WO1997046416A1

WO1997046416A1 - Armrest for a vehicle seat having a release pin

Info

Publication number: WO1997046416A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/005998
Authority: WO
Inventors: Timothy F. O'brien; David A. Yanssens
Original assignee: United Technologies Automotive, Inc.
Priority date: 1996-06-07
Filing date: 1997-04-11
Publication date: 1997-12-11

Abstract

An armrest for a vehicle seat includes a transverse hole, an outer cover, and a pin disposed in the transverse hole and extending from the hole. An attachment end of the pin is disposed outside the outer cover of the armrest. The pin is actuatable from an exterior surface of the outer cover for securing or releasing the attachment end of the pin to a vehicle seat. A method of manufacturing an armrest according to the present invention is also described.

Description

ARMREST FOR A VEHICLE SEAT HAVING A RELEASE PIN

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an armrest for a vehicle seat. The armrest has a pin which is actuatable from an exterior surface of the armrest for securing and releasing the armrest from the vehicle seat.

Many vehicle seat assemblies have an armrest which may pivot between up and down positions. Such armrests are typically secured to the seat back of a vehicle seat by a bolt which passes through the frame of the armrest and extends into a hole in the seat back. The cover overlying the frame of the armrest must somehow provide access to the bolt for fastening the bolt down. In one known

assembly, the cover is disposed over the armrest after the bolt has been fastened to the seat back such as by placing a fabric cover over the armrest and closing a zipper to enclose the armrest and bolt within the fabric cover.

In another assembly, a foam cover is molded over the armrest leaving an access hole in the cover and frame through which the bolt passes. A separate cap is required to cover the access hole for the bolt. It is difficult to match the color and texture of the cap to that of the armrest cover.

These known armrest assemblies are more costly to manufacture and require increased time in assembling the vehicle seat assembly. Moreover, complex operations and tools are required to assemble the armrests.

The known art has not successfully addressed this problem. Accordingly,

there remains a need for a cost-effective armrest assembly which provides secure attachment of an armrest to a vehicle seat back. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The armrest of the present invention includes a pin which is actuatable from an exterior surface of a cover overlying an armrest frame. The armrest may thus be secured to a vehicle seat quickly and easily and without any exterior fasteners. The armrest has a transverse hole and an outer cover and the pin is disposed in the transverse hole and extends from the hole to an attachment end.

In a disclosed embodiment, the pin includes an attachment end and a trigger end located at opposed ends of the pin. The trigger end is disposed in the transverse hole and the attachment end includes structure adapted for securing the armrest to the vehicle seat. The trigger end is actuatable from the exterior surface of the outer cover to control structure for securing and releasing the pin from the vehicle seat. The structure may comprise a tubular shaft having a pair of tapered orifices, and a pair of ball bearings each disposed in one of the orifices. The ball bearings are biased into the orifices and extend radially outwardly beyond a periphery of the shaft. The trigger end is actuatable from the exterior surface to allow the ball bearings to move radially inwardly into the shaft.

The pin preferably also includes a rod having a circumferential groove adjacent the attachment end of the pin. The rod is moveable between first and second positions, the first locking position biasing the ball bearings outwardly to prevent the pin and armrest from moving axially out of attachment to the vehicle seat, the second release position allowing the ball bearings to move radially inwardly, thereby allowing the pin and armrest to be removed from the vehicle seat. In one embodiment, the tubular shaft of the pin has a plurality of nubs extending radially outwardly from the shaft, thereby accommodating a press fit attachment of the trigger end to a frame of an armrest. In another embodiment the pin is molded to the armrest frame.

In a method of manufacturing an armrest for a vehicle seat, a pin is initially provided having a trigger end and an attachment end. The pin is disposed in the transverse hole of the armrest with the trigger end disposed in the hole and the pin extending from the hole to the attachment end. The method also includes disposing an outer cover over the armrest. The pin may be disposed in the transverse hole prior to disposing the outer cover over the armrest or, in an alternative embodiment, the outer cover may first be disposed over the armrest and the pin then disposed in the transverse hole such as by press fitting the trigger end of the pin into the hole.

No tools or complex operations are necessary to remove or attach the inventive armrests. Instead, an operator can easily attach or remove the armrest.

These and other features of the present invention will be best understood from the following specification and drawings, of which the following is a brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a vehicle seat assembly including an armrest according to the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the armrest and vehicle seat of

Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the armrest and vehicle seat of Figure 1 along view lines 3-3. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the armrest and vehicle seat of Figure

1 with the armrest in a release position.

Figure 5 is an exploded, top plan view of the armrest and vehicle seat following release of the armrest from the vehicle seat.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the

armrest of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A vehicle seat 20 is shown in Figure 1 with an armrest 22 and a seat back

24. The armrest 22 is pivotally secured to seat back 24 in a manner described below. Thus, armrest 22 may be pivoted between a down position 22a and an up position 22b (shown in phantom).

