JPH08205949A - Reclining mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attain miniaturization and light weight by arranging a pole on the inner peripheral side of a ratchet and arranging a release lever in a hinge to contact upper and lower arms. CONSTITUTION: A circular arc shape gear part 13b is fitted on the inner peripheral side of a ratchet main body 13a, and the pole 14 is located on the inner peripheral side of the ratchet 13, and located at a lower moving position when no release lever 16 is operated and engaged with a part of the gear part 13b of the ratchet 13 by being pressed with a cam 17. In this way, the upper arm 12 is locked with the lower arm 11, which fixes a seat back. When the release lever 16 is operated rotatably in a counterclockwise direction against a tension spring 18b, a cam 17 is rotated, and it is separated from the pole 14. Also, the pole 14 moves upward by the function of a cam pin 14b and a cam hole 16b, and retreated from the ratchet 13, which cancels an engaging state with the ratchet 13. The locking state of the upper arm 12 with the lower arm 11 is canceled, and the seat back is enabled to turn forward/backward.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention interposes between a rear portion of a seat cushion and a lower end portion of the seat back to assemble the seat back so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion. The present invention relates to a reclining mechanism capable of adjusting the tilt angle in the front-back direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one type of reclining mechanism, a publication "Automotive Engineering Handbook, 6th edition, pp. 1-25 to 1-2.
As shown in page 6 (published by the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan on September 30, 1983), the ratchet fixed to the upper arm fixed to the seat back and the lower arm fixed to the seat cushion can swing. A pole that moves forward and backward with respect to the ratchet, a release lever that is rotatably provided on the lower arm, and a pole that is provided between the release lever and the pole when the release lever is not operated and that meshes with the ratchet. There is a configuration including a cam means for separating the pawl from the ratchet when the release lever is rotated and a spring means for urging the release lever toward the non-operation side.

Further, as a reclining mechanism of a different type from this, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-11085, a ratchet is fixed to a lower arm and a pole is movable to and from a ratchet on an upper arm. There is a reclining mechanism in which a release lever is rotatably provided and cam means is provided between the pawl and the release lever.

[0004]

By the way, in any of these types of reclining mechanism, the ratchet has arcuate teeth on its outer peripheral edge, and the pole and the release lever have the same structure. It is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the arcuate tooth portion. For this reason, the reclining mechanism becomes large as a whole, and the weight becomes considerably large due to the increase in size. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the size and weight of the current reclining mechanism.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the seat back is assembled between the rear portion of the seat cushion and the lower end portion of the seat back so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion. A reclining mechanism capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the seat back in the front-rear direction, the lower arm fixed to the seat cushion, and the lower arm rotatably assembled in the front-rear direction via a hinge pin. An upper arm to be fixed, a ratchet having an arcuate tooth portion centered on the hinge pin on the inner peripheral side of one of the two arms, and a guide provided on the other arm of the both arms. A pole supported by a member and facing the arcuate tooth portion of the ratchet so as to be able to move forward and backward, and a relay fixed to the hinge pin. And a cam means which is provided between the release lever and the pawl and which engages the pawl with the ratchet when the release lever is not operated and separates the pawl from the ratchet when the release lever is rotated. It is characterized in that it is provided with spring means for urging the release lever toward the non-operation side.

In the reclining mechanism, the pin is fixed to the hinge pin and abuts against the back portion of the pawl to press the pawl toward the ratchet side, and the pivotal operation of the hinge pin releases the press of the pawl toward the ratchet side. It is preferable to provide a cam for

[0007]

In the reclining mechanism having such a construction, when the release lever is not operated, the pawl is engaged with a part of the tooth portion of the ratchet by the action of the spring means to lock the upper arm with respect to the lower arm. The seat back is fixed to the seat cushion, and the seat back is erected at a predetermined inclination angle. When the release lever is rotated in this state, the pawl retracts from the ratchet against the spring means by the action of the cam means, and the meshing state with the ratchet is released. As a result, the locked state of the upper arm with respect to the lower arm is released, and the seat back can rotate in the front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion. Therefore, in this state, the seat back can be rotated in the front-rear direction to adjust the inclination angle in the front-rear direction. Also, if the release lever is then released from the rotating operation, the pole moves forward to the ratchet side by the biasing force of the spring means and meshes therewith, and the upper arm is locked to the lower arm to secure the seat back to the seat cushion. Fix and hold the seat back in an upright position with an adjusted tilt angle.

