Chairs and seats – Movable bottom – Bottom and back movable as a unit
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-25
2004-08-10
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Movable bottom
Bottom and back movable as a unit
C297S331000, C297S378130, C297S335000, C296S065130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06773068
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a slide type foldable seat in which a seat is placed so that a position thereof can be moved in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body by a slide rail, and is placed so that the seat can be kicked up from a rear portion side to an upper side in a folded state of a seat back.
BACKGROUND ART
In general, a seat for a motor vehicle is constructed by assembling a seat back in a seat cushion in a foldable manner by a reclining mechanism. Further, the seat is placed on a vehicle body floor by a slide rail assembled by an upper rail mounted to a lower portion side of the seat cushion and a lower rail slidably supporting the upper rail, so as to move the position of the seat in the longitudinal direction within the vehicle.
In the seat for the motor vehicle, in particular, in a rear seat mounted in a station wagon or the like, in order to secure a receiving space for loads and the like, it is planned that the seat is structured such as to be capable of being kicked up from the rear portion side to the upper side in the folded state of the seat back.
In order to structure the seat such as to be capable of being kicked up, a striker lock may be assembled so as to be capable of being opened in accordance with a lever operation of a passenger, by axially supporting and pivoting a front end side of the lower rail to a stand leg portion standing up from the vehicle body floor by a supporting shaft and locking and mounting a rear end side of the lower rail to a striker standing up from the vehicle body floor by the striker lock arranged in a lower portion close to a rear end of the rail.
However, in the case that the seat is structured such as to be capable of being kicked up only by unlocking the striker lock, since a head rest generally protrudes forward from the seat cushion in the folded state of the seat back, it is assumed that the head rest is brought into contact with a back portion of a front side seat or with a floor surface of the vehicle body floor so as to be stopped in the middle of kicking up.
In order to avoid the matter, the seat should be kicked up by unlocking the striker lock after sliding the seat to a predetermined position in a rear side within the vehicle and moving so that the head rest is positioned in the rear side within the vehicle rather than a front end side of the lower rail axially supported and pivoted to the leg portion standing up from the vehicle body floor in the folded state of the seat back.
However, when the structure is made such that the seat can be kicked up only by unlocking the striker lock in the manner mentioned above, a step of at first sliding the seat to the predetermined position in the rear side within the vehicle and thereafter unlocking the striker lock so as to kick up the seat is not always executed.
A slide lock is provided in the slide rail mentioned above. The slide lock is assembled by an operation lever provided in a front side lower portion of the seat cushion, and lock plates positioned in respective side portions of the upper rail.
The lock plate is positioned along a longitudinal direction of the upper rail, is axially supported in a portion close to a front end by a supporting shaft inserted and fixed to a plate surface of the upper rail, and is mounted so as to be always energized upward by a spring around the supporting shaft corresponding to a supporting point in a portion close to a rear end. A retainer piece in which a plurality of receiving holes are open to the plate surface is provided in the lock plate so as to protrude to a side portion from a lower end edge. A plurality of protruding teeth engaging with the receiving holes of the retainer piece are provided in the lower rail by notching a lower end line of an inward bend flange in a concavo-convex shape toward a longitudinal direction.
Since a plurality of protruding teeth and the receiving holes of the retainer piece are engaged with each other, the slide lock locks the upper rail by the lower rail so as not to slide, and the structure is made such that the rear end side of the lock plate swings downward around the supporting shaft corresponding to the supporting point against the spring so as to unlock, when pulling up the operation lever.
Since the slide lock is provided, it is assumed that the seat in the folded state slides down together with the kicking-up in the case that the passenger grips by mistake the operation lever of the slide lock by a hand and unlocks the slide lock at a time of kicking up the seat.
An object of the present invention is to provide a slide type foldable seat structured such that the seat can be securely kicked up from a rear portion side to an upper side in a folded state of a seat back without generating a matter that a head rest is brought into contact with a back portion of a front side seat or with a floor surface of a vehicle body floor so as to be stopped in the middle of kicking up, by mechanically inducing a step of at first sliding the seat to a predetermined position in a rear side within the vehicle and thereafter unlocking a striker lock.
Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a slide type foldable seat structured such that a slide lock can be kept in a locked state in which an unlocking operation can not be executed even when a passenger grips by mistake an operation lever of a slide lock, and a seat in a folded state can be kicked up with keeping a slide position in a rear side within the vehicle.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a slide type foldable seat comprising:
a slide rail assembled by an upper rail mounted to a lower portion side of a seat cushion and a lower rail slidably supporting the upper rail;
a slide lock in which a front end side of the lower rail is axially supported and pivoted to a stand leg portion standing up from a vehicle body floor around a supporting shaft, thereafter a rear end side is locked and mounted to a striker standing up from the vehicle body floor by a striker lock provided in a lower portion close to a rear end of the rail, and the upper rail is locked to the lower rail;
an operation lever unlocking the slide lock;
an operation lever placed so as to move a position of the seat in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body by the slide rail, and unlocking the striker lock; and
the supporting shaft axially supporting and pivoting the front end side of the lower rail;
the seat being placed so as to be kicked up from a rear portion side in a folded state of the seat back to an upper side,
wherein a switching mechanism making it impossible to unlock the striker lock by the operation lever when the seat is kept in a seated position, and making it possible to unlock he striker lock by the operation lever when the seat is moved to a predetermined rear position is assembled in the operation lever.
In the case that the switching mechanism is provided, since the switching mechanism can not be switched to a mechanism operable by the lever operation when the seat is only folded at the seated position in the front side within the vehicle, the striker lock is not unlocked even when the passenger operates the switching mechanism by means of lever, so that it is impossible to kick up a whole of the seat.
On the contrary, when sliding the seat to a predetermined position in the rear side within the vehicle, the switching mechanism is switched to the mechanism operable by the lever operation. Accordingly, since the passenger operates the switching mechanism by means of lever, whereby the striker lock is unlocked, it is possible to kick up the whole of the seat from the rear end side to the upper side. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the matter that the head rest is brought into contact with the back portion of the front side seat or brought into contact with the floor surface of the vehicle body floor so as to be stopped in the middle of the kicking-up.
The switching mechanism is structured such that a placing plate corresponding to a base mounted and fixed to a lower por
Cuomo Peter M.
Dann Dorfman Herrell and Skillman, P.C.
Garrett Erika
TS Tech Co. Ltd.
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