Lock apparatus for vehicle seat

• US 7,914,062 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2010
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Hayahara, Hiroaki, Iwasa, Kazuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Pape; Joseph D
• Application Number:
  US12/767,151
• Publication Number:
  US 20100270823A1
• Time in Patent Office: 337 Days
• Field of Search: 296/65.08, 296/65.09, 296/65.05, 296/65.01, 296/65.16, 297/334, 297/378.12
• US Class Current: 296/65.09
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3013 the back-rest being hinged on the vehicle frame
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3065 in a longitudinal-vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/366 characterised by the locking device

Abstract

A lock apparatus for a vehicle seat includes a protruding portion formed at the side of a seat cushion so as to protrude therefrom, the seat cushion being movable between a usable position and a retracted position, a guide wall member having a guide groove with which the protruding portion is engaged, a latch formed with an opening portion within which the protruding portion is engagable, a sliding member a sliding surface, a latch biasing member, a pawl, a cam surface formed at the pawl for rotating the latch so as to sandwich the protruding portion, a pawl biasing member, a releasing lever and a releasing member formed so as to protrude from the releasing lever in order to rotate the pawl by pressing a releasing portion in a direction against the biasing force applied to the pawl by the pawl biasing member.

Claims

1. A lock apparatus for a vehicle seat comprising:

a protruding portion formed at the side of a seat cushion so as to protrude therefrom, the seat cushion being movable between a usable position and a retracted position relative to a vehicle floor;

a guide wall member adapted to be fixed at the vehicle floor and having a guide groove with which the protruding portion is engaged so that a moving path of the protruding portion is regulated between the usable position and the retracted position of the seat cushion;

a latch formed with an opening portion within which the protruding portion is engagable or disengageable and supported by the guide wall member so as to be freely rotatable between a releasing position at which the protruding portion is not engaged with the opening portion and a locking position at which the protruding portion enters the opening portion so as not to be disengaged therefrom;

a sliding member formed so as to protrude from the latch and having a sliding surface formed at an outer circumferential surface thereof;

a latch biasing member for applying a biasing force to the latch so as to rotate in a direction from the releasing position to the locking position;

a pawl freely rotatably supported at the guide wall member so as to face the sliding surface of the sliding member and arranged so as to be parallel to and distant from the latch in a width direction of the seat cushion;

a cam surface formed at the pawl for rotating the latch so as to sandwich the protruding portion between an inner surface of the opening portion of the latch and an end surface of the guide groove at the side of the usable position in order to regulate the rotation of the latch toward the releasing position;

a pawl biasing member applying a biasing force to the pawl so as to rotate in a direction in which the cam surface presses the sliding surface of the sliding member;

a releasing lever freely rotatably supported at the guide wall member so as to be parallel to and distant from the pawl in the width direction of the seat cushion; and

a releasing member formed so as to protrude from the releasing lever in order to rotate the pawl by pressing a releasing portion formed at the pawl in a direction against the biasing force applied to the pawl by the pawl biasing member.

2. The lock apparatus for the vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion, the latch, the pawl and the releasing lever are arranged from top to bottom of the lock apparatus in the mentioned order and arranged in a manner where the latch partially overlaps the pawl and the releasing lever partially overlaps the pawl when the releasing lever is rotated upon a releasing operation.

3. The lock apparatus for the vehicle seat according to claim 2, wherein an end portion of the releasing portion of the pawl is formed so as to be curved in such a way that, when the releasing lever is rotated in order to rotate the pawl in a releasing direction by pressing the releasing portion, the pawl is not rotated after the releasing member moves so as to pass a hypothetical line from one side in the vicinity of the hypothetical line to the other side in the vicinity of the hypothetical line and after the cam surface of the pawl disengages the sliding surface of the sliding member, the hypothetical line connecting a rotational center of the releasing lever and a rotational center of the pawl.

4. The lock apparatus for the vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein a connecting plate is provided between the rotational center of the pawl and the rotational center of the latch, and the connecting plate includes a stopping portion by which the rotation of the latch toward the releasing position is regulated.

5. The lock apparatus for the vehicle seat according to claim 2, wherein a connecting plate is provided between the rotational center of the pawl and the rotational center of the latch, and the connecting plate includes a stopping portion by which the rotation of the latch toward the releasing position is regulated.

6. The lock apparatus for the vehicle seat according to claim 3, wherein a connecting plate is provided between the rotational center of the pawl and the rotational center of the latch, and the connecting plate includes a stopping portion by which the rotation of the latch toward the releasing position is regulated.