Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Seats with body modifications
Patent
1992-05-15
1993-11-23
Pedder, Dennis H.
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Seats with body modifications
296 681, 297336, 2973441, 2485031, B60N 204
Patent
active
052637581
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned with seat locks on the floor of a vehicle.
In certain vehicles, the seats, particularly the back seats, can be displaced to provide a variable configuration of the vehicle. The seats must therefore be secured to the floor of the vehicle using detachable fastener components. The fastener components most widely used today are snap action mechanisms which are often time-consuming to use and which do not always comply with safety standards, particularly since these mechanisms are accessible to the occupant of the seat while he is riding in the vehicle, thereby allowing the occupant to be able to accidentally unlock his seat.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention aims to provide an improved seat lock compared to those existing to date. More particularly, it aims to achieve one of the following results: to construct a device having a small overall vertical dimension providing a reliable locking, yet which is easy to release; to construct a seat lock which cannot be easily released accidentally by the occupants of the vehicle; to provide a seat lock which can be released only when the vehicle is a situation not normally found when the vehicle is running.
For this purpose, the invention proposes a seat lock for a vehicle seat leg including a lock plate fitted with at least one recess for receiving the seat and at least one slide fitted with at least one open L-notch, guided in the lock plate to be able to be displaceable between a position where the open branch of the notch is facing the recess and frees a groove for a transversal finger of the leg and a locking position in which the closed branch of the notch is facing the recess and prohibits the finger from being released, mechanisms being provided to pull the slide toward the locking position or to secure it. The mechanisms for pulling the slide toward the locking position may consist of one or more return springs, such a device may be provided so that it cannot be easily released manually and cannot be released accidentally. This result may be achieved using a strong return spring, due to the impossibility of manually exerting on the slide a force separating its locking position or using other mechanisms.
The mechanisms for overcoming or compensating the action of the return spring may have very diverse designs. They may be constructed with an activator capable of exerting a force on the slide against that of the return spring. This activator may be an electromagnetic actuator or a pneumatic element. In the second case, the energy source may be provided by a depression to the suction of the motor or by the pressure produced by a side compressor.
The seat locking conditions will advantageously consist of opening a door of the vehicle. This door may, for example, be any door, or one of those which correspond to the row occupied by the seat to be unlocked (the back door of a passenger vehicle or of a commercial vehicle, for example).
In the case of an electric activator, the unlocking will, for example, be controlled by a door switch, when the contact key has been turned on.
In the case of a pneumatic activator, the unlocking will be controlled, for example, by the opening of a door, controlling the opening of a electrovalve the connecting activator and a depression source, such as a tank connected to the suction of the motor.
There is further provided a seat lock including a lock plate fitted with at least one recess for receiving a seat leg in which an element is displaceable by an activator from a leg locking position, toward which it is pushed back using return mechanisms and in which it prohibits the leg from leaving the recess, until an unlocking position is reached. The activator is only controlled when a condition is fulfilled. This condition normally only exists when the vehicle is stopped and may consist of opening a door.
The invention will be more clearly understood by reading the following description of a particular embodiment mode, provided as an example without limitation.
DESC
REFERENCES:
patent: 2815796 (1957-12-01), Lobanoff
patent: 3542325 (1970-11-01), Schwenk
patent: 4257647 (1981-03-01), Gianessi
patent: 4438969 (1984-03-01), Kamijo et al.
patent: 4770459 (1988-09-01), Nakaiwa et al.
patent: 4946216 (1990-08-01), Demick
Faligand Jacky
Legendre Dominique
Ozanic Valentin
Matra Automobile
Pedder Dennis H.
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