GB2120540A

GB2120540A - Vehicle seats

Info

Publication number: GB2120540A
Application number: GB08310941A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans-Jurgen Berneking; Friedrich-Wilhelm Rabe; Horst Handierk
Original assignee: Rentrop Hubbert & Wagner
Current assignee: Rentrop Hubbert & Wagner
Priority date: 1982-05-07
Filing date: 1983-04-22
Publication date: 1983-12-07
Also published as: DE3217140A1; BR8302368A; ES279947U; SE8302439D0; DE3217140C2; JPH0225813B2; FR2526289A1; ZA833245B; GB2120540B; SE451982B; GB8310941D0; SE8302439L; NL8301283A; IT8385558A0; IT1175199B; ES279947Y; JPS58195508A; BE896534A; FR2526289B1

Abstract

A fitting assembly (3) for connecting together an already upholstered seat part (1) and back rest part (2) to produce a vehicle seat, includes two seat fitting parts (5) interconnected by a tube (7) and two back rest fitting parts (6) each connected to a respective seat fitting part. Each seat fitting part (5) includes a substantially rhombus-shaped plate (5a) with front and rear journals (8 and 9) which are directed towards an associated side member (4) of the seat frame. The seat frame is provided with recesses (10 and 11) in bearings 12, 13 for accommodating the journals (8 and 9) so that the seat fitting parts (5) may be positioned and locked to the inside faces of the side members (4) of the seat part by means of engagement of the journals in their respective recesses. The seat fitting parts (5) are locked by respective spring (15) urged levers (14) pivoted to the rear bearings (13) and bearing against the rear journals (9). Each back rest fitting part (6) is engaged into a bracket (17) on the backrest frame side member (16) and locked by a spring (23) urged lever (22). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle seats The present invention relates to seats, particularly for use in motor vehicles.

More specifically the invention relates to the fitting assembly by means of which the upholstered seat part and back rest are connected together.

In order to connect the ready-upholstered and trimmed seat part to the ready-upholstered back rest, the procedure in the past has been to use a push-in joint to connect a corresponding fitting part to the outside of each side face of the seat part. After establishing the connection of the fitting to the corresponding side face of the already completely upholstered seat part, the two fitting parts at either side require to be covered.

This involves the use of additional parts, working operations and thus additional expense. In order to avoid this disadvantage, it would be desirable for the fitting parts to be mounted on the inside face of the seat frame, away from the view of an onlooker. This would offer the advantage that subsequent covering of the two fitting parts would be unnecessary. However, establishing the connection between the two fittings and the inside faces of the side members of the seat frame does present difficulty. In any case no economically viable and simple solution of this problem could be found hitherto.

In order to establish a connection between the upholstered back rest and the usual two back rest fitting parts, it has long since been common practice to use push-in connections. The typical procedure is that the upholstered back rest has its two side members fitted onto the two upwardly projecting fitting pairs. In order to guarantee a firm grip of these parts, the side members are then screwed to the fitting parts. Finally, after the screwing process, the back of the back rest is covered. It will be easily realised that also this type of assembly is extremely involved and thus timeconsuming.

The present invention provides a vehicle seat comprising a seat frame having two spaced side members each having an inside face, a back rest frame having two spaced side members, and a fitting assembly comprising a respective seat fitting part adapted to be mounted on said inside face of each said side member of said seat frame, and a respective back rest fitting part adapted to be mounted to each said side member of said back rest frame, each seat fitting part comprising a plate substantially in the form of a rhombus which is adapted to lie adjacent the inside face of the associated side member, front and rear journals mounted to said plate and directed towards said inside face of said side member, said front journal being disposed substantially in a corner of the plate nearest to a front edge of the seat frame and the rear journal being disposed substantially in the diagonally opposite corner of said plate, and the inside face of each said side member being provided with two bearing parts each defining a respective recess, said bearing parts being positioned such that said recesses engage said front and rear journals to connect the fitting assembly to said seat frame.

The invention also provides a vehicle seat comprising a seat frame having spaced side members each having an inside face, a back rest frame having spaced side members, a respective seat fitting part comprising two spaced apart plates associated with each seat part side member, a tube interconnecting one plate of each said seat fitting part, a respective back rest fitting part associated with each back rest side member and mounted between the spaced plates of a respective one of said seat fitting parts, one plate of each seat fitting part being disposed adjacent the inside face of a respective side member of said seat frame, which plate is substantially in the shape of a rhombus and is provided with front and rear journals extending from said plate towards said side member, said journals being located in the regions of diagonally opposite corners of said rhombus-shaped plate, and each inside face of said side members is provided with bearings comprising recesses for the reception of said journals.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a vehicle seat; Fig. 2 shows on an enlarged scale a partial view of the side member of the seat frame and partial view of the associated fitting, illustration of the upholstering of the seat part being dispensed with for reasons of clarity; Fig. 3 shows a section taken on the line Ill-Ill in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a section taken on the line lV-IV in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 shows a partial view of the side member of the back rest and of the associated fitting part seat; and Fig. 6 shows a horizontal section taken on the line VI--VI in Fig. 5.

