Seat slide device

• US 9,908,439 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Shiroki Corporation (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Shiroki Corporation (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Kanehira, Masayuki, Sakaguchi, Wataru, Kato, Haruo
• Primary Examiner(s): McKinnon, Terrell L
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCDUFFIE, MICHAEL D
• Application Number:
  US15/216,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20170021741A1
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 248424, 248429, 248430, 2973441, 29734411
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/02246 Electric motors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/02253 characterised by the transmission between the electric motor and the seat or seat parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/067 by linear actuators, e.g. linear screw mechanisms

Abstract

A seat slide device includes: a pair of seat slide rails configured to support a seat, each of the seat slide rails including a lower rail and an upper rail; a transfer shaft rotationally driven by motor drive in a state where the transfer shaft is provided in a bridging manner between the seat slide rails, the transfer shaft having a hollow portion; and rail drive mechanisms, each of the rail drive mechanisms being provided between the lower rail and the upper rail and being configured to move the upper rail relative to the lower rail based on a driving force transmitted from a motor via the transfer shaft.

Claims

1. A seat slide device comprising:

a pair of seat slide rails configured to support a seat, each of the seat slide rails including a lower rail and an upper rail;

a transfer shaft rotationally driven by motor drive in a state where the transfer shaft is provided in a bridging manner between the seat slide rails, the transfer shaft having a hollow portion entirely between axial end portions of the transfer shaft; and

rail drive mechanisms, each of the rail drive mechanisms being provided between the lower rail and the upper rail and being configured to move the upper rail relative to the lower rail based on a driving force transmitted from a motor via the transfer shaft, wherein

the transfer shaft has a circular sectional shape at the hollow portion and has a polygonal shape at the axial end portions.

2. The seat slide device according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the rail drive mechanisms includes a screw shaft extending in an extension direction of its corresponding seat slide rail, a nut member threadedly engaged with the screw shaft, and a rotation transmission mechanism configured to rotate the screw shaft and the nut member relative to each other based on the driving force transmitted from the motor via the transfer shaft; and

one of the screw shaft and the nut member is fixed to one of the lower rail and the upper rail and the other one of the screw shaft and the nut member is rotationally driven by the rotation transmission mechanism in a state where the other one of the screw shaft and the nut member is supported by the other one of the lower rail and the upper rail.

3. The seat slide device according to claim 2, wherein

the axial end portions are formed in a hexagonal shaft shape.

4. The seat slide device according to claim 2, wherein

each of the rail drive mechanisms is configured such that the screw shaft is non-rotatably supported by the lower rail and the nut member is rotatably supported by the upper rail.

5. The seat slide device according to claim 1, wherein

the transfer shaft is formed of a steel pipe.

6. The seat slide device according to claim 1, wherein

the driving force from the motor is transmitted to the transfer shaft at the hollow portion.