JPH1111188A - Seat sliding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a seat sliding device to be powered without enlarging the width of a groove in a floor face. SOLUTION: This device has a drive mechanism 40 which transmits and converts torque which is input to an input gear and coming from a motor into the rotation of a first orthogonal gear 38 serving as an output gear and which is enclosed in a gear box 42, and a corresponding second orthogonal gear 46 with which the first orthogonal gear can be engaged is provided around a lead screw 56 secured to a guide rail 18. in such a way that the gear 46 can rotate integrally with a nut 28. The gear box 42 is placed and fixed on a runner 14 at a position above the guide rail 18 in such a way that the first orthogonal gear 38 can be engaged with the upper part of the second orthogonal gear 46 along the vertical direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seat slide device for supporting a seat so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to a floor surface by sliding a runner with respect to a guide rail. The present invention relates to a so-called long rail type seat slide device capable of securing the seat slide.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a structure in which a seat slide device generally known in a front seat of an automobile is mounted on a rear seat such as a second seat or a third seat disposed behind the front seat is known as a minivan or a minivan. It is widely used in multipurpose vehicles such as RV vehicles such as 1BOX vehicles. As described above, by mounting the seat slide device on the second seat and the third seat, various seat arrangements and expansion of luggage space (luggage space) can be easily performed.

As a seat slide device of this type, for example, a runner (also referred to as an upper rail) on which a seat is mounted and fixed on a guide rail (also referred to as a lower rail) embedded in a groove in a floor of a vehicle floor or the like is provided. A long rail type is known, in which a guide rail is a so-called long rail and a long sliding range is secured by a slide rail that is slidably assembled via a rolling element composed of a steel ball or bar-shaped roller (roller). ing.

[0004]

A known long rail type seat slide device is generally of a so-called manual type in which locking and unlocking are manually performed. However, the second and third seats, which are rear seats, are usually two- and three-seat bench seats, so the seats themselves are heavy, and for weak seated people such as women, the elderly, or children, Operational difficulties may be caused.

Here, it is conceivable to configure a seat slide device of a so-called power type that enables the runner to slide under the driving of a motor. As a power type seat slide device, for example, configurations disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-004843 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-030227 are known.

In this known power type seat slide device, for example, a movable gear connected via a predetermined drive mechanism so as to be interlocked with the rotation of a motor is provided on a runner, and a fixed gear meshable with the movable gear is provided on a runner. Each is provided on the guide rail, accompanying the rotation under the drive of the motor,
Movement of the movable gear relative to the fixed gear allows the runner to slide relative to the guide rail.

However, in the known power seat slide device disclosed in the above publication, a drive mechanism for transmitting and converting the rotational force of the motor to the rotation of the movable gear is slidable integrally with the runner so that the guide rail can be slid integrally with the runner. Since it is provided so as to protrude to the side, if this known configuration is applied to a seat slide device in which guide rails are embedded in the floor, an increase in the width of the groove in the floor is inevitable.

[0008] When the width of the groove for burying the guide rail is increased, the appearance quality of the interior of the car is deteriorated, and
There is a possibility that the safety of the seat slide device or the interior of the vehicle may be reduced due to the dropping or fitting of small articles or the like into the grooves. Accordingly, at present, power cannot be easily implemented in the long rail type seat slide device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a seat slide device capable of increasing the power without increasing the groove width of the floor.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a runner having a rotatable nut rotatable in association with driving of a motor, embedded in a groove in a floor surface. The guide rail is slidably mounted on the guide rail with a nut screwed onto a lead screw fixed inside the guide rail.

A drive mechanism for transmitting and converting the rotational force from the motor input to the input gear to the rotation of the output gear serving as the first orthogonal gear is housed in a predetermined gear box. A corresponding second orthogonal gear capable of meshing with the nut is provided so as to be rotatable integrally with the nut around the lead screw, and the first orthogonal gear can be meshed with a vertical upper portion of the second orthogonal gear so that the gear box has It is arranged and fixed on the runner above the guide rail.

