Locking unit for a vehicle seat, and vehicle seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9919627-B2
Application number	US-201414910539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2014
Priority date	Aug 14, 2013
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle seat locking unit ( 10 ) includes a lock housing having a receptacle opening ( 19 ) for receiving a locking bolt ( 12 ). A rotary latch ( 20 ) is mounted to swivel around a bearing bolt ( 51 ) and has a hook aperture ( 21 ) for locking together with the locking bolt. The bearing bolt is aligned in an axial direction and the receptacle opening is delimited by a locking bolt stop element ( 61 ), located in the hook aperture, which axially protrudes into the lock housing. In a locked state the locking bolt extends in the axial direction. A first contact region ( 71 ), between the locking bolt and the stop element, and a second contact region ( 72 ), between the locking bolt and the rotary latch, partially overlap in the axial direction, or the first contact region lies completely within the second contact region in the axial direction. A vehicle seat ( 1 ) includes such locking unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A locking unit for a vehicle seat, said locking unit comprising:
a lock housing with a receiving opening for receiving a locking bolt;
a bearing bolt; and
a rotary latch which is mounted so as to be pivotable about the bearing bolt and which comprises a hook aperture for locking with the locking bolt, wherein the bearing bolt is aligned in an axial direction, and the receiving opening is defined by a stop element, the stop element provides a stop for the locking bolt which is situated in the hook aperture, and the stop element projects into the lock housing in the axial direction, in a locked state of the locking unit with the locking bolt extending precisely in the axial direction, a first contact region, between the locking bolt and the stop element, and a second contact region, between the locking bolt and the rotary latch, overlap in part in the axial direction, or the first contact region is located completely inside the second contact region in the axial direction.

2. The locking unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first contact region is precisely a continuous, linear contact surface.

3. The locking unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first contact region is precisely a continuous, punctiform contact surface.

4. The locking unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lock housing includes at least one side plate in which the receiving opening is realized.

5. The locking unit as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the stop element projects into the lock housing in the axial direction from the side plate.

6. The locking unit as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the stop element is formed by bending a tab which is provided on the side plate.

7. The locking unit as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the tab is bent about a bending angle of between 75° and 85°.

8. The locking unit as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the tab is bent about a bending angle of approximately 90°.

9. The locking unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hook aperture is defined by a nose portion and a finger portion.

10. The locking unit as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the rotary latch comprises a basic body with an approximately constant thickness, wherein the thickness of the finger portion is less than the thickness of the basic body.

11. The locking unit as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the finger portion is arranged eccentrically in the axial direction with respect to the basic body of the rotary latch.

12. The locking unit as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the stop element is arranged offset to the finger portion in the axial direction in such a manner that the finger portion is able to pivot past the stop element.

13. The locking unit as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the stop element overlaps the basic body of the rotary latch in the axial direction.

14. The locking unit as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the nose portion comprises a chamfer on at least one edge which faces the hook aperture.

15. A vehicle seat comprising: at least one locking unit comprising:
a lock housing with a receiving opening for receiving a locking bolt;
a bearing bolt; and
a rotary latch which is mounted so as to be pivotable about the bearing bolt and which comprises a hook aperture for locking with the locking bolt, wherein the bearing bolt is aligned in an axial direction, and the receiving opening is defined by a stop element, the stop element provides a stop for the locking bolt which is situated in the hook aperture, and the stop element projects into the lock housing in the axial direction, in a locked state of the locking unit with the locking bolt extending precisely in the axial direction, a first contact region, between the locking bolt and the stop element, and a second contact region, between the locking bolt and the rotary latch, overlap in part in the axial direction, or the first contact region is located completely inside the second contact region in the axial direction.

16. The vehicle seat as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the first contact region is precisely a continuous, linear contact surface.

17. The vehicle seat as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the first contact region is precisely a continuous, punctiform contact surface.

18. The vehicle seat as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the lock housing includes at least one side plate in which the receiving opening is realized.

19. The vehicle seat as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the stop element projects into the lock housing in the axial direction from the side plate.

20. The vehicle seat as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the stop element is formed by bending a tab which is provided on the side plate.

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Gmbh

Inventors

• Handl Patrick
• Vedder Andreas
• Moeller Uwe
• Gordeenko Igor

Classifications

• B60N2/4435

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• E05C3/24

  in the form of a bifurcated member {(automatic catches with a bifurcated latch E05C19/024; locks with a bifurcated bolt E05B65/0046, E05B85/243)} · CPC title

• B60N2/20

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

• B60N2/366

  characterised by the locking device · CPC title

• B60N2/2245 Primary

  provided with a lock mechanism on the upper part of the back-rest · CPC title