JPS6310773Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a headrest device that supports the head of a person sitting in a seat of an automobile or the like from behind.

Conventionally, this type of headrest device has a stay that is attached to the upper part of the backrest of a seat, an insert body that is a hollow structure provided at the top of the stay, and an outer part that covers the insert body. Among them, a tilting type that can change the posture of the headrest (pillow body) with respect to the seat back is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-50965. Disclosed.

In this headrest device, a hollow insert body is attached to the stay so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction with the upper end of the stay housed inside, and a band-shaped support body extending in the front-rear direction is installed inside the insert body. is stretched and fixed, and a plurality of locking grooves with an inverted U-shaped cross section are provided at predetermined intervals on the inner surface of the support plate, and the upper end of the stay is biased by a spring into one of the plurality of locking grooves. The insert body is configured to define a relative angular position of the insert body with respect to the seat back portion.

However, in such conventional devices, the support plate in which the locking groove is formed must be fixed inside the insert body using rivets or the like, which makes assembly difficult and increases the manufacturing process and cost. Furthermore, in order to ensure the rigidity of the hollow insert main body, the main body must be made of metal or a structure mainly made of metal, which poses problems in terms of weight and material cost.

Moreover, when changing the angular position of the headrest, first lift it upward to completely disengage the upper end of the stay with the locking groove, then rotate it in the desired direction, and then move it by hand. Since it is necessary to loosen the stay and fit the upper end of the stay into another locking groove, it is difficult to lift and requires many operating steps, making it difficult to easily adjust the angular position. When the grooves are provided in three or more places, there is a problem that it is not easy to immediately position the headrest in a desired position.

Here, the present invention was made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to:
To provide a tilting headrest device in which the rigidity of a hollow insert body can be kept high, which is easy to manufacture, and which is easy to operate when changing the posture.

In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, in a headrest device including the above-mentioned stay, insert body, etc., the upper part of the stay is accommodated in the insert body, and the stay is attached to the stay. The insert body is attached to allow rotation in the front-rear direction, and each of the insert bodies is constructed of an upper member and a lower member made of resin, and a plurality of insert bodies extending in the front-rear direction are installed inside the upper member. Ribs are integrally provided, and a ratchet mechanism is formed at the lower end of the plurality of ribs together with the upper end of the stay located inside the insert body, and the ratchet mechanism is configured to resist the force in the pressing direction by the head in normal use. The curved surfaces that prevent the above-mentioned rotation of the insert body are repeatedly and continuously formed in a corresponding manner, and the upper end of the stay is pushed by a biasing means provided between the insert body and the stay. The ribs are biased toward the ribs so that they can be selectively engaged with any of the curved surfaces provided at the lower ends of the ribs.

In this way, the rigidity and strength of the hollow insert body are increased by the plurality of ribs integrally provided on the upper member of the insert body, and furthermore, the lower ends of the plurality of ribs are connected to the upper end of the stay. As a result of forming a curved surface to be engaged, these ribs not only perform a reinforcing function, but also serve as a curved surface forming member, making it easier to manufacture the insert body, and making it easier to use resin. Since it is made of aluminum, it is lightweight, and the ribs and curved surface can be molded at the same time.

Moreover, since the curved surface and the upper end of the stay constitute the ratchet mechanism as described above, the angular position of the insert body (and by extension, the headrest itself) changes in response to the pressing force from the head of the seated person. Not only can it be maintained immovably and stably, but each curved surface can slide over the upper end of the stay in the opposite direction to the pressing direction.
It is possible to rotate it forward with a small force,
Similarly, rearward rotation can be allowed if force is applied in a direction that is more than a certain degree inclined from the direction in which the head is pressed, and as a result, the operation to change the tilting position of the headrest becomes easier. ,
This is much easier than traditional lifting methods.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a headrest device provided in a car seat will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 2 is a metal stay. The stay 2 has a U-shape that linearly connects two legs at the top, and is fixedly attached to the top of the backrest 4 of the automobile seat at the legs. Usually, a mounting form is adopted in which the amount of protrusion of the backrest portion 4 from the top can be adjusted. An insert main body 6 having a hollow structure is provided on the upper part of the stay 2, and an insert includes both of the insert main bodies 6. Then, foamed polyurethane or the like is fixed to a predetermined thickness on the outside so as to cover the insert body 6 by a known method such as molding, and the buffer member 8 is formed.
The outer side of the buffer member 8 is further covered with a skin material 10, which constitutes a head rest (pillow body) 12. This headrest 12 supports the head of the occupant seated on the seat from the rear, and the cushioning member 8
retains good contact sensation.

The insert main body 6 having a hollow structure is divided into upper and lower parts, each having a container-like upper member 14 and a lower member 1.
6 are fitted and integrated at each other's openings. All of them are made of resin, and are integrally molded from a suitable resin such as relatively hard vinyl chloride resin, polyethylene, or polypropylene. The upper part of the stay 2 is inserted into the insert body 6 by loosely penetrating a pair of bottom holes 18 provided at the bottom of the lower member 16, and is housed in the insert body 6 with respect to the stay 2. Headrest 12 including 6
However, the backrest portion 4 can be rotated (tilted) in the front-rear direction using the bottom hole 18 as a fulcrum, and can also move along the stay 2.

