JPH11151131A - Reclining device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reclining device which can minutely adjust the slanting angle of the backrest and can make the lock/lock-release operation easier. SOLUTION: The slanting angle of a rotary arm 11 of this device can be minutely adjusted by offsetting the pitches of teeth 32 and 33 of inner teeth 30 and 31 on the upper/lower sides to be engaged with inner teeth 34 and 35 on the upper/lower sides of the rotary arm 11. And a cam 36 which controls the inner teeth 30 and 31 is always energized at a neutral position by inserting an elastic member such as a coil spring 40 into a storage dent 41 formed in a shaft 13 to be inserted into a slot 37 of the cam 36, so that the operability of the device can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reclining device for tilting a seat back with respect to a seat cushion, and more particularly to a base member fixed to a seat cushion and a base member rotatably mounted on the base member. A pivot arm supported and fixed to the seat back, interposed between the base member and the pivot arm, guided in a recess formed in the base member by a side wall thereof so as to be able to advance and retreat, and having a tooth at its tip. An inner tooth formed with a portion, a rotatable cam for moving the inner tooth between a lock position where the inner tooth meshes with the internal teeth formed on the rotary arm and an unlock position separated from the internal teeth, and a rotation of the cam. The present invention relates to a reclining device having an operating lever for moving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a reclining device capable of appropriately adjusting a tilt angle of a seat back serving as a backrest is installed in a vehicle seat installed in a driver's seat or an auxiliary seat of a vehicle. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle seat 1 includes a seat cushion 2 on which an occupant sits, and a seat back 3 attached to the seat cushion 2 so as to be tiltable at a predetermined angle. On the other hand, the reclining device 4 is installed so that the tilt angle of the seat back 3 can be adjusted.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the reclining device 4 includes a base member 5 fixed to the seat cushion 2 and a base member 5.
A pivot arm 6 rotatably supported on the seat back 3 and the base member 5 and the pivot arm 6
A pair of upper and lower inner teeth 7a, 7b interposed therebetween and having a tooth portion at the tip, and the inner teeth 7a, 7b
Two rotatable cams 8a and 8b for moving the cam between a lock position meshing with the internal teeth 6a formed on the rotary arm 6 and a lock release position separated from the internal teeth 6a, and an operation lever (not shown) And a shaft 9 for rotating the cams 8a and 8b.

When the operation lever is operated, the cam 8 is moved.
a, 8b rotate, and the respective inner teeth 7a, 7b
Is pulled inward to release the engagement between the tooth portions of the inner teeth 7a and 7b and the internal teeth 6a of the rotating arm 6, whereby the locked state between the base member 5 and the rotating arm 6 is released. The return spring does not push the seat back 3 forward, that is, toward the seat cushion 2.

If the seat back 3 is gradually tilted rearward in the unlocked state, the cams 8a and 8b push the inner teeth 7a and 7b outward at a predetermined inclination angle, whereby the inner Tooth 7a, 7b
And the internal teeth 6a of the rotating arm 6 mesh with each other, so that the rotating arm 6 is prevented from rotating with respect to the base member 5, and the locked state can be maintained.

[0006]

However, in the conventional reclining device 4 described above, the inner teeth 7a and 7b are formed with teeth, respectively, and these teeth are engaged with the internal teeth 6a of the rotating arm 6. Although the lock function is achieved, the tooth pitch that can be produced fluctuates due to factors such as strength, module (teeth size), pitch circle diameter, plate thickness, material, and productivity. In the case of miniaturizing the outer shape and supporting high strength, the pitch limit of the tooth portion becomes large, and when the pitch of the tooth portion is large, fine adjustment becomes difficult, and the locking operation and unlocking of the reclining device 4 are performed. There is a problem that smooth operability cannot be obtained in operation.

