FR2669586A1 - FIXING STRUCTURE OF A RETRACTABLE ARMREST FOR A SEAT BACK. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an assembly for a seat. According to the invention, it comprises a divided seat backrest comprising first and second parts (12 and 14) arranged in line, at least one of them being tiltable forward, the first part having a recess, a armrest (18) received movable by pivoting in the recess, a support tab allowing the armrest to pivot between its position in the recess and a flat position, the tab being fixed to a frame member to support therein the armrest, a covering member (30) of the support leg arranged so as to expose an unpleasant part of the support leg, on the outside, by a first space produced between a given portion of the armrest. covering member and the framework when one of the first and second parts is inclined forward and a means (30g) for closing the first space and hiding the unpleasant part of the support leg. The invention applies in particular to motor vehicles of the family or hatchback type.

Description

The present invention relates to a structure for fixing a

  retractable armrest to a divided seat back of a folding rear seat

for a motor vehicle.

  In automobiles such as wagons, hatchbacks or the like, what is called a "folding seat" is used as a rear seat to achieve greater luggage space. Indeed, a seat back can be placed on a seat. seat cushion Some of the folding seats are of a type that has a divided seat back having a back main body and a backrest sub-body arranged on the same line with respect to each other, and which has a retractable armrest received movable by pivoting in a recess formed on an extreme lateral portion of the main body of the backrest, the lateral end portion being placed adjacent to the

sub-body of file.

  When more space is needed for baggage, the main body of the backrest and / or the sub-body of the divided seatback is inclined towards

  the front and lying on the seat cushion of it.

  With this, the space defined above the flat backrest can be used as extra space for luggage. The retractable armrest is supported at the lateral ends of its base portion by two metal support legs that are attached to the frame of the main body of the backrest for pivoting between a high inactive position and an active position.

flat.

  If the metal support legs are exposed, the external appearance of the seat is deteriorated due to the unsuitable combination of the metal support leg and the seat itself. Therefore, at least one of the legs of the seat metal support which is adjacent to the backrest subframe is covered with a plastic cover member arranged to match the seat itself, to improve its

external appearance.

  As it is necessary to provide a first space between a lateral end of the back frame of the main body and a lateral end of the sub-body of the backrest to ensure easy pivotal movement of the main body relative to the sub-body and vice versa, a second space is inevitably provided between the lateral end of the back frame and an end portion of the cover member When the main body or the subbody is lying on the seat cushion, the support leg

  metal is exposed by the second space.

  However, the conventional cover member has no means to prevent the metal support leg from being exposed through the second space, which is of simple construction and

easy to install.

  The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a structure for attaching a retractable armrest to a divided seat back of a folding rear seat for a motor vehicle, a structure by which the metal support leg is not exposed even when the main body or the sub-body of the split seat back is lying on the

seat cushion.

  According to the present invention there is provided an assembly for a seat comprising: a divided seat back having first and second parts arranged on the same line with respect to each other, at least one of the first and second parts being tilting forward, the first portion having a recess and a backrest frame member which is positioned near the second portion with some clearance to ensure easy movement of the first portion relative to the second portion and vice versa; an armrest which is movably received by pivoting in the recess, a support leg allowing the armrest to pivot between a high inactive position in which the armrest is received in the recess and an active position lying flat, the leg of support being attached to the body of the backrest frame to support the armrest on this body; a covering member for covering the support lug, the covering member being arranged to expose an unpleasant portion to the view of the support lug, externally, by a first space which is produced between a portion data of the cover member and backrest frame member when one of the first and second parts is inclined forwardly; and means for closing the first space to hide the uncomfortable portion in view of the support leg. The invention will be better understood, and other purposes, features, details and advantages thereof

  will appear more clearly in the description

  following explanatory diagram with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating an embodiment of the invention, and in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a seat backrest divided by a foldable rear seat according to the present invention, showing a condition in which a retractable armrest is in the active position flat; Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1, showing the condition in which an end portion of a cover member is pivotally movable; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the divided seat back showing a condition in which a backrest sub-body is inclined forwards and a backrest main body is in a raised position, and the retractable armrest is in high idle position; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the condition in which the main body of the backrest is tilted forward and the

  Backrest sub-body is in raised position.

  Referring to Figures 1 to 4, they show a structure for attaching a retractable armrest to a divided seat back of a folding rear seat for a motor vehicle according to the

present invention.

