WO2013150228A1

WO2013150228A1 - Slide rail for motor vehicle seat and method for making such a slide rail

Info

Publication number: WO2013150228A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/050704
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yves Chenu; Benjamin TONON; Stéphane REYMONDET
Original assignee: Faurecia Sièges d'Automobile
Priority date: 2012-04-03
Filing date: 2013-03-29
Publication date: 2013-10-10
Also published as: FR2988655B1; FR2988655A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a slide rail (1) for a vehicle seat, comprising: a first hollow profile (2) comprising a bottom (21), first and second side walls (22, 23), a second profile, wherein said first and second profile are mounted to as to be capable of sliding relative to each other; a stopper (10) comprising a stopper body and having a stopper face (11) adapted for abutment against the second profile, thereby limiting the relative sliding between the first and second profiles; wherein the first and second side walls (22, 23) of the first hollow profile each include at least one recess (24, 25), and the stopper comprises fixation means (12, 13) adapted for form-fitting interaction with each of the recesses (24, 25) of each of the side walls (22, 23) of the first profile.

Description

Slide for a motor vehicle seat and method of making a slide.

The present invention relates to the slides for a vehicle seat and to a method of producing said slideway.

More particularly, the invention relates to a vehicle seat slide comprising

a first hollow section extending in a longitudinal direction X and having a bottom, a first and a second side wall opposite to each other and connected together by the bottom, the first and second walls and the bottom defining an interior space of the profile, the first hollow section being intended to be fixed on a vehicle frame;

a second section intended to be fixed on the mobile vehicle seat with respect to the chassis of the vehicle, said first and second sections being slidably mounted relative to one another in the longitudinal direction, in first and second directions; opposite;

an abutment at least partially arranged in the interior space of the profile and arranged fixed on the first section, said abutment comprising an abutment body and having an abutment face extending into the interior space adapted to serve as a stop for the second section; profile in the interior space thereby limiting relative sliding between the first and second profiles in the first direction.

The document FR2962384 describes an example of such a slide, wherein the stop is made by a tongue, connected to one of the side walls of a first section, adapted to abut against a second section. The tongue is made by deformation or puncture of the wall resulting in low resistance and less durability.

The present invention is intended to overcome these disadvantages.

For this purpose, according to the invention, a slide of the kind in question is characterized in that the first and second side walls of the first hollow profile each comprise at least one recess and the abutment comprises at least one fastening portion adapted to cooperate. by complementarity of form with a respective recess of each of the side walls of the first profile.

With these provisions, a stop having a high impact resistance and a significant durability is achieved. In addition, the abutment thus produced is easily positionable in the profile without the aid of tools reported and no particular forming of the profiles is necessary.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, one or more of the following may also be used:

According to one embodiment, the recess of the first wall and the recess of the second wall are arranged in the same plane P, said plane P being perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X of the first profile and each fixing portion of the abutment comprises a lateral projection, the attachment portions being disposed on either side of the stop body and each of the projections is adapted to be housed in one of the recesses of the first or second side wall.

A stop is then made on the entire width of the profile, which gives it a high mechanical resistance to shocks, especially as the shocks received are distributed over the two side walls.

In addition, the recesses made in the first and in the second side wall may have a frustoconical shape adapted to facilitate insertion of the attachment portions.

According to one embodiment, the first section has a substantially U-shaped section comprising a base and two opposite side wings extended by two reentrant troughs which extend inwards and towards the base and the second profile extends at least partially between the reentrant part of the troughs and the side walls.

This form of profile allows the implementation of a vehicle slide satisfying from a dynamic point of view.

Each of the two lateral attachment portions of the stop may have a free end and the minimum distance separating the reentrant troughs of the profile is less than the distance separating each of the free ends.

Thus the abutment and the second section have a degree of mobility limited compared to the first section.

Advantageously, the abutment comprises a core made of a first material and the abutment face is made of a second material more damping than the first material capable of attenuating the noise resulting from the contact between the second section and the abutment.

For example, the abutment comprises a portion of plastic material, said plastic part being fixed to the metal core by snapping or over-molding on the metal core.

