JPH0159932B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cover for a rotating structure, such as a leg supported so as to be foldable and rotatable with respect to a seat cushion frame of an automobile seat. A cover for a structure that is supported so as to rotate over a large angular range, and that effectively prevents foreign objects from being caught between the structure and a mating member over the entire rotational angular range of the structure. It relates to things that are configured to be able to be blocked.

For example, in a car seat shown in Utility Application No. 57-158893, whose front legs can be folded and rotated, the rotation angle range is 90° as shown in Figure 1. Therefore, if a fixed cover a as shown in Fig. 2 is used,
Even if it is attached to the seat side, there is a risk of foreign objects getting caught between the cover a and the front leg b. Also, by improving the plan shown in Figure 2, as shown in Figure 3,
Even if cover a is always elastically biased toward the front leg,
When the front leg b is folded and rotated, a space c is still created between the cover a and the front leg b. It is also possible to cover a wide area around the support part of the front legs with a rubber cover, but since the rotation angle range of the front legs is wide, there remains a problem with the strength of the rubber, and there is also a problem with the strength of the rubber, and the difference between the seat and the front legs. There is a risk that foreign objects may get caught in the rubber along with the rubber, so it is not very effective.

The present invention was devised under the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to maintain the relationship between the rotating structure and its supporting member no matter which rotational position the rotating structure is in. To provide a new cover that can effectively prevent foreign objects from being caught between the covers.

In order to achieve such an objective, the present invention:
The following technical measures have been taken:

That is, the cover of the rotating structure of the present invention is
A rotating structure that is supported so as to be rotatable within a certain angle range about a pivot with respect to a mating member, and is rotatable with respect to the mating member near the pivot with a rotation center parallel to the pivot. and a main cover made of resin that can cover the side part in the rotation direction of the rotation structure, and one end of the main cover is connected to an integral hinge having a hinge axis parallel to the pivot axis. A resin auxiliary cover that is connected and foldable to the back side of the main cover is provided, and the other end of the auxiliary cover is rotated with respect to the rotating structure to rotate the rotating structure toward the main cover. In the state where the auxiliary cover is folded on the back side of the main cover, both covers are aligned along the side part of the rotational direction of the rotational structure,
It is characterized in that it is connected so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the above-mentioned pivot axis.

Therefore, when the rotating structure is in the rotating position on the main cover side with respect to the supporting member, the auxiliary cover is folded to the back side of the main cover, and both covers are folded to the side of the rotating structure in the rotating direction. It looks like the base side of the rotating structure is
It appears to be hidden by the main cover.
On the other hand, when the rotating structure rotates to the rotating position where it separates from the main cover, the distance between the supporting member and the main cover, between the main cover and the auxiliary cover, and between the auxiliary cover and the rotating structure , since the main cover and the auxiliary cover can be rotated relative to each other around parallel pivot axes or hinge axes, so that the main cover and the auxiliary cover are unfolded as if being dragged by the rotational movement of the rotating structure,
The space from the connecting position of the main cover to the support partner member to the attachment position of the auxiliary cover to the rotating structure is covered by the main cover and the auxiliary cover which are unfolded and continuous. Also, when the rotating structure is rotated to the middle of its rotation range, the degree of expansion changes, but the space is covered by the continuous main cover and auxiliary cover.

Therefore, according to the cover of the rotating structure of the present invention, there is no external space between the rotating structure and the supporting member over the entire rotation angle range of the rotating structure with respect to the supporting member. Objects are effectively prevented from becoming trapped. In addition, in the process of the rotating structure rotating toward the main cover, when the main cover and auxiliary cover are folded, an external object may be caught between them, but the cover of the present invention is entirely made of resin. Even if a finger gets caught, it will not cause any injury and is safe.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings from FIG. 4 onwards.

The drawing shows, as an example of the rotating structure 1, a front leg 3 that is foldably and rotatably supported on a cushion frame 2 of an automobile seat. This seat 4 has a front leg 3 whose lower end is rotatably supported in the front and rear directions with respect to the floor panel 5. The upper part of the front leg 3 is folded and rotatably supported in the front and rear direction with respect to the seat cushion frame 2. The seat cushion for folding and rotating the floor panel 3 is configured to shift toward the front and sink so as to approach the floor panel 5. Seats with such a front leg structure are found, for example, in the rear seats of multi-purpose vans, and by folding and rotating the front legs, the seat cushion is lowered closer to the floor panel. When the seat back is fully reclined, a bed surface is formed that looks like a seat cushion and a seat back placed side by side on a floor panel.

