JP7121280B2 - seat rail device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a seat rail device for sliding a vehicle seat forward and backward.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a seat rail device for sliding a vehicle seat back and forth, for example, a seat rail device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200002 is known. In this seat rail device, the rollers respectively provided on the first upper rail and the second upper rail constituting the upper rail are guided in the vertical direction by a pair of guide portions provided symmetrically on the lower rail. , the upper rail slides against the lower rail. Thereby, the vehicle seat to which the upper rail is fixed is supported so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle floor to which the lower rail is fixed.

JP 2015-186984 A JP-A-2006-112528

By the way, in the configuration as described above, as illustrated in FIG. The moving body 121 is rolled vertically. However, in such a configuration in which a pair of guide portions on which the rolling elements roll in the vertical direction are provided on the lower rail, the length in the left and right direction (see symbol Wt in FIG. 8) is limited unless the distance between the pair of guide portions is narrowed. can not be made smaller, making it difficult to further reduce the size and weight of the lower rail.

For this reason, for example, a rack is formed on the wall portion provided so as to eliminate one of the guide portions, and a mechanism for rotating the pinion that meshes with the rack is assembled on the upper rail side to reduce the size and weight of the lower rail. can be done. In such a configuration, it is necessary to constantly mesh the pinion on the upper rail side with the rack on the lower rail side. there is This transmission mechanism is configured to press the gear (pinion) against the rack according to the biasing force of the spring material.

However, when the meshing structure using the spring material as described above is adopted for the seat rail device, the spring material needs to be fixed at a predetermined position on the lower rail, which limits the amount of sliding of the upper rail with respect to the lower rail. As a result, in the case where the upper rail slides with respect to the lower rail in a large amount, as in a seat rail device for a long rail, there is a problem that an engagement structure using a spring material cannot be adopted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its object is to keep the pinion on the upper rail side in constant mesh with the rack on the lower rail side even in a seat rail device with a large amount of sliding. The object of the present invention is to provide a configuration that enables

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 described in the scope of claims is
a lower rail (20) fixed to the vehicle body;
an upper rail (30) fixed to the seat and provided slidably with respect to the lower rail;
a drive unit (50) for sliding the upper rail with respect to the lower rail;
A seat rail device (10) comprising:
The lower rail includes a bottom wall (21), one side wall portion (22) and the other side wall portion (23) facing each other through the bottom wall and connected to the bottom wall so as to extend in the sliding direction; An extension part (24) extending from the upper end of the side wall part in parallel with the part (21a) of the bottom wall and extending in the sliding direction,
A rack (26) extending in the sliding direction is provided on a part of the other side wall,
The upper rail includes a first rolling element (41) that rolls vertically on a part of the extension and the bottom wall, and a second rolling element that rolls on the one side wall. (42) and a pinion (52) that is rotated by the motor (51) of the driving part while meshing with the rack are supported.
It should be noted that the symbols in parentheses above indicate the corresponding relationship with specific means described in the embodiments to be described later.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the lower rail includes a bottom wall, one side wall portion and the other side wall portion facing each other through the bottom wall and connected to the bottom wall so as to extend in the sliding direction, and from the upper end of the one side wall portion It is provided with an extension part parallel to a part of the bottom wall and extending in the sliding direction, and a part of the other side wall part is provided with a rack extending in the sliding direction. The upper rail includes a first rolling element that rolls vertically on the extension and a part of the bottom wall, a second rolling element that rolls on the one side wall, and a rack. A pinion that is rotated by the motor of the drive unit is supported in this state.

In this way, by adopting a structure in which the rack on the other side wall portion provided so as to eliminate one of the guide portions and the pinion on the upper rail side are meshed, compared with the conventional lower rail provided with two guide portions, , the size and weight of the lower rail can be reduced. In particular, since the second rolling element rolls on one side wall portion facing the other side wall portion through the bottom wall to the other side wall portion provided with the rack, the pinion is pressed against the rack in response to this rolling. can be reliably meshed at all times. Therefore, even in a seat rail device with a large amount of sliding, the size and weight of the lower rail can be reduced by constantly meshing the pinion on the upper rail side with the rack on the lower rail side.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a seat slide device according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2A is a plan view of the seat slide device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the seat slide device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the XX cross section of FIG. 2(B); FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which lower rails and the like are removed from FIG. 1; 5A is a plan view of the upper rail and the like shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the upper rail and the like shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing an enlarged state of the upper rail and the like of FIG. 4 as viewed from the front; It is an explanatory view explaining a support state using a pinion, a roller, and a side roller. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which an upper rail is supported with respect to a conventional lower rail;