The piece forming the stop is therefore easy to achieve.

In this case, the recesses of the first and second side walls are first recesses. The first and second side walls each comprise at least one second recess adapted to cooperate in complementary form with a fixing portion respective stops, the second recesses being offset from the first recesses along the longitudinal direction.

This measure makes it possible to adapt the slides to all types of vehicles.

The invention also relates to a method of producing such a slide.

Thus, the invention also aims at a method of producing a slideway in which the following steps are carried out:

- Provide a first hollow section extending in a longitudinal direction X and having a bottom, a first a second side walls opposite to each other each having at least one recess and interconnected by the bottom, the first and second wall and the bottom defining an interior space of the profile;

- Mount a stop in the inner space of the first section by cooperating by complementarity of form at least a fixing portion of the stop with each a respective recess of each of the side walls.

- Mount a second sliding profile relative to the first profile in the longitudinal direction, in first and second opposite directions.

The realization of the slide is then particularly simple, given the fact that no particular tool for, for example, fixing the stop to the first profile is necessary. In addition, the slide thus produced has the possibility of being perfectly smooth on its upper part (corresponding to the outer part of the bottom of the first section), since the bottom of the first profile does not serve as a fixing wall for the stop . The method may further comprise a step of mounting a second stop on the first section. The second profile is then placed between the first and second stops.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one of its embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

On the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a seat that can be fitted with slides according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of one of the slides according to the invention that can be fitted to the seat of FIG. 1, with a first profile and an abutment mounted in said first section,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the slide of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a detailed perspective view of a first profile that can equip the slide according to the invention,

FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c are perspective views of two alternative embodiments of the stop that can be provided on a slide according to the invention,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first profile with a stop that can equip a slideway in one embodiment of the invention,

- Figure 7 is a side view of a slide according to the invention.

In the different figures, the same references designate identical or similar elements.

Figure 1 shows a seat 100 of a motor vehicle which comprises a seat 200 mounted on the floor 700 of the vehicle frame, and a backrest 300 mounted on the seat 200. The seat 200 is connected to the floor 700 by two parallel rails 1, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1, making it possible to adjust the position of the seat 100 with respect to the floor 700 of the vehicle, by sliding in the longitudinal direction X of the slides. 1, in a first direction XI (in this case towards the rear) and in a second opposite direction X2 (in this case towards the front).

A locking system is used to prohibit this sliding, and is operable by a control arrangement, to allow this sliding. This locking system and this controller are conventional and will not be described in more detail here.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, each of the slideways 1 comprises a first hollow profile 2. The first section 2 is intended to be secured to the chassis of the vehicle, and more particularly integral with the floor 700 of the vehicle. The first section 2, hollow, extends in a longitudinal direction X and comprises a profile base, also called bottom 21 and two side walls 22, 23. The first and second side walls 22, 23 are opposed to one another. to the other and are interconnected by the bottom 21. The side walls and the bottom thus delimit an inner portion of the first section called interior space. The first section 2, hollow, is provided, as shown in Figure 2 of a stop 10 disposed at least partially in the interior of the first section 2 defined by the two side walls and the bottom of the profile. In addition, the slideway is provided with a second profile 3 (see FIG. 7). The second section 3 is intended to be fixed to the seat 100 of the vehicle. Thus, the second section 3 is movable relative to the first section 2. In other words, the first section 2 is fixed relative to the vehicle chassis while the second section 3 is movable relative to the vehicle chassis. The first and second profiles 2, 3 are mounted sliding relative to each other in the longitudinal direction X, in first and second opposite directions XI, X2. The abutment 10 also has a stop body and an abutment face 11 adapted to come into contact with the second profile and thus limit the stroke of said second section in the longitudinal direction in the direction XI. The abutment face 11 is arranged in the interior space. By way of example, the contact area between the abutment surface and the second section may be 4 mm ² . In a possible variant of the invention, a second stop is provided on the first section to limit the stroke of the second section in the direction X2 opposite the direction XI. The abutment 10 as shown is assembled to the first section 2, hollow, by means of fastening means 12, 13 adapted to cooperate in complementary form with recesses 24, 25 provided on the side walls 22, 23 of the first section . The side walls 22, 23 thus form fixing walls of the abutment 10 able to receive the fixing means 12, 13 of the abutment. Thus the stop 10 can easily be placed on the profile. In a variant of the invention, the abutment 10 is fixed inside the recesses by crimping. In particular the fixing means of the stop may be composed of lateral projections 12, 13 adapted to be housed in the recesses 24, 25 provided on the side walls of the first profile. The lateral projections 12, 13 can then for example be fixed inside the recesses by crimping. As previously described, the profile has a first recess 24 located on a first side wall 22 of the profile 2 and a second recess 25 located on the second side wall 23 of the profile 2. In a variant of the invention, the recess 24 of the first wall 22 and the recess 25 of the second wall 23 are arranged in the same plane P, said plane P being perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X of the first section 2.