Further, since the two cams 8a and 8b corresponding to the upper and lower inner teeth 7a and 7b are respectively controlled,
It has also been pointed out that the structure becomes complicated and the processing cost increases.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and enables fine adjustment of the tilt angle of the seat back.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reclining device that can simplify the structure, reduce the size of the outer shape, and reduce the cost, and also improves the feeling at the time of the locking operation and the unlocking operation and improves the operability. Aim.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reclining device comprising: a base member fixed to a seat cushion; a base member rotatably supported by the base member; A rotating arm fixed to the base member and an inner member interposed between the base member and the rotating arm, guided in a recess formed in the base member so as to be able to advance and retreat by a side wall thereof, and having a tooth portion at a tip thereof. A tooth, a rotatable cam for moving the inner tooth between a lock position where the inner tooth meshes with the internal teeth formed on the rotary arm and a lock release position where the inner tooth is separated from the internal teeth, and an operation lever for rotating the cam. In the reclining device provided with the inner tooth, the tooth gap between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion meshing with the upper internal tooth and the lower internal tooth of the rotating arm, respectively, is off. It is set to a set form, not accompanied to adjust the reclining angle, characterized in that the upper teeth and lower teeth of the inner tooth is made to be meshed with the internal teeth of the rotating arm alternately.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, by setting the interval between the upper and lower teeth of the inner tooth to be offset, the one tooth of the inner tooth meshes with the inner teeth of the rotating arm. When the teeth are engaged, the cutting edge of the other tooth contacts the cutting edge of the internal tooth of the rotating arm, and the upper and lower teeth alternate with the internal tooth of the rotating arm at every 1/2 pitch. The meshing state allows fine adjustment of the reclining angle in the reclining device.

The reclining device according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the inner tooth is composed of upper and lower divided bodies and is moved forward and backward by a single cam.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cam means for driving the upper and lower inner teeth is constituted by a single cam, the number of equipment can be reduced.

Further, in the reclining device according to the third aspect, an elastic member is inserted above a sliding portion between the cam and the shaft supporting the cam, and the cam is urged to the neutral position by the elastic member. It is characterized by that.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an elastic member such as a coil spring or rubber is inserted above the shaft, and the cam is urged upward by the elastic member. The cam itself can always be maintained at the neutral position without the cam itself shifting downward from the proper position due to the weight of the tooth.

Further, in the reclining device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, elastic members are respectively inserted above and below a sliding portion between the shaft supporting the cam and the cam, and the upper and lower elastic members are used to attach the cam to a neutral position. It is characterized by being energized.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an elastic member such as a coil spring or rubber is inserted on the upper and lower sides of a shaft for rotating the cam, and the cam is urged in the vertical direction. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately hold the cam at the neutral position.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a reclining device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a reclining device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 show a configuration of the reclining device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a meshing state of an upper inner tooth. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a meshing state of the lower inner tooth, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an unlocked state of the upper and lower inner teeth, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a different aspect of the reclining device.

The reclining device shown in FIG. 1 is installed on the vehicle seat 1 shown in FIG. 6, and a pair of reclining devices is provided on the left and right sides of the seat 1. For convenience of explanation, the structure of one reclining device is shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, this reclining device includes a shaft in which a rotating arm 11 attached to a seat back is fixed to an operation lever 12 with respect to a base member 10 fixed to a seat cushion (not shown). 1
3 and is rotatably held.

The base member 10 has a mounting portion 14 fixed to the frame of the seat cushion, and a circular recess 16 having an insertion hole 15 through which a shaft 13 is inserted in a central portion formed above the mounting portion 14. , This circular recess 1
A pair of left and right guide side walls 17a, 17b extending vertically is formed at the center of the bottom plate portion of the base plate 6.
A substantially rectangular concave portion 19 is formed by the arc-shaped side walls 18a and 18b connected to 17b.

Here, the arcuate side walls 18a, 18b are formed with teeth 20a, 20b which mesh with inner teeth, which will be described later. Reference numeral 14a denotes an opening preventing rivet attached to the base member 10.

On the other hand, the pivot arm 11 has an attachment hole 21 formed on the upper end side for attaching to the seat back, and is further provided with the attachment hole 23a of the spring bracket 23 for supporting the return spring 22 and the pivot arm 11. The return spring 22 is attached to the rotating arm 11 by fitting and fixing the rivet 25 so as to match the attachment hole 24. The free end of the return spring 22 is connected to the return spring 22 and the lever spring 2 by a rivet 26 fixed to the base member 10.
7 is fixed at the free end side.

Further, a flat cylindrical concave portion 28 having the same radius as the radius of the arc-shaped side walls 18a and 18b of the concave portion 19 of the base member 10 is formed on the rotating arm 11, and a central portion of the cylindrical concave portion 28 is formed. An insertion hole 29 through which the shaft 13 described above is inserted is formed, and upper and lower divided bodies of inner teeth 30 and 31 (referred to as upper inner tooth 30 and lower inner tooth 31) are formed on the inner wall forming the cylindrical concave portion 28. The tooth portions 3 of the inner teeth 30, 31 are inserted.
Internal teeth 34 and 35 (encoded as upper internal teeth 34 and lower internal teeth 35) meshing with the rotary arms 11 are formed on the upper and lower sides of the rotating arm 11, respectively.

