Supports – Stand – Horizontally movable support surface
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-03
2001-02-27
King, Anita M. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Stand
Horizontally movable support surface
C248S430000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06193203
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat sliding apparatus for a vehicle seat in which a seat main body is capable of moving a front-and-rear direction, an more specifically relates to a structure for mounting an operation lever to a lock plate.
2. Description of Related Art
In such a kind of a seat sliding apparatus, a vicinity of a base portion of a lock plate is mounted to side surfaces of a pair of right and left upper rails fixed to a seat cushion side so that the lock plate can be pivoted about a shaft. The lock plate is set so as to be pivoted by an operation of an operation lever mounted to a front side of the lock plate.
When lock holes formed on a free end of the lock plate is engaged with lock gear teeth formed on a pair of right and left lower rails fixed to a car body, the seat main body is prevented from moving the front-and-rear direction of the seat main body, and the seat main body can be moved by releasing the engagement.
Previously, the operation lever of such seat sliding apparatus was provided to one lock plate, and it was connected with the other lock plate via a wire or a rod so that the right and left lock plates were linked. However, recently a loop-type operation lever, which is constituted so that one rod is formed into a substantially U shape and its both ends are directly fixed to the lock plates, has been adopted in order to reduce the number of parts and reduce the costs and improve operability.
However, such a kind of operation lever cannot be mounted in a state that the right and left rails are not located, namely, in the state that a seat cushion or the like is mounted to the seat sliding apparatus. For this reason, after the operation lever was mounted to the right and left rails, the seat cushion or the like should be mounted, so a characteristic of the mounting was deteriorated.
Therefore, a structure that the operation lever is inserted from the forward side so as to be capable of being mounted has been suggested in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-295164 (1996) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-11780 (1997). However, there arises a problem that a structure of a lock lever for inserting and fixing the operation lever is complicated and thus the characteristic of the mounting is deteriorated.
In addition, since such an operation lever is rigid, when upper rails fall sideways at a time of a side-on collision, the operation lever is pried, and the lock lever is pivoted due to this prying so that the lock is possibly released.
Furthermore, since such an operation lever is provided in a forward-lower position of the seat cushion, there is a fear of the heels of a person in the seat kicking up the operation lever at the time of a back-on collision. For this reason, the operation lever is conventionally provided in an inner position of the seat cushion so that heels do not touch with the operation lever. As a result, there arises a problem that the operability is deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been achieved in order to solve the above problems.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide a seat sliding apparatus which is capable of simplifying a structure of mounting an operation lever to a lock plate and reducing the cost and eliminating an unstable state.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat sliding apparatus in which even when a stress is applied to an upper rail on a belt anchor mounted side, a lock condition of the seat is not released, in addition to a structure in which mounting an operation lever to a lock plate can be simplified and the cost can be reduced, and an unstable state can be eliminated.
To achieve the object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seat sliding apparatus, comprising: a pair of right and left upper rails to be slidably guided in a pair of right and left lower rails, the upper rails being to be provided with a seat main body; a pair of lock plates mounted respectively to the pair of right and left upper rails in such a manner such that vicinities of base portions of the lock plates are pivoted via a shaft so that the lock plates are capable of swinging around the shaft; lock holes formed on a lower portion of a free end of the lock plates to engage with lock gear teeth formed on the pair of right and left lower rails; a lock spring biasing the lock plates to swing so that the lock holes are engaged with lock gear teeth, whereby a movement of the seat main body in a front-and-rear direction is prevented, and whereby the seat main body can be moved in the front-and-rear direction by releasing the engagement; and an operation lever mounted to the pair of lock plates so that the lock plates can be operated simultaneously by operating the operation lever, wherein the operation lever is formed into a substantially U shape and each end of the operation lever is connected with the lock plate mounted to the upper rail on a belt anchor mounted side and with the other lock plate mounted to the other upper rail on an opposite side to the belt anchor mounted side; and the operation lever at an end of the opposite side to the belt anchor mounted side is provided with a phase angle absorption means.
According to the seat sliding apparatus of the first aspect, since the phase angle absorption means is provided at the end of both the ends of the operation lever on the opposite side to the belt anchor mounted side connected with the lock plates, when the upper rail on the belt anchor mounted side is slanted at the time of a collision or the like, the lock plates and the operation lever can move according to the upper rails. As a result, the operation lever is prevented from being pried, and lock releasing on the belt anchor mounted side can be prevented.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, as it depends from the first aspect, the lock plates have two operation lever mounting sections which are coaxially formed with mounting holes respectively; the ends of the operation lever made of a pipe member are inserted into the two mounting holes; a plate-shaped member made of a spring material, which is formed into a substantially bow shape viewed from the front, is inserted into the pipe of the operation lever in the longitudinal direction in a manner such that an elastic force is applied to the plate-shaped material; ends of the plate-shaped member are engaged with two holes arranged on the ends of the operation lever in the longitudinal direction; said one hole formed on the operation lever is a slit in the longitudinal direction; one portion of the plate-shaped member is projected outward; a fixing concave section, which is engaged with an engagement section of the operation lever mounting sections, is formed on one portion of the projected plate-shaped member; a mounting tapered section is formed on the plate-shaped member which is slanted to an insertion direction where the fixing concave section is inserted into the mounting hole; a clearance in an up-and-down direction is provided between the mounting holes of the lock plates and the ends of the operation lever; and the fixing concave section of the plate-shaped member projected from the operation lever is positioned so that its bottom section is in an outer side from an outer peripheral surface of the operation lever so that an elastic force is applied to the engagement sections of the operation lever mounting sections.
According to the seat sliding apparatus of the second aspect, the operation lever can be mounted to the lock plates only by inserting the ends of the operation lever into the two mounting holes of the lock plates, and the clearance in the up-and-down direction provided between the mounting holes of the lock plates and the ends of the operation lever functions as the phase angle absorption means. For these reasons, it is not necessary to provide a phase angle absorption mechanism separately, and thus the structure can be simplified and the mounting characterist
Ikegaya Isao
Matsumoto Tadashi
DeLuca Jerome
Fujikiko Kabushiki Kaisha
King Anita M.
Stockton Kilpatrick
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