Fig. 1 of the drawings shows a motor vehicle seat which consists of a seat part 1, a back rest 2 and part of the fitting assembly 3. The drawings do not show the corresponding fitting parts of the assemblies which are parallel with and spaced from the fitting parts 3 at the other side of the seat part 1.

Details of the fitting assembly 3 are shown in Figs. 2 to 6. In Figs. 2 to 4 of the drawings, reference numeral 4 indicates one side member of the seat frame, the second side member of the seat frame which is parallel with and spaced from the side member 4 is not shown.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a seat fitting part which can in the manner described hereinafter be connected to the side member 4 of the seat frame.

The seat fitting part 5 consists of two spacedapart plates 5a, 5b (Fig. 4), each plate 5, Sb having substantially the form of a rhombus.

Mounted between these two plates 5a, 5b is a fitting part 6 associated with the back rest. One plate 5a of fitting part 5 is connected via a tube 7 to a corresponding, oppositely disposed plate of the other fitting part.

Front and rear journals 8, 9 are provided on the plate Sb which is adjacent the inside face of the side member 4 of the seat frame. These journals 8, 9 are directed towards the inside face of member 4. The front journal 8 is disposed substantially in the corner nearest the front edge of the seat while the rear journal 9 is disposed substantially in the diagonally opposite corner of the plate 5b. In the connection position in which the fitting part 5 is connected with the side member 4 of the seat frame, each journal 8, 9 engages a substantially jaw-shaped recess 10, 11 of a bearing 12, 13, disposed on the inside face of each side member, e.g. 4, of the seat frame. Instead of the journals 8, 9 bolts may be used for seating purposes and may extend between the two plates 5a, 5b.

The central line m1-m1 through the jaw-like recess 10 associated with the front journal 8 extends in a straight line. The central line m2-m2 through the jaw-like recess 11 associated with the rear journal 9 corresponds substantially to the path of an arc.

A locking member 14 is associated with the jaw-like recess 11 for the rear journal 9. This locking member 14 is constructed as a two-armed level pivotably mounted on the bearing 13. The arm directed away from the rear journal 9 subject to the action of a draw spring 1 5, the other end of which is attached to the side member 4 of the seat frame.

The connection between the fitting part 6 and an associated side member 16 of the back rest frame is in the form of a push-in connection. For this purpose, there is mounted on the side member 1 6 a bracket 1 7 which provides for a form-locking connection between the parts 6 and 1 6. Furthermore, abutment strips 1 9-21 are disposed on the side member 16.

Associated with each side member 1 6 of the back rest frame is a locking member to prevent unintentional separation of the side member 1 6 of the back rest frame from the fitting part 6. in the case of the embodiment shown in the drawings, this locking member consists of a two-armed locking member 22 pivotably mounted on the side member 1 6 and on one arm of which there is disposed a projection 22a. The other arm 22b of the locking member 22 is subject to the action of a draw spring 23. The projection 22a co-operates with a control edge 6a provided on the fitting part 6 associated with the side member 1 6 of the back rest frame so that, after the extreme position of the back rest relative to the two fitting parts 6 has been reached, locking of the back rest is guaranteed.

The individual parts of the seat are assembled as follows: First of all, attention must be drawn to the fact that, for assembly, the completely upholstered seat part is provided already trimmed with a covering, also the side face thereof is trimmed with a continuous covering. The same is true of the back rest of which the rear face is also covered, the covering taking the form of a plate or trim.