The first profile 2 further has a substantially U-shaped section comprising a base 21 and two opposite lateral wings 22, 23. The lateral wings (or walls) 22, 23 are in particular extended by two recessed troughs 221, 231 which extend inwardly and towards the base 21. The second profile 3 (see Figure 7) extends at least partially between the reentrant portion of the troughs and the side walls 22, 23 of the first profile.

In a possible variant of the invention and as shown in FIG. 3, the stop has a stop body which has a generally U-shaped cross-section and the lateral projections 12, 13 adapted to fit in each of the recesses 24, 25 of the first and second side walls (or still wall) 22, 23 are disposed on either side of the general U-shaped section of the stop body.

The abutment face is present over the entire transverse distance of the base 21 of the first section 2. In other words, the abutment 10 extends entirely between the first wall 22 and the second wall 23. When the second section 3 between in contact with the abutment 10, the abutment 10 being fixed in the side walls of the first section, the force resulting from the impact is distributed over each of the side walls of the section.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 3, each of the two lateral projections 13, 12 of the abutment has a free end and these free ends are separated by a distance d2. The reentrant troughs of each of the opposite side wings of the profile 2 are separated by a distance dl. The minimum distance d1 separating the reentrant troughs of the profile 2 is less than the distance d2 separating each of the free ends of the projections of the abutment.

The first section is symmetrical about a Y axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X and extending in a direction parallel to the side walls 22, 23 of the first section.

In this case, each of the side walls 22, 23 of the first profile 2 may comprise several parts. In particular, a first portion 222, 232 may extend laterally at a distance R3 from the Y axis and a second portion 223, 233 may extend laterally at a distance R4 from the Y axis.

The distance R3 is less than the distance R4. The first and second parts 222, 223, 232, 233 are connected to each other by a third portion 224, 234 perpendicular to each of the parts 222, 223, 232, 233 of the side wall 22, 23. The part the second part 222, 232 is connected with the third portion 224, 234 is curved and the recess 24, 25 can be made in this curved portion. In other words, the connecting parts 222, 232 form elbows, and the base of the first section 2 (also called fixed profile as opposed to the second section 3 which is a movable section) has a reduced transverse width compared to the total width of the first section 2 defined by the distance between the first and the second side wall. The recesses 24, 25 are provided on these elbows.

As shown in FIG. 4, the recesses located on the side walls of the first profile may, for example, have a frustoconical shape to facilitate the insertion and fixing of the abutment, and in particular lateral projections of the abutment in FIG. the first section 2.

In an alternative embodiment, the abutment 10 may be composed of several different materials. In particular, the stop 10 may be composed of two different materials. For example, the abutment 10 may have a metal core ensuring a certain rigidity and a abutment surface made of a material for damping the shock when the second section abuts against the abutment face of the abutment 10. In a variant of the invention, the abutment face 11 is made of an elastic material, for example a plastic material. The stop is then composed of a core and is provided on all its outer surface, for example a coating of plastic material. The plastic material coating may be arranged as partially as on the outer face of the core.