Further, a single cam 36 is inserted between the inner teeth 30 and 31 inserted between the base member 10 and the rotating arm 11, and this cam 36 has a central elongated hole 37.
A shaft 13 is inserted through the inside of the shaft 1.
The upper and lower inner teeth 30, 31 are moved up and down by the cam 36 which is rotated by the lever 3.

Then, the base member 10 and the rotating arm 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a state in which a snap ring (not shown) is fitted to an end protruding outward from the base member 10 in a state where a shaft 13 having a two-sided width is inserted into the insertion hole 15 and integrated. A connecting member 38 is fixed to a link 12a that cooperates with the lever 12, and a cylindrical connecting pipe 39 protruding from the base member 10 and connecting to the device on the other side is serrated and connected to the connecting member 38 to be connected. ing.

Further, the shaft 13 is urged in the counterclockwise direction by the lever spring 27, and the rotating arm 11 locks the outer peripheral end of the spiral return spring 22 so that the seat back can be seated. It biases to the cushion side.

The feature of the present invention is that the pitch (for example, 5 ° interval) of the teeth 32, 33 of the inner teeth 30, 31 composed of the upper and lower divided bodies is vertically offset so that the reclining angle can be finely adjusted. Adjustment is possible and the inner tooth 30,
The cost can be reduced by adopting a simple structure that allows the 31 to move forward and backward.

Further, in order to facilitate the operation at the time of the locking operation and the unlocking operation, a coil spring 40 is housed in a housing recess 41 on the upper side of the shaft 13 and slides between the shaft 13 and the cam 36. The spring 40 is located on the moving part, and the cam 36 and the upper inner tooth 30
Of the cam 36 and the upper inner tooth 30 are always kept at the neutral position.

FIG. 2 shows the locked state of the upper inner tooth 30. The teeth 32 of the upper inner tooth 30 are meshed with the internal teeth (upper side) 34 of the rotating arm 11, especially Since the cam 36 is urged toward the upper inner tooth 30 by the coil spring 40, a good locked state can be maintained. At this time, the tooth portions 33 of the lower inner tooth 31 are in contact with the internal teeth (lower side) 35 of the rotating arm 11 and the cutting edges.

The upper and lower inner teeth 30, 31 are:
Since the tooth pitch is formed in an offset state at intervals of, for example, 5 °, the upper and lower inner teeth 30 or the lower inner tooth 31 are provided at every 2.5 ° tilt angle of the seat back. Are engaged with the internal teeth 34, 35 of the rotating arm 11, and the meshing state of the upper inner tooth 31 shown in FIG. 2 and the meshing state of the lower inner tooth 31 shown in FIG. Either can be taken and the reclining device allows the seat back to be fine-tuned.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the locked state is released by operating the operating lever 12. The inner teeth 30 and 31 are respectively retracted inward by the rotation of the cam 36, so that the inner teeth 30 are moved. , 31 teeth 32, 33
The locked state between the rotation arm 11 and the internal teeth 34 and 35 is released, and the seat back is urged by the spring force of the return spring 22 toward the seat cushion indicated by the arrow in the figure.

As described above, during the locking operation and the unlocking operation of the reclining device, the coil spring 40
The cam 36 is always biased to the neutral position by
The cam 36 can quickly and smoothly shift from the neutral position to the lock position and the unlock position, and the operational feeling in the lock operation and the unlock operation can be enhanced.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the coil spring 40 is connected to the upper and lower housing recesses 41 and 4 of the shaft 13.
2, the cam 36 may be urged both up and down, in which case the operability becomes smoother.

The coil spring 40 is made of synthetic rubber,
A cylindrical elastic body made of natural rubber, soft resin, or the like may be used, and is not particularly limited as long as it applies a biasing force to the cam 36. Further, it is also possible to use three or more inner teeth instead of the pair of upper and lower inner teeth 30, 31.