In the reclining mechanism, the ratchet has a circular arc tooth portion on the inner peripheral side, a pole is arranged on the inner peripheral side of the ratchet, and the release lever serves as a hinge pin connecting the lower arm and the upper arm. It is configured to be placed. Therefore, if the ratchet has teeth with the same pitch circle as the conventional ratchet and the meshing strength is the same, the entire reclining mechanism can be made smaller than the conventional reclining mechanism, and the weight can be reduced. can do. Further, in the reclining mechanism, as described above, since the release lever is arranged on the hinge pin, the support pin for independently supporting the release lever as in the conventional reclining mechanism is unnecessary, and The number of points can be reduced, and the weight can be reduced also from this point.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 3 show a reclining mechanism according to the present invention. The reclining mechanism 10 includes a lower arm 11, an upper arm 12, a ratchet 13, a pole 14, a guide member 15, a release lever 16, a cam 17, a hinge pin 18a, and a tension spring 18b.
It consists of. The lower arm 11 is fixed to the seat cushion side, and the upper arm 12 is fixed to the seat back side. The upper arm 12 is attached to the lower arm 11 so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction by a hinge pin 18a described later.

The ratchet 13 has an arcuate shape having a predetermined length, and an arcuate tooth portion 13b is provided on the inner peripheral side of the ratchet body 13a. The ratchet 13 is fixed on the outer surface 11a of the lower arm 11 about the insertion hole 11b of the hinge pin 18a, and the tooth portion 13b is located in an arc shape centered on the insertion hole 11b. The guide member 15 has a gate shape and has support pins 18c and 18d.
It is fixed to the inner side surface 12a of the upper arm 12 via. The pole 14 is fitted in the guide member 15 so as to be vertically slidable. The pole 14 has a tooth portion 14a capable of meshing with the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13 at the tip portion and a cam pin 14b at the side portion.

The upper arm 12 is provided with an insertion hole 12b for the hinge pin 18a and an insertion hole 12c for the cam pin 14b. The upper arm 12 overlaps the side portion of the lower arm 11 and is hinge pin 18a.
Is inserted into the insertion hole 12b of the upper arm 12, the insertion hole 17a of the cam 17 arranged in contact with the upper end surface of the pole 14, and the insertion hole 11b of the lower arm 11,
The lower arm 11 is assembled so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction. The release lever 16 is fixed on the outer end of the hinge pin 18a by inserting the outer end of the hinge pin 18a in the insertion hole 16a. In this state, the pole 14 is positioned on the inner peripheral side of the ratchet 13 so that its tooth portion 14a faces the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13 and the cam pin 14
b is inserted into the cam hole 16b of the release lever 16 through the insertion hole 12c of the upper arm 12. Paul 1
When the lower moving position is 4, the tooth portion 14a is engaged with a part of the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13, and when the upper moving position is 4, the tooth portion 14a is separated from the ratchet 13. The tension spring 18b is hooked between the release lever 16 and the upper arm 12, and biases the release lever 16 in the clockwise direction shown in FIG. 1 to move the pole 14 via the cam 17 to a part of the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13. Is meshed with. In this structure, the cam pin 14b and the cam hole 16b form the cam means of the present invention.

The reclining mechanism 1 thus constructed
When the release lever 16 is not operated, the tension spring 18b, the cam pin 14b constituting the cam means, and the cam hole 16b cause the pawl 14 to be in the down position and the pawl 14 to be pushed by the cam 17 when the release lever 16 is not operated. It meshes with a part of the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13. As a result, the upper arm 12 becomes the lower arm 1
1, the seat back is fixed to the seat cushion and is held upright at a predetermined inclination angle. In this state, when the release lever 16 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 against the tension spring 18b, the cam 17 rotates and separates from the pawl 14, and the cam pin 14b and the cam hole 16b cause the cam 17 to move. The pole 14 moves upward and retracts from the ratchet 13 to release the meshing state with the ratchet 13. As a result, the locked state of the upper arm 12 with respect to the lower arm 11 is released, and the seat back is rotatable in the front-rear direction with respect to the seat cushion.