As shown in Figure 2, armrest 22 includes a frame 26 and a cover 28 which overlies frame 26. Frame 26 comprises a relatively rigid material such as plastic or metal. Cover 28 may comprise a foam padding which is preferably foamed in place as is known in the art. In other embodiments, cover 28 may include a roto- cast skin, cut-and-sew vinyl, a cut-and-sew cloth material or other materials. Armrest frame 26 has a transverse hole 30 through which a release pin 34 of the present invention passes. Frame 26 also includes an arcuate pivot slot 32 disposed

circumferentially around hole 30 which provides stop positions 32a and 32b for the armrest 22 at the down position 22a and up position 22b, respectively, described in further detail below. Stop positions 32a and 32b are disposed at the extreme ends

of slot 32. Release pin 34 is disposed in hole 30 and extends to an attachment end 36.

Attachment end 36 is disposed outside of cover 28. Pin 34 is actuatable from an exterior surface 38 of cover 28 for securing and releasing pin 34 from seat 20, as described below. Seat back 24 includes a pivot tube 39 defining a pivot hole 40 running longitudinally along a pivot axis A about which armrest 22 pivots. A shaft 42 of a bolt 44 extends from seat back 24. Pin 34 is pivotally received in hole 40 and shaft 42 is received in slot 32. Thus, in down position 22a, armrest 22 is aligned essentially horizontally with shaft 42 abutting the first end of slot 32 defining stop position 32a. Armrest 22 may be pivoted counter clockwise to up position 22b during which shaft 42 slides along slot 32. In the up position 32b, shaft 42 abuts an opposite end of slot 32 defining stop position 32b.

As shown in Figure 3, pin 34 secures armrest 22 to vehicle seat back 24. Pivot tube 39 defining pivot hole 40 is secured to a frame 41 of seat 20 such as by welding. Attachment end 36 is received in pivot hole 40. Pin 34 has a trigger end 46 and comprises a tubular shaft 48, a rod 50 movably disposed in shaft 48, a spring 52 and a release button 54. Spring 52 is disposed about an end 53 of shaft 50 adjacent trigger end 46 and biases rod 50 axially away from attachment end 36 of pin 34. Trigger end 46 of pin 34, including button 54, spring 52 and trigger end 53 of rod 50, is disposed in transverse hole 30 of armrest frame 26. Outer cover

28 overlies essentially the entirety of armrest frame 26 and trigger end 46 of pin 34.

An opposed end 55 of rod 50 near attachment end 36 of pin 34 includes a circumferential groove 56. Shaft 48 has a pair of radial orifices 60 adjacent attachment end 36. Pin 34 also comprises a pair of ball bearings 58, each disposed in a radial orifice 60. Each orifice 60 tapers inwardly from a direction away from axis A to a diameter which is less than the diameter of ball bearing 58 to retain ball bearings 58 within shaft 48; however, ball bearings 58 extend radially outwardly beyond the periphery of shaft 48. In the position shown in Figure 3, attachment end 55 of rod 50 has an outer diameter which closely approximates the inner diameter of shaft 48, thus biasing ball bearings 58 axially outward into orifices 60. Spring 52 holds rod 50 in this position. Since ball bearings 58 abut an end 62 of tube 39, ball bearings 58 prevent pin 34 and therefore armrest 32 from sliding axially outward (to the right in Figure 3). A wavy tension spring 64 is disposed circumferentially around shaft 48 adjacent trigger end 46 of pin 34 and between tube 39 and armrest frame 26 biasing armrest 22 axially away from seat back 24. This reduces the amount of axial movement of armrest 22, limiting vibration in the armrest during, for example, operation of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 4, trigger end 46 of pin 34 may be actuated from an exterior surface 38 of armrest cover 28 to release or secure armrest 22 from seat back 24. The material comprising cover 28 is flexible and thus an operator may depress button 54 through cover 28 from an exterior surface 38 of armrest 22. The depression force overcomes the bias force of spring 52 and drives rod 50 inwardly toward attachment end 36 of pin 34 into a second position. In the unlocked position shown in Figure 4, ball bearings 58 are aligned with groove 56 allowing ball bearings 58 to move radially inwardly in a direction toward axis A. With ball bearings 58 in groove 56, ball bearings 58 no longer abut end 62 of tube 39. Thus, armrest 22 may be moved axially away from seat back 24, sliding pin 34 along tube 39, and eventually releasing pin 34 from pivot tube 39 and armrest 22 from seat

back 24, as shown in Figure 5.

In the above embodiment, the shaft 48 may be molded into the armrest frame. In Figure 6, an alternative embodiment of pin 34 is shown where pin 34 may be press fit into armrest frame 26. Shaft 48 of pin 34 includes a plurality of

nubs 64 extending radially outward from shaft 48 which may also run longitudinally along shaft 48. Outer cover 28 may first be disposed over frame 26 of armrest 22.

Trigger end 46 of pin 34 may then be press fit into transverse hole 30 of armrest frame 26. Nubs 64 maintain trigger end 46 of pin 34 securely in hole 30.

