WO2007094011A2

WO2007094011A2 - Slider locking system with lock triggers

Info

Publication number: WO2007094011A2
Application number: PCT/IN2007/000053
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bijon Nag; Manyam Hemadri Reddy; Ramalingam Muthusamy; Kesavan Rajagopal; Vijay Karupannan
Original assignee: Ifb Automotive Private Ltd
Priority date: 2006-02-13
Filing date: 2007-02-12
Publication date: 2007-08-23
Also published as: WO2007094011A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a slider with a friction-free fore and apt movement and compact high strength locking mechanism for automotive seats. The slider assembly comprises hollow passages of upper and lower rails to provide a friction-free sliding movement of the slider, A slider lock mechanism with a lock trigger and a lock guide disposed to provide differential locking of the lower rails of the slider assembly.

Description

SLIDER LOCKING SYSTEM WITH LOCK TRIGGERS Technical field

The present invention relates to a trigger locking system. The invention also relates to an automotive seat locking system to lock a slider assembly in a desired position and preventing movement of slider assembly. The present invention more particularly relates to a slider with reduced operable sliding friction and with compact high strength locking mechanism,

Background of the invention

AU vehicles require a slider mechanism that provides fore and aft movement of the seat. The slider plays a major part in the ergonomic functions of the seats. The assembly also becomes safety critical because in the event of a collision the assembly should be able to withstand the impact forces that act on the seat and thus on the assembly, without any major deformations or breakage.

Typical seat sliders are complicated and expensive due to having more number of parts and thus making the assembly difficult to manufacture. Slider assemblies with typical internal locking systems have weak locking and also could lead to the lock failure upon being subjected to high stresses. And also typical bottom locking mechanisms are provided with single trigger which leads to weak lock and there is no fine travel adjustment. Generally automotive seat slider provides a sliding effect by virtue of rollers on which the upper rails are disposed resulting in rolling fiction causing wear and tear of the component as well as an increase in force necessary for achieving the sliding effect.

By comparing with a known slider locking mechanism, the present invention has many benefits. In conventional locking systems, generally single locking lever or trigger engaging with plurality of locking holes or slots formed in the lower rail are observed, whereas in the present invention, one or more lock triggers are arranged to slide vertically in each slider. Thus it gives compactness and high strength over any other slider locking system known in the art. This arrangement also aids in reduction of height of locking mechanism and thus resulting in reduction of the overall size and weight of the seat slider device.

Objects of the invention The primary object of the present invention is to provide a slider locking system with a friction less and compact sliding arrangement.

An object of the present invention is to provide at least two lock triggers for a slider locking system. Another object of the present invention is to provide a slider locking system with a robust internal locking mechanism means to provide strength and fool proof locking.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a slider locking system with a lock guide and lock trigger for effective differential locking. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide fine and minute movement of slider of the slider assembly in linear direction.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a seat slider with reduced part count.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a towel bar to control the locking and unlocking mechanism of the slider assembly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat slider assembly for automotive seat with reduced operable sliding friction and high strength slider locking means.

Further object of the present invention to provide a seat slider assembly with a provision for mounting the cushion on the assembly.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a seat slider assembly for automotive seats with all the above objects.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments as hereinafter, the invention is not limited to the embodiments. Various other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to a person skilled in the art or follow from routine experimentation.

