Headrest for vehicles

A headrest for vehicles which includes a stay, a bracket fixed to the headrest, a fixed link pivotally supported by the stay at one end thereof and pivotally supporting the bracket at other end thereof, an elongated hole provided in the bracket so as to guide the stay and to move the bracket, a pawl lever provided with a pawl portion, and a latch hole provided on the bracket whereby the inclination of the bracket is regulated by engaging the pawl portion of the pawl lever with the latch hole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a headrest, and more particularly to a 
headrest for vehicles. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In a conventional headrest for vehicles a regulating mechanism for 
forwardly and rearwardly moving a headrest or inclining the same is 
provided and includes a linkage or a guide mechanism and a locking 
mechanism so that the width of the headrest is obliged to be large and 
these mechanisms can not be installed in a backrest for a middle-sized car 
and a small-sized car. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved headrest for 
vehicles which obviates the aforementioned drawbacks of the described 
conventional headrest. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
headrest for vehicles which can be reliably moved and inclined. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved headrest 
for vehicles which is relatively simple and includes a minimum number of 
parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a headrest for 
vehicles, and reference numerals 11, 11 denote stays which are upwardly 
and downwardly movable within a seat backrest (not shown) for adjusting 
the height of the headrest 10. Respective ends of stays 11, 11 are 
inserted into the seat backrest (not shown) and respective opposite ends 
thereof are fixedly attached to both ends of fixed lever 12. 
Flange portions 13, 13 are mounted on both ends of fixed lever 12. Pins 
14,14 are fixed to respective ends of the flange portions 13, 13 and holes 
15, 15 are provided on respective opposite ends thereof. A reinforcing 
link member 16 includes a reinforcing portion 17 at the central portion 
thereof and link portions 18,18 at both ends thereof. Pins 19,19 are 
inserted into holes 20,20 provided on respective ends of the link portions 
18,18 of reinforcing link member 16 and also into the holes 15,15 of 
flange portions 13,13 of fixed lever 12, so that reinforcing link member 
16 is rotatable around the pins 19,19. Holes 21,21 are provided on 
respective opposite ends of the link portions 18,18 of the reinforcing 
link member 16. 
Reference numerals 22,22 denote side brackets and inclined elongated holes 
23,23 are provided on respective ends thereof for allowing the insertion 
of the pins 14,14 fixed on the flange portions 13,13 of the fixed lever 12 
and holes 24,24 are provided on respective opposite ends of the side 
brackets 22,22 for fixing both ends of the shaft 25. A latch hole or 
recessed portion 26 is formed on the central portion of one side bracket 
22 and is provided with a plurality of recessed portions 27. Respective 
opposite ends of the link portions 18,18 of the reinforcing link member 16 
are rotatable around the shaft 25. 
A guide link 28 is fixed to one link portion 18 of the reinforcing link 
member 16 and is extended into the reinforcing member 17 and a flange 
portion 29 is provided with an angled hole 30 at an inner end of the guide 
link 28. Angled hole 31 is formed on one link portion 18 of the 
reinforcing link member 16 and also at the portion of the link portion 18 
corresponding to the angled portion 30 of the guide link 28. 
Reference numeral 32 denotes a pawl lever disposed within the reinforcing 
portion 17 of the reinforcing link member 16. Pawl lever 32 includes a 
pawl portion 33 at one end thereof and a flange portion 34 at the other 
end thereof. Pawl portion 34 of the pawl lever 32 is engageable with one 
of the recessed portion 27 of latch hole 26 by penetrating the angled 
portion 30 of the guide link 28 and also the angled hole 31 of one link 
portion 18 of the reinforcing member 16. An operating knob 35 is fixed to 
one end of the pawl portion 33 of the pawl lever 32. 
Reference numeral 36 indicates a spring of which one end is engaged with a 
hole 37 provided in the flange portion 34 of the pawl lever 32 and other 
end thereof is engaged with a hole 38 of a projecting portion 39 formed in 
one link portion 18 of the reinforcing link member 16. Pawl portion 33 of 
the pawl lever 32 is continuously urged by the spring 36 so as to engage 
one portion of recessed portion 26 of the latch hole 27 of side bracket 
22. Reference numeral 40 indicates a spring of which one end is engaged 
with a hole 41 provided in a central portion of shaft 25 and the other end 
thereof is engaged with a hole 42 in a projecting portion 43 provided in a 
central portion of the fixed lever 12. Spring 40 continuously urges the 
reinforcing link member 16 so as to forwardly bias the side brackets 22,22 
and to forwardly incline the reinforcing link member 16 around the pin 
19,19 through shaft 25. 
The operation according to the invention is as follows: 
A solid line in FIG. 3 shows a state in which the headrest 10 is 
perpendicularly located against the seat backrest (not shown), however, in 
the case where an occupant wants to forwardly move and incline the 
headrest 10 from the solid line in FIG. 3, knob 35 is pressed in the 
inward direction of the reinforcing portion 17 of the reinforcing link 
member 16 against the biasing force of the spring 36. Accordingly, pawl 
portion 33 of the pawl lever 32 is disengaged from the recessed portion 27 
of latch hole 26, and reinforcing link member 16 is forwardly (in a 
counter-clockwise direction) inclined around pins 19,19 through shaft 25 
by the biasing force of the spring 40 and is also moved forwardly along 
pins 14,14 inserted into elongated holes 23,23 of brackets 22,22. At this 
time, if the occupant concludes that the headrest 10 is in a desired 
forwardly inclined position, the pressing force on the knob 35 is 
released. In this case, the pawl portion 33 of the pawl lever 32 is 
engaged with the recessed portion 27 of the latch hole 26 of one side 
bracket 22, thereby obtaining the desired forwardly inclined position of 
the headrest 10. 
In the case where the occupant wants to return the headrest 10 from the 
state of the chain and dotted line to the state of the solid line, knob 35 
is pressed in the inward direction of the reinforcing portion 17 of the 
reinforcing link member 16 against the biasing force of spring 36. 
Accordingly, the pawl portion 33 of pawl lever 32 is disengaged from 
recessed portion 27 of latch hole 26. Although the reinforcing link member 
16 tends to forwardly (in a counter-clockwise direction) incline around 
the pins 19,19 through the shaft 25 by the urging force of the spring 40, 
the pressing force is manually or by the head portion of the occupant 
acting against the headrest 10. The side bracket 22 is thereby rearwardly 
moved along pin 14,14 inserted into the elongated hole 23 while the 
reinforcing link member 16 is reawardly (in a clockwise direction) 
inclined around pins 19,19 through shaft 25 by the biasing force of spring 
40. At this time, if the occupant releases the pressing force on knob 35, 
pawl portion 33 of the pawl lever 32 is engaged with the recessed portion 
27 of the latch hole 26 of one side bracket 22 by the biasing force of 
spring 36, thereby obtaining the desired vertical portion of the headrest 
10. 
By the foregoing, there has been disclosed a preferred form of headrest for 
vehicles constructed in accordance with the present invention. It will be 
appreciated that various additions, substitutions, modifications and 
omissions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the 
invention.