In a method of manufacturing an armrest according to this invention, pin 34 is initially provided having attachment end 36 and trigger end 46. Pin 34 is

disposed in transverse hole 30 of armrest 22 with trigger end 46 disposed in hole 30 and pin 34 extending from hole 30 to attachment end 36. Trigger end 46 may be actuated to drive attachment end 36 for securing pin 34 to and releasing pin 34 from a vehicle seat 20. The method also includes disposing an outer cover 28 over armrest frame 26. In one embodiment, pin 34 is disposed in transverse hole 30 of

armrest 22 such as by molding armrest frame 26 around trigger end 46 of pin 34. Outer cover 28 may then be disposed over frame 26 such as by foaming outer cover 28 in place over armrest frame 26 in place with trigger end 46 in hole 30. In another embodiment, outer cover 28 may initially be disposed over armrest frame 26, followed by disposing trigger end 46 of pin 34 in transverse hole 30 such as by press fitting trigger end 34 into hole 30. The method thus provides trigger end 34 adjacent outer surface 38 of armrest

22. Trigger end 46 may be actuated from exterior surface 38 to secure or release pin 34 from vehicle seat 20, as described above.

A preferred description of this invention has been disclosed; however, a worker of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied in order to determine the true scope and content of this invention.

Claims

1. An armrest for a vehicle seat comprising: an armrest having a transverse hole and an outer cover; and a pin disposed in said hole and extending from said hole to an attachment end beyond said cover, said pin being actuatable from an exterior surface of said cover for securing said attachment end to a vehicle seat.

2. An armrest as recited in Claim 1 , wherein said pin includes said attachment end and a trigger end, said trigger end being disposed in said transverse

hole, said attachment end including structure adapted for securing said armrest to the vehicle seat, wherein said trigger end is actuatable from said exterior surface of said cover to control said structure for securing and releasing said pin from the vehicle seat.

3. An armrest as recited in Claim 2, said structure including a tubular shaft with a pair of tapered orifices, and a pair of bearings each disposed in one of said orifices, said bearings biased into said orifices and extending radially outwardly beyond a periphery of said shaft, wherein said trigger end is actuatable to an unlocked position to allow said bearings to move radially inwardly into said shaft.

4. An armrest as recited in Claim 3, wherein said pin comprises a rod having a circumferential groove adjacent said attachment end, said rod slidably received in said shaft and moveable between a first locked and a second unlocked position, said bearings received in said groove at said unlocked position.

5. An armrest as recited in Claim 4, said pin further comprising a spring disposed about an end of said rod adjacent said trigger end of said pin, said spring biasing said rod away from said attachment end into said first locked position.

6. An armrest as recited in Claim 5, wherein said end of said rod is actuatable from said exterior surface by depressing said end thereby driving said rod axially toward said attachment end.

7. A seat assembly for a vehicle comprising: a seat having a seat back and a pivot hole; an armrest having a transverse hole and an outer cover; and a pin having an attachment end and a trigger end, said trigger end being disposed in said transverse hole, said attachment end being disposed in said pivot hole, said pin adapted to secure said armrest to said seat, wherein said trigger end is actuatable from an exterior surface of said cover for securing and releasing said pin from said seat.

8. An armrest as recited in Claim 7, said pin comprising structure adapted for securing said armrest to the vehicle and including a tubular shaft with a pair of tapered orifices, and a pair of ball bearings each disposed in one of said orifices, said ball bearings biased into said orifices and extending radially outwardly beyond a periphery of said shaft, wherein said trigger end is actuatable to allow said ball bearings to move radially inwardly into said shaft.

9. An armrest as recited in Claim 7, wherein said pin comprises a tubular shaft having a pair of tapered orifices adjacent said attachment end, a rod having a circumferential groove adjacent said attachment end, and a pair of ball bearings each disposed in one of said orifices, said rod slidably received in said shaft and moveable between a first locked and a second unlocked position, said bearings received in said groove at said unlocked position.

10. An armrest as recited in Claim 9, said pin further comprising a spring disposed about an end of said rod adjacent said trigger end, said spring biasing said rod away from said attachment end into said first position.

11. An armrest as recited in Claim 10, wherein said end of said rod is actuatable from said exterior surface by depressing said end thereby driving said rod axially toward said attachment end.

12. An armrest as recited in Claim 10, wherein said end of said rod is actuatable from said exterior surface by depressing said end thereby driving said rod axially toward said attachment end.

13. A method of manufacturing an armrest for a vehicle seat, said method comprising the steps of: providing a pin having a trigger end and an attachment end; disposing said pin in a transverse hole of an armrest with said trigger end disposed in said transverse hole and said pin extending from said transverse hole to said attachment end; and disposing an outer cover over said armrest; wherein said pin extends to said attachment end beyond said cover, said trigger end is hidden below said cover, and said trigger end is actuatable from an exterior surface of said cover for securing said pin to and releasing said pin from said seat.

14. A method as recited in Claim 13, wherein disposing said pin in a transverse hole of an armrest comprises molding an armrest around said trigger end of said pin.

15. A method as recited in Claim 13, wherein said method includes providing said armrest having said transverse hole, then disposing said trigger end of said pin in said transverse hole, then disposing said cover over said armrest