Summary of the invention

In accordance to the above objects, the present invention provides a slider locking system, and it includes an upper rail, a lower rail and a locking assembly. The upper rail is placed in a manner to provide outwardly disposed hollow passages on both sides with a flange through out the length of the upper rail. The flange is disposed at the bottom end of the upper rail and is provided for achieving high strength, the upper rail also includes a plurality of spherical mass bodies disposed inside both the hollow passages. These mass bodies are disposed only at the far ends of the hollow passages and are separated by one or more spacer(s). A lower rail is relatively positioned to the upper rail, and the upper rail is movable relative to the lower rail in a longitudinal direction. The lower rail is provided with one or more rows of equally spaced slots along the longitudinal direction, a hollow projection is disposed on both sides of the lower rail. The locking assembly includes one or more lock trigger(s), a lock guide, plurality of lifting pins , a release lever, a bracket lever, and a support bracket One or more sliding lock trigger with suitable slot suspended from the lock guide is fixed on to the upper rail to lock and unlock the equally placed slots of the lower rail. The sliding lock triggers are actuated by a towel bar assembly, through the release lever and the bracket lever. The lifting pins are fixed with the release lever to facilitate unlocking, while the support bracket is riveted with the release lever to achieve pivotal movement. A return spring is disposed on the upper rail to bias the locking trigger and retain it in locked condition. Brief description of drawings

FIG. 1 depicts the seat assembly with the slider of the present invention showing the side view of the inner slider assembly.

FIG. 2 depicts the seat slider assembly with the locking system of the present invention showing the three dimensional view of the inner and outer slider assembly. FIG. 3 depicts a three-dimensional exploded view of all components of one of the slider with respect to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a front view, top view and perspective view of a lock guide block of the locking assembly with respect to one embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 5 shows a front view, top view and perspective view of a lock guide plate of the locking assembly with respect to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a front view and perspective view of lock trigger of the locking assembly with respect to various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional side view of the locking assembly of one of the sliders in its locking and unlocking mode with respect to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A & 8B shows a three-dimensional frontal view of the locking assembly in differential locking and unlocking conditions of lock triggers respectively.

FIG. 9 depicts a three-dimensional dorsal view of the locking assembly in differential locking and unlocking conditions of lock triggers respectively. FIG. 10 depicts two other options for unlocking mechanisms

FIG. 11 depicts a three-dimensional exploded view of all components of one of the slider with respect to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention provides a slider locking system with a friction-less sliding arrangement and a compact locking mechanism for automotive seats, which permits the fore and aft movement of the seat bottom.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are now described with reference to the accompanied diagrams.

Initially referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 and 2 shows a seat slider assembly for an automotive seat with locking system comprising an outer slider assembly (1) and an inner slider assembly (2). The outer and inner assemblies (1 & 2) mounted on the outer and inner side of the bottom of automotive seat (3) respectively. The automotive seat

(3) has a back-rest (4) and a seat-cushion (5).The inner and outer assemblies (1 & 2) are interconnected through the seat-cushion (5). The upper portion of the upper rail (8) is fixed to the seat-cushion (5) by means of mounting-brackets (22 & 23) (as shown in the FIG. 1).

Slider Assembly Construction:

In an embodiment of the present invention, the slider assembly (1) and (2) is connected to the floor panel through fasteners. The slider assembly (1) and (2) comprises pair of U-shaped lower rail (7) and a sliding pair of upper rail (8). An upper rail (8) and a lower rail (7) of said slider assembly forming a part of the outer assembly (1) disposed on the outer side of the seat and the other pair of upper and lower rail forming part of the inner assembly (2) disposed on the inner side of the automotive seat. By referring to FIG. 2, the locking / unlocking mechanism (27) of the present invention is disposed in center portion of rail assembly. Locking mechanism is disposed at bottom side of upper rails (8) and in the slots (7a) of lower rail (7). Unlocking mechanism is placed on the upper face of upper rail (8).

Locking system consists of a lock guide (11) and pair of lock trigger (12) pushed downwards by compression springs (13). The above arrangement is fitted in the bottom side of upper rail (8) by means of rivets (14) (as shown in FIG. 1)

By referring to FIG. 2, unlocking mechanism (in each slider) comprises at least two lifting pins (15) fixed with release lever (16).The center hole of release lever (16) riveted with support bracket (17) to have a pivotal movement. Support bracket base (17a) is placed on the upper rail (8) top face. One end of spring bracket lever (21) is inserted at support bracket spring hook portion (17b) and another end is hooked under the release lever spring end (16a).