Inside the upper member 14 of the insert main body 6,
A plurality of ribs 20 extending in the front-rear direction of the backrest portion 4
are integrally formed. In this embodiment, six ribs 20 are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the linear upper end of the stay 2,
Furthermore, as is clear from FIG. 3, such ribs 20
In the direction perpendicular to
0 and 22 intersect with each other to form a grid pattern. Below, to make it easier to understand,
The ribs 20 extending in the front-rear direction will be referred to as vertical ribs, and the ribs 22 extending in the left-right direction will be referred to as horizontal ribs. These vertical and horizontal ribs 20 and 22 are formed on the upper member 1.
It is integrally molded together with the main body portion of No. 4 by a known method such as injection molding, and mainly the vertical ribs 20 are pressed in the direction of pressure by the occupant's head (front-back direction).
The rigidity of the insert main body 6 is increased, and the horizontal ribs 22 mainly increase the rigidity in the left-right direction.
By working together, the overall rigidity and strength can be further effectively increased.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower member 16
Also, install an appropriate number of ribs 2 in areas that do not interfere with the stay 2.
4 is integrally formed so as to extend in the front-rear direction, which also contributes to improving the rigidity of the insert body 6.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper member 1
At the lower end of each vertical rib 20 of No. 4, a curved surface 26 is continuously formed in a step-like manner repeatedly in the front-rear direction. In the illustrated example, each of the four curved surfaces 26 is provided, and as is clear from FIG. have. Then, a stay 2 is attached to one of the rows of the curved surfaces 26 corresponding to each other.
The upper end portion can be engaged in a lying state, and furthermore, as shown in FIGS. A pair of springs 28 (biasing means) mounted with a load are biased in a direction in which the curved surface 26 and the upper end of the stay engage with each other, so that the curved surface 26 and the stay 2 engage with each other in the ratchet mechanism. It is made up of: That is, the continuous curved surface 26 functions as a kind of ratchet tooth, and the upper end of the stay 2 functions similar to a ratchet pole (return prevention pawl).

The front end of each curved surface 26 is provided with a direction A of the pressing force that the headrest 12 receives when supporting the head of the occupant.
The locking surfaces are formed parallel to each other, and the force in the pressing direction A is received by the upper end of the stay 2 through the locking surfaces. As a result, backward rotation of the insert body 6 and, by extension, the head rest 12 is prevented. In this embodiment, as shown most clearly in FIG. 4, each horizontal rib 22 is configured to intersect with the boundary between adjacent curved surfaces 26 in the longitudinal direction of the vertical rib 20, and The lower ends of the ribs 22 are formed so as to be smoothly continuous with each curved surface 26, and against the force in the pressing direction A, not only the front ends of the curved surfaces 26 but also the vertical ribs 20
The back surface of the lower end of the horizontal rib 22 in between can also come into contact with the upper end of the stay 2, and as a result, the above-mentioned pressing force can be received over the entire length of the upper end of the stay. This has the advantage that the prevention of backward rotation in is more reliable. In addition, at the curved surface 26 closest to the front, the inner surface of the upper member 14 has almost the same effect as the lower end back surface of the horizontal rib 22.

On the other hand, returning to FIG. 2, the rear portion of each curved surface 26 following the above-mentioned locking surface is pressed in the direction A by the head.
It is a part with a large radius of curvature (a straight line is also possible) that runs approximately parallel to the direction or slopes gently in that direction. , the rear part of the curved surface 26 can move relative to the upper end of the stay 2 while sliding, and the subsequent curved surface 26 can slide over the upper end of the stay, so that it can move forward of the headrest 12. rotation is easily allowed.

Furthermore, as described above, the head rest 12 is prevented from rotating backwards in response to the force in the pressing direction A in the normal use state by the head, but the pressing direction A is a certain angle downward. In the above inclined direction C, a rearward force is applied to the headrest 12 from the diagonally lower side so that an upward force component is generated along the locking surface of the curved surface 26, in other words, along the back surface of the lower end of the horizontal rib 22. is applied, the front end of the curved surface 26 and the lower end of the horizontal rib 22 can slide over the upper end of the stay 2. As a result, the headrest 12
is allowed to rotate backwards.

Therefore, as mentioned above, the horizontal ribs 22 intersect with the boundaries of the curved surface 26, and if you look at it from a different perspective, the tips of the ratchet teeth are shaped as if they were formed continuously long in the horizontal direction. The progress of wear at the boundary portion (in other words, the tips of the teeth) is suppressed, resulting in the effect of increasing durability.

The head restraint device configured as described above is used by engaging one of the rows of curved surfaces 26 corresponding to the left and right directions with the upper end of the stay 2. With respect to the force in the pressing direction A, the position of the insert main body 6 and, by extension, the headrest 12 is maintained stably by these ratchet mechanisms as described above.