[First embodiment]
A seat rail device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A seat rail device 10 according to the present embodiment is a device for fixing a vehicle seat (not shown) configured as an electric slide seat to a vehicle floor (not shown) so as to be slidable back and forth. 1 and 2, the seat rail device 10 mainly includes a lower rail 20 fixed to the vehicle floor (vehicle body), an upper rail 30 fixed to the vehicle seat, and the upper rail 30 as a lower rail. A pair of left and right driving portions 50 for sliding with respect to 20 are provided. The seat rail device 10 also includes an operating section (not shown) operated to drive the pair of driving sections 50 to adjust the slide position of the upper rail 30 with respect to the lower rail 20 . Hereinafter, each element constituting the seat rail device 10 will be described in detail, with the longitudinal direction of the seat rail device 10 (horizontal direction in FIG. 2) as the front-rear direction. 1 and 2 show one rail including a pair of lower rail 20 and upper rail 30, etc., and the illustration of the other rail is omitted for the sake of convenience.

First, the detailed configuration of the lower rail 20 of one rail will be described with reference to the drawings.
The lower rail 20 is formed in an elongated rail shape, and as shown in FIGS. and an inner wall portion 25 depending from the inner end of 24 . The one side wall portion 22 and the other side wall portion 23 are connected to each other through the bottom wall 21 so as to extend in the sliding direction. The bottom wall 21 is formed such that a portion (hereinafter also referred to as a facing portion 21a) on the one side wall portion 22 side is raised with respect to the other side wall portion 23 side.

A rack 26 meshing with a pinion 52, which will be described later, is provided on the upper portion of the other side wall portion 23 so as to extend in the sliding direction. In particular, the rack 26 is arranged so that the distance from the inner surface of the bottom wall 21 to the lower end is constant along the sliding direction.

The extending portion 24 extends from the upper end of the one side wall portion 22 so as to face the facing portion 21a of the bottom wall 21 and extend in the sliding direction. That is, the extending portion 24 and the opposing portion 21a are parallel to each other so that a roller 41, which will be described later, rolls in the vertical direction.

Next, a detailed configuration of the upper rail 30 in one rail will be described with reference to the drawings.
The upper rail 30 is an upper rail for an electric slide seat, and is assembled with a drive unit 50 for performing slide control using rotation of a pinion 52 by a motor 51 . The upper rail 30 supports a pinion 52 meshing with the rack 26, two rollers 41 rolling vertically on the lower rail 20, and two side rollers 42 rolling horizontally. and is assembled so as to slide with respect to the lower rail 20 as the pinion 52 rotates. The roller 41 may correspond to an example of a "first rolling element", and the side roller 42 may correspond to an example of a "second rolling element".

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the upper rail 30 includes an upper rail body 31 that supports the pinion 52 and rollers 41, and L-shaped front and rear support portions 32 and 32 that support the side rollers 42. 33. The upper rail main body 31 is configured by connecting a seat connecting portion 31a connected to the seat and a roller supporting portion 31b supporting two front and rear rollers 41 so as to face each other via a connecting portion 31c. A driving portion 50 is assembled to the seat connecting portion 31 a , and the driving portion 50 is arranged so that the pinion 52 meshes with the rack 26 when the driving portion 50 is assembled to the lower rail 20 .

The front side support portion 32 is formed so that the side roller 42 is appropriately pressed against the one side wall portion 22 and rolls when the pinion 52 is engaged with the rack 26 . Similarly, the rear support portion 33 is formed so that the side roller 42 is appropriately pressed against the one side wall portion 22 and rolls when the pinion 52 is engaged with the rack 26 .

In this embodiment, the other rail is formed symmetrically with respect to the one rail formed as described above. One rail including the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 formed in this way and the other rail are arranged laterally so that the other side wall portion 23 is on the inside.

In the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 configured as described above, the guide portion along which the roller 41 rolls in the vertical direction is only one side wall portion 22 side configured by the extension portion 24 and the opposing portion 21a in the lower rail 20. Therefore, compared to the conventional configuration (see FIG. 8) in which the rail cross section is asymmetrical when viewed in the front-rear direction and a pair of left and right guide portions are provided (see FIG. 8), the length in the left-right direction (see symbol W in FIG. 7) can be made smaller.