A 'U' shaped towel bar (19) attached with a connecting rod (6) by which the locking mechanism is actuated manually. The end of the connecting rod (6) is attached with a bracket lever (18). The end relief of bracket (18a) is inserted into the bracket lever end (16b) of release lever (16).

In another embodiment of the present invention to operate the release lever (16), a pair of bracket lever (18) and both ends of the connecting rod (6) are inserted into the bracket lever end of the release lever (16b) and a hollow rivet(20) respectively (as shown in FIG. 2). FIG. 3 depicts a three-dimensional exploded view of all components of one of the slider with respect to one embodiment of the present invention. A U-shaped lower rail (7) is endowed with regularly placed slots (7a) sited on bottom faces of the lower rail (7), said U-shaped lower rail (7) extending along the length of the slider assembly. A reverse U-shaped sliding upper rail (8) is placed in a manner to provide outwardly disposed hollow passages on both the sides with flange through out the length of upper rail (8). The outer portion of the upper rail (8) is also provided with flanges having a profile that would strengthen the upper rail (8) and to improve the manufacturability of the upper rail components. By virtue of the hollow passages disposed on the lower and upper rails (7 & 8) the pullout strength of the upper rail (8) with respect to the lower rail (7) is improved.

The upper rails (8) are constrained to slide inside the lower rails (7). As a result of the integration of the hollow passages and outwardly disposed hollow passages, a pair of through passages extending from both top and bottom inner side from one end of the lower rail (7) to the other end is formed. The through-passages accommodate the sliding means to provide the fore and aft movement to the slider assembly (1) and (2) of the seat. By virtue of the presence of said sliding means the upper rails (8) can smoothly slide inside the lower rails (7). The sliding means includes a plurality of spherical mass bodies (9), preferably ball bearings, disposed inside the through passages. The spherical mass bodies (9) are restricted to the far ends of the through passages and are interspaced using a spacer (10) (as shown in FIG 3). The spacer (10) acts as a separator for the mass bodies (9). The spacer can be of any thermoplastic material depending on the kind of application. By referring to the connectivity of locking mechanism that is shown in FIG. 3, a pair of lock trigger (12) is placed inside the slots of lock guide (lla) wherein the lock guide (11) is of block type. The compression springs (13) is seated in the respective spring slots (12c) of the lock trigger. Triggers with lock guide assembly are attached with upper rail (8) from the bottom side by means of rivets (14), In another embodiment of the present invention, the hollow rivet (20) joins release lever (16) with support bracket (17), so that release lever has rotary motion by keeping the hollow rivet (20) as center. There is a pair of lifting pin fixed at trigger end of release lever (16c) to operate lock triggers (12). A spring bracket lever (21) is disposed to keep the towel bar at locking condition. One end of spring bracket lever (21) inserted into the hole at support bracket spring hook portion (17b) and another end is hooked at spring end of release lever (16a).

In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 11 an alternative arrangement for operating the present invention is illustrated. The connectivity of all the parts is shown in FIG. 11. Here the lock triggers (12) are sequentially arranged in between the lock guide (11) and upper rail (8), wherein the lock guide (11) is of plate type. The towel bar (6) with the bracket lever (18) is assembled with a plastic collar (44) which is inserted into a hinge bracket of connecting rod (43). This hinge bracket of connecting rod (43) is acting as a hinge for the towel bar (19) operation.

The hollow rivet (20) joins the release lever (16) with the support bracket (17). At the end of hollow rivet (20) a washer (45) holds the release lever (16) to create the rotary motion of the release lever (16).

FIG.4 shows a front view, top view and perspective view of a lock guide of the locking assembly wherein the lock guide is of block type with respect to one embodiment of the present invention. The lock guide (11) comprises a slot (l la) throughout its depth. From the top view it is observed that the slot (lla) is centralized. There are two holes (lib) that are provided in each side of the slot (lla). The material is reduced in the area of the lock guide (11) where the holes (l ib) are provided. In the material reduced area, the corners are filleted to achieve high strength during the application of load. The thickness of the lock trigger (12) can be varied to achieve the required strength.

