JPH10258663A - Head protecting method for shock absorbing seat for vehicle, and shock absorbing seat for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reinforce protection of the head and neck of a seated person at the time of a rear end collision by heightening head supporting ability of a head rest. SOLUTION: When excessive shock at the time of a rear-end collision is inputed, a seat back frame 14 is inclined backward by the buckling deformation of a strength fragile part 32. Following this, a link arm 46 with its upper end connected to the front face side of a head rest bracket 16 is inclined backward around a lower end pivotally-fixed point (stepped bolt) 50 in front of the strength fragile part 32, and a head rest 18 can be inclined forward in relation to the seat back frame 14 by the rotation of the head rest bracket 16 generated in association with backward inclination of the link arm 46.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for protecting a head of a vehicle shock absorbing sheet for absorbing a shock at the time of a rear collision and protecting a occupant from the shock, and a vehicle shock absorbing sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle seat for an automobile or the like, protection of a occupant in a collision from the rear of the automobile or the like, that is, at the time of a so-called rear collision, has been an issue of recent attention. Then, for example, a weak portion, a so-called weak portion, is provided in a part of the seat back frame, a part of the reclining device, or the like, and when an excessive impact energy such as a rear collision is input to the seat, the strength is reduced. A so-called shock absorbing sheet is provided as a vehicle seat for an automobile or the like, in which a seat back is forcibly tilted backward by buckling deformation or the like in a fragile portion, and a shock applied to a seated person is reduced by absorbing impact energy due to the backward tilt. Have been.

[0003] As such an impact absorbing sheet, for example, a configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-132767 is known. In this known configuration, a meandering reinforcing rib portion is provided on a part of the bracket of the reclining device,
The rearward tilt of the seat back accompanied by buckling deformation at the reinforcing rib portion absorbs impact energy at the time of a rear collision.

[0004]

However, the head may be held at a position separated from the headrest depending on the sitting posture at the time of stopping or the like. There is a possibility that a sharp backward tilt of the head in a gap between the head and the seated person, that is, a so-called whiplash movement may occur.

[0005] However, the above-mentioned known Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-132767.
In the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-146, although the impact energy at the time of a rear collision is absorbed by the seatback backward due to the buckling deformation at the reinforcing rib portion, the seatback's chest is And only absorbs the shock acting on the waist. In this known configuration, the headrest tilts rearward integrally with the seatback while leaving a gap between the headrest of the occupant and the headrest. It is likely that the protection of the head and neck of the seated person will not be sufficient, while the protection of the chest and waist will be sufficient.

The present invention provides a head protection method for a vehicle shock absorbing seat and a vehicle for enhancing protection of a head and a neck of a seated occupant in a rear collision by further enhancing the head support capability of a headrest. The purpose is to provide a shock absorbing sheet.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, when a rear collision occurs, the impact acts on the chest and waist and then acts on the head following the impact. We pay attention to.

Therefore, according to the method for protecting the head of a vehicle shock absorbing sheet of the present invention, when an excessive impact at the time of a rear collision is input, the seat at the weak portion due to the rearward movement of the upper body of the occupant is seated. The seat back frame is tilted backward by the bending deformation. Also, at this time, the link arm connected to the upper end on the front side of the rotatable headrest bracket at the upper end of the seat back frame is rotated at the lower end pivot point located in front of the weakened portion, so that the seat back frame is rotated. Follow and tilt backward.

[0009] The headrest inserted into the headrest bracket is tilted forward with respect to the seatback frame by the rotation of the headrest bracket accompanying the backward tilt of the seatback frame and link arm, and the headrest is supported by the headrest. Thereby, it is possible to suppress a sharp inclination of the head with respect to the upper body.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in a vehicle impact absorbing sheet 10 according to the present invention, a seat back frame 14 forming a skeleton of a seat back 12 has a rotatable headrest bracket 16 at an upper end thereof. The headrest 18 is connected to the upper end of the seat back frame via the headrest bracket.

For example, the seat back frame 14 is assembled in a substantially rectangular front view in which a substantially U-shaped pipe frame 22 is disposed above a pair of left and right side brackets 20 and a predetermined connecting member 24 is disposed and fixed below. An installation support member 26 such as an S-spring is installed and stretched between the left and right side brackets. A seat pad (not shown) made of a urethane foam material or the like is arranged on the front surface of the S spring or the like (erection support member) 26, and the whole is covered with a trim cover (not shown) made of a skin or the like. The seat back 12 is formed so that the upper body of the occupant, particularly the chest or waist, can be elastically supported from behind.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat back frame 14 is provided with a reclining device as described later.
It is integrally connected to 28 rotating arms 30.

