Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DESCRIPTIOI~
TITLE:
" Device for regulating the position of a mova~le element
in a vehicle,such as a seat of the latter "
_ _ _
The present invention relates in a general way to a
device for regulating the position of movable elements in
an automobile vehicle or the like, such as for example the
sliding roof, the hatch or rear doortor the cover of the
rear luggage compartment. It in particular applies to the
regulation of the position of a seat of such a vehicle.
French patent 2 447 494 discloses a device for regula-t-
ing the position of a movable element, such as a seat, in
a vehicle, which comprises a screw jack connected between a
fixed point rigid with the body of the vehicle and a point
rigid with the movable element and comprising at least three
telescopic members whose re~spective screw-threads are in
opposite directlons, and a device for driving in rota-tion
coupled to an intermediate member of said screw jack while
belng movable in translation in a direction parallel -to the
axis of the jack with said intermediate member.
This provides a device wllicil a~fords a continuous re ~ a-
tion and has a small overall hei~ht and withstands
the large forces applied in the case of i.mpact on the
vehicle.
However, in the illustrated embodiments of said patent,
the outer member or blocX of the jacX is closed at its
outer end in order to fix this member to the element to be
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moved or to the structure of the vehicleO This results
in a large longitudinal overall size of the device, par-
ticularly when the latter is in its extended condition.
An object of the present invention is to modify this
arrangement so as to reduce ~he longitudinal overall
size of the device while retaining the high capacity
to withstand the forces and the possibility of angular
deviation possessed by the arrangement of said French
patent 2,447,494.
This invention consequently provides a device for
regulating the position of a movable element, such as a
seat, relative to a body, such as the body of a vehicle,
said device comprising a screw jack connected between a
fixed member rigid with said body and a movable member
rigid with the movable element, said screw jack compris-
ing at least three telescopically-assembled members whose
respective screwthreads are of opposite directions, and
a device for driving in rotation which is coupled to an
intermediate member of said telescopically-assembled
members of the screw jack and is movable with said
intermediate member in translation in a direction long-
itudinally of the jack, wherein an outer member of said
telescopically assembled member of the jack comprises a
sleeve which is open at both ends and through which sleeve
said intermediate member extends, and a flange which is
tangent to said sleeve, a fixing member which is fixed
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to one of two members consisting of said fixed member
and said movable element being rotatively mounted on said
flange.
Note that the opening of the end of the block enables
the intermeaiate member to be driven by means of an actuat-
ing cable, which has advantages from the point of view of
the placement of the manual or electric driving device.
However, a direct driving of the intermediate member by a
motor slidably mounted on the block may also be envisaged.
The invention will be explained hereinafter in detail
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with reference to the accompanying drawings which show
one embodiment. In the drawings :
Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a sub-structure
of a seat of a vehicle equipped with a regulating device
according to the invention ;
Fig. 2 is a ~artial sectional view taken on line 2-2
of Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig.2 ;
Figs. 4 and 5 are'elevational views of the block of
screw jack and the fixing member therefor ;
Fig~ 6 is a partial top plan view of a modification of
the regulating device according to the invention, and
Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig~6.
The seat sub-structure'shown in Fig. 1 comprises, on
each side of the` seat, two superimposed slideways each
formed by twQ itted-together section-members and rolling
elements interposed therebetween. The lower slideway 1
is rectilinear and adapted to regulate the seat in the
forward and rearward directions ; its lower section-member
2 is sec'ured to the'floor 3 of the vehicle~ ~he upper
slideway ~, which serves to correct the orientation or
attitude of the seat, is curved, ie. ben~ in the vertical
plane contalning the slideway 1. Its lower section-member
5 is fixed by two clevises, namely a front clevis 6 and a
~5 rear clevis 7, to the web of the upper section-member 8 of
the slideway 1, and its upper section-member 9 is fixed to
the lower side of the seat (not shown).
Each'slideway 1, 4 is ~rovided with a similar regulating
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device for relatively displacing the two sec~ion-members
thereof. This device comprises a screw jack 10 constituted
by three members screwed together.
The inner member of the jack 10 is a screwthreaded rod
11 located at the rear and having a rear end portion arti-
culated by a horizontal and transverse pin 12 to a bracket -
13 which is fixed, for example welded, to the lower section
member 2, 5 of the considered slideway.
The intermediate member of the jack 10 is a tubular
sleeve 14 which has an internal screwthread and e~ternal
screwthread of opposite directions. The rear part thereof
is screwed on the front part of the rod 11 and the centre
part thereof is screwed in the third member 15 of the jack
10 from which member 15- the member 14 extends on both sides.
Fixed on the front end portion of the member l4 is an end
portion of a control cable 16 whose other end is connected
to a suitable actuating device (not shown), such as a crank
or the ou-tput shaft of an electric motor.
