VEHICLE SEAT WITH MONITOR

• US 20090261638A1
• Filed: 02/20/2007
• Published: 10/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Hattori, Tsunetoshi, Kuno, Satoru, Harada, Yuichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,637,565 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/217.300
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/38 for the head adjustable coupled to reclining or easy chairs A47C1/036
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/809 vertically slidable
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/818 with stepwise positioning
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/838 Tiltable
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/85 with continuous positioning
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/879 with additional features not related to head-rest positioning, e.g. heating or cooling devices or loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0235 of flat type, e.g. LCD
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0017 Head-rests
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0082 collapsible, e.g. for storing after use
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0085 with adjustment by rotation in their operational position

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat with a monitor, including: a seat back; a headrest including: a head receiving portion receiving a back of a head of a vehicle occupant; a hollow recess being formed on a reverse side of the head receiving portion, the headrest being disposed such that the monitor unit at least partly enters the hollow recess; a stay mounting to the seatback, the stay being detachably attached to the headrest; and an actuating mechanism capable of moving back and forth the head receiving portion relatively with respect to the seatback, the actuating mechanism being provided at a connecting portion between the stay of the headrest and the head receiving portion; and a monitor unit including the monitor, the monitor unit being installed above the seatback and in a rear of a headrest.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat with a monitor, comprising:

a seatback;

a headrest including;

a head receiving portion receiving a back of a head of a vehicle occupant;

a hollow recess being formed on a reverse side of the head receiving portion, the headrest being disposed such that the monitor unit at least partly enters the hollow recess;

a stay mounting to the seatback, the stay being detachably attached to the headrest; and

an actuating mechanism capable of moving back and forth the head receiving portion relatively with respect to the seatback, the actuating mechanism being provided at a connecting portion between the stay of the headrest and the head receiving portion; and

a monitor unit including the monitor, the monitor unit being installed above the seatback and in a rear of a headrest,

wherein the headrest and the monitor unit are respectively supported and disposed independently and separately on an upper surface portion of the seatback, both being fitted to each other relatively movably,

wherein the actuating mechanism is adapted to relatively move the head receiving portion with respect to the stay between a close position in which the head receiving portion is brought close to a reverse portion of the monitor unit and a spaced-apart position in which the head receiving portion is forwardly moved to be spaced apart from the close position,

wherein the head receiving portion is adapted to accept the relative approaching movement of the monitor unit by a recessed shape of the hollow recess, and

wherein the monitor unit is at least partly accommodated in the recess regardless of the movement of the headrest.

2. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism is a hinge portion for hinge-coupling the head receiving portion of the headrest and the stay, and

wherein the head receiving portion serving as a front surface of the head receiving portion is adapted to be made to undergo swinging motion about the hinge portion in a back-and-forth direction.

3. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 2, wherein a curved portion having a curved shape for allowing the swinging motion of the headrest is provided in an upper portion of the monitor unit.

4. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 1, wherein an insertion and coupling structure between the stay of the headrest and the seatback has a structure in which, as the stay is inserted into an interior of an insertion port formed in an upper surface of the seatback, an adjustment groove formed in the stay is retained by a retaining pawl provided in the interior of the insertion port in such a manner as to be capable of projecting into and retracting from the interior of the insertion port, so as to restrict the movement of the stay in an inserting direction;

wherein a plurality of adjustment grooves are formed in an inserting and drawing-out direction as the adjustment groove so as to allow adjustment of a position of an installed height of the headrest to be performed by the selection of the adjustment groove for being retained by the retaining pawl; and

wherein a rear cover is mounted to a reverse surface portion of the head receiving portion so as to cover from a reverse surface side mounting structure portions of the head receiving portion and the stay which are exposed on an upper side of the monitor unit when the installed height of the headrest is raised.

5. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 4, wherein the rear cover is fixed to a side of the stay.

6. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 4, wherein a front cover for covering from a front surface side mounting structure portions of the monitor unit and the seatback is mounted to the monitor unit, and

wherein the front cover assumes a state of covering the structure portions which are seen through a gap from a front side which is formed between the headrest and the seatback when the installed height of the headrest is raised.

7. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 1, wherein the monitor unit is hinge-coupled to the seatback and has a display screen adapted to be made to undergo swinging motion in the back-and-forth direction about the hinge portion which hinge-coupled.

8. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 7, wherein in a state in which the headrest is removed from the seatback, the monitor unit is adapted to be folded down by being reclined about the hinge portion toward the upper surface of the seatback.

9. The vehicle seat with a monitor according to claim 1, wherein side surface portions constituting surface portions on both left and right sides of the recess are respectively formed in the head receiving portion of the headrest, and the side surface portions are configured in a state of covering lateral gaps formed between the head receiving portion and the monitor unit at either moved position to which the head receiving portion has been moved back and forth.