Next, the assembled state of the lower rail 20 and the upper rail 30 configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings.
As can be seen from FIG. 7 and the like, in front of the upper rail 30, the roller 41 on the front side of the upper rail body 31 is guided by the guide portion composed of the extension portion 24 and the opposing portion 21a, and the side of the front support portion 32 is guided. A roller 42 is rollably pressed against one side wall 22 . At the rear of the upper rail 30, the roller 41 on the rear side of the upper rail main body 31 is guided by the guide portion constituted by the extension portion 24 and the facing portion 21a, and the side roller 42 of the rear support portion 33 It is pressed against the one side wall portion 22 so as to be able to roll. A pinion 52 of the driving portion 50 meshes with a rack 26 provided on the upper portion of the other side wall portion 23 at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 30 .

In such an assembled state, the upper rail 30 is supported by the front and rear rollers 41 and side rollers 42 and the pinion 52 meshing with the rack 26 with respect to the lower rail 20 as shown in FIG. becomes. In this independent state, when the pinion 52 is rotated by the motor 51 and the upper rail 30 slides with respect to the lower rail 20, the roller 41 supported by the upper rail 30 rolls in the vertical direction, causing the side roller 42 to roll. rolls in the horizontal direction. Due to such a rolling state, the sliding load during sliding is reduced, and rattling during sliding in the vertical and horizontal directions is suppressed.

As described above, in the seat rail device 10 according to the present embodiment, the lower rail 20 faces the bottom wall 21 via the bottom wall 21 and is connected to the bottom wall 21 so as to extend in the sliding direction. A side wall portion 22, another side wall portion 23, and an extension portion 24 extending from the upper end of the one side wall portion 22 in parallel with the facing portion 21a of the bottom wall 21 and extending in the sliding direction. A part is provided with a rack 26 extending in the sliding direction. The upper rail 30 has a roller 41 that rolls vertically on the extending portion 24 and the opposing portion 21a, a side roller 42 that rolls on the side wall portion 22, and a rack 26. A pinion 52 rotated by the motor 51 of the drive unit 50 is supported in this state.

In this way, the rack 26 of the other side wall portion 23 provided so as to eliminate one of the guide portions and the pinion 52 on the upper rail side are engaged with each other. In comparison, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of the lower rail. In particular, since the side roller 42 rolls on the one side wall portion 22 that faces the other side wall portion 23 through the bottom wall 21, the pinion 52 is pressed against the rack 26 in response to this rolling. Therefore, the pinion 52 and the rack 26 can be reliably meshed at all times. Therefore, even in a seat rail device with a large amount of sliding, the size and weight of the lower rail 20 can be reduced by constantly meshing the pinion 52 on the upper rail side with the rack 26 on the lower rail side.

In addition, the one rail and the other rail are not limited to being arranged on the left and right so that the other side wall portion 23 is on the inside, but may be arranged on the left and right so that the one side wall portion 22 is on the inside. Also, one rail and the other rail may be arranged laterally so that the other side wall portion 23 of one rail and the one side wall portion 22 of the other rail are on the inner side, or the one side wall portion of the one rail They may be arranged on the left and right so that the portion 22 and the other side wall portion 23 of the other rail are on the inner side.

[Other embodiments]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and the like, and may be embodied as follows, for example.
(1) In the present embodiment, the rollers 41 and the side rollers 42 are arranged so that the positions in the front-rear direction are the same for one rail and the other rail. and the other rail may be arranged in different positions in the front-rear direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Seat rail apparatus 20... Lower rail 21... Bottom wall 21a... Opposing part (a part of bottom wall)
22... One side wall part 23... Other side wall part 24... Extension part 26... Rack 30... Upper rail 41... Roller (first rolling element)
42... Side roller (second rolling element)
50... Drive unit 51... Motor 52... Pinion

Claims (1)

a lower rail fixed to the vehicle body;
an upper rail fixed to the seat and provided slidably with respect to the lower rail;
a drive unit for sliding the upper rail with respect to the lower rail;
A seat rail device comprising:
The lower rail includes a bottom wall, one side wall portion and the other side wall portion facing each other through the bottom wall and connected to the bottom wall so as to extend in the sliding direction, and an upper end of the one side wall portion extending to the bottom wall. Equipped with an extension part parallel to the part and extending in the sliding direction,
A rack extending in the sliding direction is provided on a part of the other side wall,
The upper rail includes a first rolling element that rolls vertically on a part of the extension and the bottom wall, a second rolling element that rolls on the one side wall, and A seat rail device, characterized in that a pinion that is rotated by a motor of the driving portion while meshing with the rack is supported.

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