JP4253554B2 - Vehicle seat slide device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle seat slide device, and more particularly, to an assembly structure of a retainer that interposes between an upper rail and a lower rail and holds a roller or the like that should be slid smoothly.

  Recently, in automobile seats, diversification of seat layouts is required, and seat slide devices are provided not only on front seats but also on second seats and third seats. The seat slide device employed here is required to be installed under many restricted conditions such as being embedded in the floor of the vehicle or installed in a narrow space.

  For this reason, conventionally, in order to realize the installation under such severe conditions, a lock mechanism is arranged in a cross section between the floor-side lower rail and the seat-side upper rail, thereby locking the lock mechanism to the outside of the upper rail. There has been proposed a seat slide device that eliminates the overhang.

Briefly describing the seat slide device, the lock mechanism is configured such that the lock claw is swingably attached to the lower end of one side wall portion of the upper rail, and the front end portion of the lock claw is bent from the inside of the upper rail toward the one side wall portion. In addition, the engagement hole formed in the side wall portion passes through the engagement hole (engaged portion) at an arbitrary position on the side wall portion of the lower rail. The lock claw is urged in a direction to be fitted into the engagement hole by the spring means installed in the upper rail, and is oscillated against the force of the spring means when unlocked. . That is, the lock claw is fitted over the engagement holes of the both side walls from the inside of the upper rail under the biasing force of the spring means while the unlocking operation by the operation lever is not performed. The engagement with the engagement hole of the lower rail is released by the unlocking operation. Note that a plurality of engagement holes (engaged portions) on the lower rail side are formed over the entire slide range of the upper rail.

Therefore, in this seat slide device, almost the entire locking mechanism is positioned inside the upper rail and the lower rail and does not protrude to the outside of the upper rail. As a result, an effective space is secured outside the upper rail, and there are many restrictions. Installation in the vehicle space becomes easy.
JP 2000-168409 A

  However, in the case of this conventional seat slide device, the conventional seat slide described in Patent Document 1 is used for assembling a retainer that is interposed between the upper rail and the lower rail and holds a roller or the like that should slide smoothly. Compared to devices, this presents a very difficult problem.

  That is, in the case of the retainer described in Patent Document 1, the bottom surface of the upper rail with the roller that slides in contact with the bottom surface of the upper rail and the U-shaped bracket (left and right integrated type) that supports the guide ball that slides in contact with the corner portion of the lower rail face up. In this case, in the case of the conventional seat slide device, since the locking device is incorporated in the cross section between the upper rail and the lower rail, the retainer A separate structure (left and right split type) must be adopted, and therefore it cannot be temporarily fixed to the upper rail. Therefore, when assembling the seat slide device, a special jig is used for temporarily assembling the retainer. If it is not used, the workability is reduced and the cost is increased.

  Accordingly, the present invention is intended to provide a seat slide device in which the retainer can be assembled without using a special jig.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the invention of this application is that an upper rail fixed to a seat side is assembled to a lower rail fixed to a floor side of a vehicle, and the lower rail has a substantially U-shaped basic cross section. Inwardly bent portions are respectively extended at the upper ends of the side wall portions, and the upper rails are respectively provided with outwardly bent portions at the lower ends of the side wall portions of the substantially U-shaped basic cross section, and the upper rails are in the outward direction. The lower rail is assembled so as to sandwich the inwardly bent portion of the lower rail between the bent portion and the side wall portion facing the bent portion, and the upper rail is slidably provided on the lower rail via a plurality of rolling members held by a retainer. And the slide position of the upper rail and the lower rail is adjustable by operating a lock mechanism provided between the rails. In the device, the retainer is provided left and right separately, the pair of rolling of the retainer supporting the side of the bent portion of the sliding surface portion and outwardly a lower surface of the outward bent portions of the upper rail The retainer is formed in a substantially U-shape comprising a support body that supports the moving member and a hook portion that is in sliding contact with the inside of the side wall portion of the upper rail, and the retainer is fitted to the upper rail across the sliding surface portion of the upper rail. It was made to be characterized.

  In the case of this invention, even if the retainer has a left and right separate structure (left and right divided type), the hook portion can be fitted and temporarily assembled to the sliding surface portion of the upper rail, so that the retainer can be easily detached. Therefore, the assembly workability of the seat slide device is improved. In addition, since the hook portion is formed on the support, an effect of restricting the retainer from being exposed on the sliding surface portion can be expected.

  Further, the hook portion may be formed with a protrusion at a portion that is in sliding contact with the side wall portion of the upper rail. In this case, since the retainer makes point contact with the side wall portion of the upper rail, the resistance is reduced as compared with the surface contact, and the retainer can move smoothly.

