Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Seats with body modifications
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-23
2003-12-02
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Seats with body modifications
C296S065030, C296S068100, C248S503100, C297S216100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655724
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an inertia locking system, in which a latch is biased by a torsion coil spring and adapted to be operated by an inertia force that is applied to the latch against an action of the torsion coil spring when a locked member is brought into contact with the latch member, whereby the latch catches and holds the locked member, and relates to an improvement of a collapsible seat provided with the inertia locking system.
BACKGROUND ART
In general, as a seat for a station wagon or the like, there is a seat as shown in FIG.
7
. The station wagon has a vehicle body floor F which has a lower step portion f
1
and an upper step portion f
2
. The seat comprises a seat cushion
1
having a substantially C-shaped leg portion
1
a
provided at a lower portion thereof which is close to a front side of the seat cushion
1
, the C-shaped leg portion
1
a
being mounted to the seat cushion
1
with an opening of the leg portion
1
a
facing upwardly, and a seat back
2
pivotally supported to the upper step portion f
2
so as to be tillable. More particularly, the seat back
2
is provided with a bracket
2
a
which protrudes downwardly from a lower portion of the seat back
2
, and the seat back
2
is pivotally supported to the upper step portion f
2
by causing the bracket
2
a
to be pivotally supported to the upper step portion f
2
by means of a supporting shaft
2
b
. The seat cushion
1
has a curved arm
1
b
extending rearward from a rear portion of the seat cushion
1
. The seat cushion
1
pivotally supported to the seat back
2
by causing the curved arm
1
b
to be supported to a lower portion of a side of the seat back
2
by means of a supporting shaft
1
c
. The seat cushion
1
can be jump up or rotated around the supporting shaft
1
c.
The leg portion
1
a
has a lower section
1
a
′ and is adapted to be received at the lower section
1
a
′ thereof in a receiving port of an inertia locking system
3
mounted on the lower step portion f
1
of the vehicle body floor F.
Referring now to
FIG. 8
, the conventional inertia locking system
3
will be discussed hereinafter in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention. The inertia locking system
3
comprises a pedestal
31
mounted on the lower step portion f
1
of the vehicle body floor F, the pedestal
31
having a substantially U-shaped receiving port
30
for receiving the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
, and a latch
32
formed into a substantially inverted J-shape for catching the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
. The receiving port
30
is open toward an obliquely upper direction and adapted to receive the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
. The latch
32
has a lower base portion
32
a
, a curved upper portion, and a curved surface between the lower base portion
32
a
and the upper portion
32
b
. The latch
32
is pivotally supported at the lower base portion
32
a
thereof to a side portion of the pedestal
31
by a pivot pin
33
with the curved upper portion
32
b
thereof facing the receiving port
30
. The inertia locking system
3
further includes a torsion coil spring
34
biasing the latch
32
rearward away from the receiving port
30
.
A coiled portion
34
a
of the torsion coil spring
34
is mounted on an axis of the pivot pin
33
. One end
34
b
of the torsion coil spring
34
is fastened to a projection piece
35
which projects laterally from the side portion of the pedestal
31
at a position which is close to a rear side of the pivot pin
33
. The other end of
34
c
of the torsion coil spring
34
is fastened to a projection piece
36
protruding laterally at a side portion of the latch
32
which is above the pivot pin
33
.
In the inertia locking system, the latch is always biased rearward away from the receiving port
30
of the pedestal
31
by the torsion coil spring
34
in order to dissolve a troublesome operation which a passenger is forced to carry out when releasing the seat from a locked condition of the seat by the latch system
3
. The seat is adapted to be engaged through the leg portion
1
a
thereof with the inertia locking system in a condition as shown in FIG.
8
. That is, the seat is engaged with the inertia locking system in a state where the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
is received in the receiving port
30
. In this condition, the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
is not gripped and held by the latch
32
yet. When car-collision or the like occurs, an inertia force will be applied to the latch
32
and the latch
32
is operated against an action of the torsion coil spring
34
by the inertia force in such a manner that a position of center of gravity which corresponds to a fastening point of the spring end
34
c
is moved to a front side. Thus, the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
which is received in the receiving port
30
of the pedestal
31
can be gripped and held by the latch
32
.
However, in the seat which can be jumped up as described above, since an offset exists between a center of rotation about the supporting shaft
1
c
(
FIG. 7
) and the center of gravity of the seat cushion
1
, a rotational force which tends to cause the seat cushion
1
to be jumped up is generated at a time when a sitting person does not exist due to the car-collision or the like. In the inertia locking system, since the latch
32
is operated after the inertia force is generated due to the collision or the like, considerable time is required until the latch
32
engages with the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
of the seat cushion
1
, so that there is a possibility that the lower section
1
a
′ of the leg portion
1
a
will not be gripped and held by the latch
32
.
Further, since the latch
32
is always biased rearward away from the back of the receiving port
30
of the pedestal
31
by the torsion coil spring
34
, if any foreign materials and the like adhere around an axis of the pivot pin
33
, the passenger can not know in advance that the latch
32
is in a non-rotatable state due to the foreign materials and the like.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an inertia locking system which can securely lock a vehicle seat relative to a body floor of a vehicle by a simple operation. It is another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible seat in which, when car-collision or the like accidentally occurs, a seat cushion can be securely prevented from being jumped.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inertia locking system for locking a vehicle seat relative to a body floor of a vehicle, which is adapted to be arranged on the body floor of the vehicle. The vehicle seat includes a seat back supported to the vehicle body floor and a seat cushion pivotally supported to the seat back. The seat cushion has a substantially C-shaped leg portion attached thereto with an opening thereof facing upwardly. The leg portion has a lower section. The inertia locking system comprises a pedestal adapted to be mounted on the body floor and having a substantially U-shaped receiving port, the receiving port having a first obliquely, upward facing opening for receiving the lower section of the leg portion, a substantially U-shaped clip having a second opening for receiving the lower section of said leg portion, the clip being received in the first opening of the receiving port and attached to the pedestal with the second opening thereof facing obliquely and upwardly, the second opening of the clip having a width slightly narrower than a diameter of an axis of the lower section of the leg portion, a latch formed into a substantially inverted J-shape, the latch having a lower base portion, a curved upper portion, and a jaw portion protruding from the lower base portion, the latch being pivotally supported at the lower base portion thereof to a side portion of the pedestal by a pivot pin with the upper portion
Kaneko Yoshinobu
Yoshino Yoshihiko
Blankenship Gregory
Dann Dorfman Herrell and Skillman, P.C.
Gordon Stephen T.
TS Tech Co. Ltd.
LandOfFree
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