Closure fasteners – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2002-04-16
Schwartz, Christopher P. (Department: 3613)
Closure fasteners
Miscellaneous
C292S275000, C248S118000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06371533
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a pop-up mechanism that is well-suitably used as a height-adjusting mechanism of an arm rest, and the like, which is incorporated in an arm rest constructed on a center console box of an automobile or an arm rest furnished in a rear seat. More specifically, it relates to a pop-up mechanism in which an ascending and descending body is attached to be capable of rotation to at least a pair of flip-flop members at front and back provided to be able to rotate on a base body to thereby constitute a link mechanism, and the above flip-flop members are rotated to raise and lower the above ascending and descending body.
From the past, it has been a practice to provide a center console box (a), such as shown in
FIG. 13
, between the driver and front passenger seats, and the like. Most recently, it has been a practice to use a center console box (a) as an arm rest by providing on the cover (b) of this center console box (a) an ascending and descending body (not illustrated in
FIG. 13
) that is raised and lowered by a button operation, attaching an arm rest (e) to this ascending and descending body, and raising this arm rest (e) using the above ascending and descending body.
In such a console box operating as an arm rest, as a pop-up mechanism that raises and lowers the above ascending and descending body, there is a mechanism in the past shown in
FIGS. 14-16
. That is, this pop-up mechanism constitutes a link mechanism with a cover (b) of the console box (a) as a base body, flip-flop or collapsible members (c, d) attached at a specified distance away from each other on that cover (b) so as to be capable of flipping up and down, and ascending and descending body (f) with the arm rest (e) linked on the upper ends of these flip-flop members (c, d) so as to be capable of rotation. Torsion springs (h) are disposed between the above two flip-flop members (c, d) and the base parts (g) of the flip-flop members (c, d) fixed to the cover (b) so as to force both flip-flop members (c,d) in the upright direction. Also, a long plate-shaped lock piece (i) for locking in the folded state with the flip-flop members (c, d) turned down (state in
FIG. 14
) and in the pop-up state with flip-flop members (c, d) standing upright (state in
FIG. 15
) is attached to the above ascending and descending body (f) so as to be capable of sliding forward and backward (to the left and right in the drawing). The lock piece is urged forward by a coil spring (j).
This pop-up mechanism, when folded with both flip-flop members (c, d) turned down on the cover (b) in opposition to the force of the above torsion springs (h) as shown in
FIG. 14
, is locked in the folded state in opposition to the force of the above torsion springs (h) with a hook-shaped tip of a lock stud (k) projecting on the upper surface of cover (b) coupling with a lock hole (m) formed on the above lock piece (i). At this time, the above lock piece (i) becomes in a state where it is positioned at the limit of the forward (right side in the drawing) movement by the force of the above coil spring (j), and a lock nub or projection (n) sticking out on the front end is inserted into a somewhat rectangular fan-shaped push-in cavity (o) formed on the tip of the forward flip-flop member (c).
When the arm rest (e) is used by raising the ascending and descending body (f) from this state, a lock release (s) extending integrally from the front end of the above lock piece (i) and protruding from the front end of the above arm rest (e) is pressed (p
1
). Thus, as shown in FIG.
16
(A), the above lock piece (i) slides backward (left side in the drawing), and the coupling state of the edge of the above lock hole (m) provided on that lock piece (i) with the above lock stud (k) is released, so that the locked state is released. By this, both flip-flop members (c, d) are rotated toward the upright direction by the force of torsion springs (h), and the ascending and descending body (f) is raised by the operation of the link mechanism. As shown in FIG.
16
(B), by releasing the above pressing force (p
1
), the lock nub (n) of the lock piece (i) having been moved forward (right side in the drawing) by the force of the above coil spring (j) is pressed backward inside the push-in cavity (o) by the rotational movement of the flip-flop member (c), and again the lock piece (i) slides backward. Also, at the point when the flip-flop member (c) was rotated to the upright state, it comes to a state where the above lock nub (n) is aligned with a check cavity (r) formed inside the upper part of the flip-flop member (c), and as shown in
FIG. 15
, the lock piece (i) again is moved forward (right side in the drawing) by the force of the coil spring (j), and the lock nub (n) is inserted into the check cavity (r) such that the two are coupled. Thus, it is locked in the pop-up state with both flip-flop members (c, d) standing upright.
Furthermore, when the ascending and descending body (f) is lowered from this pop-up state and is returned to the folded-up state in
FIG. 14
, again, the lock release (s) is pressed (p
2
) such that the above lock piece (i) is slid backward (left side in the drawing) as shown in FIG.
16
(C). By this, the above lock nub (n) provided on that lock piece (i) comes out from the check cavity (r) of the flip-flop member (c), and the locked state is released. The above ascending and descending body (f) is pressed downward in this state while both flip-flop members (c, d) are rotated backward by the operation of the link mechanism. As shown in FIG.
16
(D), by the release of the above pressing force (p
2
), the tip of the above lock stud (k) is made to meet with a tapered part formed on the lower side of the back edge of the lock hole (m) of the lock piece (i) which had been moved to the limit of the forward movement (right side in the drawing). In this state, the ascending and descending body (f) is further pressed (p
3
) so as to be pushed down, whereby the lock piece (i) is slid backward by the operation of the above tapered part and the lock stud (k) is inserted into the lock hole (m), upon which the lock piece (i) again is slid forward by the force of the coil spring (j), and as shown in
FIG. 14
, the lock stud (k) and lock hole (m) are coupled, and they are locked in the folded state.
Thus, with this pop-up mechanism, the arm rest (e) attached to the cover (b) of the center console box (a) can be used well in an automobile by pressing the lock release (s) to cause the ascending and descending body (f) to rise, and after use, it can be folded by pressing the lock release (s) to release the locked state and pressing the ascending and descending body (f) down.
However, because this convention pop-up mechanism was constituted such that all the load on the ascending and descending body (f) is supported by the above flip-flop members (c, d), during the pop-up state when used as an arm rest, it is necessary that the above flip-flop members (c, d) be put into a vertical state which is most superior in load-bearing capability. Because of this, there is a drawback that the range of raising of the ascending and descending body (f) and the range of the forward-backward distance during the pop-up state are necessarily linked, and these can not be set separately.
That is, there are various positions and heights of the center console boxes of automobiles according to the vehicle type, and in order to use the cover of this center console box comfortably as an arm rest, it is necessary to set the range of raising and the range of forward-backward movement in the pop-up state to the optimum ranges according to the vehicle type. There are cases according to the vehicle type such that it is sought to make the range of raising greater and the range of forward-backward movement smaller, and conversely it is sought to make the range of raising smaller and range of forward-backward movement greater.
However, with the above pop-up mechanism in the past, because it is necessary to make the flip-flop m
Kaensaka & Takeuchi
Nifco Inc.
Williams Thomas J.
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