Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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The present invention relates in general to automotive
vehicle seat back recliner mechanisms and more specifically to an
apparatus and method for adjusting the recliner mechanism parts
employed for holding the seat bac]c in a desired position relative
the vehicle seat.
It is now common in automotive vehicles to employ a
recliner mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the seat back
relative the vehicle seat, particularly in so called "bucket"
front seats. Normally, the seat back is spring biased to a fully
forward position with a release lever being manually operable to
disengage a locking pawl from a seat back associated support arm
to allow the passenger, when seated in the vehicle seat, to lift
the release lever and lean backward or forward to adjust the seat
back to a desired location and hold it in such location through
release of the manually operated lever. The seat back position is
further normally maintained through the engagement of teeth on the
locking pawl meshing with mating teeth on the seat back support
arrn.
It has been found that due to tolerance build up of -the
~0 various recl.iner mechanism parts, particularly with regard to the
locking pawl, seat back associated support arm, the limiting means
limiting seat back movement relative the pawl and the components
mounting the pawl some times produce a less than optimum mesh
between the pawl teeth and the support arm associated teeth. The
narrowing of manufacturing tolerances and the increasing of
inspection standards in order to maintain overall acceptable tooth
mesh between the pawl and seat back support arm is considered to be
an expensive and time consuming solution which may or may not
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actually overcome the inherent statistical possibilities for a
poor tooth to tooth mesh condition due to the build up of even
narrow tolerance Iimits for the various parts of the recliner
mechanism.
It is therefore the primary object of the present inven-
tion to disclose and provide an apparatus and a method for achiev-
ing an optimum mesh condition between the pawl teeth and the seat
back support arm locking teeth even where normal tolerance limits
are employed for mechanism parts and which can compensate for an
undue amount of tolerance build up causing an otherwise poor mesh
condi.tion to occur. It is a further object of the presen-t inven-
tion to disclose and provide such an apparatus and method which is
easily and simply practiced, is economical and time efficient in
use and can be employed after full assembly of all of the recliner
mechanism parts and associated components to the vehicle seat and
seat back so that an optimum mesh condition can be attained in a
specific vehicle seat use environment.
S~JMM~R~ O~ THE INVENTION
Generally stated, the present inventi.on includes the
provision of pivotal mounting means for the locking pawl of the
recliner mechanism wherein the axis about which the pawl pivots
is selectively adjustable after full assembly of the recliner
mechanism to the vehicle seat. More specifically, the present
invention provides pivotal mounting means for the locking pawl of
an adjustable seat back recliner mechanism, said mounting means
comprising: journal means for pivotally mounting said pawl thereon
for pivotal movement about a first axis; and bearing means for
pivotally mounting said journal means for pivotal movement about a
second axis spaced eccentrically relative said first axis.
The inven-tion also provides in an adjustable recliner
mechanism for a vehicle seat back wherein seat back position lock-
ing teeth on an upper arm associated with the seat back are engag-
able by pawl teeth by a pawl pivotally mounted on a lower support
frame associated with the vehicle seat, the improvement comprising
the provision of: means for pivotally mounting said pawl on an
adjustable pivotal axis on said frame whereby said pawl pivotal
axis may be selectively adjusted after assembly of said upper arm,
pawl and support frame to bring said pawl teeth and seat back posi-
tion locking teeth into an improved mesh relation when manufactur-
ing tolerance build up of said upper arm, pawl and support frame
having produced a less than desirably complete mesh between said
tecth.
From another aspect, the invention provides a method of
adjusting the mesh of locking teeth between a pivoted pawl and a
seat back associated support arm in an adjustable seat back
recliner mechanism comprising the steps of: pivoting the pawl
member to bring its associated pawl teeth into engagement with
2~ mating teeth of the seat back support arm after full assembly of
the recliner rnechanism to the seat; thereafter adjusting the
pivotal axis of said pawl until an optimum axis location is
attained for an optimum mesh condition between said pawl teeth and
said support arm teeth.
q'he pivotal mounting for the locking pawl preferably
comprises a unitary bushing member having bearing means by which
it is pivotally mounted to the vehicle seat associated frame and
~b journal means by which it pivotally mounts the pawl, the center
line of pivotal movement of the pawl on the journal means being
offset in an eccentric manner relative -the pivotal axis of the
bushing member in the support frame. In a preferred exemplary
embodiment, the unitary bushing member includes a pair of spaced
concentric cylindrical bearing surfaces mounted in spaced frame
members with a cylindrical journal surface between the bearing
means and thereby located between the frame members to pivotally
mount the pawl between the frame members on an axis which is
eccentric of the bushing member pivotal axis an amount equal to at
least one-half of the distance between the apex of two adjacent
teeth of the locking pawl. Since this eccentricity distance can
be positioned above or below the center line of rotation of the
bushing member/ the pivotal axis for the pawl has a vertical adjust-
able extent of a distance at least equal to the distance between
apexes of adjacent teeth on the locking pawl in the preferred
exemplary embodiment.
