. This results in an unnatural turning operation, which also poses a problem in terms of operability. That is, in such a plate body, the inner tooth portion of each planetary gear is locked and held in the recessed portion in a state of sliding friction, thereby maintaining the orbital position of the planetary gear, and when locked, the internal tooth portion It was necessary to receive the load acting in the centripetal direction on each planetary gear meshing with the planetary gear and prevent its movement, and also to protect the control gear as the sun gear from this load. In such a conventional structure, frictional resistance increases when the teeth on the periphery of the planetary gear are held by sliding friction in each concave part of the star-shaped plate body, and as a result, the control of meshing with the planetary gear increases. This increases the operating force required to rotationally drive a rotating shaft having gears.

For this reason, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 3-847, support plates having support portions for supporting the shaft portion of the planetary gear are placed on both sides of the planetary gear and are sandwiched between the plates. A structure in which the planet gear is held on the rotating shaft that serves as the operating shaft or on each plate side has also been proposed, but this structure in which the planetary gear is sandwiched between two support plates and supported Recliners that not only have a more complex structure and an increased number of component parts, which impairs ease of assembly, but also inevitably increase the width dimension of the device, require a thinner design. There are major problems with the equipment, and with these points in mind,
It is desired that some kind of countermeasure be taken to eliminate the above-mentioned problems. In particular, the above-mentioned problems such as noise generation and durability arise when this type of reclining device is used for power drive using an electric motor etc. instead of the conventional manual operation. This was significant because a large input torque was applied to the planetary gears etc. through the control gear on the shaft. If an excessive force is applied in such a case, there is a risk of strength problems leading to tooth breakage, etc., and it is necessary to take such points into consideration.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to meet such demands, the reclining device according to the present invention has a control gear provided on the internal teeth of the base plate and the arm plate, and on the rotation shafts of these plates. at least one stepped planetary gear disposed with first and second toothed portions in mesh with each other, and a shaft portion is formed between the first and second toothed portions; A carrier plate having a shaft holding portion for rotatably holding the base plate and the arm plate is fitted into a circular recess formed on one of the opposing inner surfaces of the base plate and the arm plate, so that the carrier plate is rotatably held. It is something.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the present invention, by rotating the control gear on the rotating shaft, the stepped planetary gear is rotated, and thereby, due to the meshing relationship between the respective teeth and the internal teeth of each plate, By creating a relative rotational displacement between both plates, the required reclining function can be obtained. In addition, the stepped planetary gear has a shaft portion formed between the first and second tooth portions that is pivotally supported by the shaft holding portion of the carrier plate, and the carrier plate has a circular shape formed on the inner surface of one of the plates. Because it is fitted and held in a recess, it prevents the problem of rattling of the planetary gears that occurs in the past, ensuring smooth and quiet operation, and requires a control gear on the rotating shaft to mesh with it. It can be rotated with minimal operating force or thrust, and is superior in terms of strength, durability, and ease of assembly, and allows the device to be made thinner.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a reclining device according to the present invention, and show only the main components thereof. In these figures, the reclining mechanism, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, includes a base plate (hereinafter referred to as the base) 11 and an arm plate (hereinafter referred to as the base), which are a pair of plates that are respectively attached to a seat cushion and a seat back (both not shown) that constitute the seat. (hereinafter referred to as arm)1
It is equipped with 2. The base 11 and the arm 12 are provided with gear plates 13 on the base side and the arm side, which have internal teeth 13a and 14a in circular holes facing each other on the same axis (on the shaft support of the seat). 14 are integrally assembled and fixed by pins 11a and 12a (two of the pins 11a are not shown), and the base 11,
It is designed to function as an arm 12. In this case, the internal tooth portions 13a and 14a described above are formed to have different pitch diameters and different numbers of teeth. Reference numeral 15 designates a plurality of stepped planetary gears (three in this embodiment) in which first and second tooth portions 16 and 17 are formed in the axial direction to mesh with the internal tooth portions 13a and 14a, respectively.
The respective toothed portions 16 and 17 are connected to the internal toothed portions 13a and 14.
The structure is such that it meshes with a. In the center of these three stepped planetary gears 15, there is a control gear 18 that meshes with one of the teeth (in this embodiment, the small-diameter first tooth 16) and becomes a sun gear. It is press-fitted and integrated into the rotating shaft 19 on the same axis as the internal teeth 13a and 14a on the plate side. Such an integrated structure in which the control gear 18 is press-fitted may be made of a different material from that of the rotating shaft 19, which has the advantage of increasing the strength of the gear 18 and reducing costs. It should be noted that the number of planetary gears 15 is not limited to three as described above, and it is easily understood that even one or any plurality of planetary gears 15 can function without any problem in operation.

According to such a configuration, when the control gear 18 is rotationally driven by the rotating shaft 19, the rotation is transmitted to the planetary gear 15, and the first and second tooth portions 16 of the control gear 18 are rotated.
, 17, the relative angle of the arm 12 to the base 11 can be freely and steplessly adjusted by the meshing ratio with the internal teeth 13a, 14a that mesh with the arms 17. This relative angle is determined by the internal toothed portion 13a where the toothed portions 16 and 17 of the planetary gear 15 mesh.
, 14a, and when the control gear 18 is stopped, the arm 12 is
It is also well known that the planetary gear 15 is engaged with the internal tooth section 13a on the base 11 side via the tooth section 17, thereby being locked in the meshing position. In addition, in Figure 2, 13
b and 14b are bushes that pivotally support the gear plates 13 and 14 on the rotating shaft 19.The detailed structure and operation of each part of the reclining device 10 having the above structure are conventionally well known, and the details thereof are as follows. Further explanation will be omitted.

