MULTIPLE-POSITION LOCK FOR VEHICLE BACKSEATS

Abstract: This is a lock with a release device and a lock-in mechanism. The mechanism consists of a coplanar latch (6) and trigger (8) on a base plate (9). They are activated by a release device (16), moved by springs (13, 5) and connected by a guide rod (14). There are three different trigger positions - closed, preparation for closure and preparation to move from one locking position to another.

Description: This invention refers to a lock that allows to anchor a car rear seat to the car bodywork in different positions, so that the rear seat's back can be regulated according to the user's wishes. An example of such a lock is that of EP-A-0760308 (corresponding to the preamble of claim 1), in which an arm locked to the car bodywork engages inside the mechanism that is housed at the rear of the seat, halfway up the back of the seat. The arm may change its position with respect to the mechanism. In practice this mechanism has a number of drawbacks: Since the anchoring point is halfway up the back of the seat, this means that there is a momentum around the seat back in the event of a collision in which the load from the car boot is thrust against the back of the seat, and therefore the seat must be reinforced in view of the torque created on the anchoring point. The activating device for the mechanism is located at the upper part of the seat, i.e. at some distance from the mechanism, thus increasing the complexity and cost of system assembly. The arm connected to the car bodywork which locks on to the mechanism could be dangerous in the event of a crash, since it could touch the passenger's body . There is a limit to the length of the anchoring arm imposed by the various stresses which must be borne by the system, and there is also a limit to the number of lock-in points. The present invention proposes a rear seat lock that meets the following objectives: It should overcome the inconveniences of the aforementioned existing technique. It should be located on the upper part of the seat back, thus reducing the torque generated by loads on the seat back. It should integrate the engagement device with the lock mechanism. Any kind of opening device must be able to be used. There should be no limitation as to the number of seat positions. It should be simple to assemble, using a relatively low-cost mechanism. To meet these objectives, the invention features a mechanism that is located on the upper part of the back of the rear seat, and that is integrated with the opening system. The opening system is activated by an opening controller, which can be a bar, a lever, a button or a pull bar. The mechanism consists of a linked latch and trigger mounted on a base plate. The mechanism is activated inside a casing, which covers all components to prevent any contact with other external features or with the vehicle passengers. The latch and the trigger both rotate on rivets (7, 4) secured to the base plate. The rivets (7, 4) include springs to limit the movement of the parts. The latch and trigger are interconnected by a guide rod. More precisely, the connection on the trigger's side is established between the rod and a circular cut-out on the trigger. The latch is activated by the release device, which can be connected to a lever, if this were the means to be used to activate the device, or to a short rod connecting the latch and a lever, button or pull device, for example. The rivet on which the latch rotates is connected to a latch-spring which allows the latch to move radially to the position of closure. The latch-spring is fastened to the latch itself and to the base plate. The latch is in charge of freeing the trigger, i.e. allowing it to move and carry out its function. Both the latch and the trigger are provided with pairs of surfaces along their sides that correspond to the open-trigger and closed-trigger positions. There is no surface contact in the open-trigger situation, when the trigger is in the position of allowing the movement to another lock-in point. The trigger has a U-shaped recess designed to house each projection in the car bodywork associated to each seat control position. The rivet that connects the trigger to the base plate is connected to a trigger-spring which allows the trigger to rotate towards the open-trigger position. This spring is fastened to the aforementioned rivet and to a rubber stop present on another rivet on the base plate. This rubber stop also cushions vibrations and allows the lock to anchor itself. Besides, it restricts the anticlockwise circular movement of the trigger by inhibiting a small flange on the trigger. When the opening mechanism is released, the rod connecting the latch and the trigger allows the trigger to return to the home position where the mechanism is ready to lock in. As mentioned above, the latch and the trigger feature geometric shapes along their sides, generally circular, for the home positions of the trigger, i.e. when the trigger is prepared for lock-in, and for the lock-in process, i.e. when the trigger has positioned itself over a given projection in the car bodywork, and engages the projection. The base plate on which the latch, trigger, and rubber stop rivets are mounted includes another stop to limit the latch movement. The purpose of this additional stop is to prevent any relative movement between the latch and the trigger in the trigger's closed position in the event of excessive strain caused by movements of loads in the boot. The functions of the latch and trigger springs are as follows: The function of the trigger spring is to allow the trigger to rotate to its movement position, where the trigger is able to move from one bodywork lock-in point to another. The function of the latch spring is to allow the latch to rotate to the device's position of closure. In the position in which the back of the seat is engaged with a projection on the car bodywork, the opening control is closed on the upper section of the seat, and the rod connected to this control is located in its highest position. Clockwise movement of the latch is restricted by the stop on the base plate, and the latch-spring rests on the base plate projection. A rounded section on the side of the latch makes surface contact