  According to this invention, even if the retainer is a left-right split type retainer, the hook portion is formed on a part of the support, and therefore the hook portion is fitted to the upper rail across the respective sliding surface portions of the upper rail. Since it can be worn, it can be easily temporarily assembled to the upper rail without using a special jig, and if the lower rail is inserted as it is, the assembling work is completed, and the workability of assembling the seat slide device is greatly improved.

  Next, each embodiment of the invention of this application will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a seat slide device according to the invention of this application, FIGS. 2, 3 and 6 are partial sectional side views of the slide device, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are longitudinal directions of the slide device. Cross-sectional views in the direction intersecting with are respectively shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat slide device includes a lower rail 1 fixedly installed on a vehicle floor, and an upper rail 2 attached to a lower end of a side portion of the seat. The roller 4 that is a rolling member held by the split retainer 3 and a guide ball 5 are assembled so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction.

Specifically, the lower rail 1 has inwardly bent portions 1a extending at the upper end (opening side end) of the side wall portion of the substantially U-shaped basic cross section, and the upper rail 2 has the same substantially U-shape. An outward bent portion 2a is extended at the lower end (opening side end) of the side wall portion of the basic cross section. And the upper rail 2 is assembled | attached so that the corresponding bending part 1a by the side of the lower rail 1 may be pinched | interposed by each bending part 2a and the side wall parts 2b and 2c which oppose it. The lower rail 1 is fixed to a vehicle floor by inserting bolts 22 through holes 1b opened near both ends thereof.

  The retainer 3 is incorporated in a free state between the lower rail 1 and the upper rail 2, and the roller 4 held by the retainer 3 rotatably supports the sliding surface portion 2d on the lower surface of each bent portion 2a on the upper rail 2 side. The guide ball 5 guides the lateral displacement of each bent portion 2 a of the upper rail 2.

Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the retainer 3 has a support 3 a that rotatably supports the roller 4 and the guide ball 5, and a hook 3 b that slides on the side walls 2 b and 2 c of the upper rail 2 at a substantially right angle. A hook 30 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is formed by bending. The hook 30 can be fitted to the upper rail 2 across the sliding surface portion 2d of the upper rail 2. Moreover, you may form protrusion parts 3c, such as an emboss which slidably contacts with the side wall parts 2b and 2c, in the hook part 3b of the site | part which slidably contacts with the side wall parts 2b and 2c of the upper rail 2. FIG. Since this protrusion 3c makes point contact with the side walls 2b, 2c of the upper rail 2, resistance is reduced compared to the case of surface contact, and the retainer 3 can move smoothly.

  A lock mechanism 6 for adjusting the slide position of the upper rail 1 is disposed in the cross section between the upper rail 1 and the lower rail 2 thus configured. The lock mechanism 6 is swingably supported on the upper rail 1 side, and has a substantially U-shaped latch lever 8 having a plurality of lock claws 7 at positions separated from the swing fulcrum, and the lock claw 7 of the latch lever 8. The lock plate 10 having a plurality of engagement holes 9 (engaged portions in the invention of this application) that can be engaged with and disengaged, and the latch lever 8 are urged in a direction in which the lock claw 7 engages with the engagement holes 9. And a claw support plate 12 that engages and supports the base portion of the lock claw 7 on the front side of the lock plate 10 when locked.

The claw support plate 12 includes a pair of attachment bases 12a and 12b that are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, and a vertical wall 12c that extends from the attachment bases 12a and 12b so as to connect the two bases, and the attachment base 12a. , 12b are attached to a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the upper wall of the upper rail 2 by a rivet 13, and the vertical wall 12c is arranged so as to be slightly offset toward the one side wall 2b side of the upper rail 2. The vertical wall 12c extends along the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 2, and a plurality of support holes 14 into which the lock claws 7 of the latch lever 8 are inserted and engaged are formed in the vicinity of the lower end thereof. Further, a bent piece 15 bent in the horizontal direction is provided at the center of the lower end of the vertical wall 12c.

  The latch lever 8 is formed in a substantially U-shape as described above, and the two sides on the opening side of the U-shape are rotatably supported by the upper rail 2 via the support bracket 16 and a lifting restricting piece 17 described later. ing. An input arm 18 is integrally extended on one side of the latch lever 8, and the latch lever 8 is adapted to receive an operating force from the outside through this arm 18. The front end of the support bracket 16 and the lifting restricting piece 17 is fixed to the upper wall of the upper rail 2 together with the claw support plate 12 by a rivet 13 so that the bracket 16 and the restricting piece 17 face each other. Shaft portions 19 and 20 project from the wall by embossing, and the latch lever 8 is rotatably supported by the shaft portions 19 and 20.

