Headrest for a vehicle seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9796306-B2
Application number	US-201514827663-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2015
Priority date	Aug 18, 2014
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A headrest for a vehicle seat includes a center part and at least one side wing disposed on a side of the center part in a movable manner between a neutral position and a range of comfort positions. A retaining strut is coupled to the side wing at a living hinge disposed on a first end of the retaining strut. The retaining strut is further coupled to the center part in a longitudinally movable manner at a second end of the retaining strut.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A headrest for a vehicle seat, comprising:
a center part operably coupled to a backrest of the vehicle seat;
at least one side wing mounted to the center part by a living hinge in a movable swiveling manner with respect to the center part between a neutral position and at least one comfort position; and
a retaining strut mounted in a swiveling movable manner between the side wing and the center part, wherein the retaining strut is also mounted in a longitudinally movable manner on one of the side wing and the center part, and further wherein the retaining strut is retained in at least one longitudinal position on one of the side wing and the center part.

2. The headrest as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the retaining strut is configured integrally with the side wing and connected to the side wing in a swiveling movable manner by the living hinge.

3. The headrest as claimed claim 2 , wherein the retaining strut includes a pin-shaped member at an end of the retaining strut facing the center part to connect the retaining strut to the center part in a swiveling movable manner, and further wherein the pin-shaped member is guided in a transversely displaceable manner at opposite ends thereof by a link disposed in the center part.

4. The headrest as claimed claim 3 , wherein the link has at least one catch mechanism along a longitudinal extension thereof, wherein the pin-shaped member is configured to be fixed in the catch mechanism.

5. The headrest as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the center part includes a mirror-symmetrical trapezoid configuration having first and second non-parallel peripheral sides, and further wherein the at least one side wing includes first and second side wings connected to the first and second non-parallel peripheral sides of the trapezoid-shaped, respectively.

6. The headrest as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the center part and the at least one side wing are integrally formed.

7. The headrest as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the center part is operably coupled to the backrest of the vehicle seat by a fastening configuration designed to mount the center part in a swiveling manner relative to the backrest about a horizontal swiveling axis between at least one in-use position and one out-of-use position.

8. The headrest as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the fastening configuration includes an adjustable support structure for adjusting a height of the headrest relative to the backrest.

9. A headrest for a vehicle seat, comprising:
a center part;
first and second side wings coupled to first and second sides of the center part by living hinges in a movable manner between first and second positions; and
retaining struts coupled to each of the side wings at a living hinge at one end of each retaining strut and further coupled to the center part at an opposite end of each retaining strut.

10. The headrest of claim 9 , wherein the first position defines a neutral position, wherein the first and second side wings are substantially disposed in a common plane with the center part.

11. The headrest of claim 10 , wherein the second position includes a plurality of comfort positions, wherein the first and second side wings are angled inward towards a front face of the center part.

12. The headrest as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the center part includes a trapezoidal configuration, such that the first and second sides define non-parallel peripheral sides.

13. The headrest as claimed in claim 9 , including:
pin-shaped members disposed on the opposite ends of each retaining strut, wherein each pin-shaped member is coupled to a link assembly disposed on the center part.

14. The headrest as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the pin-shaped members are received in slots having a plurality of catch mechanisms disposed therealong, wherein each catch mechanism is associated with a specific degree of inward rotation of the associated side wing to which the strut is coupled.

15. The headrest as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the retaining struts define L-shaped members.

16. A headrest for a vehicle seat, comprising:
a center part;
at least one side wing disposed on a side of the center part in a movable manner between a neutral position and a range of comfort positions; and
a retaining strut coupled to the at least one side wing at a living hinge disposed on a first end of the retaining strut, and further mounted in a longitudinally movable manner to the center part on a second end of the retaining strut at a link disposed on the center part.

17. The headrest of claim 16 , wherein the neutral position defines a configuration wherein the at least one side wing and the center part provide a flat headrest.

18. The headrest as claimed in claim 16 , including:
a pin-shaped member disposed on the second end of the retaining strut, wherein the pin-shaped member is coupled to a link assembly disposed on the center part.

19. The headrest as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the link includes one or more slots having a plurality of catch mechanisms disposed therealong, wherein each catch mechanism is associated with a specific degree of inward rotation of the at least one side wing.

20. The headrest as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the center part includes a trapezoidal configuration.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Schauf Carsten
• Wagner Uwe
• Hari Daniel
• Vas Kilian

Classifications

• B60N2/885 Primary

  provided with side-rests · CPC title

• B60N2/4805

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60N2/4882 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60N2/80 Primary

  Head-rests · CPC title