Patent ID: 8387936

Claim:
A slide locking mechanism for a seat, comprising: an elongate lower rail fixed to a vehicle body and extending in a longitudinal direction; an elongate upper rail fixed to the seat and extending in the longitudinal direction; a locking member held by a first of the rails, the locking member having at least five locking pieces arranged along the longitudinal direction without gaps between the locking pieces in the longitudinal direction, the locking pieces having equal widths in the longitudinal direction and each of the locking pieces being movable independently of the other locking pieces; and a plurality of first latch holes and a plurality of second latch holes arranged alternately in a second of the rails at spaced apart positions along the longitudinal direction so that a distance in the longitudinal direction between adjacent ones of the latch holes is equal to the width of each of the locking pieces, each of the first latch holes having an opening width in the longitudinal direction that is equal to the width of each of the locking pieces so that a first of the locking pieces can be inserted releasably therein, each of the second latch holes having an opening width in the longitudinal direction that is twice the opening width of each of the first latch holes so that a second and a third of locking pieces simultaneously can be inserted releasably in one of the second latch holes while the first of the locking pieces is inserted releasably in one of the first latch holes for substantially preventing play between the upper and lower rails and distributing locking forces in both directions parallel to the upper and lower rails.