The third member 15, which is -the outer member or block
of the jack 10, comprises (Figs. 2 to 4) a short tubular
sleeve 17 having an internal screwthread and open at both
ends and carrying a tangential lateral flange 18. This
sleeve and flange have, when viewed in elevation in a direc-
tion perpendicular to the axis of the sleeve (Fig. 4), the
shape of ~wo concentric circles truncated by two planes
which are parallel to each other and to the axis of said
circles~ diametrally opposed and spaced apart from each
other a distance d (Fig. 4). The outer side of the flange 18
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has a blind central aperture 19 surrounded by a circular
~roove 20 ; thisdefines between the aperture and the groove
a cylindrical axially extending collar 21. The lateral
wall of the sleeve 17 includes adjacent the flange 18 two
planar surfaces 22 interconnected by two cylindrical
segments 23 whic~ deflne a truncated cylindrical shoulder
24 adjacent the inner ~ace of the flange 18,
The flange 18 is very easily mounted, without any tool,
in a cup 25 welded to the movable ~ection-me~ber 8 or 9 of
the corresponding slideway 1, ~. The cup 25 comprises a
flat bottom 26 welded to a flat surface 27 of the section-
member 8, 9, and a .led~e 28 which is formed over twice and
has a retaining surface 29 parallel to the bottom 26 and
spaced from the latter by a distance very slightly greater
than the thickness of the flange 18~ The cup is circular
but truncated in the same way as said flange (Fig. 5), ie~
by two parallel planes. These two planes define in the
led~ 28 two diametrally opposed openlngs having the afore-
mentioned width d. Press-for,ned inwardly in the bottom
26 is a cylindrical collar 30.
In order to mount the block 15, it is placed coaxially
and perpendicularly to the cup 25 and the flange 18 is
inserted in the opening of the ledge 28, the ~ollar 30
~ heing then received without clearance in the groove 20, and
: 25 the block 15 is rotated through 90 so as to trap,with a
slight clearance/the flange 18 in the led~e 28. In order
to take up the axial clearance, a small cylinder 31 of
elastic or plastics material, for example polyurethane, is
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compressed between the bottom of the blind aperture 19 and
the flat surface 27 of the section-member 8, 9, this cylin-
der 31 extending through the collar 30.
In this position,-the surface 29 of the ledge 28
retains the flange 18 an.d the collar 30 ensures the center-
ing thereof. The block 15 may however turn with respect to
the cup 25, with a radi~l clearance between the.shoulder ~4
and the confronting .lédge 28, and thè axis of its screw-
thread is very close to the section-member 8, 9.
If great forces are exerted on the seat, in the event
of a shock and in particular in the case where the safety
belt is directly anchored to the seat, these forces put
: the jack under tensile stress between the block 15 and the
bracket 13. They are transmitted, in the region of the
block 15, to the weld of the.cup 25 and the collar 30 and,
if the latter yields, to the flange 28. The welding of
the cups 25 may be easily effected in such manner as to
impart a high strength to tnese connections~ Trials have
shown that the arrangement is capable of withstanding all
the forces which may be encountered in the case of a shock.
~ he fact that the block 15 is capable of rotating is
of interest not only when.the element to be moved efects
a non-rectilinear movement, which is the case of the section-
.
member 9, but also in the opposite case (section-member 8)
owing to inevitable defects in alignment upon assembly.
In order to modify the longitudinal position or the
orientation of the seat, the corresponding cable 16 is
rotated and this modifies the extension of the associated
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jack lO,as described in said patent. The flexibility of
the cable~ 16 enables placing their actuating devices in
the most appropriate places, in particular outside the
region of the sub-structure of the seat.
Figs. 6 and 7 show tha~ the jack 10 may be driven
directly by an electric motor 32 carried by the block 15
and slidably mounted on the latter in a manner similar to
that disclosed in said French patent 2 447 494.
For this purpose, the block 15 carries,in the upper
part thereof,a longitudinally extending rib 33 which acts
as a guide for a vertical rail 34 which is fixed to the
body of the motor 32, the rib 33 extending through a
centre slot 35 of the rail 33. The intermediate screw
member 14 is moulded and its closed end 36 is engaged by
the output member of a speed reducer 37 which is combined
with the motor 32, this screw member being connected to
move in translation with said output member.
Thus, when the motor 32 rotates, the block 15 provides
the reaction torque and the screw 14 is driven in rotation
and displaces the section-member 8 or 9 with respect to the
fixed point 12. The motor moves with the screw member 14,
next to the latter. The short len~th of the device, in
particul~r in the extended condition thereof, enables it
to be completely disposed, including the motor 32, under
the front part of the seat where the deflection of the
squab ~art of the seat is small.
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