Further, both ends of the rod-shaped spring 11 are supported and fixed to the upper wall of the upper rail 2, and the latch lever 8 is always moved in one direction by the curved central portion (the end portion of the lock claw 7 is one side wall portion 2 b of the upper rail 2. In the direction of displacement to the side.)

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the lifting restriction piece 17 includes a base wall 17 a that comes into contact with the lower surface of the upper wall of the upper rail 2, and a hook portion 17 b having a substantially U-shaped cross section. The hook portion 17 b is a lock for the upper rail 2. It arrange | positions so that it may extend over the predetermined range of a longitudinal direction in the back side area | region rather than the attaching part of the mechanism 6. FIG. The front and rear ends of the base wall 17a are fixed to the upper rail 2 by rivets 13. A step-shaped bent portion 21 is provided on the front end side, and the bent portion 21 is provided on the rear side of the claw support plate 12. The mounting base 12b is polymerized. The bent portion 12b is fixed to the upper rail 2 together with the claw support plate 12 using the common rivet 13 as described above.

  On the other hand, the lock plate 10 is formed in an elongated shape so that substantially the entire region in the longitudinal direction has a substantially L-shaped cross section and extends over a predetermined range in the longitudinal direction of the lower rail 1. A base wall 10a that forms one side of the L-shape of the lock plate 10 is coupled to a substantially central portion in the width direction of the bottom surface of the lower rail 1 by spot welding, projection welding, or the like.

In addition, a plurality of the aforementioned fitting holes 9 are formed in the longitudinal direction in the vertical wall 10b that forms the other side of the L-shape of the lock plate 10, and the vertical wall 10b is formed on the claw support plate 12. Between the vertical wall 12b and the one side wall 2b of the upper rail 2. Since the fitting hole 9 of the vertical wall 10b is a portion into which the lock claw 7 of the latch lever 8 is inserted and fitted, the pitch between the adjacent fitting holes 9, 9 is the same as the pitch of the lock claw 7. Yes.

  Further, a receiving portion 23 having a substantially U-shaped cross section extends from the upper edge of the rear end portion of the vertical wall 10b. The receiving portion 23 is arranged so as to cross over the U-shaped portion of the lifting restricting piece 17 and is maintained in a non-contact state during a normal sliding operation. However, when a load in the lifting direction is input to the rear side of the upper rail 2 when the seat is in the rear side sliding position, the lifting restriction piece 17 is engaged with the receiving portion 23 in the vertical direction, and thereby the upper rail 2 is lifted. Regulate displacement.

  Stopper protrusions 24a and 24b are cut and raised at predetermined positions on both the front and rear sides of the base wall 10a of the lock plate 10, respectively. These stopper projections 24 a and 24 b regulate the sliding range of the upper rail 2 by cooperating with the bent piece 15 of the claw support plate 12. That is, when the upper rail 2 reaches the last retracted position, as shown in FIG. 2, the rear end portion of the bent piece 15 abuts against the stopper protrusion 24b on the rear side, and conversely, when the upper rail 2 reaches the most advanced position. As shown in FIG. 6, the front end of the bent piece 15 abuts on the stopper protrusion 24a on the rear side.

Further, in one side wall portion 2b of the upper rail 2 at a position facing the support hole 14 of the claw support plate 12, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, in a direction close to the vertical wall 10b of the lock plate 10. A recessed portion 25 that is recessed is provided, and a similar support hole 26 is formed in the recessed portion 25 so as to correspond to the support hole 14. The support hole 26 of the recessed portion 25 is a portion into which the tip end portion of the lock claw 7 is inserted and engaged when locked, and a second claw support portion that supports the lock claw 7 together with the support hole 14 of the claw support plate 12. Is configured.

In addition, a notch 27 is formed at a substantially axial center of one side wall portion 2b of the upper rail 2 so as to partially extend over the upper wall, and the input arm 18 of the latch lever 8 slightly passes outside the rail 2 through the notch 27. Protruding. On the upper rail 2 side, a holder 29 of an operation lever 28 is pivotally supported via a support bracket (not shown), and the input arm 18 is vertically moved by an operation piece 29a at the rear end of the holder 29. Swinging operation. Therefore, when the operation lever 28 is turned upward, the operation piece 29 a pushes down the input arm 18, thereby turning the latch lever 8 in a direction against the force of the rod-shaped spring 11.

