FR2770811A1 - Vehicle seat with tilting seat back - Google Patents

Abstract

The vehicle seat has an upper part (6) of the seat back, which folds around a horizontal pivot (X2) from an upright position of use to a lower position. The front link (12), between the seat frame and the vehicle floor, allows the seat to pivot around a second horizontal pivot (X3), from the position of use to a forward position. The rear link (13) carries a bolt (16), used to lock the seat in its position of use. The seat also has a safety device, which is designed to lock the bolt in the locked position.

Description

Vehicle seat with a tiltable seat forward, and vehicle with such a seat.

 The present invention relates to vehicle seats with a tiltable seat forward, and to vehicles having such a seat.

 More particularly, the invention relates to a vehicle seat comprising a backrest and a seat which extends between a rear end close to the backrest and a front end remote from the backrest, the seat being adapted to be mounted on the vehicle floor at by means of a front link and a rear link, the file having at least one folding part (if necessary constituting the whole file) which can pivot along a first transverse horizontal axis, between a raised position of use and a position folded down where said folding part is substantially parallel to the seat, the front link being adapted to allow pivoting of the seat about a second horizontal transverse axis parallel to the first axis, between on the one hand, a position of use where said seat extends substantially horizontally, and on the other hand a tilted forward position, and the rear link comprising at least one latch which is actuable by control means and which is movable between on the one hand a locking position where said lock is adapted to cooperate with the floor of the vehicle by blocking the seat in the use position, and on the other hand, an unlocking position where said lock releases the seat by allowing it to pivot about the second axis.

 In known seats of this type, the safety of the passenger in the seat can possibly be called into question if the lock of the rear link of the seat is placed in the unlocked position while the seat is occupied by the passenger.

 Indeed, the entire seat may then tip forward with the passenger in the event of an accident suffered by the vehicle.

 This danger exists in all cases, but it is especially important if it is a vehicle seat called "on-board belt", that is to say if the seat belt has at least one point of mounting mounted directly on the seat: in fact, in this case, passenger safety is largely based on the reliability of the seat anchors on the vehicle floor.

 The present invention aims in particular to overcome these drawbacks.

 To this end, according to the invention, a seat of the kind in question is essentially characterized in that it further comprises a safety device adapted to lock the lock in the locked position as long as the foldable part of the backrest is in the raised position. .

 Thanks to these provisions, it is not possible to place the lock in the erased position while the seat is occupied by the passenger, since the backrest is then necessarily in the raised position: the safety of the passenger in the seat is therefore improved.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, use may optionally be made of one and / or the other of the following provisions.
- the safety device is also suitable for locking the folding part of the backrest in the folded position as long as the lock is in the unlocked position
- the seat also includes a seat belt with at least one attachment point secured to the seat
the means for controlling the lock comprise a control member which can be moved with a control member between, on the one hand, a rest position where said control member blocks the lock when this lock is in the locked position, and d on the other hand, an actuating position where said control member allows the lock to pass into the unlocking position, the folding part of the backrest comprising a rigid element suitable for retaining the control member in its rest position, only when said folding part is in the raised position, preventing the unlocking of the lock
the control member does not interfere with the latch when said control member is in its actuating position, the latch being urged elastically towards its unlocking position and being adapted to keep the control member in an intermediate position between its active position and its erased position when said lock is in the unlocked position, the control member then being placed itself in an intermediate position where the said control member cooperates with said rigid element integral with the foldable part of the backrest, to block this folding part in its folded position
- The lock and the control member are pivotally mounted on a common support and cooperate with the same spring which biases the lock towards its rusting worm position and the control member towards its rest position.
- The seat back includes, in addition to said folding part, a lower part which is mounted on the seat by means of an inclination adjustment device, the control member being mounted on said lower part of the back and being connected to the control unit by a first sheathed cable
- the control member is actuated by a handle which is mounted on the seat back and which is connected to said control member by a second sheathed cable
the safety device comprises an elastic blade having a first end fixed to the lower part of the backrest and a second end connected to the first sheathed cable, the control member being constituted by a rigid pin secured to said second end of the elastic blade .