As described above, according to the reclining device of the present invention, the teeth 32 and 33 of the inner teeth 30 and 31 alternately mesh with the upper and lower sides of the internal teeth 34 and 35 of the rotating arm 11, respectively. And the locking position of the reclining device can be set at a fine pitch, so that the tilt angle of the seat back can be finely adjusted and, in particular, the single cam 36
As a result, the inner teeth 30 and 31 can be controlled, and the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

Further, the shaft 1 is inserted into the long hole 37 of the cam 36.
3 is inserted into the shaft 13, and a housing recess 41 is formed in the shaft 13, and a coil spring 40 or an urging means made of an elastic body or the like is inserted in a sliding portion between the shaft 13 and the cam 36. The cam 36 and the inner teeth 30 are always restricted to the neutral position and are not eccentric due to the weight of the cam 36 and the inner teeth 30.
1 can be held at the neutral position, the lock operation and the lock release operation can be smoothly performed, and the shape of the cam 36 can be easily set, and the workability is excellent.

[0037]

The reclining device according to the present invention has been described above. According to the reclining device of the first aspect of the present invention, the interval between the upper and lower teeth of the inner tooth is set in an offset manner. By doing so, when the tooth portion on one side of the inner tooth is meshed with the internal tooth of the rotating arm, the cutting edge of the tooth portion on the other side contacts the cutting edge of the internal tooth of the rotating arm, Since the upper and lower teeth alternately mesh with the internal teeth of the rotating arm by the rotation at every 1/2 pitch, the reclining angle of the reclining device can be finely adjusted, which is advantageous in terms of ease of use.

According to the reclining device of the second aspect of the present invention, since the cam means for driving the upper and lower inner teeth is constituted by one cam, it is possible to reduce the number of equipment and to reduce the cost. Has an effect.

According to the reclining device of the third aspect of the present invention, an elastic member such as a spring or rubber is inserted above the shaft for rotating the cam, and the cam is attached upward by the elastic member. Because the cam itself does not shift downward from its proper position due to its own weight, the cam can always be maintained at the neutral position, so that the reclining device can be smoothly locked and unlocked, and the reclining can be performed. This has the effect that good operability of the device can be ensured.

According to the reclining device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, an elastic member such as a spring or rubber is inserted between the upper and lower sides of the shaft for rotating the cam, and the cam is vertically moved by the elastic member. Since the respective components are biased, the cam can be more accurately held at the neutral position, and the operability of the reclining device can be further improved.

According to the present invention, the tilt angle of the seat back can be finely adjusted, the structure can be simplified, the outer shape can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. It is possible to obtain a reclining device with improved feeling during operation and improved operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a locked state of an upper inner tooth in the reclining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a locked state of a lower inner tooth in the reclining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an unlocked state of the reclining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a different aspect of the reclining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an external view showing a conventional vehicle seat.

7A and 7B show a configuration of a conventional reclining device, wherein FIG. 7A is an explanatory plan view, and FIG.
Sectional view along line VIII.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Base member 11 Rotating arm 12 Operating lever 13 Shaft 22 Return spring 27 Lever spring 28 Cylindrical concave part 30 Upper inner tooth 31 Lower inner tooth 32 Teeth part 33 Teeth part 34 Internal teeth 35 Internal teeth 36 Cam 40 Coil spring 41 Storage concave part 42 storage recess

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A base member fixed to a seat cushion, a pivot arm rotatably supported by the base member and fixed to a seat back, and interposed between the base member and the pivot arm, An inner tooth, which is guided by a side wall thereof into a recess formed in the base member so as to be able to advance and retreat, and has a tooth portion formed at the tip thereof; A reclining device comprising a rotatable cam for moving between unlocked positions separated from the internal teeth, and an operation lever for rotating the cam, wherein the inner tooth is formed by an upper internal tooth and a lower side of a rotary arm. The tooth interval between the upper teeth and the lower teeth that mesh with the internal teeth is set in an offset manner, and with the adjustment of the reclining angle, the upper teeth of the inner tooth and Reclining device, characterized in that the side teeth is made to be meshed with the internal teeth of the rotating arm alternately. 2. The reclining device according to claim 1, wherein the inner tooth is composed of an upper and lower divided body and is moved forward and backward by a single cam. 3. The cam according to claim 1, wherein an elastic member is inserted above a sliding portion between the cam and the shaft supporting the cam, and the cam is urged to a neutral position by the elastic member. Or the reclining device according to claim 2. 4. An elastic member is inserted above and below the cam and a sliding portion of a shaft supporting the cam, and the upper and lower elastic members bias the cam to a neutral position. The reclining device according to claim 1 or 2.