[0012]

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

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the seat slide apparatus 10 according to the present invention, a runner 14 on which a seat 12 is placed and fixed is provided with a guide rail 18 fixed to a floor 16 such as a vehicle floor. It is slidably assembled with respect to. Then, as can be seen from FIG. 3, the seat slide devices 10 are disposed at left and right positions of the seat 12, respectively.

A runner 14 of this type is usually provided with a guide rail.
The roller 18 is slidably mounted on the roller 18 via a rolling element. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, in the embodiment of the present invention, a wheel-shaped roller having a pivot 19 as a center of rotation is provided. 20 are used as rolling elements.

For example, the runner 14 is formed integrally with a pair of expanded vertical walls 14a at its lower end. And
Wheel-shaped rollers 20 are positioned before and after the runner 14 (left and right in FIG. 1).
The runner is pivotally attached to each of the vertical walls at a pivot 19 at the front and rear positions separated from each other, and at the left and right symmetric positions on the vertical wall 14a, so as to be rotatable at four positions, that is, before and after the runner.

As shown in FIG. 1, the roller 20 is, for example, substantially the same distance L1 from the center position (SP) of the runner 14.
Respectively, ie, at symmetrical positions before and after the center position.

According to this configuration, the runner 14 is
The rotatable roller 20 receives the load acting on the guide rail 18 from above, so that the runner can smoothly slide on the guide rail 18 easily. The rollers 20 are arranged at four locations separated from the runner 14 in the front-rear and left-right directions, and particularly at four symmetric locations in the front-rear symmetric position from the center position (SP) of the runner. Acts equally on the four rollers, and the support of the runner can be easily stabilized.

Here, a rolling element is illustrated as the wheel-shaped roller 20. However, any configuration that promotes sliding of the runner 14 with respect to the guide rail 18 is sufficient, and is not limited to this wheel-shaped roller. For example, a bar-shaped roller (roller), a steel ball, or the like generally used in a known seat slide device may be used as a rolling element.

However, when the runner slides on the guide rail, the wheel-shaped roller 20 is moved by the runner 14 against a known rod-shaped roller (roller), steel ball, or the like, which moves the position relative to the runner. Is rotatably pivoted via a pivot 19, so that the guide rail 18
Can be secured integrally with the runner. That is, according to the configuration in which the wheel-shaped roller 20 is used as the rolling element, it is not necessary to secure the rolling area of the roller 20 in the runner 14, so that the sliding range (sliding distance) of the runner with respect to the guide rail 18 increases. Even so, the size of the runner can be reduced.

In this configuration, it is sufficient to mount the roller 20 on the runner 14 in advance by the pivot 19, so that the runner can be unitized. Therefore,
The work of assembling the runner 14 to the guide rail 18 can be simplified, and workability is improved.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the seat slide device 10 of the present invention, for example, a runner
Runner ends 22 functioning as protection members at the front and rear ends (left and right ends in FIG. 1) of 14 are fixed to the respective ends of the runner. The runner end 22 is usually formed from a synthetic resin material or a hard synthetic rubber material, and the end of each runner is inserted into a corresponding concave portion 23 formed on its inner surface.
It can be fixed to

As can be seen from FIG. 5 in addition to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the present invention, the nut 28 which rotates in conjunction with the driving of the motor 26 is, for example, at the center position (SP That is, at a substantially center position between the rollers 20 at the front and rear positions, the runner is rotatably disposed and held (see FIG. 3).

The nut 28 is disposed between the pair of vertical walls 14a of the runner. For example, the nut 28 is held between the vertical walls by a pair of front and rear support pieces 30 which are fixed by way of a thrust bearing 32. 12 is rotatably held.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, in the seat slide device 10, for example, a worm 34 serving as an input gear, a worm wheel 35 meshing with the worm, and a pair of flats with respect to the worm wheel. A drive mechanism 40 having a combination with a first orthogonal gear 38 serving as an output gear connected to be able to interlock (rotate) via gears 36 and 37 is provided on the runner 14.

In the present invention, the drive mechanism 40 is housed in a gear box 42 and is unitized in advance, and a corresponding second orthogonal gear 46 capable of meshing with the first orthogonal gear 38 of the drive mechanism is provided. The first orthogonal gear is rotatably provided integrally with the nut 28 so that the first orthogonal gear can be meshed with the vertical upper portion of the second orthogonal gear. 14 and fixed (see FIG. 1).