As the reclining device 28, a known device can be used, and since the reclining device itself is not the purpose of the present invention, it will not be described in detail here. As this type of reclining device 28, for example,
One disclosed in JP-A-62-026008 can be exemplified.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the strength weak portion 32 that promotes buckling deformation when an impact is applied at the time of a rear collision is provided at the side end of the seat back frame. The side bracket 20 to be formed is provided with perforation holes 34 and 35 on the side and back surfaces. The weakened portion 32 is provided at a height corresponding to a flexible portion of the upper body of a seated person, that is, a lumbar vertebra.

As shown in FIG. 2, the headrest bracket 16 includes, for example, a pair of upper and lower walls 16a and 16b formed on a front wall 16c.
And is formed into a substantially box shape integrated by one side wall 16d continuous thereto, and is rotated to the upper end of the seat back frame 14 by the insertion of the pipe frame 22 through the bush 38 into the corresponding insertion hole of the one side wall. It is arranged as possible.
As can be seen from FIG. 1 in addition to FIG. 2, the headrest holder 42 is fitted to the headrest bracket through the insertion holes 40 in the upper and lower walls of the headrest bracket 16, and the stay 44 is inserted into this headrest holder. ,
The headrest 18 is inserted and connected to the headrest bracket by the locking.

In the present invention, the lower end of the link arm 46 connected to the front wall 16c of the headrest bracket at the upper end is connected to the pivot arm of the reclining device.
A link bracket 48 integral with 30 is pivotally mounted at a position forward of the weakened portion 32 of the seat back frame.
The link arm 46 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in which the upper ends of a pair of left and right vertical shaft portions 46a are connected by a rotatable horizontal shaft portion 46b, and the horizontal shaft portion is a front wall 16c of the headrest bracket.
And a lower end of the vertical shaft portion is pivotally attached to the link bracket 48 by screwing the stepped bolt 50 and the nut 52 together.

As shown in FIG. 2, the link bracket 48
Is formed integrally with a fixing nut 54 on its inner surface, for example, and is disposed inside the side bracket 22 of the seat back frame. And mounting bolts
56, side bracket 22 of the seat back frame
The link bracket 48 and the side brackets are integrally connected and fixed to the rotating arm 30 of the reclining device together with the side brackets by so-called joint fastening.

In the shock absorbing sheet 10 of the present invention,
The rotation of the headrest bracket 16 and thus the headrest 18 with respect to the seat back frame 14 is prevented by supporting the front side of the headrest bracket with the link arm 46. Since the link bracket 48 pivotally attached to the lower end of the link arm 46 is integrally connected to the pivot arm 30 together with the side bracket 22 of the seat back frame, the seat is not moved when the reclining device 28 is operated. Due to the swing of the back frame 14 and the link arm integrally, the seat back 12 is swung without changing the angle of the headrest 18 with respect to the seat back frame.

In the shock absorbing sheet 10 having such a configuration, when a rear collision of the vehicle occurs, the load from the upper body of the occupant who has moved backward due to the impact is firstly changed to the initial state shown in FIG. Received by the seat back frame 14. When the load exceeds the rigidity of the weakened portion 32 provided on the side bracket 22 of the seat back frame, the buckling deformation at the weakened portion causes the seat back frame 14 to fail.
Is tilted backward as shown in FIG.

By the way, in the case of a rear collision of a car,
A slight delay from the seated person's chest or lower back, that is, the back tilt of the upper body, causing the head to tilt to the upper body,
It has been proved by various experiments. Therefore, in the present invention, when the seatback frame 14 is tilted rearward under the load from the upper body of the seated person, the headrest 18 is tilted forward with respect to the seatback frame, and seating with the headrest tilted forward is performed. By supporting the person's head, it is possible to suppress a sharp backward inclination of the head with respect to the upper body at the time of a rear collision.

In the present invention, the link bracket 48
Since the upper end of the link arm 46 pivotally attached to the lower end of the headrest is fixed to the front side of the headrest bracket 16,
When the seat back frame 14 is tilted rearward due to the buckling deformation of the weakened portion 32, the link arm follows the tilt and pivots clockwise around the lower end pivot point, that is, the stepped bolt 50. At this time, seat back frame 1
4, since the link arm 46 exhibits an operation similar to a so-called parallel link, the headrest 18 is tilted forward with respect to the seatback frame by the rearward tilt of the seatback frame due to the buckling deformation at the weakened portion 32, As shown in FIG. 3, the head of the occupant is supported by the headrest before abrupt backward leaning with respect to the upper body.