FIG. 5 shows a front view, top view and three dimensional perspective view of a lock guide of the locking assembly wherein the lock guide is of plate type with respect to one embodiment of the present invention. It comprises a slot (l la) in flat portion. From the top view the slot (lla) is centralized. There are two holes (lib) provided at the ends along the length of the lock guide (11). The central portion of the plate is formed downwards to hold the lock triggers (12) and compression springs (13) in between the upper rail (8) and the lock guide (11). The formed portion gives additional strength during the application of load in longitudinal direction.

FIG.6 shows a front view and three dimensional perspective view of lock trigger of the locking assembly with respect to various embodiments of the present invention. Trigger is the inverted 'T' shaped component, which is used inside the slot (lla) of the lock guide (11). Trigger comprises a rectangle head portion (12a) and in center of that a slot (12b) is provided. The bottom portion of trigger is showing teeth potion (12c). In each side of the head portion (12a) a rectangular slot (12c) is provided for guiding the compression springs (13).

There is also a possibility to provide 2, 3 or 4 teeth as shown in FIG.6. FIG.6A shows a lock trigger with two teeth, 6C shows a lock trigger with four teeth; whereas 6B shows the option with three teeth is an optimized choice which gives high strength.

As a substitute arrangement for the present invention, instead of pair of lock trigger, three or more than three lock triggers (12) can be used. Thus at any point of time, one or two lock triggers engage with the slots (7a) provided in lower rail (7), to afford enough strength. Slider assembly Operation:

In another embodiment of the present invention, wherein by referring to Figures 7, 8 and 9 a robust internal differential locking means of the slider assembly (1) and (2) is explained. In the above Figures, FIG (A) and (B) depicts the view of locking and unlocking respectively.

The locking mechanism (27) is disposed in the upper rail (8), said locking mechanism includes a pair of lock trigger (12), constrained for upward and downward movement inside the lock guide (11), which is rigidly attached to the upper rail(8). The lock triggers (12) and the lock guide (11) are integrated in a manner wherein the lock triggers (12) acting as receptors are sandwiched between the slots (7a) at the area of contact to provide both locking and unlocking of the locking mechanism.

The lower rail (7) is provided with slots (7a) which are designed to mesh with the lock trigger (12) on bottom side of the lower rails (7) resulting in a robust locking mechanism.

To prevent slippage of the lock triggers (12) and to bias towards a locked condition two compression springs (13) per lock trigger (12) (as shown in FIG. 7) are disposed so that slots (7a) of the lower rail (7) remain meshed with the lock triggers (12).

The locking mechanism of the slider of the present invention is explained in more detail by referring to in FIG 8 & 9, wherein a three-dimensional view of the locking and unlocking mechanism is depicted. Under normal conditions i.e., when the slider assembly is locked, one or more lock trigger (12) engages at a time in three slots (7a) of the lower rails (7) thereby locking the slider (as shown in FIG.8 & 9). When the desired actuation of towel bar (19) occurs, all the lock triggers (12) disengage from the slots (7a) and slides within the lower rails (7). Subsequent to arrival at the desired sliding position on release of towel bar (19), lock trigger teeth (12d) engages with the slots (7a) to provide locking of the slider assembly. The lock triggers actuates by insertion of lever pins (7) in to the slots (12b) provided in the head potion (12a) of lock triggers. The release lever (16) is actuated by a bracket lever (18) by pivotal movement by means of the hinge in the center of hollow rivet (20) (as shown in FIG. 8).