The gear box 42 is connected to the runner by, for example, set screws 45 arranged at symmetrical positions in front and rear.
Fixed to 14.

In this embodiment, a nut 28 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the substantially cylindrical body, and a second orthogonal gear 46 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body.

As shown in FIG. 2, the worm 34 of the drive mechanism
Is a non-circular detent shape, for example, a substantially square recess
The worm is connected to the motor 26 in a manner that the worm can be interlocked with the motor 26 by fitting the rotation shaft 48a of the interlocking wire 48 into this recess. ).

In such a configuration, the rotational force of the motor 26 is transmitted to the worm 34 of the drive mechanism via the interlocking wire 48, and the worm wheel 35 rotates in the corresponding direction in conjunction with the worm. Then, the transmission of the torque via the spur gears 36 and 37 causes the first orthogonal gear 38 to rotate in the corresponding direction,
In conjunction with this, the second orthogonal gear 46 and the nut 28 rotate integrally in a corresponding direction at a fixed position with respect to the runner 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the guide rail 18 is formed in a substantially rectangular cross section having a slit-shaped opening 52 on the upper surface thereof, and is formed in a groove provided on a floor surface (vehicle floor or the like) 16. It is located inside 54 and fixed, that is, buried in the floor through a groove. As can be seen from FIG. 5 in addition to FIG. 2, in the present invention, the lead screw 56 into which the nut 28 can be screwed is disposed inside the guide rail 18 along the opening 52 on the upper surface of the guide rail. The runner 14 is fixed to the guide rail 18 with the pair of vertical walls 14a straddling the lead screw and screwing the nut.
Has been assembled.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second orthogonal gear 46 provided on the runner 14 is disposed inside the guide rail 18 when the runner is assembled to the guide rail 18, so that the driving mechanism The first orthogonal gear 38 has an opening in the guide rail.
The gear is meshed with the second orthogonal gear via 52.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in this configuration, a pair of front and rear end caps 58 are fitted to respective ends of the guide rail 18, and a lead screw 56 is inserted between the end caps. It is erected and fixed. The lead screw 56 has a non-circular detent part 56a at each end, and the insertion of the detent part into the insertion hole 60 of an end cap partially having a detent shape corresponding to the shape of the detent part. And a lock nut 62 on the extension end.
Is attached so that the lead screw cannot rotate with respect to the guide rail 18 and cannot move in the axial direction.

The end cap 58 is provided on the guide rail 18
In this case, the distance between the end caps located at the front and rear ends of the guide rail is usually defined as the runner slide range (slide distance). Then, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a so-called rubber damper 64 made of synthetic rubber or the like is inserted between the end cap 58 under the engagement of the corresponding pair of locking pins 66 and locking holes 68. If you place and fix each side,
Since the impact at the time when the runner collides with the end cap at the slide limit position of the runner 14 can be absorbed, safety is improved.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 and FIG.
A pair of electrode strips 70 are arranged and fixed on the lower surface of the guide rail 18, and a corresponding pair of brushes 72 are provided so as to be slidable integrally with the runner 14.

As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG.
Is held in parallel with an insulator, for example, an electrode holder 74 made of a synthetic resin material having excellent insulation properties, and extends over the slide range of the runner, that is, between the front and rear end caps 58,
It is arranged and fixed on the lower surface of the guide rail 18. The pair of electrode strips 70 is formed to have a connector 76 at one end thereof. A predetermined power supply, for example, a battery of an automobile, is connected through the connector and a connection cable (not shown) connected to the connector. Are connected to the respective electrodes.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, runner ends 22 made of a synthetic resin material, a synthetic rubber material or the like are fixed to the front and rear ends of the runner 14, respectively. Therefore, as can be seen from FIGS.
In 10, the brush 72 is used by using one of the front and rear runner ends, for example, the runner end 22 on the front side.
Are slidably disposed and held integrally with the runner 14.

The brush 72 is partially buried so as to be able to come into contact with the electrode strip 70 and protrude from the lower surface of the runner end 22.
For example, the connector 78 provided at the upper end of the runner end
Are connected via an electric wire 80 buried in the runner end.