with a section of the trigger, and the guide rod is fastened to the latch and to the anticlockwise end of the trigger's circular cut-out. The trigger recess faces downwards to engage the bodywork projection, and the trigger-spring makes contact with the rubber stop connected to the rivet at some distance from the centre of the trigger. The trigger's side projection is also at some distance from the rubber stop, and the trigger itself makes lateral contact with the rubber stop. In order to disengage this interconnection, the opening procedure is carried out. The connecting rod moves down, forcing the latch to rotate in the anticlockwise direction. Due to this rotating movement, the guide rod connecting the latch and the trigger forces the trigger to rotate in the anticlockwise direction. The trigger recess is now inclined, so when the seat is pushed forward the bodywork projection may be disconnected from the recess. During rotation of the latch and the trigger, surface contact along their sides is maintained by means of geometric coincidence of a further two areas on these sides in both parts. In this position, the seat back may be rotated and folded forward. To move the seat forward from the folded position to any other bodywork projection fastening position, the opening procedure is repeated to a second position, and the connection rod again moves down to make the latch rotate in the anticlockwise direction. This rotating movement makes the latch lose surface contact with the trigger. The trigger spring therefore turns the trigger recess almost horizontal, and thus in this position the latch completely passes by the various bodywork projections and the back of the seat may be moved to any of these positions. In this position, the trigger rotation is limited by the contact of a projection in the trigger with the rubber stop in the base plate. With the trigger in this situation of movement, when the required lock-in position has been selected the lever returned to the home position. When the release device moves down, its rod makes the latch rotate in the clockwise direction. The rod connection between latch and trigger then forces the trigger clockwise until it is positioned at an incline. The trigger entrance is tapered to easily engage the projection selected to position the seat back. In this regard we wish to mention that the trigger has a rubber support attached to it, and connects with a rubber stop which prevents vibrations. Furthermore, the trigger entrance which connects with each fastening projection is provided with a supporting device that includes a rubber stop for the trigger, and that prevents vibrations as it interferes with vehicle fastenings. All the aforementioned details as well as other details of the invention are shown in much more detail and clarity on the attached drawings, which set out the following: Figures 1 to 8 show various sequences of the operation of the mechanism, where the different positions of the mechanism can be observed. Figure 9 shows the mechanism in the closed position. Figure 10 shows the mechanism in the home position. Figure 11 shows the mechanism moving from one lock-in point to another during selection of the exact location of the back of the seat. With regard to Figure 1, we should first state that in this position the back of the seat (17) is anchored at one of the bodywork points (18), with the trigger (8) engaging the lock-in point. The passenger area is located at the left of the figure and the car boot is located to the right. In order to change the position of the seat back (17), the opening mechanism (16) is activated in the direction of arrow (A), pulling the seat in the direction of arrow (B). Thus, the assembly moves to the position shown in Figure 2, where the opening mechanism (pull bar) has moved upward and the trigger (8) has moved from the previous position to that shown in the figure, turned in the anticlockwise direction and with the back of the seat leaned to a forward position. From this point, the back of the seat can be placed in the fully-folded horizontal position, if desired. From any of the folded positions selected, the seat back can return to the locked position by pushing it in the direction of arrow (D) in Figure 3, where the trigger (8) for example reaches position (18) as shown in Figure 4, which is extremely similar to the locked position shown in Figure 1. With the back of the seat (17) in the locked position through Figures 4 and 5, moving the control device to position (16') frees the trigger (8) from its projection (18), and the seat back may be folded down. If the control device (16) is then moved to position (16") in Figure 6, the trigger (8) again rotates in the anticlockwise direction and positions itself to allow the seat back to move, for example, from a lock-in position (18) to another lock-in position (19). When the approach of the trigger (8) in Figure 7 takes place, the assembly is ready to engage the second bodywork projection (19). Next, when the seat back (17) is pushed in the direction of arrow (D) the situation shown in Figure 8 is reached. These sequences are determined by the mechanism itself, which is shown more clearly in Figures 9, 10 and 11. Figure 9 shows the assembly in the closed position, with the latch (6) connected to the activation mechanism (16) by the rod (10). The latch rotates on a central rivet (7) which features a spring (13) that rests on a projection (12) of the base plate (9). Clockwise movement of the latch is restricted by the stop (11) on the base plate (9), as shown. The trigger (8) is assembled on the base plate (9) and rotates over the rivet (4), on which a spring (5) unwinds, fixed to the trigger (8) and a rubber stop (2) connected to a rivet (3). The trigger (8) has a circular cut-out (15) through which the guide rod (14) connected to the latch (6) moves along. The trigger (8) has external geometry with a position (25) making contact with the rubber stop (2) in this closed position. Also, the surfaces (20, 24) of the latch (6) and the trigger (8) make contact with their corresponding geometries. The trigger (8) also has a side flange (22), at some distance from the rubber stop (2) in the current position, a recess (23) to engage bodywork projections (18, 