The horizontal axis 46b of the link arm 46 is
Since the headrest bracket 16 is rotatable with respect to the vertical shaft portion 46a, the deviation of the angle of the headrest bracket 16 with respect to the rotation of the link arm about the stepped bolt (lower end pivot point) 50 is different from the horizontal shaft with respect to the vertical shaft portion. Guaranteed by the rotation of the part.

As described above, according to the method for protecting the head of the vehicle impact absorbing sheet of the present invention, the seat back frame 14 is moved backward by the buckling deformation of the strength weak portion 32 caused by the rear impact. The headrest 18 that is tilted and thereby tilted forward allows the seated person's head to be supported before tilting backward with respect to the upper body. Therefore, a whiplash movement caused by a sharp backward tilt of the head can be reliably suppressed, and a sufficient improvement in the protection effect of the head and neck at the time of a rear collision can further reduce damage to a seated person.

Further, under the rearward inclination of the seat back frame 14 due to the buckling deformation of the strength weak portion 32 due to the impact of the rear collision, the impact on the occupant's chest and waist is reliably absorbed. The protection effect on the waist is not impaired.

The impact absorbing sheet for a vehicle according to the present invention.
According to 10, the head protection method described above can be appropriately performed, and in addition to the effect of protecting the chest or the lumbar region, the head is reliably protected before leaning backward with respect to the upper body at the time of a rear collision. The increased ability to protect the head and neck further reduces occupant damage.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, cuts are made at the corners of the side brackets 22 of the seat back frame provided with the weakened portions 32, that is, at the corners between the side surfaces and the back surface. Preferably, a so-called V notch 58 is provided. According to such a configuration, the starting position of the buckling deformation at the strength fragile portion 32 is specified at the V-notch portion, so that the buckling shape at the strength fragile portion can be made substantially constant. In other words, a portion serving as a fulcrum when the seat back frame 14 is tilted rearward can be specified to some extent by the V notch 58, so that the operation similar to the parallel link by the seat back frame, the link arm 46 and the headrest bracket 16 can be performed more smoothly. Can be secured.

The setting and control of the V-notch 58 and the size of the V-notch 58 make it possible to adjust and control the buckling start load at the weakened portion 32. A buckling start load suitable for the back frame 14 can be easily set.

For example, for the link bracket 48,
It is preferable that a protruding stopper 60 that can be engaged with the link arm 46 be provided so that excessive rotation of the link arm can be prevented. As shown in FIG. 3, when the link arm 46 is engaged with the stopper 60 of the link bracket at the time of rotation of the strength back portion 32 due to the backward inclination of the seat back frame 14, the rotation of the link arm thereafter is prevented. As a result, the rearward inclination of the seat back frame and, consequently, the forward inclination of the headrest 18 are also prevented by this.

That is, the forward tilt amount of the headrest with respect to the seat back frame 14 can be limited by the rotation restriction of the link arm 46 by the stopper 60. In this manner, by limiting the forward lean amount of the headrest 18 with respect to the seatback frame 14 to a specific range, the excessive forward lean of the headrest interlocked with the backward lean of the seatback frame due to the buckling deformation at the weakened portion 32. Since the inclination can be reliably prevented, the impact on the occupant's head caused by the forward inclination of the headrest can be reliably suppressed. Therefore, also from this point, the effect of protecting the head and neck of the seated person is reliably improved.

The link arm 46 to the stopper 60
, The excessive backward tilt of the seat back frame 14 is also restricted, so that the seated person can be reliably prevented from jumping out to the rear of the seat, and the safety of the seated person is also ensured from this point.

In this case, the stopper 60 is embodied as a projection provided on the link bracket 48.
It is sufficient to restrict the rotation of the link arm 46 with respect to the link bracket. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to this, and a stopper may be provided as a projecting member of the link arm protrudingly engageable with the link bracket.

Further, in this embodiment, the upper end of the link arm 46 is fixed to the front wall 16c of the headrest holder, but the headrest holder can be rotated in conjunction with the swing of the link arm. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the headrest holder and the link arm may be operably connected to each other by, for example, holding by predetermined holding means.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a shock absorbing sheet to be mounted on a car is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, though it is suitable for a car. The present invention may be applied to a sheet.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are intended to explain the present invention, and do not limit the present invention in any way. Modifications, alterations, and the like made within the technical scope of the present invention are also possible. It goes without saying that all are included in the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, according to the method for protecting the head of the vehicle shock absorbing sheet according to the present invention, the headrest is moved forward with respect to the seat back frame by the buckling deformation of the weakened portion caused by the rear collision. For tilting, the occupant's head is supported by the headrest before tilting backward with respect to the upper body.
Therefore, the whiplash movement caused by the steep backward tilt of the head can be surely suppressed, and the protection effect of the head and the neck at the time of the rear collision is surely improved, thereby further reducing the damage to the occupant.