  As can be seen in FIG. 1, the divided seat back 10 of the folding rear seat comprises a main body 12 and a sub-body 14 which are arranged on the same line with respect to one another. The main body 12 is longer than the sub-body 14, the length being defined along a lateral direction The main body 12 has, at its lateral portion, a rectangular recess 16 to receive a retractable armrest 18 As will be explained here after, the armrest 18 is connected to the main body 12 in order to be able to pivot between a high inactive position in which the armrest 18 is

  received in the recess 16 and an active position flat.

  The main body 12 and the sub-body 14 are respectively tilting forward (see FIGS.

and 4).

  Thus, when more space is needed for the luggage, the main body 12 and / or the sub-body 14 are inclined forward With this, the space defined above the main body and / or the sub-body -body 12 and / or 14 can be used as a space

extra for luggage.

  The main body 12 comprises a frame 20 which is generally rectangular in shape. A padding member (not shown) of the main body 12 is

attached to the frame 20.

  As can be seen in FIG. 2, the frame 20 has at its two ends curved portions 20a (only one is shown) which have a

  annular section for reinforcement.

  The frame 20 is covered at its front surface with a lining cover 22. The cover 22 is rotated at its lateral ends to cover the curved portions 20a of the frame 20. The lateral ends of the cover 22 are fixed at carpet 24

  which covers the back surface of the main body 12.

  Two support legs 26 are provided to support the armrest 18 and to receive between them a base portion of the armrest 18 As the two support legs 26 are identical in construction, a single leg 26 which is placed adjacent to the subbody 14

will be described in the following.

  The support lug 26 is made of metal The support lug 26 has a staggered configuration which thus has a rear end portion 26a which is fixed to the frame 20 of the backrest by a bolt 28 with the interposition of the cover 22, a middle portion 26b which is abutting with a curved portion of the cover 22 which covers the curved portion 20a of the frame 20, a front portion 26c which faces a side surface of the armrest 18 and a corner portion 26d defined between the middle portion 26 b and the front portion 26 c the support lug 26 has, in its front portion, a first pivoting hole 26 e and a first arcuate slot 26 f concentric with the first

hole 26 e.

  The support lug 26 is covered with a cover member 30 which is made of plastic. The covering member 30 is constructed to match, for example, its color with the rear seat. in such a configuration that it covers the support lug 26 which is thus monolithically formed with an end portion 30a, a medial portion 30b and first and second front portions 30c and 30a. cover member 30 is facing and is located at a distance from the rear end portion 26a of the support lug 26 to receive therebetween a head portion of the bolt 28 The medial portion 30b of the liner member 30 is in abutment with the middle portion 26b of the support lug 26 The first front portion 30c of the liner member 30 faces the side surface of the armrest 18 and is abutting with the front portion 26c from the The first front portion 30c has a second pivot hole 30e and a second arcuate slot

  30 f concentric with the second pivot hole 30 e.

  The second front portion 30 d is facing and is placed away from the first portion before 30 c for the reason which will be explained if after and it is traversed by a hole 30 i which is aligned coaxially with the

  first and second pivot holes 26 e and 30 e.

  The second pivoting hole 30e and the second arcuate slot 30f are respectively slightly larger than the first pivoting hole 26e and the first arcuate slot 26f, in size, for the reason

which will be explained below.

  The rear end portion 30a of the cover member 30 is bent backward at its end to conceal the rearward end portion 26a.

of the support leg 26.

  The second front portion 30b of the cover member 30 is formed monolithically with an end portion 30g which has an L-shaped cross-section. The end portion 30a has a 30h base which has a cut in order to have a cut in Therefore, the end portion 30 g can be curved inward at the base 30 h. A pivot bolt 32 is screwed to a frame member 34 of the armrest 18 and passes through the first pivoting hole 26 e of the support leg 26 and the second pivoting hole 30 e of the pivot member.

recovery 30.

  A pin 36 protrudes from the frame member 34 of the armrest 18 in a direction towards the sub-body 14 and through the arcuate slots 26 f and 30 f of the support leg 26 and the cover member In order to limit the pivotal movement of the armrest 18, one end of the outwardly directed pin 36 is positioned away from the second front portion 30 d of the cover member 30 to thereby provide easy pivotal movement of the pin 36 in the slots

Arched 26 f and 36 f.

  The assembly will be described in the following.

