1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat, and more particularly, to a vehicle seat having a back frame assembled with a bracket for reducing a load applied to the neck of an occupant due by shock resulting from a rear collision.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a vehicle seat which can reduce a load to be applied to the neck of an occupant due to shock of a rear collision. For example, a vehicle seat 101 shown in
However, according to the vehicle seat 101 shown in
Then, since the head of the occupant m is tilted backward until the head comes to into contact with the headrest (in
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. An aspect of the present invention provides a vehicle seat capable of sufficiently reducing a load that is applied to the neck of an occupant by shock resulting from a rear collision.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle seat comprising: a back frame; and a bracket assembled to the back frame and configured to reduce a load applied to a neck of an occupant by shock of a rear collision when the rear collision occurs in a vehicle, wherein the bracket has an inclined surface that is substantially parallel with a torso line at a normal posture of a seatback.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the load that is applied to the neck of the occupant by the shock of the rear collision, similarly to the related art.
In addition, since the bracket has an inclined surface that is substantially parallel with a torso line at a normal posture of the seatback, it is possible to make the state, in which a torso line of the occupant having sunk into the seatback is tilted backward, further tilted backward than that in the related art. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce an angle difference (a relative backward tilting angle) between an angle formed by the torso line of the occupant and the headline before the rear collision and an angle formed by the torso line of the occupant and the headline after the rear collision. As the relative backward tilting angle is reduced, the load applied to the neck of the occupant is also decreased, so that it is possible to sufficiently reduce the load applied to the neck of the occupant by the shock of the rear collision.
In the accompanying drawings:
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to
A schematic configuration of the front seat 1 will be described with reference to
The seatback 3 includes a back frame 5, a covering pad (not shown) that is assembled to the back frame 5 while enclosing the back frame 5, and a cover (not shown) that covers a surface of the covering pad.
The back frame 5 has a substantially rectangular frame shape that is configured by a pair of side frames 10, 12, an upper frame 14 that is welded to upper ends of the side frames 10, 12 so as to extend therebetween and a lower plate 16 (an example of a lower frame) that is welded to lower parts of the side frames 10, 12 so as to extend therebetween. The side frames 10, 12, the upper frame 14 and the lower frame 16 are made of metal members.
A rod 18 (an example of a rotation preventing member) is welded to a surface of the lower plate 16 along a longitudinal direction thereof. Therefore, even when the lower plate 16 is a thin plate, it is possible to increase the strength thereof. In addition, the lower plate 16 is formed with a through-hole 20 that penetrates the lower plate in a thickness direction thereof.
A bolt 22 is inserted into the through-hole 20 toward the surface from a backside of the lower plate 16 so as to assemble a bracket 30 that will be described later. The inserted bolt 22 is welded to the lower plate 16.
The bracket 30 is assembled to the surface of the lower plate 16. In the followings, the configuration of the bracket 30 and a sequence of assembling the bracket 30 to the surface of the lower plate 16 will be described.
First, the configuration of the bracket 30 will be described. The bracket 30 is provided to suppress a sinking amount of a waist part of an occupant M (not shown in
As shown in
The bracket 30 has an inclined surface 32 that is substantially parallel with a torso line T at a normal posture of the seatback 3 (the posture shown in
The normal posture of the seatback 3 is a design standard position that is determined from a comfort point of view although it is different depending on the types of vehicle. In addition, the torso line T at the normal posture of the seatback 3 is uniquely defined for the seatback 3 irrespective of the occupant M. It is noted that in this description, the torso line T (
In addition, the bracket 30 is formed with notches 36, 36 at lower ends of left and right wall surfaces thereof. Therefore, as described below, when the bracket 30 is assembled to the lower plate 16, the notches 36, 36 are brought into contact with a periphery of the rod 18. In other words, an edge of the bracket 30 contacts the rod 18 connecting both side frames. The bracket 30 is integrally made of polypropylene (PP) foam beads, for example.
Next, a sequence of assembling the bracket 30 to the surface of the lower plate 16 will be described. First, the base clip 38 is pushed into the bolt 22. Then, the bracket 30 is attached to the lower plate 16 such that the pushed-in base clip 38 passes through the attachment hole 34 of the bracket 30.
Then, an insertion clip 40 is pushed into the base clip 38 until an engagement claw (not show) of the insertion clip 40 is engaged with a thread of the bolt 22. At this time, in order to prevent the bracket 30 from rattling in the lower plate 16, the insertion clip 40 is pushed into the base clip 38 such that the engagement claw of the insertion clip 40 is engaged to a base end of the thread of the bolt 22. Accordingly, the bracket 30 is fixed to the surface of the lower plate 16 at one point along the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
The front seat 1 is configured by the back frame 5 and the seatback 3 having the above-described pad and cover.
The operations of the front seat 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to
In the meantime, since the bracket 30 has the inclined surface 32, as shown in
Accordingly, it is possible to reduce an angle difference (θ2−θ0 in
According to the above-described front seat 1 according to the illustrative embodiment, the bracket 30 has the inclined surface 32. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to further reduce the relative backward tilting angle, compared to the related art. If the relative backward tilting angle is reduced, the load applied to the neck of the occupant M is also reduced, so that it is possible to sufficiently decrease the load applied to the neck of the occupant M by the shock of the rear collision.
In addition, according to the above configuration, when the bracket 30 is assembled to the surface of the lower plate 16 through the bolt 22, the base clip 38 and the insertion clip 40 (i.e., by the one-point fixing), the periphery of the rod 18 is contacted to both notches 36, 36 of the assembled bracket 30. Therefore, the assembled bracket 30 is not rotated about the axis of the bolt 22 with respect to the lower plate 16. Thus, even with the simple structure of the bolt 22, the base clip 38 and the insertion clip 40, it is possible to stably assemble the bracket 30 to the surface of the lower plate 16.
Additionally, according to the above configuration, the bracket 30 is integrally formed of polypropylene (PP) foam beads. Thus, it is possible to make the front seat 1 light without deteriorating the effect that the load applied to the neck of the occupant M by the shock of the rear collision can be sufficiently reduced.
While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
In the illustrative embodiment, the front seat 1 is exemplified as a vehicle seat. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, an inventive concept of the present invention may be also applied to a second row-seat and a third-row seat.
In the illustrative embodiment, the lower plate is exemplified as a lower frame. In other words, the lower frame has a plate shape. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a rod shape may be also possible.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2010-189364 | Aug 2010 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5716098 | Lance | Feb 1998 | A |
6655745 | Fohrenkamm et al. | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6688700 | Gupta et al. | Feb 2004 | B2 |
6719368 | Neale | Apr 2004 | B1 |
7971939 | Fujita et al. | Jul 2011 | B2 |
7984945 | Sayama | Jul 2011 | B2 |
8061774 | Omori et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
8162392 | Humer et al. | Apr 2012 | B2 |
20100187876 | Nitsuma | Jul 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2001-145538 | May 2001 | JP |
2004-16708 | Jan 2004 | JP |
2006-35964 | Feb 2006 | JP |
2006-35965 | Feb 2006 | JP |
2010-76633 | Apr 2010 | JP |
2010-173618 | Aug 2010 | JP |
Entry |
---|
Japan Office action, dated Jul. 10, 2012 along with an english translation thereof. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120049587 A1 | Mar 2012 | US |