Now, according to the present invention, the control gear 1 provided on the internal gears 13a, 14a on the base 11 and arm 12 sides and the rotating shaft 19 of both of these plates as described above.
As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, in at least one stepped planetary gear 15 disposed with first and second tooth portions 16, 17 meshing with A carrier plate 22 having a shaft 20 formed between the teeth 16 and 17 and a shaft holding hole 21 for rotatably holding the shaft 20 is attached to the base 11 and the arm 1.
A circular recess 2 formed by a circular convex portion 23 protruding from one of the opposing inner surfaces of 2 (on the base 11 side in this embodiment)
It is characterized in that it is fitted into the inside of the holder 4 so that it can be held rotatably. Here, 2 in the figure
2a is a center hole of the carrier plate 22, and the rotation axis 1
9 with some play, and the supporting state of the plate 22 is ensured by the circular recess 24 mentioned above.

According to such a configuration, the stepped planetary gear 15 is connected to the shaft holding hole 2 of the carrier plate 22 by the shaft portion 20 formed between the first and second tooth portions 16 and 17.
1, and this carrier plate 22
A circular recess 2 formed on the inner surface of one of the plates.
4, the rotation shaft 19 that meshes with the planetary gear 15 prevents the problem of rattling of the planetary gear 15 as in the conventional case and ensures smooth and quiet operation.
The upper control gear 18 can be rotated with the minimum necessary operating force or thrust, and is excellent in terms of strength, durability, and ease of assembly. In particular, in the structure of this embodiment, the circular convex portion 23 forming the circular concave portion 24 described above is engaged with and held in the circular concave portion 25 formed on the counterpart arm 12 side, and these two members are held together. It is designed to be able to hold rotational displacement with a structure that has sufficient strength, and is excellent in strength. Therefore, even if a force from the arm 12 side acts on the planetary gear 15 side, the planetary gear 15 is held on the base 11 side with sufficient strength by the carrier plate 22, and the arm 12 side is also held on the base 11 side. This is effective in maintaining proper meshing between these teeth and preventing problems such as breakage. In addition, even if an overload or the like occurs when the rotating shaft 19 is attempted to be driven by a motor, for example, the above-mentioned holding structure will properly hold each part and suppress the occurrence of rattling, wear, etc. It is possible.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a boss on both ends of the planetary gear 15 as in the conventional case, and the workability is improved.
It is cost-effective, and the carrier plate 22 for supporting the planetary gear shaft can be placed between the base 11 and the arm 12, so there is no need to secure a special installation space, and the device is thin in the thickness direction. It also has the advantage of being easier to lay out when attached to a seat.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the structure of the embodiment described above, and the shape and structure of each part may be modified or modified as necessary.
You are free to make changes. For example, in the embodiment described above, the case where the control gear 18 is meshed with the small-diameter first tooth portion 16 of the plurality of stepped planetary gears 15 is illustrated.
On the contrary, it may be made to mesh with the second tooth portion 17. Further, the reclining device 10 according to the present invention can be effectively applied to a vehicle seat, but is of course not limited to this. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the reclining device 10 for power operation is obtained by configuring the inner end side of the rotating shaft 19 to be rotationally driven by an electric motor or the like provided inside the seat back. Although shown as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to extend the outer end of the rotating shaft 19 and provide an operating knob for manual operation.

[0015]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the reclining device according to the present invention, the first and second comprising at least one stepped planetary gear disposed with teeth meshing, a shaft portion being formed between the first and second tooth portions, and rotatably holding the shaft portion; The carrier plate, which has a shaft holding part for holding the shaft, is fitted into a circular recess formed on one of the opposing inner surfaces of the base and the arm to rotatably hold the carrier plate. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of the rattling problem of the planetary gear, ensure smooth and quiet operation, and to rotate the control gear on the rotating shaft that meshes with the gear with the minimum necessary operating force or thrust. It has various excellent effects such as being superior in terms of strength, durability, and ease of assembly, and also making it possible to make the device thinner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a reclining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the device in FIG. 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Reclining device 11 Base (plate) 12 Arm (plate) 13a Internal tooth part 14a Internal tooth part 15 Stepped planetary gear 16 First tooth part 17 Second tooth part 18 Control gear 19 Rotation axis 20 Shaft part 21 Shaft holding hole 22 Carrier plate 24 Circular recess

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A base plate and an arm plate which are rotatably supported coaxially with each other and have internal teeth in opposing circular holes; first and second plates that mesh with the internal teeth of each of these plates; at least one stepped planetary gear having teeth, and a control gear disposed on the rotating shaft of both plates in a state of meshing with the teeth of one of the stepped planetary gears, A carrier plate having a shaft holding portion that forms a shaft portion between the first and second tooth portions of the planetary gear and rotatably holds the shaft portion is attached to the opposing inner surfaces of the base plate and the arm plate. A reclining device characterized by being fitted into a circular recess formed in one side of the reclining device and rotatably held therein.