 Furthermore, the invention also relates to a vehicle comprising at least one seat as defined above, in which the bolt is resiliently urged towards its unlocking position, the floor of the vehicle being adapted to cooperate with the bolt in fa Lesson to automatically return it to its locked position when the seat is returned to its operating position after being tilted forward.

 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the following description of one of its embodiments, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

On the drawings
FIG. 1 is a side view of a seat according to an embodiment of the invention, in the normal position of use,
FIGS. 2 to 5 are detailed views of the seat in FIG. 1,
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the seat without its seat belt when the upper part of the seat back is folded down,
FIG. 7 shows a detail of the backrest when the upper part of this backrest is folded down,
- Figure 8 shows the seat safety device when unlocking the rear feet supporting the seat,
FIG. 9 is a cutaway view showing one of the rear legs of the seat when it is unlocked,
- And Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing the seat with its seat tilted towards one.

 In the different figures, the same references designate identical or similar elements.

FIG. 1 represents a seat 1 of a motor vehicle, which comprises
- On the one hand, a seat 2 extending between a rear end 2a and a front end 2b (the terms "front" and "rear" are specific to the seat, and do not prejudge the arrangement of the seat inside of the vehicle),
- And secondly a folder 3 pivotally mounted at the rear end 2a of the seat around a transverse horizontal axis X1.

 The backrest 3 is connected to the seat 2 by means of a conventional articulation mechanism 4 which is controlled by a handle 4a or the like so as to allow the passenger of the seat to adjust the inclination of said backrest.

 Furthermore, the backrest 3 consists of a lower part 5, connected to the seat 2 by said articulation mechanism, and an upper part 6 which is pivotally mounted on the lower part 5 about an axis X2 parallel to axis X1.

The upper part 6 of the backrest can thus be arranged in two angular positions, namely
a raised position of use, or said upper part 6 of the backrest is disposed substantially vertically as shown in FIG. 6,
- And a folded forward position, where the upper part 6 of the backrest extends substantially parallel to the seat 2 and can if necessary be used as a shelf, as shown in FIG. 6.

 To control this pivoting, the seat user has a handle 7 or the like, which is mounted outside a cover 5a secured to the lower part 5 of the backrest.

 As shown in more detail in Figure 2, where the handle 7 and the cover 5a have been removed for clarity, said handle 7 controls a locking hook 8 which is pivotally mounted on the lower part 5 of the backrest and which is biased by a spring 9 so as to engage in one or the other of two notches 10 integral with the upper part 6 of the backrest, so as to block said upper part 6 either in its position of use, or in its folded position.

 Of course, the upper part 6 of the backrest could have a single notch 10 corresponding to the raised position of said upper part 6.

 The seat 2 of the seat, for its part, is removably fixed to the floor 11 of the vehicle by means of two identical front feet 12, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1, and two identical rear feet 13 one to the other, only one of which is also visible in FIG. 1.

 The front feet 12 are pivotally mounted on the seat 2 around a transverse horizontal axis X3 parallel to the above-mentioned axes X1 and X2, and they comprise projecting parts 12a fixed in recesses 14 in the floor 11 by means of locking hooks 15 .

 These locking hooks 15, as well as the actuating means making it possible to unlock these hooks in order to separate the seat 1 from the floor, are known per se, and will not be described in detail here.

Furthermore, as can be seen in more detail in FIG. 3, each rear leg 13 comprises:
- A projecting part 13a which engages vertically in a corresponding recess 14 of the floor 11;
- A locking hook 16 which is pivotally mounted on said rear foot, on the one hand between a locking position, where this hook engages under the edge of the recess 14 to fix the foot 13 on the floor 11 as shown in Figure 3, and on the other hand an unlocking position where the hook 16 is disposed substantially in correspondence with the projecting part 13a and no longer cooperates with the edge of the recess 14, as shown in Figure 9;
- A locking cam 17 pivotally mounted on said foot 13, this locking cam having two notches 18, 19 which cooperate with a projecting stop 20 of the locking hook 16 to lock this hook either in its locking position or in its position unlocking, said locking cam 17 being pivotable between on the one hand a rest position where it cooperates with the locking hook 16 to block it by means of one of the two notches 18, 19, and on the other hand a position actuation where said cam does not cooperate with the hook 16
- And a spring 22 which has a central part fixed to the foot 13 and two lateral branches respectively urging the locking hook 16 towards its unlocking position and the locking cam 17 towards its rest position.