The stop may comprise a whole part of a plastic material. Figures 5a, 5b and 5c show two embodiments of the stop of the slide. In particular Figure 5a shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the abutment having a core in a first material and being covered over its entire surface with a second material. FIG. 5b is a perspective view of the abutment as shown in FIG. 5a and cut along a plane P1. The plane P1 is perpendicular to the plane P as previously described and passes through the axis defining the longitudinal direction of sliding X. As can be seen in FIG. 5b, the abutment is composed of two materials, a first material is located within the abutment and a second material covers the abutment on all its visible surfaces.

The portion of the abutment constituted by the first material is the core of the abutment. It may, as previously described be made of a metallic material and thus ensures robustness to the stop. The abutment face made of a more cushioning material can reduce shocks and in particular reduce the noise produced by the contact between the second section and the abutment. The stops of FIGS. 5a and 5b are made by plastic overmoulding around the metal core. In an alternative embodiment, the stop has a metal core on which is snapped a part in a material more damping than the material of the abutment core so as to, here again, limit the sound power of the impact between the second profile and the abutment.

Figure 6 is an alternative embodiment of the slide (only the first section and the stop are shown) with a stop as shown in Figure 5c. The damping portion (plastic part in an alternative embodiment of the invention) of the stop is composed of an abutment face covering at least in part, or even entirely the face of the web of the abutment directed towards the second section, the part of the stop intended to come into contact with the profile. The damping portion of the abutment further comprises snap-fastening means which allow the damping portion 32, 33 to be fixed to the abutment core 10. In the variant embodiment shown in FIGS. 5c and 6, the locking means 32, 33 are constituted by two fixing pastes adapted to be snapped onto the core. In particular, a first fastening paste 32 sandwiches a part of one of the projections 14 unassembled to the side wall of the first profile and the second fastening paste 33 sandwiches part of the other projection 15 no. assembled at the side wall. The damper portion of the abutment and the abutment core are thus assembled.

Figure 7 is a sectional view along the plane P of the slide composed of the first and second profiles 2, 3 and the stop 10. In particular the second section 3 has a substantially U-shaped section comprising a base 31 and two lateral wings The side wings 32, 33 are in particular extended by two outwardly extending troughs 321, 331 which extend outwards and toward the base 31 of the profile 3. The first and the second sections 2, 3 are fitted together. one in the other. In particular, the outgoing trough 321 of the second section 3 is disposed in the inner part formed by the re-entrant trough 221 and the wall 22 of the first profile 2. In the same way, the outgoing trough 331 of the second profile 3 is disposed in the inner part formed by the re-entrant trough 231 and the wall 23 of the first section 2. Bearings 4 may be provided to facilitate the sliding of the profiles relative to each other. The second section may comprise tabs or projections 5 adapted to come into contact with the abutment surface 11 and block the relative movement of the second section 3 with respect to the first section 2.

It is thus possible to make a slide particularly easy to implement. Indeed, an operator can simply, without the aid of any additional tool and after and / or before fitting the first and second profiles 2, 3 together, mount on the first section 2 a first stop 10 as previously described. After interlocking the two sections 2, 3 sets, a second abutment is mounted on the first section, the second section 3 being located between the first and second abutments. Thus, the recesses can be made at the appropriate locations, during the slide manufacturing process, step at which one has all the appropriate equipment. Mounting the second stop after assembling the slide is easily done. For example, each vehicle slide can be provided with two or four stops as described above by arranging two stops on each of the two sections constituting the slide. In a vehicle seat slide, the front stop is often much more stressed than the others. As a result, it may be advantageous to arrange the abutments as previously described on the slideways in such a way as to make front stops of a motor vehicle. In order to adapt the same slide to several configurations of vehicle, it is possible to provide a second set of similar recesses 24 ', 25', offset from the recesses 24, 25, along the longitudinal axis X. It will be sufficient to assemble the stop in the recesses chosen for the configuration desired.

In possible variants of the invention, the recesses of the first and second side walls 22, 23 may not be aligned in a plane it will suffice to provide a stop with fastening attachment portions that take into account this offset .