It is believed that those skilled in the art will gain
a better understanding of the present invention and a recognition
of additional objects and advantages therefore, from a consider-
ation of the following detailed description of a preferredexemplary embodiment of the present invention in recliner adjust-
ment method and apparatus. Reference will be made to the appended
sheets of drawings which will first be described briefly.
Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an exemplary
embodiment of adjustable recliner mechanism for a vehicle sea-t back
in which an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in
pivotal mounting means for the locking pawl of the recliner mechan-
~, ism is illustrated generally at 40;
Figure 2 is a detail front view of the exemplary embodi-
ment of pivotal mounting means in accordance with the present inven-
tion;
Figure 3 is a detail view of the exemplary embodiment of
mounting means of E'igure 2 taken therein along the plane III-III;
Figure 4 is a detail view showing a. poor mesh condition
between the locking teeth of the recliner mechanism locking pawl
and seat back support arm of the mechanism of Fi.gure l;
Figure 5 is a detail view as in Figure 4 showing an
optimum mesh condition between the locking pawl teeth and the seat
back support arm teeth obtained in accordance with the method and
apparatus for pivotal mounting means for the locking pawl in accor-
dance with the present invention;
Figure 6 is a front view of the exemplary embodiment of
pivotal mounting means after it has been operated in accordance
wi.th the method and apparatus of the present invention to attain
the optimum mesh condition for the mating teeth as in Figure 5; and
Figure 7 is a section view of the pivotal mounting means
of E':igure 6 taken therein along the plane VII-VII.
~0 Referri.ng now in.itially to Figure 1, an exemplary embodi-
ment of adjustable recliner mechanism for a vehicle seat back is
illustrated with a conventional seat back support indicated general-
ly at 10. It should be understood that this seat back support
mechanism is on one side of the sea-t only with conventional seat
back support means on an opposite side of the seat. The exemplary
seat back support arm includes the support arm body ll having sui-t-
able bolt receiving apertures 12, 13 and 14 for a-ttachment to the
;~ vehicle seat in conventional manner. Support arm lO is pivotally
mounted by pivot pin 15 on a support frame, including front plate
16 and back plate 17 interconnected by cross brace pins or rivets
18, 19 and 20. The support frame including pla-tes 16 and 17 may be
associated with the vehicle seat frame supporting the vehicle seat
relative to which the vehicle seat back associated wi-th arm 10 is
pivoted. Pivotal movement of the seat back relative to the seat
is limited by a stop pin 20 secured between plates 16 and 17 which
rides in slot 21 formed in arrn 10. A conventional seat back bias-
ing spring, not shown, is normally employed with the spring being
connected between spring end post 22 at one end and being fitted
through pivot pin 15 at its other end to bias the arm 10, fixed -to
pin 15, in a counter-clockwise direction in Figure 1.
Means are provided to adjust the location of the seat
back associated with arm 10 relative to the seat associated frame
including plates 16 and 17. In the exemplary embodiment, such
adjustment means are indicated generally at 25 and include the
provision of locking teeth 26 on upper arm 10 which are adapted to
be engaged by paw]. teeth 23 on pawl 27. Pawl 27 has a pivot bore
29 by which it is pivota].ly mounted on the exemplary embodiment oE
~0 p.ivotal mounting means indicated generally at 40, in accordance
with the present invention as will be discussed more fully herein-
after.
The adjustment means of the exemplary embodiment further
comprises the provision of cam 30 mounted on pivot pin 31 to be
operated manually by the release handle 32 provided on handle arm
33 which is fastened by conventional bol.ts or rivets 34 and 35 to
cam 30. A spring 36 is connected at one end to spring post 37
mounted between support frame plates 16 and 17 and at the other
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end on the bolt or ri.vet 35 as seen in Figure l. As can be seen
from the foregoing description, the seat back recliner mechanism
-thus far described is considered conventional in that a selected
seat back position is maintained by the engagement of pawl 27 with
arm lO, specifically pawl teeth 28 with support arm locking teeth
26, with the pawl being maintained in such a locked condition by
the presence of cam 30 thereunder. The seat back position can be
adjusted by manually lifting handle 32 to remove cam 30 from
beneath the pawl, the seat back moved to a new locatior and, on
release of handle 32, spring 36 will return cam 30 to its pawl
locking condition in conventional manner.
