Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats

Details Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats

1996-11-04

1999-12-07

Oberleitner, Robert J.

Brakes

Internal-resistance motion retarder

With means for locking parts together temporarily

18832221, 188317, 267221, F16F 932, F16F 500, F16F 943, B60G 1300

Patent

active

059967471

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats, which permits the backrest of each seat to return by itself to the vertical position from any inclined position, and/or any seats which have been moved laterally to return to their initial position, when the passengers leave the seats.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In most omnibuses, coaches railway wagons and other means of collective transport, passengers can for their greater comfort incline the backrests of their seats at will; it is also possible in some cases to move the seat laterally towards the gangway, in order to move it further away from the adjacent seat and thus make more room available.
Once the passengers have left the vehicle it is advisable to return each of the seats to its initial position, an operation which is mostly performed manually by the driver of the coach or the ticket inspector, with the attendant loss of time.
Systems have been developed to allow the driver to carry out this operation for all the seats at once, but such systems involve a system of electrical control for each seat and a connection to the driver's position, and therefore represent a very high cost in materials, equipment and labor for fitting.


DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to solve the mentioned drawback, by means of an intelligent hydraulic device capable of returning the seat automatically to a predetermined initial position, once the passenger has left the seat, and which has low cost.
In accordance with tis objective, this invention presents an automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats, comprising a fluidtight cylinder, which is divided into two chambers of variable volume by a piston, which has at least one conduit for the passage of a fluid from one chamber to the other, a rod upon which said piston is mounted, and elastic means for biasing the rod and therefore the piston in a predetermined direction, which tends to cause an increase of pressure in one of the chambers, and is characterized in that said rod is constituted by two aligned rod members, to one of which the piston is attached, said rod members being provided with means for mutual adjustable coupling in order to move their adjacent ends towards each other and apart from each other, and in that means are provided to allow a controlled leak of fluid through said at least one conduit of the piston from one chamber to the other under the action of said elastic means.
By virtue of these characteristics, when no outer force is applied the mechanism returns slowly to a predetermined position: for example, if the device is applied to the backrest of a coach seat, the backrest returns to the vertical position from any intermediate position when the passenger leaves the seat.
Advantageously, said means of adjustable mutual coupling include a threaded spigot provided at one end of one of the rod members, which cooperates with a threaded bore provided on the adjacent end of the other rod member, and means to provoke at the will of the user the rotation of one of said members in such a way that the adjacent ends of both members move away from each other thus totally opening the conduits for a passage of fluid between the chambers.
When the passenger wishes to change the position of the seat or backrest, he acts upon the threaded connection and frees the passage of fluid between the chambers, in such a way that the seat or backrest can be moved to any desired position.
In one embodiment of the invention, said means for allowing a controlled leak of fluid include means for opening and closing the piston conduits when the adjacent ends of the rod members move away from each other and towards each other, respectively, constituted by at least a washer of elastically flexible material fitted around one of the rod members and adjacent to said piston, and an undercut formed on the end of the other rod member, which allows the elastic deformation of the washer(s) as a consequence of a pressure increas

REFERENCES:
patent: 3256961 (1966-06-01), Carbon
patent: 3477550 (1969-11-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 3533658 (1970-10-01), Gropp et al.
patent: 3630324 (1971-12-01), Stretten
patent: 3659684 (1972-05-01), Porter
patent: 3837445 (1974-09-01), Pierle
patent: 4420989 (1983-12-01), Finkle
patent: 4427188 (1984-01-01), Shimokura
patent: 4485900 (1984-12-01), Kato et al.
patent: 4741516 (1988-05-01), Davis
patent: 4981199 (1991-01-01), Tsai
patent: 5102193 (1992-04-01), Goss et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Automatic-return hydraulic device, especially for vehicle seats will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-813926