Supports – Stand – Horizontally movable support surface
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-29
2002-11-12
White, Rodney B. (Department: 3636)
Supports
Stand
Horizontally movable support surface
C248S430000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06478280
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a seat sliding apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly to a resin slider interposed between an upper rail and a lower rail of a seat sliding apparatus, and an assembled structure of resin sliders and upper and lower rails.
A seat sliding apparatus includes a pair of left and right lower rails secured to a vehicle body through supporting legs, a pair of left and right upper rails engaged with the left and right lower rails, respectively, in such a slidable manner that the upper rail can slide on the lower rail along the longitudinal direction on each of the left and right sides. A vehicle seat is fixedly mounted on the upper rails. A slide lock mechanism is arranged to allow the upper rails to slide along the lower rails to adjust the seat to a desired position, and to lock the upper rails to secure the seat at the desired position.
There are various types of slide rail mechanisms having different cross sectional shapes and different rail engaging structures.
FIGS. 7 and 8
show a widely used type of earlier technology. A lower rail
1
has a channel section, rollers
2
are disposed on the inner bottom of the lower rail
1
, and an upper rail
3
having a generally inverted-U section is placed on the rollers
2
in an inverted position.
Left and right resin sliders
4
are interposed between the upper and lower rails, to eliminate or reduce vibrations due to looseness, and noise due to metal-to-metal contact during vehicle movement or seat sliding operation, and to reduce the friction for smooth sliding motion. The lower rail
1
has left and right inward flanges
1
a
each having a downwardly bent edge. The upper rail
3
is placed between the left and right inward flanges
1
a
of the lower rail
1
. The upper rail
3
has left and right outward flanges
3
a
each having an upwardly bent edge. The resin sliders
4
are interposed between the inward flanges
1
a
of the lower rail
1
and the outward flanges
3
a
of the upper rail
3
. Each resin slider
4
is attached, at each of front and rear end portions, to the left or right downward edge of the inward flange
1
a
by engagement between an engaging hole
5
formed in the inward flange
1
a
and an engaging portion
7
formed in the resin slider
4
. Each engaging portion
7
has a hook portion
6
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To meet the demand for size reduction of the seat sliding apparatus, some resin sliders are so shaped as to have an asymmetrical cross section having unequal left and right halves. When, for example, the distance between each upright wall of the upper rail
3
and the adjacent downward edge of the lower rail is made smaller for size reduction, a resin slider can be made asymmetric to have a thin wall section on the inner side of the downward edge of the lower rail and a thick wall section on the outer side. In the case of such asymmetric resin sliders, the error of mistaking a resin slider for the right side for a resin slider for the left side can cause defects seriously affecting the sliding motion of an upper rail. When asymmetrical resin sliders of a single kind are used for the left and right sides, similar troubles can arise if the front and rear ends of a resin slider are placed oppositely by mistake. Once a resin slider is attached, removal of the resin slider is not possible without breaking its hook portion. Therefore, a setup error of a resin slider increases the production cost. Means for preventing mistaken setup, such as a projection or a tape on a resin slider for indicating the orientation by the sense of touch or sight would increase the production cost by the need for addition production steps. The use of resin sliders of two different kinds for the left side and the right side requires two different metal molds or dies for forming two different sliders.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a resin slider, and a seat sliding apparatus or mechanism including resin sliders which are designed to facilitate assembly process and preventing mistaken setup.
A seat sliding apparatus comprises at least one rail pair of first and second rails engaged with each other so that one is slidable on the other, and first and second resin sliders interposed between the first and second rails. Each of the first and second rails extends longitudinally from a first longitudinal rail end (such as a front or rear end) to a second longitudinal rail end (such as a rear or front end) along each other. One of the first and second rails is a lower rail to be fixed to a vehicle body, and the other is an upper rail to be fixed to a seat. The first rail comprises first and second side portions, such as flanges or edges, each extending along the first rail and each comprising first and second unequal engaging holes spaced from each other along the first rail. The first engaging hole is located in front of the second engaging hole in the first side portion whereas, in the second side portion, the second engaging hole is located in front of the first engaging hole.
The first and second resin sliders are attached, respectively, to first and second side portions of the first rail. Each of the first and second resin sliders comprises first and second unequal engaging portions spaced along the first rail, and engaged, respectively, with the first and second engaging holes of one of the first and second side portions. The first engaging portion in the first resin slider is located in front of the second engaging portion along the first rail whereas, in the second resin slider, the second engaging portion is located in front of the first engaging portion along the first rail.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4556186 (1985-12-01), Langmesser, Jr. et al.
patent: 4756503 (1988-07-01), Fujita
patent: 4811925 (1989-03-01), Fujita et al.
patent: 5407166 (1995-04-01), Pilarski
patent: 5447352 (1995-09-01), Ito et al.
patent: 5575449 (1996-11-01), Shinbori et al.
patent: 5641146 (1997-06-01), Hoshihara et al.
patent: 5741000 (1998-04-01), Goodbred
patent: 5746409 (1998-05-01), Rees
patent: 5765798 (1998-06-01), Isomura
patent: 5860319 (1999-01-01), Via
patent: 6089521 (2000-07-01), Tarasawa et al.
patent: 06278508 (1994-10-01), None
Foley & Lardner
Fuji-Kiko Co., Ltd.
White Rodney B.
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