When adjusting the angular position of the headrest 12 with respect to the stay 2 so as to tilt it forward,
By applying a force in the forward direction B to the rear part of the headrest 12, preferably a force substantially along the continuous direction of the curved surfaces 26, an appropriate number of curved surfaces 26 are caused to slide on the upper end of the stay 2. For example, the position of the headrest 12 can be changed to a desired forward tilted position as shown in FIG. The direction of the operating force in the forward direction B that should be applied at this time can be selected from a fairly wide range, but the direction B described above allows for easy forward tilting and rotation with a small force, and Considering that it is operated by rotating it backwards, it is easier to apply force diagonally forward from slightly above the rear.
It is effective to form it along a plane that is inclined slightly upward from the plane perpendicular to the plane. In addition,
In the states shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the distance from the pivot point of the headrest 12 to the curved surface 26 becomes a little longer, so the elastic force of the spring 28 becomes a little smaller.

On the other hand, when adjusting the angular position of the headrest 12 so as to tilt it rearward from the state shown in FIG. If a force is applied to the headrest 12 so that the curved surface 26 can climb over the upper end of the stay 2, contrary to the case of the forward tilting described above, the headrest 12 can be moved to the rearward tilting position, as shown in FIG. 6, for example. Can be set. At this time, the direction of the force to be applied to the headrest 12 changes as the backward tilting progresses.
As each curved surface 26 successively passes over the upper end of the stay, a gentle slope direction closer to the horizontal becomes sufficient, so by applying force in a natural way such as rotating in an arc, Effective backward tilting operation is possible.

In this way, the angular position (posture) of the insert body 6 and also the headrest 12 with respect to the stay 2
When changing or adjusting the seat, the user can change the posture forward or backward without having to lift the headrest 12 at all, and therefore without being forced to take an unreasonable posture while sitting on the seat.
Moreover, since a sense of moderation is obtained each time each curved surface 26 and the upper end of the stay 2 engage, the amount of rotation angle can be easily recognized, and it is also possible to accidentally rotate more than the desired amount. You can also avoid moving it.

In the embodiment described above, the horizontal ribs 22 were provided in addition to the vertical ribs 20, but the horizontal ribs 22
2 is not necessarily essential and can be omitted, and even if it is provided, it can be formed with a length that does not reach the lower end of the vertical rib 22.

Regarding the vertical ribs 20, in addition to providing the curved surfaces 26 so as to correspond to all of the plurality of vertical ribs 20 as in the above embodiment, for example, curved surfaces 26 are provided on both sides below the intermediate ribs. It is also possible to form the curved surfaces 26 to correspond to only the vertical ribs on both sides.

Further, in the above embodiment, the curved surface 26 as shown in FIG. 7 was provided, but instead of this, the curved surface 26 is mainly formed into a semicircular shape as shown in FIG. The curved surface 32 may be curved in a tangential direction, or the curved surface 34 may be mainly straight as shown in FIG. 9. The curved surface includes such a shape, and together with the upper end of the stay 2,
A ratchet mechanism substantially similar to that described above may be constructed.

In addition to repeatedly repeating the curved surface in a straight line, it is also possible to continue it along a certain curve.For example, if it is formed along a circular arc centered on the rotational fulcrum of the insert body, the stay can be formed on the curved surface. The biasing force of the spring biasing the insert body remains constant regardless of the rotation angle of the insert body. Furthermore, the number of repetitions of the curved surface is also appropriately determined depending on how many stages the posture of the headrest can be adjusted.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to head restraint devices for automobile seats, but can be similarly applied to head restraint devices for other means of transportation or indoor rooms.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various modifications and improvements based on the common sense of those skilled in the art, as long as they do not depart from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a headrest device which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the upper member of the device, and FIG. 4 is a cutaway perspective view of the main part of the upper member. 5 and 6 are side sectional views showing the operating state of the device, respectively, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram geometrically showing the form of the curved surface in the device. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are explanatory diagrams similar to the above, showing different forms of the curved surface, respectively. 2: Stay, 4: Seat backrest, 6: Insert body, 8: Cushioning member, 12: Head rest, 14: Upper member, 16: Lower member, 20: Rib (vertical rib), 22: Rib (horizontal rib) ), 26,3
2, 34: curved surface, 28: spring (biasing means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Utility Model Registration Claim] A stay that is fixedly attached to the upper part of the backrest of a seat, an insert body that has a hollow structure provided on the upper part of the stay, and a body that is provided outside of the insert body so as to cover the insert body. In a headrest device that supports the head of a person sitting on the seat from the rear, the head restraint device includes a cushioning member with a shock absorbing member and a shock absorbing member that supports the head of a person sitting on the seat from behind. The insert main body is constructed of an upper member and a lower member made of resin, and a plurality of ribs extending in the front-rear direction are integrated inside the upper member. At the same time, a ratchet mechanism is formed at the lower end of the plurality of ribs together with the upper end of the stay located in the insert main body, and the ratchet mechanism is configured to prevent the rotation of the insert main body against the force in the pressing direction by the head. Curved surfaces that prevent movement are repeatedly and continuously formed in a corresponding manner, and the upper end of the stay is urged to the rib side by a biasing means provided between the insert body and the stay. 1. A tilting headrest device, characterized in that the rib can be selectively engaged with one of the curved surfaces provided at the lower end of the rib.