  During assembly, the main body and the sub-body of the backrest are respectively held at the high positions and inclined forwards in order to

facilitate assembly.

  First, the support lug 26 is fixed at its rear end portion 26a to the backrest frame 20 by the bolt 28 so that the front portion 26c of the support lug 26 faces the lateral surface of the backrest 26. the base portion of the armrest 18 Then, the cover member 30 is engaged with the support tab 26 so that the second pivot hole 30 e and the second arcuate slot 30 f of the cover member 30 are respectively in alignment with the first pivoting hole 26 e and the first arcuate slot 26 f of the support tab 26. Then, the armrest 18 is engaged with the support tab 26 so that the pin 36 of the In this case, a threaded hole 34a of the frame member 34 of the armrest 18 is carried in alignment coaxial with the first and second holes of the armrest 18. 26 th and 30 th pivoting. In this condition, the pivot bolt 32 is seated through the hole 30 i and the first and second pivot holes 26 e and 30 e to be screwed to the hole 34 a of the frame 34 of the armrest 18 With this, the armrest 18 is movable by pivoting around the axis of the bolt 32 and between a high inactive position and an active position

flat.

  As previously described, the second pivot hole 30 e and the second arcuate slot 30 f of the cover member 30 are respectively slightly larger than the first hole 26 e and the first arcuate slot 26 f of the leg As a result, during the pivoting movement of the armrest 18, the bolt 32 and the pin 36 of the armrest 18 do not abut against the cover member 30, which improves the

durability of it.

  Then, as can be seen in Figure 2, the end portion 30 g of the cover member 30 is bent inward to fit into a space between the medial portion 26 b of the support leg 26 and a curved lateral end portion of the cover 22 which covers the curved portion 20a of the frame 20 of the backrest With this, the corner portion 26d of the support tab 26 is hidden In this condition, the end portion 30g of the covering member is pressed against the curved lateral end portion of the cover 22 due to the restitution force of the end portion 30 g, which forces the end portion 30 g to pivot rearwardly around the base 30 h Thus, the end portion 30 g of the cover member 30 is held abutting with the curved lateral end portion of the cover 22 and thus the space between the curved side end portion of the cover 22 and the base 30 h is kept closed Thus, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, even when the main body 12 or the subbody 14 is inclined forward to expose a side surface of the armrest 18, the support leg 26 is completely hidden, which

  improves the external appearance of the rear seat.

  In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the end portion 30 g of the cover member 30 has a generally L-shaped cross-section so that the cover member 30 is easily out of a mold However, if desired, the

  extreme portion 30 g may have a different shape.

  In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the main body 12 and the sub-body 14 are tiltable forward. However, if desired, only one of the main body 12 and the

  subbody 14 can be tilted forward.

Claims (3)

R E V E N D I C A T IO N S   Seat assembly, characterized in that it comprises: a divided seat back having first and second parts (12, 14) which are arranged on a line relative to each other, at least one said first and second portions being tiltable forward, said first portion having a recess (16) and a backrest frame member (20) which is proximate to said second portion with a certain clearance to ensure easy movement of said first portion relative to said second portion and vice versa, an armrest (18) which is pivotably received in said recess, a support tab (28) for allowing said armrest to pivot between an upright inoperative position in which said armrest is received in said recess and a flat active position, said support tab being attached to said backrest frame member for supporting said armrest on said frame member, an organ covering member (30) for covering said support leg, said covering member being arranged to expose an unpleasant portion to the view of said support leg, externally, through a first space which is produced between a given portion of said cover member and said back frame member when one of said first and second portions is inclined forwardly, and means (30g) for forming said first space to hide said unpleasant portion at the sight of said support leg.   Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforesaid means comprises an end portion (30 g) of the cover member (30) which is formed monolithically on said given portion, and in that said given portion is notched such that said end portion can be bent to said given portion to close said first space. 3 Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the support bracket (28) is made of metal and in that the cover member (30) is made of plastic.   Assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that said given portion has a V-shaped cut to allow the end portion (30 g) to be bent inwards in one direction   towards the body of backrest structure.   Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a lining covering (22) to cover a front surface of the body of backrest structure.   Assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises means for defining a second space between the lining cover (22) and the given portion of the support lug (28), said second space being dimensioned by to receive an end of the end portion of the cover member to close said first space, said second space being located at a distance from said given portion of said cover member to allow said end of said end portion to be received in said second space by flexing said end portion to said given portion of said covering organ.