Seat reclining apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9630529-B2
Application number	US-201314429252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2013
Priority date	Sep 18, 2012
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

A seat reclining apparatus is provided in which a spring cover which covers a lock spring for rotationally biasing a rotational cam can be easily and securely mounted to an outer surface of a base plate or a ratchet plate.
The seat reclining apparatus is provided with a lock spring disposed to face the outer surface of the base plate or disposed in a hole in the base plate to bias and rotate the rotational center shaft in a direction to rotate the rotational cam toward the locked position, and a spring cover disposed to face the outer surface of the base plate and covers the lock spring, and to make an inner surface of one of the seat cushion side frame and the seatback side frame contact an outer surface of a protrusion which is projected from the spring cover.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A seat reclining apparatus comprising:
a base plate, an outer surface of which faces one of a seat cushion side frame and a seatback side frame;
a ratchet plate, an outer surface of which faces the other of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame, which faces said base plate to be rotatable relative to said base plate, and includes an internal gear;
a rotational center shaft which is mounted at rotational center portions of said base plate and said ratchet plate to be rotatable about an axis of said rotational center shaft;
a lock member being supported on an inner surface of said base plate, said inner surface facing said ratchet plate, said lock member including an outer toothed portion formed on an outer peripheral surface of said lock member and being movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, said engaged position to engage said internal gear with said outer toothed portion, and said disengaged position to disengage said outer toothed portion from said internal gear toward an inner peripheral side;
a rotational cam which is positioned between said base plate and said ratchet plate and rotates with said rotational center shaft between a locked position, to position said lock member in said engaged position, and an unlocked position, to position said lock member in said disengaged position;
a lock spring disposed to face the outer surface of said base plate or disposed in a hole formed in said base plate to bias and rotate said rotational center shaft in a direction to rotate said rotational cam toward said locked position; and
a spring cover being disposed to face said outer surface of said base plate and covering said lock spring, wherein said spring cover includes a protrusion being projected from said spring cover, and includes a spring housing portion, and said spring cover facing and being disposed adjacent to said lock spring in an axial direction of said rotational center shaft,
wherein an inner surface of said one of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame is made to contact an outer surface of the protrusion which is projected from said spring cover.

2. The seat reclining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said base plate is provided with a groove-forming projection on the inner surface of said base plate, said groove-forming projection configured to guide the movement of said lock member, and wherein said protrusion is formed to project from said spring cover so that said protrusion overlaps said groove-forming projection in the axial direction of said rotational center shaft.

3. The seat reclining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said protrusion of said spring cover comprises a plurality of protrusions,
wherein said one of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame includes an exposing hole which exposes said spring cover, and
wherein a peripheral edge of said exposing hole is made to contact outer surfaces of said plurality of protrusions.

4. A seat reclining apparatus comprising:
a base plate, an outer surface of which faces one of a seat cushion side frame and a seatback side frame;
a ratchet plate, an outer surface of which faces the other of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame, which faces said base plate to be rotatable relative to said base plate, and includes an internal gear;
a rotational center shaft which passes through rotational centers of said base plate and said ratchet plate to be relatively rotatable and is rotatable about an axis of said rotational center shaft;
a lock member which is supported on an inner surface of said base plate which faces said ratchet plate, and which is movable between an engaged position, in which an outer toothed portion formed on an outer peripheral surface of said lock member is engaged with said internal gear, and a disengaged position, in which said outer toothed portion is disengaged from said internal gear toward an inner peripheral side;
a rotational cam which is positioned between said base plate and said ratchet plate and rotates with said rotational center shaft between a locked position, to position said lock member in said engaged position, and an unlocked position, to position said lock member in said disengaged position;
a lock spring disposed to face the outer surface of said ratchet plate or disposed in a hole formed in said ratchet plate to bias and rotate said rotational center shaft in a direction to rotate said rotational cam toward said locked position; and
a spring cover which is disposed to face said outer surface of said ratchet plate and covers said lock spring,
wherein an inner surface of said other of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame is made to contact an outer surface of a protrusion which is projected from said spring cover.

5. The seat reclining apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said protrusion of said spring cover comprises a plurality of protrusions,
wherein said one of said seat cushion side frame and said seatback side frame includes an exposing hole which exposes said spring cover, and
wherein a peripheral edge of said exposing hole is made to contact outer surfaces of said plurality of protrusions.

Assignees

• Shiroki Corp

Inventors

• Higashi Nobumasa
• Maeda Noriaki
• Sasaki Kazutaka

Classifications

• B60N2/2356

  with internal pawls · CPC title

• B60N2/236 Primary

  linearly movable · CPC title

• B60N2/20 Primary

  the back-rest being tiltable, e.g. to permit easy access (B60N2/04, B60N2/22 {, B60N2/3002} take precedence) · CPC title