The front legs 3 are provided with a locking mechanism 6 that locks in the upright state to prevent the seat cushion from falling due to accidental folding and rotation when used as a seat.

This locking mechanism 6 has a lock pawl 8 near the upper end of the front leg 3 whose upper end is rotatably supported with respect to a bracket 7 fixed to the seat cushion frame 2, and is rotatably supported. On the other hand, the bracket 7 is provided with an engagement pin 10 that can be engaged with the lock pawl 8 when the front leg 2 is in an upright state. As is clear from FIG. 4, this engagement pin 10 is
It also serves as a stopper for regulating the end of rotation when the front leg 3 is in an upright state. In the locked state shown in FIG. 4, the locking member 9 is biased by the spring 11 in the direction of the arrow P in the figure in an over-fulcrum manner, and the locking member 9 may inadvertently rotate in the direction of the arrow Q. The lock is designed to never be released. Further, an operating lever 12 is attached to the locking member 9 and extends in the lateral direction of the seat, and the occupant operates the operating lever 12 to rotate the locking member 9 in the direction of arrow Q to lock the seat. unlock. When the lock is released, the front leg 3
can be folded and rotated in the direction of arrow A in the figure, and the seat cushion moves forward and sinks to approach the floor panel 5.

A cover 13 is attached to the front leg 3 and is formed to cover almost the entire front leg 3 or the lock mechanism 6. This cover 13
For example, as clearly shown in FIG. 2, the front half cover 13a is formed to cover the front part of the front leg 3, and the back half cover 13b is formed to cover the back side of the front leg. They are connected by an integral hinge part 14 made of resin, and when both half covers 13a and 13b are closed, the front and rear ends of the front legs 3 are connected to the front half cover 13a and the back half cover 13b.
It can be configured so that it is sandwiched between the inner surfaces of. Incidentally, male and female clips 15 that can be engaged with each other are formed at the ends of both half covers 13a and 13b opposite to the integral hinge part 14, and these clips 15 are formed in the shape of a male and female that can be engaged with each other. It is designed to be retained.

Now, in the present invention, between the front leg 3, which is a rotating structure capable of rotating in a large rotation angle range, and the seat cushion frame 2, which is a supporting member thereof, the front leg 3 is positioned at which rotational position. cover the space between the front legs and the seat cushion frame,
A cover 16 is configured to prevent foreign objects from being caught in this space.

Basically, the cover 16 of the present invention is placed at a position slightly away from the support portion of the front leg 3 in the seat cushion frame 2 that supports the front leg 3, which is a rotating structure, with one end attached to the seat cushion frame 2. A main cover 17 made of resin is supported rotatably around a pivot, and between this main cover 17 and the front leg 3 there is provided at least one auxiliary resin made of resin that can be folded by an integral hinge. It is constructed by interposing a cover 18. In the illustrated example, the above basic configuration is embodied as follows.

As shown in FIG. 5, the main cover 16
The above cover 1 covers the side surface of the front leg in the direction of rotation.
It has a shape that can fit snugly onto the upper outer surface of the front half cover 13a of No. 3. A pair of left and right branch pieces 21 each having a support hole 20 having a notch 19 are formed on the upper part.
0, by fitting a support shaft 22 parallel to the pivot shaft laterally attached to the front part of the seat cushion through the notch 19, the seat cushion is rotatably supported with respect to the support shaft 22. It's becoming like that.
Furthermore, a tongue piece 23 that integrally extends upward is formed on the upper part of the main cover 13, and the tongue piece 23 is pressed against the front surface of the horizontal frame 2a of the seat cushion frame 2. By bringing them into contact with each other, the entire main cover 17 is elastically biased toward the cover 13 of the front leg 3.

At the bottom of the main cover 17, there is an integral hinge part 24 having a hinge axis parallel to the pivot axis of the front leg 3.
A collapsible auxiliary cover 18 extends toward the back surface of the main cover 17 through the auxiliary cover 17, and an integral hinge having a hinge axis parallel to the hinge axis of the above-mentioned integral hinge portion 24 is provided at the end of the auxiliary cover 18. A pivotable mounting part 26 continues through the part 25, and this mounting part 26
is fixed to the front half cover 13a by inserting a pin 27 integrally formed therein into a hole drilled in an appropriate part of the front half cover 13a. The length of the auxiliary cover 18 is determined to be an appropriate length depending on the rotation angle range of the front leg 3, which is a rotating structure. Further, the width of the auxiliary cover 18 is determined to be an appropriate size in consideration of interference with other members. However, this auxiliary cover 18
As shown in the figure, when it is folded over the back side of the main cover 17, it should be bent so that it exactly overlaps the back side of the main cover 17. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the attachment position of the end of the auxiliary cover 18 to the half-cover 13a changes when the front leg 3 is rotated to the maximum extent toward the main cover 17. The auxiliary cover 18 that is folded inward is selected to closely fit the half cover 13a of the front leg 3.
Note that the integral hinge parts 24 and 25 are as follows:
As shown in FIG. 7, each can be easily formed by providing a thin portion.