The brush 72 is connected to the motor 26 from a connection wire 82 connected to the connector 78 via a manual switch 84 (see FIG. 3).

As the manual switch 84, for example,
An automatic return type seesaw changeover switch having one OFF position and two ON positions can be used,
By selecting the two ON positions, the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the motor 26, that is, the sliding direction (forward and backward) of the runner 14 can be arbitrarily switched.

The manual switch 84 is arranged at a position where the occupant can operate, for example, a side surface of the seat cushion 86 (see FIG. 3).

In the seat slide device 10 having this configuration, a brush 72 slidable integrally with the runner 14 is brought into contact with the electrode band 70 provided inside the guide rail 18 so that the battery (power supply) can be used. Can be supplied to the motor 26. And the electrode band 70 is a guide rail
Since the runner 14 extends over the entire sliding range of the runner 14 relative to the guide rail 18, that is, at any position in the sliding range of the runner with respect to the guide rails, that is, the sliding range of the seat 12, current is taken from the electrode band by the brush 72 relative to the electrode band. Is possible under the contact of

That is, since the seat slide device 10 does not directly connect the motor vehicle battery and the motor 26 as a power supply with the connection cable, the sliding range of the runner 14 is not restricted by the connection cable. Also, the processing of long connecting cables is not required. Then, since it is sufficient that the lead screw 56 and the electrode strip 70 correspond to the length of the guide rail 18, a so-called long rail type seat slide device in which the slide range of the runner 14 is secured long by extending the length of the guide rail.
10 power can be easily and sufficiently achieved.

Further, in the seat slide device 10 of the present invention, the gear box 42 in which the drive mechanism 40 is housed is
It is arranged above the guide rail 18. That is,
According to this configuration, the size of the seat slide device 10 is prevented from increasing in the lateral direction, and the groove of the floor surface in which the guide rail 18 is embedded is provided.
Since it is not necessary to increase the width of the groove in the lateral direction in 54, the power of the seat slide device can be increased without increasing the groove width.

As described above, if the long-rail type seat slide device 10 is powered, the slide of the runner 14, that is, the seat 12, can be obtained by operating the manual switch 84. Even with a heavy bench seat, the operating force of the manual switch is sufficient. Therefore, operability is improved,
Seat slide device even for powerless women, the elderly, children, etc.
The slide operation of the seat 12 by the use of 10 can be easily performed.

Further, since it is not necessary to increase the width of the groove 54 on the floor surface, it is possible to prevent small articles or the like from falling into the groove or getting into the groove. Therefore, the seat slide device 10 itself, and,
The safety of the occupant or the like in the vehicle interior is reliably improved.

By the way, in a seat slide device in which a guide rail is embedded in a groove of a floor, the guide rail is usually covered with a covering material such as a floor carpet which covers the surface of the floor. In the known configuration in which the width of the groove is increased to the side, unevenness of the coating material at the enlarged portion of the groove is inevitable. However, as shown in FIG. 4, in the configuration of the present invention, the groove on the floor surface
Since the width of 54 is sufficient if the guide rail 18 can be arranged, the unevenness of the covering material 88 covering the surface of the floor 16 can be reliably prevented. Therefore, the quality of the covering material 88 and, consequently, the appearance of the interior of the automobile can be improved.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in this configuration, the runner 14 and the first orthogonal gear 38 are located in the openings 52 of the guide rails. A slit 90 having a width may be formed in the covering material 88 so as to be aligned with the opening of the guide rail. That is, according to the present invention, the width of the slit 90 of the coating material can be reduced, and even when the runner 14 slides, the occurrence of wrinkles in a portion where the runners are aligned can be sufficiently suppressed. From the point of view, the appearance quality in the car interior is improved.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in such a configuration, when the width of the slit 90 of the covering material is made narrower than the opening 52 of the guide rail, the slit is formed at the front and rear ends of the runner 14. It is preferable to provide a guide piece 92 for prompting the opening. In the embodiment of the present invention, the guide piece 92
It is provided integrally with a runner end 22 provided at the front and rear ends of the runner 14.

