Slides for vehicle seats, and to seats fitted with such slides

• US 5,688,026 A
• Filed: 01/29/1996
• Issued: 11/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bertrand Faure Equipements SA
• Original Assignee: Bertrand Faure Equipements SA
• Inventors: Reubeuze, Yann, Fretel, Jean-Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Cranmer, Laurie K.
• Application Number:
  US08/593,245
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 297/341, 297/344.1, 248/429, 248/424
• US Class Current: 297/341
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/123 and provided with memory locks

Abstract

The slide enables the longitudinal position of a vehicle seat to be adjusted while also making it possible for the seat to be moved back-and-forth through a large amplitude in a forwards direction from its rear position and to return to said adjusted position because of a position-memorizing assembly comprising a notched bar 7, a shoe 8, and a catch 9 having a hook 9a. A rocker 10 is provided that pivots on the moving rail 2 making it possible either to connect the shoe to the moving rail, thereby making it possible to control the latch 5, or else to keep the latch disengaged with the shoe being locked by the catch, the rocker being controlled by a cable 12 that is pulled by folding down the back, and the tail 8a of the shoe is shaped so that it can lock the seat in position whenever the back is raised, even if the seat happens to be in a position other than its memorized position.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat slide comprising:

a stationary longitudinal rail;

a moving longitudinal rail slidably mounted on the stationary rail;

a rack of notches carried by the stationary rail;

a latch mounted to pivot about a first transverse horizontal axis tied to the moving rail and suitable for co-operating with the notches of the stationary rail under the control of a member that is easily accessible for a person sitting on the seat;

resilient means for continuously urging the latch towards a notch-engaging locking position;

a longitudinal notched bar secured to the stationary rail;

a shoe slidably mounted to slide along the bar;

a catch for locking the shoe and mounted to pivot about a second transverse horizontal axis tied to the shoe and suitable for optionally co-operating with the notches of the bar so as to optionally lock the shoe relative to the bar, said catch including a top hook open horizontally facing towards the front of the seat;

a rocker pivotally mounted about a third transverse horizontal axis tied to the moving rail, the rocker including a first transverse finger organized to co-operate with a rear end of the shoe, a second transverse finger suitable for co-operating with the hook of the catch, and a heel suitable for co-operating with the latch; and

resilient means for constantly urging the rocker in a first direction towards a first extreme angular position in which firstly the first finger is in a low position for horizontally entraining the shoe, secondly the second finger raises the hook of the locking catch of the shoe into a release position, and finally the heel permits cooperation of the latch with the notches of the stationary rail;

the slide further comprising servo-control means for causing forward folding down of the seat back to urge the rocker angularly in a direction opposite to the first direction, the rear end of the shoe being suitable for co-operating with the first finger of the rocker and having a downwardly-open V-shaped profile in a longitudinal vertical plane, the V-shaped profile being rearwardly defined by an edge having a direction chosen between a vertical direction and a direction which slopes downwards in a forwards direction, and being forwardly defined by a sloping ramp extending downwards in a forwards direction.

2. A slide according to claim 1, wherein the servo-control means for controlling the angular displacements of the rocker as a function of the folding down of the seat back comprises an inextensible cable having two ends connected respectively to the rocker and to the seat back.

3. A vehicle seat fitted with a slide according to claim 1.

4. A vehicle seat according to claim 3, comprising resilient means for angularly urging a seat back of the vehicle seat into a position in which the back is folded down angularly forwards, said elastic means being associated with a hinge mechanism of the seat back so as to intervene only when said mechanism is disengaged.