VEHICLE SEAT

• US 20110018324A1
• Filed: 05/25/2007
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Horiguchi, Kenji, Bandou, Nobuyuki, Kinoshita, Hideki, Suga, Yasuo, Hibi, Kazuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,220,856 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/344.22
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0224 Non-manual adjustments, e.g. with electrical operation
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/14 rotatable, e.g. to permit easy access B60N2/10 , B60N2/2869 take precedence

Abstract

A mechanism for rotating a vehicle seat body and a mechanism for restraining rotation of the seat body are partially shared, reducing the number of parts. The seat includes a seat body, a seat rotation mechanism, a gear forming member having a rotation gear, a drive gear meshable with the rotation gear, and an actuator for rotating the drive gear. The seat further includes a moving mechanism that relatively moves the drive gear and the gear forming member in a direction of a rotation restraint position such that the drive gear is placed in such a position so as to interfere with the gear forming member when the seat body rotates to a first position and when the seat body is urged to rotate in a direction of a second position while the drive gear is in such a position so as to not mesh with the rotation gear.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat, comprising:

a seat body;

a seat rotation mechanism supporting the seat body on a vehicle floor such that the seat body is capable of substantially horizontally rotating between a first position and a second position;

a gear forming member having an arcuate rotation gear that is arranged such that an arc center thereof corresponds to a rotation center of said seat body;

a drive gear that is capable of meshing with the rotation gear; and

an actuator for rotating the drive gear,

wherein said gear forming member is provided to one of a rotational portion of a seat body side and a stationary portion of a vehicle floor side which portions are capable of rotating relative to each other when the seat body is rotated, wherein said drive gear is provided to the other of the rotational portion and the stationary portion, and wherein the seat body is capable of rotating when said drive gear and said gear forming member are relatively rotated upon rotation of said drive gear,

the vehicle seat further including;

a moving mechanism that is capable of relatively moving said drive gear and said gear forming member in a direction of a rotation restraint position such that said drive gear is placed in such a position so as to interfere with said gear forming member when said seat body rotates to said first position and when said seat body is urged to rotate in a direction of said second position while said drive gear is placed in such a position so as to not mesh with the rotation gear.

2. A vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism comprises a gear rotation mechanism that rotatably supports said gear forming member such that the gear forming member can rotate between a seat rotation position in which an arc center of said rotation gear corresponds to said rotation center and a rotation restraint position in which the gear forming member interferes with said drive gear, and an arcuate rotation restraining gear that is formed in said gear forming member so as to be continuous with said rotation gear, wherein the rotation restraining gear has an arc center that corresponds to a rotation center of said gear forming member, so as to mesh with said drive gear when said seat body rotates to said first position, and wherein said rotation restraining gear is capable of rotating between said seat rotation position and said rotation restraint position when said drive gear is rotated while the drive gear meshes with said rotation restraining gear.

3. A vehicle seat as defined in claim 2, wherein one of said rotational portion and said stationary portion having said drive gear is provided with an engagement portion, and wherein when said seat body is urged to rotate toward the second position while said gear forming member is in said rotation restraint position, the engagement portion engages said gear forming member, thereby restraining rotation of said seat body.

4. A vehicle seat as defined in claim 1, further comprising a movable member that is attached to one of said rotational portion and said stationary portion having said gear forming member, and a stationary member that is attached to the other of said rotational portion and said stationary portion having said drive gear,

wherein when said seat body rotates to said first position and said gear forming member moves in the direction of the rotation restraint position with respect to said drive gear by movement of said moving mechanism, said movable member moves together with said gear forming member and is placed in such a position so as to be capable of engaging said stationary member in a rotation direction of the seat body.

5. A vehicle seat as defined in claim 4, wherein said movable member is connected to said gear forming member while the movable member applied with a resilient force in a direction toward the position in which the movable member is capable of engaging said stationary member, wherein when said gear forming member moves in the direction of the rotation restraint position, said gear forming member moves in a direction of the resilient force, thereby moving said movable member to a position in which the movable member is capable of engaging said stationary member, and wherein when said gear forming member continues to move in the direction of the rotation restraint position with respect to said movable member that reaches the position in which the movable member is capable of engaging said stationary member and is maintained in the position, said gear forming member is spaced from said movable member so that a non-contact condition can be formed.

6. A vehicle seat as defined in claim 4, wherein said movable member is attached to said rotational portion, wherein said stationary member is attached to said stationary portion, wherein a bracket is secured to said stationary portion, and wherein the bracket covers the movable member from above so as to not preclude movement of said movable member and supports said stationary member.