A spring bracket lever (21) provides force to keep the towel bar (19) and lock triggers (12) in its position. Also it reduces rattling of towel bar (19) during locked condition. The spring bracket lever (21) is inserted in the spring hook portion of support bracket (17b) (as shown in FIG. 8) and another end of spring bracket lever (21) gives force on the spring end of the release lever (16a) against the operating force, The slider operation starts from the manual lifting of towel bar (19) at front end. Upon actuation of the towel bar (19) the locking mechanism of both the inner and outer assemblies act in tandem to either release or lock the assembly. Actuation of the towel bar (19) causes the release lever (16) to pivotally move about the hollow rivet (20) such that the lever pins (15) located in the lock triggers which project above the lower rail (15) and thus the lock trigger (12d) is unlatched from the slots (7a) of the lower rails (15). It allows fore and aft movement of the upper brackets and the seat assembly with respect to the lower rail (15). The lock triggers (12) are biased to the unlocked condition by means of compression spring (13). And the towel bar (19) is biased to the unlocked condition by means of spring bracket lever (21) which is located on the support bracket spring hook portion (17b). The seat can be locked at the desired predetermined position by releasing the towel bar (19) and thus the lock trigger (12) locks itself to the slots (7a) of the lower rail (15) which is guided through lock guide

(H). FIG. 10 shows two other options for unlocking the trigger based locking system of the present invention. FIG. 10 (A) illustrates an unlocking mechanism, in which locking mechanism is fastened by hexagonal bolt (40) and flange nut (41). Connecting rod ends are inserted into a bush (32) in a hinge bracket (33) at both ends. Towel bar shaft (28) is fixed at both ends of connecting rod which is inserted in to the slot in the release lever (16). Other end of release lever lifts lifting pins (15) by the operation of towel bar. Torsion spring (31) acts on the release lever to keep the towel bar and lock trigger in locked position at normal condition. A support rod (30) is fixed on the upper rail top face which acts as a hinge for release lever to have a rotary motion.

FIG. 10 (B) illustrates an unlocking mechanism, in which release lever (16) has a pivotal movement parallel to the towel bar to lift the lock triggers by means of lifting pins (15). A support rod (30) is fixed on the upper rail top face which acts as a hinge for release lever to have a rotary motion. A towel bar sleeve (35) inserted on the towel bar to reduce noise and friction with release lever (16). A torsion spring (31) acts on the release lever to keep the towel bar and lock trigger in locked position during normal condition.

The lower rail (7) is fixed with an end stopper plate (25) in front side as a stopper to restrict the fore movement of the upper brackets with respect to the lower rail (7). The lower rail (7) is fixed with end stopper (26) (as shown in FIG. 1) at rear end such that the travel movement of the upper rails in both the fore and aft direction is restricted when the outer profile of the lock guide (11) comes in contact with the end stoppers (25& 26).

The inner slider assembly (1) which comprises mirror image components of the outer slider assembly (2), except the towel bar (19) which acts as a common actuator.

The function of the upper rails (8) of the inner slider assembly (1) is similar to that of outer slider assembly (2). The inner slider assembly (1) and the outer slider assembly

(2) are coupled in such a way that both the sliders slide in tandem.

The slider of the present invention can also be modified to adapt to different mounting positions as required by the vehicle configuration by suitably adding brackets or by modifying the upper rail or suitably modifying the mounting brackets.

The slider of the present invention can also be modified to suit floor mounting positions of various automobiles by suitably modifying the floor mounting brackets or by varying the mounting position of the brackets. Advantages

1. The seat slider of the present invention is a robust internal fool-proof locking mechanism to withstand high stresses.

2. The slider of the present invention has less number of parts.

3. The slider assembly of the present invention has an internal locking system which provides for strength.

4. The seat slider of the present invention provides lock triggers that facilitates lock on the bottom side of the lower rail alternatively.

5. The present invention has the travel as an exemplary embodiment the pitch as 10 mm, but however this can be varied as per requirement. 6. The seat slider of the present invention also provides excess strength if the travel increment distance increases according to the travel requirement.

7. The seat slider of the present invention provides for ball bearings to slide.

8. The slider of the present invention also provides for towel bar concept to control the locking mechanism. 9. The slider of the present invention provides for user comfort by means of a lesser pitch and lever operation.

10. The slider of the present invention has the total height between upper rail and lower rail lesser than other sliders comparatively. 1. The slider of present invention gives very high strength of lock break down strength comparatively.