The two seat fitting parts 5 which are connected to each other via the tube 7 are so introduced between the two side members 4 of the seat frame, past the bearings 12, 13 which are disposed on either side, that the front journal 8 of the illustrated fitting part 5 comes to rest substantially in the region of the seat shown at the left-hand bottom corner of Fig. 2. Subsequently, the unit comprising the two fitting parts 5 and the connecting tube 7 is so pivoted in a clockwise direction until the front journal 8 engages into the jaw-like recess 10 and bears against the semicircular closed end of this recess 10. The jaw-like recess I now acts rather like a bearing for the journal 8.Then the two fitting parts 5 with the connecting tube 7 are pivoted in the opposite direction, or anti-clockwise, so that the rear journal 9 can be introduced into the jaw-like recess 1 The locking member 1 4 is entrained by the rear journal 9 against the force of the draw spring 1 5, in other words it is likewise pivoted in an anti-clockwise direction. Pivoting of the parts 5 and 7 in an anti-clockwise direction occurs until such time as the rear journal 9 is bearing against the semi-circular closed end of the jaw-like recess 11. In this position, the locking member 14 bears against the rear journal 9 and so ensures a connection which cannot be separated without using tools.It will be readily appreciated that the distances between the two bearings 12, 13 and the two journals 8, 9 must be so matched to one another that at the end of the aforedescribed movement of the parts 5 and 7, a locking effect is achieved such as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Positional matching of the aforementioned parts is a matter for a man skilled in the art and can, if necessary, be ascertained empirically.

In order to complete the seat, it is now only necessary for the back rest to be connected to the fitting parts 6. For this, the complete back rest is mounted on the two fitting parts 6, so that these latter engage into the respective brackets 1 7 on each side of the back rest frame. The abutments 1 9 to 21 facilitate this fitting-on process. During fitment, the projection 22a on the locking member 22 is pivoted from the front end of the control edge 6a first in a clockwise direction against the force of the drawing spring 23. After passing over the angle 6b in the control edge 6a, the locking member 22 which is subject to the tension of the draw spring 23 locks the fitting part 6 so that unintended separation thereof from the associated side member 1 6 of the back rest is impossible.

It will be appreciated that the above described vehicle seat provides an extremely simple and easily produced means whereby a secure connection of the fitting assembly to the upholstered seat and back rest parts, which is inexpensive and requires no special tools or skilled labour can be achieved. Moreover, there is no need to carry out further upholstering steps after the assembly has been completed. Therefore, the complete padding, upholstery and covering of all parts of the seat and back rest can be completed prior to assembly.

Moreover, the described method of connecting the back rest does away with any need for further screwing or other processes to secure the back rest to its fitting parts.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat comprising a seat frame having two spaced side members each having an inside face, a back rest frame having two spaced side members, and a fitting assembly comprising a respective seat fitting part adapted to be mounted on said inside face of each said side member of said seat frame, and a respective back rest fitting part adapted to be mounted to each said side member of said back rest frame, each seat fitting part comprising a plate substantially in the form of a rhombus which is adapted to lie adjacent the inside face of the associated side member, front and rear journals mounted to said plate and directed towards said inside face of said side member, said front journal being disposed substantially in a corner of the plate nearest to a front edge of the seat frame and the rear journal being disposed substantially in the diagonally opposite corner of said plate, and the inside face of each said side member being provided with two bearing parts each defining a respective recess, said bearing parts being positioned such that said recesses engage said front and rear journals to connect the fitting assembly to said seat frame.

2. A vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a respective locking member associated with each said recess for each said rear journal.

3. A vehicle seat as claimed in claim 2, in which each locking member is constructed as a twoarmed lever pivotally mounted on said bearing part for said rear journal, one arm of said lever being directed away from said rear journal and being biased by a spring.

4. A vehicle seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which a central line through each recess associated with each said rear journal has the form of an arc.

5. A vehicle seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which a central line through each recess associated with each front journal is a straight line.

6. A vehicle seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the back rest frame is adapted to be pushed onto said back-rest fitting parts, the seat further comprising a locking member associated with each side member of the back rest frame, said locking member being adapted to prevent unintentional separation of the side member from its associated fitting part.

7. A vehicle seat as claimed in claim 6, in which each back-rest locking member is a two-armed locking member pivotally mounted on said side member, one arm thereof having a projection and the other arm thereof being subject to the action of a spring, said projection being adapted to co-operate with a control edge of an associated back rest fitting part.

8. A vehicle seat comprising a seat frame having spaced side members each having an inside face, a back rest frame having spaced side members, a respective seat fitting part comprising two spaced apart plates associated with each seat part side member, a tube interconnecting one plate of each said seat fitting part, a respective back rest fitting part associated with each back rest side member and mounted between the spaced plates of a respective one of said seat fitting parts, one plate of each seat fitting part being disposed adjacent the inside face of a respective side member of said seat frame, which plate is substantially in the shape of a rhombus and is provided with front and rear journals extending from said plate towards said side member, said journals being located in the regions of diagonally opposite corners of said rhombusshaped plate, and each inside face of said side members is provided with bearings comprising recesses for the reception of said journals.

9. A vehicle seat substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.