19), and a rubber stop (26) on the recess (23) to prevent interference with vehicle fastenings. To release the assembly from the locked position and to move it to the home position represented in Figure 10, the procedure is as follows: Lever (16) is activated, and latch (6) rotates to free itself from the trigger (8). The trigger's spring (5) then forces the latch (6) to rotate anticlockwise to the position shown in Figure 10. These movements break surface contact (20, 24) between latch (6) and trigger (8). The trigger (8) rotates and the latch (6) is then returned to its original position by the spring (13) resting on the projection (12). Again, another surface contact is made between area (20) on the latch (6) and area (21) on the trigger (8). When the mechanism is activated (16), the guide rod (14) secured to the latch (6) and the trigger cut-out (15) (here, at the cut-out (15)) forces the trigger to move back to the home position, Figure 10, where the assembly is ready to lock in. From this home position, Figure 10, when the assembly must be secured to lock back the seat, the chosen projection (18, 19) is approached, the seat is then pushed back and the assembly returns to the position shown in Figure 9. To position the mechanism to allow it to move from one locking position to another, the lever (16) is activated again, with this mechanism in the position shown in Figure 10 and moving towards the position shown in Figure 11. Here the latch (6) moves in an anticlockwise direction to disengage surface contact (20, 21) with the trigger (8), which also rotates anticlockwise until the projection (22) makes contact with the rubber stop (2) and the back of the seat is able to pass by the locking positions (18, 19) until the desired locking position is reached. When the seat is in the required position, the lever (16") is again used to return to the position shown in Figure 11. The latch (6) rotates anticlockwise, allowing the trigger (8) to rotate clockwise to the home position shown in Figure 10, ready to lock. The multi-position rear seat lock preferably locks on to the upper part of the seat, with the opening device integrated in the mechanism, and being this opening device of any type - a lever, a bar, a button, a pull bar, etc. - and connected to a suitable casing and to the activation rod, forming an assembly with all integrated mechanisms.

Claims: Multi-positional rear seat lock, with a mechanism housed in the back of the seat (17) that acts in combination with one or more locking positions (18, 19, etc.) on the car bodywork in order to allow the seat to rest in different positions, with any kind of release device (16) that provides rotation and is connected to a casing and an activation rod (10), said multi-positional rear seat lock comprising a base plate (9), a latch (6) and a trigger (8) and being characterized in that : the base plate (9) is connected to the casing, where the base plate (9) is provided with three rivets (7, 3, 4) and two stops (11, 12) on one of its sides, the latch (6) is a flat part that is connected to and rotates upon the first (7) of said three rivets (7, 3, 4), and that is connected to the activation rod (10), with a spring (13) on the first rivet (7) one of whose (13) free ends is locked into a stop (12) of the base plate (9), where the latch (6) is provided with a position able to make contact with a stop (11) on the base plate (9), a rounded side section (20), and a housing for the end of a guide rod (14) that is directed towards the trigger, the trigger (8) is a flat part, coplanar to latch (6), that is connected to and rotates upon the second (4) of said three rivets (7,3,4), where the second rivet (4) is connected to a spring (5), the end of which is connected to the other, third (3) of said three rivets (7,3,4,) on the base plate (9), where the third rivet (3) features a rubber stop (2) to block the rotation of the trigger by blocking two projections (25, 22) of the trigger (8), where the trigger (8) includes two rounded side sections (21, 24) whose geometry engages with that of the side (20) of the latch (6), a side U-recess (23) for the bodywork locking positions (18, 19, etc.) , and a cut-out (15) concentric with the second rivet (4) to which the other end of the guide rod (14) connected to the latch (6) is connected, a rubber support device (26) is housed in the recess (23) of the trigger (8), the trigger (8) has three different positions, a first locking position, where the recess (23) engages with the car bodywork locking positions (18, 19, etc.), where the projection (25) makes contact with the rubber stop (2) restricting the trigger's clockwise rotation, and where the surfaces (20, 24) of the latch (6) and trigger (8) make surface contact and the latch rests on stop (11) of the base plate (9), a second home position where the trigger recess (23) does not lock on, where there is surface contact (20, 21) between trigger (8) and latch (6), and the latch again rests on the projection (11), and a third position for movement from one locking position to another, where anticlockwise rotation of the trigger (8) is inhibited by contact between its projection (22) and the rubber stop (2), where no surface contact exists between the trigger (8) and the latch (6) or between the latch (6) and the projection (11) on the base plate (9). Multi-positional rear seat lock, according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the mechanism's assembly is located on the upper section of the seat (17). Multi-positional rear seat lock, according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the mechanism's assembly is integrated with the release device (16). Multi-positional rear seat lock, according to claim 1 to 3, which is characterized in that on engagement of the release device (16), the guide rod (14) connecting the latch (6) and the trigger (8) allows the trigger (8) to move back to the home position ready to lock in. Multi-positional rear seat lock, as per claim 1, whereby the release device (16) may be of any type - lever, bar, button or pull bar.

Inventors: VERMEULEN MAURICIO, VERMEULEN, MAURICIO
Applicants: ANTOLIN GRUPO ING SA, GRUPO ANTOLIN-INGENIERIA, S.A.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B60N2
IPC codes: B60N2