Further, under the rearward inclination of the seat back frame due to the buckling deformation of the strength weak portion due to the impact of the rear collision, the impact on the occupant's chest and waist is reliably absorbed. The protection effect against the spill is not impaired.

According to the impact absorbing sheet for a vehicle of the present invention, the above-described head protection method can be appropriately performed, and the improvement of the head protection ability further reduces the damage to the occupant.

If the amount of rotation of the link arm with respect to the link bracket can be limited to limit the amount of backward tilt of the seat back frame and the amount of forward tilt of the headrest with respect to the seat back frame, excessive forward lean of the headrest can be prevented. At the same time, the overall amount of backward inclination of the seat back frame is suppressed, so that the safety of the occupant and the protection ability are further improved.

Furthermore, if V-notches are provided at the corresponding corners of the side brackets of the seat back frame, the starting position of the buckling deformation at the weakly-strength portion is specified at the V-notch portion. By specifying the fulcrum at the time of the backward leaning, the forward leaning of the headrest accompanying the backward leaning of the seat back frame can be smoothly and easily secured. In addition, the V-notch makes it possible to adjust and control the buckling start load at the weak part, so it is easy to set the buckling start load suitable for the seat back frame without requiring a significant design change. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an impact absorbing sheet for a vehicle according to the present invention in an initial state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a partially broken portion of the vehicle impact absorbing sheet.

FIG. 3 is an operation diagram of a vehicle impact absorbing sheet when an impact due to a rear collision occurs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Shock absorbing seat for vehicle 12 Seat back 14 Seat back frame 16 Headrest bracket 18 Headrest 22 Side bracket 32 Weak part 46 Link arm 48 Link bracket 50 Bottom pivot point (stepped bolt) 58 V notch

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A seatback frame connected to a pivot arm of a reclining device is tilted rearward by buckling deformation of a strength weak portion provided at a side end portion thereof, and the seatback frame is absorbed by absorbing a shock caused by the rearward tilt. Buckling deformation at the above-mentioned strength weakened part due to the rearward movement of the occupant's upper body when an excessive impact at the time of a rear collision is input in a vehicle shock absorbing sheet that can protect the vehicle from the impact of a rear collision Thereby, the seat back frame is tilted rearward, and the link arm connected to the upper end on the front side of the rotatable headrest bracket at the upper end of the seat back frame is pivoted at the lower end pivot point located in front of the weakened portion. With the rotation of the seat back frame, the seat back frame is tilted rearward. By moving the headrest, the headrest inserted into the headrest bracket is tilted forward with respect to the seat back frame, and the support by the headrest makes it possible to suppress a sudden backward tilt of the head with respect to the upper body. A method of protecting the head of a vehicle shock absorbing sheet. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a rotation range of the link arm following the rearward inclination of the seat back frame is defined by a predetermined stopper. 3. The seat back frame connected to the pivot arm of the reclining device is tilted rearward by buckling deformation of a weak portion provided at a side end portion of the seat back frame. A shock absorbing seat for a vehicle that can protect the vehicle from an impact at the time of a rear collision, wherein the seat back frame has a rotatable headrest bracket at an upper end and is integrally connected to a rotating arm of the reclining device. And a lower end of a link arm connected to an upper end on a front side of the headrest bracket is pivotally connected to a link bracket integrally connected to a rotation arm of the reclining device, ahead of the weakened portion, A headrest that can support the seated person's head from behind is attached to the seat back frame via the headrest bracket When an excessive impact at the time of a rear collision is input, the seat back frame is tilted rearward by the buckling deformation of the strength weak portion, and the lower back pivot point, which follows the rear tilt of the seat back frame, is centered. The headrest is tilted forward with respect to the seat back frame by a corresponding amount by the rotation of the link arm. 4. A link arm and / or a link bracket, wherein at least one of the link arm and the link bracket is provided with a stopper for defining a rotation amount of the link arm with respect to the link bracket.
The shock absorbing sheet for a vehicle according to the above. 5. A seat back frame is formed having side brackets having at least a side surface and a back surface at left and right end portions, and the seat back frame is partially cut off on the side surface and the back surface of the side bracket. 5. The impact absorbing sheet for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein a weakened portion is defined, and a V notch is formed at a corner between the side surface and the back surface.