 The locking cam 17 of a foot 13 is actuated by means of a sheathed cable 23 which connects a lever arm 24 of said cam to a handle 25 mounted on the upper part 6 of the backrest (Figure 1) so that the actuation of the handle 25 causes the locking cam to pivot in the direction of the arrow 21 (FIG. 3), towards its actuation position.

 Furthermore, the locking cam 17 of the other rear foot 13 is coupled with the cam 17 connected to the cable 23. This coupling can for example be carried out by means of a rigid connecting bar (not shown) connecting the two cams 17 from the rear feet.

 In order to ensure the safety of the passenger in seat 1, this seat also includes a safety device which aims to prohibit the unlocking of the hooks 16 of the rear feet as long as the upper part 3 of the backrest is not in the folded position.

 This safety device is especially useful when the seat 1 includes a seat belt 27 called "on-board" (see FIG. 1), at least one of the fixing points 28, 29, 30 of which is integral with the seat (in the example considered here, the three fixing points 28, 29, 30) are integral with the seat).

 The safety device 31 in question, which is shown in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, comprises a leaf spring 32 extending, on the one hand, between a fixed end mounted inside the cover Sa of the lower part of the backrest, and on the other hand, a free end which is integral with a pin 33 projecting towards the inside of the seat and which is connected to a sheathed cable 34 by means of a rigid plate 38.

 The sheathed cable 34 is also connected to the locking cam 17 controlled by the cable 23 (see FIG. 3), so that the actuation of the handle 25 also results in traction on the cable 34.

 In addition, the ends of the sheath 35 of the cable 34 are fixed one to the rear leg 13, and the other to the lower part 5 of the seat (see FIG. 5), the end of the sheath 35 which is fixed to the lower part 5 of the seat being arranged so that the actuation of the handle 25 results in a displacement of the free end of the leaf spring 32 towards the interior of the seat.

 As long as the upper part 6 of the backrest is in the raised position, as can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the end 6a of said upper part 6 is arranged in correspondence with the pin 33, which thus prevents the displacement of the free end of the leaf spring 32 towards the interior of the seat, which consequently prohibits the actuation of the handle 25 to release the locking hook 5.

 On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the upper part 6 of the backrest is in the folded position, the pin 33 of the safety device is no longer located opposite the end 6a of said upper part 6, of so that the handle 25 can be operated freely.

 When this handle is actuated, the sheathed cables 23 and 34 are each subjected to traction by moving the locking cam 17 to its actuating position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 9, and by deforming the leaf spring 32.

 The locking hook 16 of each rear foot then switches to its unlocking position under the effect of the corresponding spring 22, and as soon as it is released from the handle 25, the locking cam 17 of each rear foot returns to the intermediate position shown in lines full in Figure 9, where the stopper 20 of the hook 16 engages in the notch 19 of the locking cam 17 while maintaining said locking cam in its intermediate position.

 As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the pin 33 secured to the free end of the leaf spring 32 then also remains in an intermediate position where it interferes with the end 6a of the upper part 6 of the backrest to prevent lifting completely said upper part in its normal position of use.

 From this position, the seat 2 of the seat can then be tilted forward as shown in Figure 10, to free up space in the vehicle.

 During this tilting, the rear feet 13 can optionally pivot so as to disappear inside the seat 2, for example under the action of connecting rods 36 connecting the rear feet 13 to the front feet 12 (see figures 1 and 6).