Therefore, in this state, the seat back can be rotated in the front-rear direction to adjust the inclination angle in the front-rear direction. When the release lever 16 is released from the rotating operation thereafter, the pawl 14 moves downward by the action of the tension spring 18b, the cam pin 14b and the cam hole 16b constituting the cam means, and the cam 17 rotates to rotate the pawl 1.
4, the pole 14 meshes with its tooth portion 14a with a part of the tooth portion 13b of the ratchet 13, and the upper arm 12 is locked again with respect to the lower arm 11 to fix the seat back to the seat cushion. The bag is held upright at the adjusted tilt angle.

By the way, in the reclining mechanism 10, the ratchet 13 is arranged on the inner peripheral side of the arcuate tooth portion 13b.
In addition, the pole 14 is arranged on the inner peripheral side and the release lever 16 is arranged on the hinge pin 18a. Therefore, when the ratchet 13 has tooth portions having the same pitch circle as the conventional one and the meshing strength is the same, the entire reclining mechanism can be downsized and the weight can be reduced. Further, in the reclining mechanism 10, since the release lever 16 is arranged on the hinge pin 18a, a supporting pin for independently supporting the release lever as in the related art is not required, and the number of parts is reduced. In addition to the above, it is possible to further reduce the weight.

In FIG. 4, the reclining mechanism 10 is adopted as the right reclining mechanism of the vehicle seat, and the reclining mechanism 20 similar to the reclining mechanism 10 is adopted as the left reclining mechanism of the vehicle seat. , Both reclining mechanism 1
A connection relationship of 0 and 20 is shown. The two reclining mechanisms 10 and 20 are connected to each other by a connecting pipe 19. In this case, the two reclining mechanisms 10 and 2 are connected to each other.
The serrations are formed on the outer peripheries of the inner ends of the hinge pins 18a and 28a forming 0, and the serrations are also formed on the inner peripheries of the end of the connecting pipe 19. By fitting the inner end portion to each end portion of the connecting pipe 19 by serration, the hinge pins 18a and 28a are connected so that torque can be transmitted. Therefore, the rotation operation force of the release lever 16 of the one reclining mechanism 10 is transmitted to the hinge pin 28a of the other reclining mechanism 20 via the connecting pipe 19 to operate the reclining mechanism 20 in conjunction with the reclining mechanism 10. You can

In the reclining mechanism 20, the same components as those of the reclining mechanism 10 are denoted by similar reference numerals in the 20s and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a reclining mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an arrow 2- of FIG. 1 in the reclining mechanism.
It is a vertical side view seen in the two-line direction.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the reclining mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a connected state of the reclining mechanism and another reclining mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 20 ... Reclining mechanism 11, 21, ... Lower arm, 12, 22 ... Upper arm, 13 ... Ratchet,
13b ... Arc-shaped teeth, 14 ... Pole, 14a ... Teeth, 1
4b ... Cam pin, 15 ... Guide member, 16 ... Release lever, 16b ... Cam hole, 17 ... Cam, 18a, 28a ...
Hinge pin, 18b ... Tension spring.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An inclination angle of the seat back in the front-rear direction, which is interposed between a rear portion of a seat cushion and a lower end portion of the seat back so as to be rotatable with respect to the seat cushion in the front-rear direction. A lower arm fixed to the seat cushion, an upper arm fixed to the seat back rotatably assembled to the lower arm via hinge pins in the front-rear direction, and A ratchet provided on one of the arms and having an arcuate tooth portion centered on the hinge pin on the inner peripheral side, and a ratchet supported by a guide member provided on the other arm of the both arms of the ratchet. A pole facing the arcuate tooth portion so that it can move forward and backward, a release lever fixed to the hinge pin, and a release lever of the same. And a pawl between the pawl and the pole, the pawl is engaged with the ratchet when the release lever is not operated, and the pawl is separated from the ratchet when the release lever is rotated, and the release lever is not operated. A reclining mechanism characterized by comprising spring means for urging it to the side. 2. The reclining mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the ratchet is fixed to the hinge pin and abuts against a back portion of the pawl to press the pawl toward the ratchet side, and the ratchet of the pawl is rotated by the hinge pin. A reclining mechanism characterized by comprising a cam for releasing the pressing to the side.