Here, the seat slide device 10 of this embodiment is provided with a nut 28 for a fixed lead screw 56.
As shown in FIG. 3, the runner 14 slides on the guide rail 18 under the rotation of the guide rail 18. , These runners can be operated individually.

For example, FIG. 2 shows two rows of rear seats arranged behind the front seat. In this case, the front seat is referred to as a second seat 12-2nd, and the rear seat is referred to as a third seat 12-3rd. The second and third seat runners 14-2 and 14-3rd are assembled to the left and right guide rails 18, respectively.

According to such a configuration, since one guide rail 18 can be used in common for the second seat 12-2nd and the third seat 12-3rd, the number of guide rails per vehicle can be reduced. Therefore, workability at the time of assembling the seat slide device 10 and the guide rail 18 to the automobile is improved.

Further, as the number of the guide rails 18 is reduced, the lead screw 56, the electrode band 70 and the like attached to the guide rails are similarly reduced. And cost reduction.

Further, in the seat slide apparatus 10 of the present invention, the roller 20 is pivotally mounted on the runner 14.
However, since the unit is previously unitized with the runner, the runner can appropriately cope with such a long guide rail 18 without increasing the size thereof.

Here, the configuration in which two runners 14 (14-2nd, 14-3rd) are assembled to one guide rail 18 is illustrated, but if the number of runners is two or more, it is sufficient. The configuration is not limited to two. For example, three or four runners may be assembled to one guide rail.

Here, in the present invention, the driving mechanism 40
However, the worm 34 is embodied as an input gear and the first orthogonal gear 38 is used as an output gear, but the drive mechanism is sufficient if it can transmit and convert the torque of the motor 26 to the rotation of the nut 28. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the nut may be linked with the driving of the motor via a driving mechanism having another configuration.

The seat slide device according to the present invention
Although it is suitable for the long rail type mounted on the rear seat of a multipurpose car, it is not limited to this, for example,
The present invention may be applied to a normal seat slide device and a seat slide device mounted on a seat of a train, an airplane, a ship, or the like.

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, and may be modified or modified within the technical scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that all are included in the present invention.

[0058]

As described above, according to the seat slide device of the present invention, the gear box in which the drive mechanism is housed can engage the first orthogonal gear with the vertically upper portion of the second orthogonal gear so that the guide rail can be engaged. Since the seat slide device is disposed and fixed to the runner at a position above the guide rail, the size of the seat slide device on the side of the guide rail can be reliably prevented. Therefore, it is possible to increase the power of the seat slide device without enlarging the width of the groove in which the guide rail is buried. Quality will definitely improve.

It is sufficient to provide slits aligned with the openings of the guide rails in the covering material covering the floor surface, and it is possible to reliably prevent unevenness of the covering material on the side of the guide rails. In addition, the appearance quality in the car interior is improved.

Further, since it is sufficient that the first orthogonal gear, which is the output gear of the drive mechanism, is meshed with the position above the second orthogonal gear provided integrally with the nut, the structure is not complicated. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view, partially broken, of a seat slide device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view, partially broken away, of the seat slide device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a long rail type seat slide device in which two runners are incorporated.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a partially exploded schematic exploded perspective view mainly showing a guide rail of the seat slide device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Seat slide device 14 Runner 16 Floor surface 18 Guide rail 20 Roller 26 Motor 28 Nut 40 Drive mechanism 42 Gear box 54 Groove 52 Guide rail opening 56 Lead screw 88 Coating material 90 Slit

Claims (1)

[Claims] A runner rotatably provided with a nut that rotates in conjunction with driving of a motor is provided on a guide rail embedded in a groove of a floor surface, and a nut is attached to a lead screw fixed inside the guide rail. A drive mechanism, which is slidably assembled with the screwing and transmits and converts the torque from the motor input to the input gear to the rotation of the output gear serving as the first orthogonal gear, is housed in a predetermined gear box. A corresponding second orthogonal gear capable of meshing with the first orthogonal gear is provided so as to be rotatable integrally with the nut around the lead screw. A seat slide device in which the gear box is arranged and fixed to the runner at a position above the guide rail so as to be meshable with an upper portion.