As is particularly contemplated within the present inven-
tion, pivotal mounting means are provided in accordance with
present invention Eor selectively adjusting the pivotal axis of
pawl 27 after it is fully assembled into the recliner mechanism as
illustrated in Figure l. As noted hereinbefore, during manufactur-
ing operations, manufacturing tolerance build up in the mechanism
parts including pawl 27, upper arm 10, slot 21, stop in 20 and the
pivotal mounting itself for pawl 27 can produce a less than optimum
me~h condition between pawl teeth 28 and support arm locking teeth
26 even where close tolerances and high inspection standards are
maintained. In accordance with the present invention, means are
provided for pivotally mounting pawl 27 on an adjustable pivotal
axis whereby the pawl pivotal axis may be selectively adjusted to
compensate for tolerance build up, such pivotal mounting means
being illustrated generally at 40 in the exemplary embodiment.
Referring now to Figures 2 and 3 in addition to Figure l,
the exemplary embodiment of pivotal mounting means, indicated
generally at 40, in aceordanee with present invention, includes
the provision of a unitary bushing member having a first cylindri-
eal bearing surfaee 41 rotatably mounted in a bore in front plate
16, as seen in Figure 3, and a seeond cylindrical bearing surface
42 pivotally mounted in a mating bore in the rear plate 17. The
cylindrical bearing surfaces 41 and 42 are coneentrie to pivotally
rnount the unitary bushing member for pivotal movement about a first
axis 50. The unitary bushing member, indicated generally at 40,
further ineludes -the provision of a eylindrieal journal surface
]0 43 which is loeated between bearing surfaces 41 and 42 and is pro-
vided with a suitable eylindrical extent to fit freely between
front plate 16 and back plate 17 as seen in Figure 3. The cylindri-
cal journal surface 43 is further provided eccentrically o:E -the
bear:ing surfaees 41 and 42, the eenter line 51 of eylindrical sur-
face 43 being off set relative eenter line 50 of bearing surfaees
41 and 42. Preferably, the offset of een-ter lines 50 and 51, tha-t
:is -the eceentrieity of the eenter line of journal surfaee 43
rela-ti.ve to che center line of bearing surfaees 41 and 42, is a
distanee equal -to approximately one-half the distanee between the
apex of two adjust teeth of the pawl teeth 28. ~s seen in Figure
3, the mounting means, indieated generally at 40, has the journal
surfaee center line 51 disposed below the center line 50 of rota-
tion of the mounting means.
In the event that a less than optimum mesh lS a-ttained
between the pawl teeth 28 and support arm locking means 26, as seen
in Figure 4, the unitary bushing member may be manually rotated
through rotation of hex head 44 to adjust the center line 51 loca-
tion about which pawl 27 pivots until a desired optimum mesh con-
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dition is obtained as illustrated in Figure 5. As can be seen
from a comparison of the position of the unitary bushing member of
the exemplary pivotal mounting means, indicated generally at 40 in
each figure, the bushing member has been rotated approximately 180
degrees to elevate the center line 51 of rotation for pawl 27,
pawl 27 rotating about journal surface 43 as discussed hereinbefore.
When a desired optimum mesh condition is obtained between the pawl
teeth 26 and support arm locking teeth 28, the position of the
bushing member may be fixed by staking portions of bearing surface
41 to front plate 16, a suitable stake therefore being illustrated
at 45
In accordance with the method and apparatus of the
present invention in pivotal mounting means, it is contemplated
that inltially handle 32 will be lifted to temporarily release pawl
27 Erom arm 10 to allow the seat back to pivot fully forward under
the bias of the seat back associated spring employed in conven-
tlonal vehicle seat constructions. Handle 32 may then be released
to allow movement oE cam 30 under the action of spring 36 to bring
pawl 27 back into engagement with the seat back support arm 10
when the seat back is in a Eully forward position. The mesh
between pawl teeth 28 and support arm locking teeth 26 may then be
examined to determine whether an optimum mesh condition exists or
not. In the event that such a condition does not exist, the
pivotal axis 51 of the pawl 27 may be adjusted through selective
rotation of the pivotal mounting means, indicated generally at 40,
until axis 51 is relocated relative to stationary bearing surEace
axls 50 in such a manner as to move pawl teeth 28 into an optimum
mesh condition with teeth 26 of the seat back arm. The pivotal
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mounting means, indicated generally at ~0, can then be fixed in
the thus attained optimum condition through -the provision of suit-
able securing means, such as stake 45 discussed hereinbefore.
Having thus described a preferred exemplary embodiment
in pivotal mounting means for the locking pawl in a vehicle seat
~ack recliner mechanism, it should be now apparent to those skilled
in the art that the present invention attains the advantages and
objects stated hereinbefore and that various alternative embodi-
men-ts, modifications and adaptations thereof may be made in
accordance with the present invention which is defined by the
following claims.
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