  A similar seat slide device is disposed on the other end side of the seat, and the other end side of the operation lever 28 is similarly connected to the slide device, and the operation force of the operation lever 28 is similarly applied to the other end side. It is transmitted to the slide device. Therefore, the right and left locking mechanisms 6 of the seat always operate in conjunction with each other.

Since the seat slide device is configured as described above, when assembling the seat slide device, as shown in FIG. 9A, the upper rail 2 to which the lock mechanism 6 is assembled is turned upside down from the assembled state. Then, the hooks 30 of the retainer 3 are fitted into the sliding surface portions 2d and 2d, which are end surfaces of the side wall portions 2b and 2c, respectively. When the hook portion 3b of the retainer 3 is in contact with the side wall portion 2b (2c) of the upper rail 2, and the hook portion 3b has the projection portion 3c, the projection portion 3c makes point contact with the side wall portion 2b (2c). After the required number of retainers 3 are arranged on the upper rail 2, as shown in FIG. 9B, the end portion of the lower rail 1 is engaged with the end portion of the upper rail 2 in this state to assemble the seat slide device. Although the illustration of the lock mechanism 6 is omitted in FIG. 9A, the lock mechanism 6 is actually assembled before the retainer 63 is assembled.

  And the seat slide apparatus of the said structure is fixed to the floor of a vehicle by left-right pair. As a result, when the seat is locked at an arbitrary slide position, the latch lever 8 is rotationally displaced in the direction of the lock plate 10 by receiving the urging force of the rod-shaped spring 11 as shown in FIG. The lock claw 7 of the latch lever 8 is engaged with the support hole 14 of the claw support plate 12, the fitting hole 9 of the lock plate 10, and the support hole 26 of the upper rail 2.

  When changing the slide position of the seat from this state to another position, the latch lever 8 resists the force of the rod-shaped spring 11 as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the lock claw 7 of the latch lever 8 is pulled out from the three of the support hole 26, the fitting hole 9, and the support hole 14, and the seat can be freely slid. In this state, when the seat slide position is changed to an arbitrary position, and then the rotation operation of the operation lever 20 is released, the latch lever 8 is returned to the original position by the force of the rod-shaped spring 11, and the lock claw 7 is moved to the support hole 14, The engagement hole 9 and the support hole 26 are engaged again over the three parts.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been disclosed with a configuration in which the lock mechanism 6 is built in between the lower rail 1 and the upper rail 2. The retainer 3 can also be used.

The disassembled perspective view which shows 1st Embodiment of invention of this application. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the same embodiment, Comprising: The figure which shows the state which slid the sheet | seat to the most advanced position. The enlarged view of the principal part of FIG. 2 which shows the same embodiment. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. 3 of the same embodiment, Comprising: The figure which shows a locked state. Sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. 3 of the embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the same embodiment, Comprising: The figure which shows the state which slid the sheet | seat to the last retracted position. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. 3 of the embodiment, Comprising: The figure which shows a lock release state. The perspective view which shows the principal part of invention in the same embodiment. Assembly process explanatory drawing of the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Lower rail
1a ... Inward bending part 2 ... Upper rail
2a ... outward bent parts 2b, 2c ... side wall part 2d ... sliding surface part 3 ... retainer 3a ... support 3b ... hook part 3c ... projection part
4. Roller (rolling member)
5 ... Guide ball (rolling member)
6 ... Lock mechanism 30 ... Hook

Claims (2)

The upper rail fixed to the seat side is assembled to the lower rail fixed to the floor side of the vehicle,
The lower rail is provided with an inward bent portion at the upper end of the side wall portion of the substantially U-shaped basic cross section, and the upper rail has an outward bend portion at the lower end of the side wall portion of the substantially U-shaped basic cross section. Extended,
The upper rail is assembled so as to sandwich the inwardly bent portion of the lower rail between the outwardly bent portion and the side wall portion facing the bent portion, and the upper rail is interposed by a plurality of rolling members held by a retainer. In the vehicle seat slide device that is slidably provided on the lower rail, and the slide position of the upper rail and the lower rail can be adjusted by operating a lock mechanism provided between both rails,
The retainer is provided separately on the left and right sides, and a pair of rolling members that support the retainer on a sliding surface portion that is a lower surface of the outward bending portion of the upper rail and a side of the outward bending portion are provided. The retainer is formed in a substantially U shape including a hook portion that is in sliding contact with the inner side of the side wall portion of the upper rail, and the retainer is fitted to the upper rail across the sliding surface portion of the upper rail. A vehicle seat slide device. 2. The vehicle seat slide device according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion is formed in a portion of the hook portion that is in sliding contact with the inside of the side wall portion of the upper rail.

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