Locking device of seat rail of vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9272639-B2
Application number	US-201213443527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 10, 2012
Priority date	May 17, 2011
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A vehicle seat rail locking device restricts movement of an upper rail along a longitudinal direction of a lower rail fixed to the body of the vehicle. The locking device includes lock units moving together with the upper rail, disposed movably in a vertical direction between the lower and upper rails, and for performing a locking operation, and a lock guide moving together with the lock units and for guiding vertical movement of the lock units. Each lock unit is independently inserted into one of a plurality of lock holes formed in the lower rail to fix the upper rail onto the lower rail. A user's safety may be improved by independently forming a plurality of lock members fitted into lock holes of a lower rail and fixing one of lock members into the lock hole to perform a locking operation even when a seat rail position deviation occurs.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A seat rail of a vehicle, comprising:
a lower rail fixed to a body of the vehicle;
an upper rail combined onto the lower rail movably forward and backward in a longitudinal direction of the lower rail; and
a locking device restricting movement of the upper rail,
the locking device comprising:
a plurality of lock units moving together with the upper rail, disposed movably in a vertical direction between the lower and upper rails, and fixing the upper rail onto the lower rail, wherein each of the lock units is independently inserted into a plurality of lock holes formed as a rectangular shape in the lower rail; and
a lock guide moving together with the lock units and for guiding vertical movement of the lock units,
wherein each lock unit of the plurality of lock units comprises at least one pair of lock members passing through guide holes formed in the lock guide, and inserted into the lock holes, and the at least one pair of lock members comprises a first lock member and a second lock member,
wherein the first lock member and the second lock member respectively comprise a pair of first side surfaces opposing each other and formed as perpendicular surfaces, and a pair of second side surfaces opposing each other and formed as tapered and inclined surfaces,
wherein the lock holes comprise a first lock hole and a second lock hole, and the first lock hole and the second lock hole respectively comprise first side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and second side edges extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and
wherein the first lock member and the second lock member are disposed and inserted into the lock holes in a locked state in such a way that one of the first side surfaces of the first lock member faces one of the second side surfaces of the second lock member, and that the first side surfaces of the second lock member contact the second side edges of the second lock hole, and the second side surfaces of the first lock member contact the second side edges of the first lock hole, and that the first side surfaces of the first lock member contact the first side edges of the second lock hole, and the second side surfaces of the second lock member contact the first side edges of the first lock hole.

2. The seat rail of claim 1 , wherein each lock unit of the plurality of lock units comprises:
a lock housing having one end into which the lock members are inserted and fixed, and another end on which at least one pair of protrusions passing through via holes are formed in the upper rail and protruding therefrom; and
a lock spring disposed on an outer circumference of at least one of the protrusions and for pressing the lock unit downwardly.

3. The seat rail of claim 2 , further comprising:
a lock lever for moving the lock units upwardly;
a lever guide fixed to the upper rail and for rotatably supporting the lock lever; and
a lever spring for applying a restoration force to the lock lever.

4. The seat rail of claim 3 , wherein a hook to which the lock lever operates is formed on at least one of the protrusions.

Assignees

• Lee Jae Gab
• Jung Jae Chul
• Das Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Jae Gab
• Jung Jae Chul

Classifications

• B60N2/0875

  in a vertical direction · CPC title

• Y10T403/595

  Lever · CPC title

• B60N2/0818

  inside the rail · CPC title

• B60N2/0715

  C or U-shaped · CPC title

• B60N2/0893

  allowing independent movement of the latches, e.g. to recover tolerance errors · CPC title