In another possible variant of the invention, the recesses may have any shape. Thus, it will be necessary to adapt the attachment portions of the abutment to the recesses of the walls to achieve the complementary fit of form.

The invention is further adapted to any form of profiles having a base and side walls. In particular, in the case of reentrant troughs, the distance separating the reentrant troughs of the profile d1 may be substantially equal to the distance separating each of the free ends d2.

The stop may finally possibly be made in one piece with a single material.

Claims

A vehicle seat slide (1) comprising:

a first hollow section (2) extending in a longitudinal direction X and having a bottom (21), a first and a second lateral wall (22, 23) opposite to each other and connected to one another by the bottom (21), the first and second wall and the bottom defining an interior space of the profile, the first hollow section being intended to be fixed on a vehicle frame;

a second section, intended to be fixed on the mobile vehicle seat with respect to the chassis of the vehicle, said first and second sections being slidably mounted relative to each other in the longitudinal direction X, in first and second directions opposites XI, X2;

a stop (10) at least partially arranged in the inner space of the profile and arranged fixed on the first profile, said stop having a stop body and having an abutment face (11) extending in the interior space adapted for acting as a stop for the second profile (3) in the interior space, thus limiting a relative sliding between the first and second profiles in the first direction (XI), characterized in that the first and second lateral walls (22, 23) of the first hollow section each comprise at least one recess (24, 25) and the abutment comprises at least one attachment portion (12, 13) adapted to cooperate in complementary form with a respective recess (24, 25) of each of the walls laterally (22, 23) of the first section.

2. Slide (1) for a motor vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the recess (24) of the first wall and the recess (25) of the second wall are arranged in a same plane P, said plane P being perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X of the first profile (2) and each fixing portion (12, 13) of the abutment comprises a lateral projection (12, 13) disposed on either side of the abutment body, and each of the protrusions is adapted to be housed in one of the recesses (24, 25) of the first (22) or second (23) side wall.

Slide according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recesses (24, 25) made in the first and second side walls have a frustoconical shape adapted to facilitate the insertion of the attachment portions (12, 13).

Slide according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first section (2) has a substantially U-shaped section comprising a base (21) and two opposite side wings (22, 23) extended by two troughs (221, 231). ) reentrant that extend inwardly and towards the base (21) and the second section extends at least partially between the reentrant portion of the troughs and the side walls (22, 23).

Slide according to claim 4, wherein each of the two fixing portions (13, 12) of the abutment having a free end, the minimum distance between the reentrant troughs of the profile (dl) is less than the distance (d2) separating each of the free ends. Slide according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the stop (10) comprises a core made of a first material and the abutment face is made of a second material more damping than the first material capable of attenuating the resulting noise contact between the second section and the stop.

Slide according to claim 5, wherein the abutment (10) comprises a portion of plastic material, said plastic portion being fixed to the core, made of metallic material, snap or over-molding on the core.

Slide according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the recesses of the first and second side walls are first recesses, the first and second side walls (22, 23) each comprise at least one second recess adapted for cooperating by complementary form with a respective fixing portion (12, 13) of the abutment, the second recesses being offset with respect to the first recesses along the longitudinal direction.

Process for producing a vehicle seat slide, in which the following steps are carried out:

- providing a first hollow section (2) extending in a longitudinal direction X and having a bottom (21), first and second side walls (22, 23) opposite to each other each having at least one recess (24, 25) and interconnected by the bottom (21), the first and second wall and the bottom defining an interior space of the profile, the first section (2) being intended to be fixed to a vehicle chassis;

mounting a stop (10) in the interior space of the first profile, arranged fixed on the first profile, said stop having a stop body and having an abutment face (11) extending in the interior space by cooperating by complementarity of form at least one fixing portion (12, 13) of the abutment with a respective recess (24, 25) of each of the side walls;

mounting a second sliding profile relative to the first profile (2) in the longitudinal direction X, in first and second opposite directions XI, X2 and adapted to abut against the stop (10) in the interior space.

Method according to the preceding claim, in which there is also a step of mounting a second abutment on the first section (12), the second section (13) being placed between the first and second abutments.