Chairs and seats – Upholstery cover detachably connected to frame
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-02
2003-09-02
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Upholstery cover detachably connected to frame
C297S218200, C297S218500, C297S452600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06612648
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trim cover attachment member of a vehicle seat, a manufacturing method thereof and a vehicle seat.
2. Description of Related Arts
In general, as shown in
FIG. 5
, a vehicle seat
10
or
20
comprises a seat cushion
101
or
201
, a seat back
12
provided at the rear side of the seat cushion
101
or
201
, or the like. As shown in the longitudinal sectional view in
FIG. 6
, the seat cushion
101
or
201
comprises a seat frame
2
, a pad member
3
, a trim cover
4
as a covering member which covers the pad member
3
, or the like. A J-shaped hook member
100
or
200
for attachment of the trim cover
4
(hereinafter, a hook member
100
or
200
), which is made of resin, is sewn on an end portion
4
a
of the trim cover
4
. The hook member
100
or
200
is engaged with an engaging portion
21
provided at the end portion of the seat frame
2
. Thereby, disposing of the end portion
4
a
of the trim cover
4
is performed.
Incidentally, in the hook member
100
shown in
FIG. 7
, a plurality of slits
111
,
111
. . . are provided at the portion corresponding to the corner portion
101
a
(c.f.
FIG. 5
) of the seat cushion
101
by punching, so as to form a slit portion
110
. The slits
111
,
111
. . . are provided with a length, for example, from the bottom end portion toward the mid-way of the upper end portion in the width direction of the hook member
100
. Thereby, when bending is carried out in order to make the slit portion
110
correspond to the corner portion
101
a
, the slit portion
110
can follow the shape of the corner portion
101
a.
Further, the hook member
200
is formed by a metallic core reinforcement
210
, and a covering member
220
made of flexible resin such as, vinyl chloride resin or the like. Although no slit is formed at the bottom end portion in the width direction of the hook member
200
, slits
211
,
211
. . . are formed at the upper end portion of the core reinforcement
210
. Therefore, it can follow the shape of the corner portion
201
a
when bending is performed.
Here, “width direction” is the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the hook members
100
and
200
, that is, the top-to-bottom direction in
FIGS. 7 and 8
.
However, when the hook member
100
shown in
FIG. 7
is covered with the trim cover
4
, since there are the slits
111
,
111
. . . at the bottom end portion in the width direction of the hook member
100
, for example, as shown in
FIG. 9
, the trim cover
4
is buried into the slits
111
,
111
. . . by tension of the trim cover
4
and concave portions
121
,
121
. . . are formed. Thereby, the surface of the trim cover
4
in the corner portion
101
a
is seen uneven, so that there is a problem that it is bad in appearance.
On the other hand, in the case of the hook member
200
shown in
FIG. 8
, since the whole core reinforcement
210
is covered with the covering member
220
, the surface of the trim cover
4
in the corner portion
201
a
of the seat cushion
20
is not seen uneven when the hook member
200
is covered with the trim cover
4
, so that there is no problem in appearance. However, since two materials, the core reinforcement
210
and the covering member
220
, are formed integrally, there is a problem that the cost becomes high compared with the above-mentioned hook member
100
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made in view of the above-described problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a trim cover attachment member of a vehicle seat, a manufacturing method thereof and a vehicle seat, which can improve quality of appearance in the corner portion of the vehicle seat when a trim cover attachment member of a vehicle seat is covered with a trim cover, and which can prevent cost rise.
In order to solve the above-described problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a trim cover attachment member of a vehicle seat, being attached to an end portion of a trim cover, and being engaged with an engaging portion provided at a seat frame of the vehicle seat, comprises: an attachment portion to which the end portion of the trim cover is attached; a hook portion having a hook on an upper end thereof, the hook being engaged with the engaging portion, the hook portion being disposed generally in opposite to the attachment portion; and a bottom portion for connecting a bottom end of the attachment portion and a bottom end of the hook portion. A cut-out portion is formed at a portion of the upper end of the hook portion, and an opening portion is formed at a portion of the attachment portion, in a portion of the trim cover attachment member corresponding to a corner portion of the vehicle seat.
Preferably, a plurality of the cut-out portions and the opening portions are provided in succession along a longitudinal direction of the trim cover attachment member. Further, the cut-out portion and the opening portion may be formed by punching.
More preferably, the attachment portion, the hook portion, and the bottom portion are formed integrally. Further, the bottom portion may be formed continuously along a longitudinal direction of the trim cover attachment member.
Moreover, a shape of the opening portion may be one of a round shape, a square shape, and a slit shape. In addition, the attachment portion, the hook portion, and the bottom portion are preferably made of synthetic resin.
According to the present invention, when bending is performed to the trim cover attachment member along the corner portion of the seat frame, the difference of volume of deformation caused by the difference between the radius of curvature of the attachment portion and the hook portion is absorbed by the cut-out portion and the opening portion which is formed at a portion of the attachment portion. Thereby, the followability of the shape of the corner portion can be maintained. Simultaneously, since the bottom portion is preferable to have a continuous shape, unevenness on the surface by tension of the trim cover cannot be seen when the trim cover attachment member is covered with the trim cover. Therefore, quality of appearance in the corner portion of the vehicle seat can be improved.
Furthermore, as in general, the cut-out portion and the opening portion may be formed by punching, manufacturing cost of the trim cover attachment member does not rise.
Further, in the present invention, since a plurality of the cut-out portions and the opening portions are preferably provided along the longitudinal direction of the trim cover attachment member, degree of freedom of radius of curvature of the corner portion to which the trim cover attachment member can follow becomes high. In other words, range of radius of curvature of the corner portion to which the trim cover attachment member may become wider.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a vehicle seat comprises: a trim cover; a seat frame having an engaging portion; and a trim cover attachment member being attached to an end portion of the trim cover, and being engaged with the engaging portion of the seat frame. The trim cover attachment member comprises: an attachment portion to which the end portion of the trim cover is attached; a hook portion having a hook on an upper end thereof, the hook being engaged with the engaging portion, the hook portion being disposed generally in opposite to the attachment portion; and a bottom portion for connecting a bottom end of the attachment portion and a bottom end of the hook portion. A cut-out portion is formed at a portion of the upper end of the hook portion, and an opening portion is formed at a portion of the attachment portion, in a portion of the trim cover attachment member corresponding to a corner portion of the vehicle seat.
Preferably, a plurality of the cut-out portions and the opening portions are provided in succession along a longitudinal direction of the trim cover attachment member. Further, the cut-out portion and the opening portion may be
Burnham Sarah C.
Cuomo Peter M.
TS Tech Co. Ltd.
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