 When the seat 1 is subsequently to be reused normally, the seat 2 is tilted backwards with sufficient force so that the locking hooks 16 of the rear feet return to their locking position by cooperation between an edge of cam 37 of each hook and the edge of the corresponding recess 14 of the floor (see FIG. 9).

 In this way, the locking hooks 16 of the rear feet are found in the position shown in FIG. 3, and the cable 34 releases the leaf spring 32, so that the pin 33 no longer interferes with the end 6a of the upper part 6 of the backrest.

 A user can then raise the upper part 6 of the backrest to its position of use, so that the seat is in the position shown in FIG. 1.

Claims (10)

 1. Vehicle seat comprising a backrest (3) and a seat (2) which extends between a rear end (2a) close to the backrest and a front end (2b) remote from the backrest, the seat (2) being adapted to be mounted on the floor (11) of the vehicle by means of a front link (12) and a rear link (13), the backrest having at least one folding part (6) which can pivot along a first horizontal axis transverse (X2), between a raised position of use and a folded position where said folding part is substantially parallel to the seat, the front link (12) being adapted to allow pivoting of the seat about a second axis horizontal transverse (X3) parallel to the first axis (X2), between on the one hand, a position of use where said seat extends substantially horizontally, and on the other hand a tilted forward position, and the rear link (13) comprising at least one lock (16) which can be actuated by control means (17, 22, 23, 25) and which is movable between on the one hand a locking position where said lock is adapted to cooperate with the floor (11) of the vehicle by blocking the seat (2) in the position of use, and on the other hand, an unlocking position where said lock releases the seat by allowing it to pivot around the second axis (X3), seat characterized in that it further comprises a safety device ( 31) adapted to lock the latch (16) in the locking position as long as the folding part (6) of the backrest is in the raised position.  2. Seat according to claim 1, wherein the safety device (31) is also adapted to block the folding part (6) of the backrest in the folded position as long as the latch (16) is in the unlocked position.  3. Seat according to claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising a seat belt (27) provided with at least one fixing point (28, 29, 30) integral with the seat.  4. Seat according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the lock control means (16) comprise a control member (17) which is displaceable with a control member (33) between, on the one hand, a rest position where said control member blocks the lock (16) when this lock is in the locked position, and on the other hand, an actuation position where said control member allows the lock to pass into the unlocked position, the folding part (6) of the backrest comprising a rigid element (6a) suitable for retaining the control member in its rest position, only when said folding part is in the raised position, thereby preventing the unlocking of the lock (16).  5. Seat according to claim 4, wherein the control member does not interfere with the latch when said control member is in its actuating position, the latch being resiliently biased towards its unlocking position and being adapted for maintain the control member in an intermediate position between its active position and its erased position when said lock is in the unlocked position, the control member then being placed itself in an intermediate position where said control member cooperates with said rigid element integral with the folding part of the backrest, to lock this folding part in its folded position.  6. Seat according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein the latch (16) and the control member (17) are pivotally mounted on a common support (13) and cooperate with the same spring (22) which biases the lock (16) to its locked position and the control member (17) to its rest position.  7. Seat according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the seat back (3) comprises, in addition to said folding part (6), a lower part (5) which is mounted on the seat by means of a tilt adjustment device (4), the control member (33) being mounted on said lower part (5) of the backrest and being connected to the control member (17) by a first sheathed cable (34) .  8. Seat according to claim 7, wherein the control member (17) is actuated by a handle (25) which is mounted on the backrest (3) of the seat and which is connected to said control member by a second sheathed cable (23).  9. Seat according to any one of claims 7 and 8, wherein the safety device (31) comprises an elastic blade (32) having a first end fixed to the lower part (5) of the backrest and a second end connected to the first sheathed cable (34), the control member (33) being constituted by a rigid pin integral with said second end of the elastic blade.  10. Vehicle comprising at least one seat (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the lock (16) is resiliently biased towards its unlocking position, the floor (11) of the vehicle being adapted to cooperate with the lock so as to automatically return it to its locked position when the seat (2) is returned to its position of use after being tilted forward.