In a seat sliding device, an upper rail slidably moveable relative a lower rail interlocks with the lower rail upon movement of the upper rail away from the lower rail. An upwardly inclined portion and a downwardly inclined portion can be provided on the upper rail and the lower rails, respectively. A spacer element is provided between the upwardly inclined portion of the upper rail and a corner of the lower rail. The inclined portions and the spacer elements interlock upon movement of the upper rail away from the lower rail. Due to sufficient area being provided between the interlocking portions, separation of the upper rail from the lower rail can be prevented.
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1. A seat sliding device comprising:
a lower rail including a base portion having first opposite ends for securing to a floor of a vehicle body, a pair of wall portions extending substantially perpendicularly from said second opposite ends of said base portion, and a pair of upper portions projecting from respective wall portions parallel to said base portion and opposing one another, each said upper portion and wall portion defining a corner portion; an upper rail including means for securing said upper rail to a seat, the upper rail having a longitudinal portion disposed between said upper portions of said lower rail, a horizontal portion extending from said longitudinal portion in opposite directions substantially parallel to said base portion of said lower rail, and a pair of inclined portions projecting from said horizontal portion at an acute angle relative to said horizontal portion toward said longitudinal portion; roller means disposed between said base portion of said lower rail and said horizontal portion of said upper rail, for movement of said upper rail relative said lower rail; and a spacing element having a predetermined radius interposed between said inclined portion of said upper rail and said corner portion of said lower rail.
8. A seat sliding device comprising:
a lower rail including a base portion having first opposite ends for securing to a floor of a vehicle body, a pair of wall portions extending substantially perpendicularly from said second opposite ends of said base portion, and a pair of upper portions projecting from respective wall portions parallel to said base portion and opposing one another, each said upper portion and wall portion defining a corner portion; an upper rail including means for securing said upper rail to a seat, the upper rail having a longitudinal portion disposed between said upper portions of said lower rail, a horizontal portion extending from said longitudinal portion in opposite directions substantially parallel to said base portion of said lower rail, and a pair of inclined portions projecting from said horizontal portion at an acute angle relative to said horizontal portion toward said longitudinal portion; roller means disposed between said base portion of said lower rail and said horizontal portion of said upper rail, for movement of said upper rail relative to said lower rail; and interlocking means, including a spacing element interposed between said inclined portion of said upper rail and said corner portion of said lower rail, for causing said upper portion of said lower rail to deform into interlocking engagement with said inclined portion of said upper rail at times when an upward force is applied via said spacing element to said corner portion by said inclined portion of said upper rail.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat sliding device and in particular to a seat sliding device for use in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a conventional seat sliding device, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 62-238136, includes a pair of laterally spaced lower rails both of which are secured to a floor of a vehicle body and a pair of upper rails slidably mounted on the corresponding lower rails. During vehicle collision, a large upward force is applied to the upper rail. In order to prevent separation of each upper rail from the lower rail upon application of such a force, a bent portion is formed on each rail. The bent portions of opposing upper and lower rails are interlocked with each other, thereby preventing separation of the upper rail from the lower rail.
However, if the opposing portions of the upper and lower rail forming the interlocking portion have an insufficient area, the interlocking function may still fail when an unexpected large force is applied to the upper rail, thereby separating the upper rail from the lower rail.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seat sliding device without the aforementioned drawback.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a seat sliding device in which an interlocking portion of sufficient area can be provided between an upper rail and a lower rail, thereby performing an effective interlocking operation.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
In order to accomplish the above objects, a seat sliding device is provided including an upper rail movable along a lower rail, the upper rail being interlocked with the lower rail upon upward movement of the upper rail, the seat sliding device including an upwardly inclined portion provided with the upper rail, and a downwardly inclined portion provided with the lower rail disposed
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The upper rail 30 includes a pair of affixed vertical plates 31, a horizontal portion 32 projecting outwardly from each base plate 31 in parallel relationship with the base portion 21 of said lower rail, and an upwardly inclined portion 33 extending inwardly from a distal end of the horizontal portion 32, in parallel relationship with the downwardly inclined portion 24. The entire upwardly inclined portion 33, having a width of about 8 mm, overlaps with the entire downwardly inclined portion 24, which also has a width of about 8 mm. It should be noted that notwithstanding the foregoing widths of the inclined portion 24, or the upwardly inclined portion 33, can be shortened so long as the inclined portions continue to interlock. The interlocking feature provides that the upwardly inclined portion 33 of the upper rail 30 and the downwardly inclined portion 24 of the lower rail 20 will continue to oppose each other, despite application of a strong force to the upper rail 30 via the belt-anchor as a result of vehicle collision. Thus, separation of the upper rail 30 from the lower rail 20 can be prevented despite movement of the upper rail 30, because of the larger area of engagement between the upper and lower rails, which was not the case with the conventional engagement.
As previously mentioned, the plurality of rollers 4 are interposed between the base portion 21 of the lower rail 20 and both horizontal portions 32 of the upper rail 30 for movement of the upper rail. In order to properly position the upper rail 30 relative to the lower rail 20, a plurality of spacing elements are used, for example balls 11, each of which is held by a bracket 12. The bracket 12 allows independent movement of each ball 11 from a corresponding roller 4. The ball 11 is positioned between the upwardly inclined portion 33 of the upper rail 30 and a corner defined by the intersection of the wall portion 22 and the inner projected portion 23 of the lower rail 20. Application of force to the upper rail 30 in the vertical direction results in a stronger engagement of the upwardly inclined portion 33 of the upper rail 30 with the corner 25 of the lower rail 20, due to the pressure applied to ball 11. Thus, the interlocking function between the upper rail 30 and the lower rail 20 can be increased.
It is further noted that each upwardly inclined portion 33 of the upper rail 30 moves upwardly upon upward movement of the upper rail. The resulting movement of the upwardly inclined portion 33 is prevented by the balls 11. In other words, the balls 11 act as a means for enhancing the interlocking function between the upper rail 30 and the lower rail 20. In addition, each corner 25 is formed having an arcuate configuration and radius for receiving the ball 11 smoothly.
Additional modifications and advantages will readily occur to one skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is, therefore, not limited to the specific details and representative apparatus shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the applicant's invention.
Yamada, Yukifumi, Terada, Takami, Hibino, Keiichi
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| 7195303, | Feb 24 2004 | Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha | Seat sliding device for vehicle |
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