Next, the function of the cover of this embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the front legs 3 are in the upright position, the auxiliary cover 18 is closed to the main cover 17.
and the cover 13 of the front leg 3. At this time, due to the reaction force of the elastic abutment of the upper tongue piece 23 of the main cover 17 against the seat cushion frame 2, the main cover 17 is tightly aligned with the surface of the half cover 13. Since the main cover 17 and the cover 13 of the front leg 3 are pressed against each other, a gap will not be inadvertently formed between the main cover 17 and the cover 13 of the front leg 3. Furthermore, since the front part of the support part of the front leg 3 relative to the seat cushion frame 2 is covered by the main cover 17, there is no chance of foreign objects entering the support part of the front leg from this part.

Furthermore, when the front legs 3 are folded, the auxiliary cover 18 that has been folded on the back side of the main cover 17 is pulled out, as shown in FIG. It rotates about the center in the direction of arrow A in FIG. At this time, the front leg cover 13 is folded away from the support shaft 22.
Main cover 17 and auxiliary cover 18 continuing to the front of
A long protective wall is formed, which effectively prevents foreign objects from entering near the support of the front leg 3. As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, even when the front legs 3 are located between the upright state and the folded state, the main cover 1
Of course, the continuous protective wall formed by the front leg support section 7 and the auxiliary cover 18 can prevent foreign objects from entering the front leg support section.

In this way, the cover of the rotating structure of the present invention is
Even if the rotation angle range of the rotation structure is large, it has the unique effect of effectively preventing foreign objects from entering the support part of the rotation structure at the previous rotation angle position. There is. In other words, the support part of the rotating structure that cannot be completely covered by the cover shown in Fig. 2 or 3 can be covered by the main cover and the auxiliary cover, which are connected by an integral hinge, without the need for springs or attached parts. It becomes possible to cover with a one-piece cover consisting of a cover. In the above example, when the seat is folded forward, the passenger's fingers often come close to the support part of the front leg in order to grasp the bottom surface of the seat.If the cover of the present invention is attached to the support part of the front leg, Injuries can be prevented because there is no chance of injury if a finger accidentally gets into the support part of the front leg.

It goes without saying that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the illustrated example, one auxiliary cover is interposed between the main cover and the rotating structure, but a plurality of auxiliary covers may be connected in a bellows shape. Furthermore, in the illustrated example, the front leg is foldably and rotatably supported on the seat cushion frame as an example of a rotating structure, but the rotating structure is not limited to this and may be any other type of structure. good. For example, the present invention can be applied to cover the support part of an operating lever of machinery that has a wide rotation angle range, and its application range is extremely wide.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are explanatory diagrams of a conventional example, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example in which the present invention is applied as a cover for a foldable front leg support part of an automobile seat, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the main part of what is shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the operation, and FIG. 7 is a detailed sectional view of the integral hinge portion. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Rotating structure, 2...Support partner member (seat cushion frame), 17...Main cover, 1
8... Auxiliary cover, 24, 25... Integral hinge section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a rotating structure supported so as to be rotatable within a certain angular range about a pivot axis with respect to a counterpart member, the counterpart member near the pivot axis has a rotation center parallel to the pivot axis. A main cover made of resin is provided that is rotatable relative to the member and can cover the sides of the rotating structure in the rotational direction, and one end is provided with a hinge shaft parallel to the pivot axis at the tip of the main cover. An auxiliary cover made of resin that is connected to the back surface of the main cover by an integral hinge that can be folded is provided, and the other end of the auxiliary cover is connected to the rotating structure by connecting the rotating structure to the rotating structure. When the main cover is rotated toward the main cover side, the auxiliary cover is folded on the back side of the main cover so that both covers are along the sides of the rotating structure in the rotation direction,
A cover for a rotating structure, characterized in that the cover is connected to be rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the pivot.