Chairs and seats – Bottom or back with means to alter contour – Providing support for lower back region
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-25
2003-02-18
Strimbu, Gregory J. (Department: 3634)
Chairs and seats
Bottom or back with means to alter contour
Providing support for lower back region
C074S089390
Reexamination Certificate
active
06520580
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling lumbar support in relation to a car seat, and more particularly, to a lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat, for buffering impact on lumbar region of drivers at the time of backward collision, thereby improving workability of the steering wheel with less power and achieving comfortable driving with less fatigue.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, a driver's seat and its assistant seat are separated by means of a console box, which is interposed therebetween. These seats are designed considering comfort to properly support the users by absorbing vibration from the road and thereby reducing fatigue. Because the weight and cost of a seat rate high in relation to the whole car, a lightweight and economical design is required.
In addition, stationery ride comfort permits a driver to take a stable pose when seated in the car, while driving comfort, or dynamic ride comfort, considers the vibration characteristics of the seat while driving, and holding capability permits the driver to keep his stable pose when he turns or drives winding roads.
The construction of the driver's seat and the assistant seat is typically divided into a seat cushion, seat back and headrest. As for the seat cushion and the seat back, it has been widely known that a seat spring is mounted in a seat frame and a trim cover assembly covers the seat frame. A lumbar support may be fixed inside the seat frame of the seats. The lumbar support comprises a support plate for supporting the lumbar region of the passenger and a controller for controlling the support plate.
Because of an upright position of a human being, the man or woman receives much more pressure on the lower backbone than other vertebrae. This occasionally causes pains on the lower backbone or waist when sitting in chairs. The height of people varies during a day, that is, backbone disks swell up at night and compress in the daytime. If the disk as a basic frame of the backbone is not properly supported at the pelvic region, the spinal column, and the shoulder, the unhealthy backbone transformations may occur. The central nervous system serves to control basic life functions such as breathing, circulation of blood, heart pumping, fatigue, and concentration.
In this respect, the lumbar support may have a two-position controllable lever, which is exposed at one side, so that the driver may adjust its height in the seat frame with the lever.
FIG. 1
shows applicant's prior construction of the controlling apparatus of the lumbar support suggested in KR Patent Application 1998-12970 by this inventor. The controlling apparatus is designed for use with a lumbar support, such as shown in FIG.
2
.
This type of the controlling apparatus comprises: an adjustor
300
′ that includes a housing
310
′ in a hollow cylindrical shape and having a jaw
311
′ at one end; a sleeve
320
′ having a groove
321
′ in engagement with the jaw
311
′ of the housing
310
′ for rotation and having an internal thread
322
′; a body
330
′ on which a screw
331
′ is formed to engage with the internal thread
322
′ and having a groove
332
′ at the other end; handle
340
′ outwardly exposed, from the seat back, in engagement with the sleeve
320
′ for rotation; cable
350
′ made of the flexible material, connected to the housing
310
′ and one flange of the support plate; and release wire
360
′ protruded within the cable
350
′, one end having a fixation ball
361
′ suspended on the groove
332
′ of the body
330
′, the other end having a fixation pin
362
to suspend the other flange of the locking member
40
, such as those shown in FIG.
2
.
In case that the handle
340
′ is rotated in a desired direction, the sleeve
320
′ having the groove
324
′ corresponding to the protrusions
344
′ of the handle
340
′ is rotated in the same direction, and the body
330
′ in engagement with the internal screw thread
322
′ in the sleeve
320
′ moves relative to the sleeve
320
′. To prevent the movable body
330
′ from rotating with the sleeve
320
′, the movable body
330
′ has a guide protrusion
333
′, and the housing
310
′ has a longitudinal guide groove
313
′ for guiding the guide protrusion
333
′ to be moved forward and backward.
Within the housing
310
′, the fixation ball
361
′ inserted into the groove
332
′ of the body
330
′, allows the fixation ball
361
and release wire
360
′ to move integrally with the body
330
′. By moving the release wire
360
′ connected to the fixation ball
361
′, the spacing between both flanges
43
of the locking member
40
is varied to cause the support plate
10
to protrude or bend outward in the center part thereof.
Between the flange
43
and the end of the release wire
360
′, a spring is mounted as a tension means
400
to strongly pull the release wire
360
′ with use of elasticity of the spring and reverting power of the support plate
10
.
In applicant's prior lumbar support controlling apparatus, the release wire
360
′ is connected to the fixation ball
361
′ to be inserted to the groove
332
′. Spring elasticity of the tension means
400
and reverting power of the support plate
10
affect the body
330
′.
The screw
331
′ of the body
330
′ is in strong engagement with the internal screw thread
322
′ of the sleeve
320
′ each other. The motion of movement becomes slow due to frictional resistance of the protrusions and the groove.
This makes the handle
340
′ and the sleeve
320
′ to be actuated by strong forces, thereby making it difficult for the old or the feeble to readily handle the apparatus.
Due to lack of workability, the lumbar support does not fully satisfy the driver's need to reduce fatigue during extended travel by variably supporting the lumbar region of the driver and cannot adjust the precise lumbar support height depending on the driver's conditions and thus the driver feels discomfort in driving.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is derived in order to resolve the problems of the prior art and has an object to provide a lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat with less power to improve workability and convenience.
The present invention has the other object to provide an improved lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat for adjusting an angle of the lumbar support to facilitate comfort driving.
In order to achieve the above objects of the present invention, there is provided a controlling apparatus for a lumbar support. The lumbar support comprises a support plate
10
which may protrude or bend in the center part thereof by selective curving and which has locking holes
12
at both upper and lower end parts of its main body. The support plate has a plurality of support wings
11
extending outwardly therefrom. The support plate may be an elastic plate spring interposed between upper and lower seat frames
2
of a car seat
1
for supporting lumbar region of a driver. Locking member
40
is fixed to the seat frames
2
by the locking holes
12
at the upper and lower end parts of the support plate
10
. The housing
310
may be disposed within the seat
1
, in a hollow cylindrical shape and having a jaw
311
at one end thereof. The controlling apparatuscontrols the height of the support plate
10
for supporting the lumbar region by controlling the spacing between the upper and lower flanges
43
of the locking member
40
. A sleeve
320
has a groove
321
in engagement with the jaw
311
of the housing
310
and includes all internal screw thread
322
inside the sleeve
320
. A body
330
has a screw
331
in engagement with the internal screw thread
322
of the sleeve
320
and includes a groove
332
Madson & Metcalf
Strimbu Gregory J.
LandOfFree
Lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Lumbar support controlling apparatus for a car seat will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3175862