Head rest support

Details Head rest support Head rest support

2001-02-20

2002-09-24

Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)

Chairs and seats

Headrest

Adjustable rectilinearly vertically

C297S391000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06454356

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a headrest support and, more particularly, to a headrest support that supports a headrest at an upper end of a seatback.
BACKGROUND ART
As this type of headrest support, a headrest support shown in
FIG. 34
is conventionally known.
A headrest stay
1
is a rod-like body protruded from a bottom surface of a headrest that is supported above a seatback. Wedge-shaped height adjustment grooves
1
a
are formed on a side surface of the headrest stay
1
.
A headrest support
2
has a tube body
3
that is formed into a tubular shape into which the headrest stay
1
can be inserted, and that is received and supported by a not-shown square pipe-made receptacle tube fixed by welding to a frame of the seatback, and a metal-made lock plate
4
that is inserted into a portion of the tube body
3
that is closer to an upper end thereof in a direction perpendicular to the headrest stay
1
.
The lock plate
4
has a through-hole
4
a
that is elongated so as not to impede insertion of the headrest stay
1
. An end of the lock plate
4
is provided with a push-in operating portion
4
b
that is integrally formed from resin.
The tube body
3
is provided with springs
5
,
5
that contact the push-in operating portion
4
b
and urge the push-in operating portion
4
b
in such a manner as to push it out. In order to prevent the lock plate
4
from falling apart despite reaction forces from the springs, a stopper pin
6
is inserted into the tube body
3
from above, extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the lock plate
4
.
A slit
4
c
for insertion of the stopper pin
6
is formed on the side of the lock plate
4
. The stopper pin
6
and the slit
4
c
restrict the movable range of the lock plate
4
.
The movable range of the lock plate
4
has a positional relationship that when the lock plate
4
is pushed in against the springs
5
,
5
, the lock plate
4
does not interfere, with the headrest stay
1
, and that when the lock plate
4
is pushed out by the springs
5
,
5
, an edge portion of the through-hole
4
a
slightly interferes with the headrest stay
1
.
That is, during a normal stable state, the lock plate
4
is in a positional relationship that the lock plate
4
interferes with the headrest stay
1
, and thus engages with a height adjustment groove
1
a.
When a push-in operation is performed by using the push-in operating portion
4
b,
the engagement is discontinued so that the headrest stay
1
becomes movable up and down.
An outer peripheral surface of the tube body
3
is provided with a generally rectangular tongue piece that is formed by forming a generally squared U-shaped groove, and that has, at its distal end side, a protrusion protruded outwards, and that has flexibility substantially in a direction of a diameter of the tube body
3
. When the tube body
3
is placed in the receptacle tube, the protrusion formed on the distal end side of the tongue piece is pressed against an inner peripheral surface of the receptacle tube so as to prevent the tube body from clattering against the receptacle tube.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The above-described conventional headrest support has the following problems.
First, when the tube body is placed in the receptacle tube, an upper end site of the tube body is pressed against an opening end portion of the receptacle tube. Therefore, if an impact occurs on the headrest in a direction of a height, the impact cannot be absorbed.
Second, since the generally rectangular tongue piece formed in the outer peripheral surface of the tube body
3
is supported only at its lower side by the tube body, the tongue piece cannot be provided with a sufficient strength, and is poor in durability.
Third, during assembly of the headrest support, the headrest stay
1
must be inserted into the tube body
3
while the lock plate
4
is being pressed against the tube body
3
. Thus, the assembly workability is not good.
The invention has been accomplished in view of the aforementioned problems. It is an object of the invention to provide a headrest support that is capable of absorbing an impact occurring on the headrest in a direction of a height, and that has a sufficient strength and allows an improvement in assembly workability.
To achieve the aforementioned object, the invention has a construction including: a tube body that is inserted into and supported by a receptacle tube disposed in a seatback, and that retains a headrest stay inserted therein, and that allows an adjustment of a height of the headrest stay; and a spring structure that is protruded from a distal end side of the tube body toward an opening end portion of the receptacle tube, and that urges the distal end side of the tube body to move away from the opening end portion of the receptacle tube, and that urges the distal end side of the tube body to move away from the opening end portion of the receptacle tube when the tube body is pushed down to a side; of the receptacle tube.
In the thus-constructed invention, the tube body is inserted in and supported by the receptacle tube disposed in the seatback, and supports the headrest stay inserted therein, and adjusts the height of the headrest stay.
When the tube body is pushed down to a side of the receptacle tube, the spring structure protruded from the distal end side of the tube body toward the opening end portion of the receptacle tube urges the distal end side of the tube body to move away from the opening end portion of the receptacle tube. Therefore, if impact occurs on the headrest in the direction of its height, the impact is absorbed by the spring structure.
The tube body needs merely to be a tube body that is inserted into and supported by the receptacle tube disposed in the seatback, and that retains the headrest stay inserted therein, and that allows adjustment of the height of the headrest stay. For example, the tube body may be a tube body having a retaining hole capable of retaining the headrest stay while orienting the headrest stay in a direction of an axis thereof, and a lock piece retaining hole that allows the lock piece to be inserted thereinto from a side opposite from the height adjustment groove, and that allows the lock nail to be advanced and withdrawn in a direction of insertion.
The spring structure needs merely to be a spring structure that is protruded from a distal end side of the tube body toward the opening end portion of the receptacle tube, and that urges the distal end side of the tube body to move away from the opening end portion of the receptacle tube when the tube body is pushed down to a side of the receptacle tube. The spring structure may be a resin spring formed integrally with the tube body, or may be a spring structure that urges a member formed separately from the tube body by means of a spring or the like, etc.
In the former case, the resin spring is not restricted in shape in a viewpoint that the resin spring needs merely to be able to urge the distal end side of the tube body to move away from the opening end portion of the receptacle tube when the tube body is pushed down to the side of the receptacle tube. That is, the resins spring may be a resin spring that has a ring shape and is deformable in a predetermined direction, or may be a resin spring that has an arm having a flexibility in a predetermined direction, etc.
As an example of the construction in which an arm having a flexibility as-mentioned above is provided, a first resin arm connecting a plurality of positions facing the receptacle tube and a second resin arm extending in a plurality of directions from a central portion of the first arm toward the opening end portion of the receptacle tube may be formed in the tube body. In this example, if an impact occurs in the direction of the height, the impact can be absorbed by causing the first resin arm and the second resin arm contacting the opening end portion to bend in the direction of the height.
In this case, it is also possible to provide the spring structure with an additional function, such as, a

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