JPS633532Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a foldable seat device for an automobile that is provided with a balance spring to facilitate folding operations.

It is common for van-type vehicles to have rear seats that can be folded down to increase the luggage compartment.
Some models allow the entire seat, including the seat bottom, to be folded. In the latter case, the front legs of the seat are rotatably attached to the vehicle floor member, a locking device is provided to detachably hold the rear legs of the seat to the vehicle floor member, and the holding function of the locking device is released. A structure in which the entire seat is folded forward is common, but there is a problem in that it is necessary to lift the rear legs and fold the seat forward against the weight of the seat, requiring considerable force for the folding operation.

The present invention has focused on this point and has been devised for the purpose of providing a folding seat device that facilitates the forward-folding operation by providing a balance spring that applies rotational force in the forward-folding direction to the seat. , a balance spring is provided, one end of which is fixed to a vehicle body floor member, etc., and the other end of which is brought into contact with an engaging protrusion provided on the front leg to apply rotational force to the front leg in a forward tilting direction; A stopper is provided to stop the balance spring from following the engagement protrusion at a position where the rotation angle exceeds a certain rotation angle. The stopper should be provided so that the balance spring hits the position where the center of gravity of the seat moves forward and the force required to fold the seat forward is reduced. Initially, the rotational force of the balance spring is energized by the input rotational force, and as the center of gravity moves and the spring energization becomes unnecessary, the spring force is no longer applied, so fluctuations in the torque required for operation are reduced. This makes the operation easier.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an automobile seat device suitable for implementing the present invention, in which 1 is a first seat in the front row, 2 is a second seat in the middle row, and 3 is a third seat in the rear row. It is. Front leg portion 21 of second seat 2
is rotatably attached to the vehicle body floor member 4 by a support portion 22, and the rear leg portion 23 is continuously formed with a connecting body 24 extending rearward on the vehicle body floor member 4. A front leg portion 31 of the seat 3 is rotatably attached by a support portion 32. A locking device 25 is provided at the tip of the connecting body 24 and can be attached to and detached from the vehicle body floor member 4, and a locking device 35 is similarly provided at the rear leg portion 33 of the third seat 3 to attach it to the vehicle body floor member 4. It can be attached and detached at will.

The second seat 2 and the third seat 3 are folded according to the amount of luggage, and when folding only the third seat 3, the locking device 35 is removed, the seat back 36 is folded forward, and then the third seat 3 is folded forward. The entire seat is folded forward around the support portion 32 and folded into the rear part of the second seat 2. If you want to make the luggage compartment even wider, remove the locking device 25 with the third seat 3 folded, fold the seat back 26 forward, and lift the end of the connecting body 24 to open the support part 2.
The entire seats 2 and 3 are folded forward with 2 at the center. FIG. 2 shows the state at this time.

The present invention provides support parts 22, 3 of these seat devices.
However, it is particularly effective if it is applied to the support portion 22 on which the weight of both sheets 2 and 3 is applied, and the support portion 22 will be explained below.

In FIG. 3, 5 is a support frame, 6 is a shaft, 7 is a balance spring, 8 is an engaging protrusion, and 9 is a stopper. The balance spring 7 is a spiral spring, and its central end 7a is fixed to the shaft 6 which is coaxial with the front leg 21, and its outer end 7b is hook-shaped and is attached to the front leg 21 when the front leg 21 is not tilted forward. The front leg 21 is engaged with an engaging protrusion 8 protruding from the shaft 6 at an eccentric position, and a spring is wound around the front leg 21 to apply a rotational force in a forward tilting direction. . The stopper 9 is formed on the upper edge of the support frame 5, and is provided at a position where the end 7b of the balance spring 7 is moved by a certain range in the forward-tilting direction.

With this configuration, when the front leg portion 21 is folded forward, the biasing force of the balance spring 7 acts in a direction to cancel the weight of the seat, so that the operation of lifting the connecting body 24 is easily performed. Then, when the front leg portion 21 rotates by a certain angle, the balance spring 7 hits the stopper 9, the engagement protrusion 8 is removed from the end portion 7b, and the biasing force of the balance spring 7 no longer acts, but the center of gravity reaches close to the shaft 6. Since it is moving, the spring force is not required for subsequent forward-folding operations.
It can be easily folded forward using only human power, and after the center of gravity is shifted forward from the shaft 6, it is folded forward by its own weight.

The position where the balance spring 7 hits the stopper 9 is as follows:
It is desirable to set the torque just before the torque due to the weight of the seat becomes equal to the torque due to the spring, and an appropriate position can be selected according to the strength of the spring and the weight and center of gravity of the seat device. As the front legs 21 are tilted forward, the torque required for the forward tilt decreases, while the balance spring 7 also becomes loose and its biasing force decreases. Therefore, by appropriately designing the balance spring 7, it is possible to almost balance the torque due to the weight of the seat and the torque due to the spring.
The balance spring 7 need not be a spiral spring as shown in the figure, but may be of another shape, and the spring may not be in direct contact with the front leg 21, but may indirectly apply a rotational force via a spring-biased pivot lever.

If the seat device has the dimensions shown in Figure 4 and the total weight of the seat is 50Kg, an operating force of 27.2Kg is required when there is no spring, but it is 7400Kg・mm.
If a balance spring is installed as shown in Figure 3, the weight will be reduced to 17.1 kg, making it easy to operate with normal operating force.

As is clear from the above explanation, in the present invention, the biasing force of the balance spring is applied in the forward direction.
It is easy to perform the initial forward movement when a large seat weight is applied, and in the latter half when the spring biasing force is no longer required, the stopper stops the balance spring from following the movement, so the seat does not move forward rapidly due to the spring biasing force. There's no way to defeat it. Furthermore, when the folded seat is returned to its original position, the biasing force of the balance spring is applied in the second half when the weight of the seat starts to be applied, thereby preventing the seat from falling suddenly. Therefore, there is an advantage that both the folding operation and the restoring operation can be performed safely and easily with little torque fluctuation, especially in the case of a structure like the second sheet shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It has a great effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view of an automobile seat device in which the present invention is implemented, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the same operation as above, Fig. 3 is a side view of the main part showing details of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a balance spring and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between operating forces. 2, 3... Seat, 4... Vehicle floor member, 5... Support frame, 6... Shaft, 7... Balance spring, 7
a, 7b... end, 8... engaging protrusion, 9... stopper,
21, 31... Front leg part, 23, 33... Rear leg part, 2
5, 35...Lock device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a folding seat device for an automobile, the front leg of the seat is rotatably attached to the vehicle floor member, and the rear leg of the seat is provided with a locking device that detachably holds the seat to the vehicle floor member. A balance spring is provided, the other end of which is fixed to the front leg, and whose other end abuts an engagement protrusion provided on the front leg to apply rotational force to the front leg in the forward direction, and the front leg rotates at a certain rotation angle. A folding seat device for an automobile, comprising a stopper that stops a balance spring from following an engagement protrusion at a position beyond which the engagement protrusion is crossed.