Claims

I/ We Claim:

1. A slider locking system comprising:

_ an upper rail, said upper rail is placed in a manner to provide outwardly disposed hollow passages on both sides with a flange through out the length of the upper rail, wherein the flange is disposed at the bottom end of the upper rail and is provided for achieving high strength, said upper rail includes a plurality of spherical mass bodies disposed inside both the hollow passages, said mass bodies disposed in the hollow passages separated by one or more spacer(s); _ a lower rail relatively positioned to the upper rail, wherein the upper rail is movable relative to the lower rail in a longitudinal direction; wherein the lower rail is provided with one or more rows of equally spaced slots along the longitudinal direction, a hollow projection is disposed on both sides of said lower rail; a locking assembly comprising one or more lock trigger(s), a lock guide, plurality of lifting pins , a release lever, a bracket lever, and a support bracket, wherein one or more sliding lock trigger with suitable slot suspended from the lock guide is fixed on to the upper rail to lock and unlock the equally placed slots of the lower rail, said sliding lock triggers actuated by a towel bar assembly, through said release lever and the bracket lever, said lifting pins are fixed with the release lever to facilitate unlocking, said support bracket is riveted with the release lever to achieve pivotal movement, a return spring is disposed on the upper rail to bias the locking trigger and retain it in locked condition.

2. The slider locking system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower rail is U- shaped and upper rail is reverse U-shaped.

3. The slider locking system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pins are fastened to the lock triggers having one or more U-shaped provisions designed to engage with the slots on bottom face of the lower rail.

4. The slider locking system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lock guide is a guide block or a guide plate.

5. A seat slider assembly for automotive seats, said seat slider assembly comprising:

_ a pair of lower rails relatively positioned to their corresponding upper rail, wherein each of the upper rail is movable relative to the corresponding lower rail in a longitudinal direction; wherein each of the lower rail is provided with one or more rows of equally spaced slots along the longitudinal direction, a hollow projection is disposed on both sides of each of said lower rail;

_ a pair of upper rails, wherein each upper rail is placed in a manner to provide outwardly disposed hollow passages on both sides with a flange through out the length of the upper rail, wherein the flange is disposed at the bottom end of the upper rails and is provided for achieving high strength, said upper rail is disposed in said hollow projections of lower rail to provide fore and aft movement to the seat, said upper rail includes a plurality of spherical mass bodies disposed inside both the hollow passages, said mass bodies disposed only in the hollow passages separated by one or more spacer(s);

_ a pair of locking assembly, wherein each locking assembly comprises one or more lock trigger(s), a lock guide, plurality of lifting pins, a release lever, a bracket lever, and a support bracket, wherein one or more sliding lock trigger with suitable slots suspended from the lock guide is fixed on to the upper rail to lock and unlock the equally placed slots of the lower rail, said sliding lock triggers actuated by a towel bar assembly, wherein a connecting rod is directly connected to both the locking assemblies and assists in unlocking mechanism, through said release lever and the bracket lever, said lifting pins are fixed with the release lever to facilitate unlocking, said support bracket is riveted with the release lever to achieve pivotal movement, a return spring is disposed on the upper rails to bias the locking trigger and retain it in locked condition.

6. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the lower rail is U- shaped and upper rail is reverse U-shaped.

7. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pins are fastened to the lock triggers having one or more U-shaped provisions designed to engage with the slots on bottom face of the lower rail.

8. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the lock guide is a guide block or a guide plate.

9. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein said slider is disposed on both sides of the seats.

10. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the unlocking mechanism of the pair of locking assembly is achieved by connecting the lifting pins to the release lever, further the release lever is connected to a towel bar shaft which is fixed to the connecting rod.

1 1. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the unlocking mechanism of the pair of locking assembly is achieved by connecting the lifting pins to the release lever, further the release lever is connected to a towel bar sleeve which is fixed to the connecting rod.

12. The seat slider assembly as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the connecting means between two sides of locking assemblies is also achieved by means of a cross shaft or a cable instead of a connecting rod.