METHOD FOR CONNECTING A SPINDLE TO A SPINDLE HOLDING ELEMENT

Abstract

In a method for connecting a spindle (12) to a spindle holding element (14) in order to produce a longitudinal adjustment device (1) for a vehicle seat (16), a spindle (12) extended along a longitudinal axis (L) is cohesively using an connected to a connecting portion (142) of a spindle holding element (14) by using a resistance welding method. In this way, there is provided a method for connecting a spindle to a spindle holding element in order to produce a longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat, which provides for a firm connection of a spindle to a guide rail via one or more a spindle holding elements, by a producing process that is easy to manage and to monitor.

Claims

1. A method for connecting a spindle that extends along a longitudinal axis to a spindle holding element in order to produce a longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat, the method comprising: placing the spindle against a connecting portion of the spindle holding element; and resistance welding the spindle to the connecting portion.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resistance welding further includes applying a first welding electrode to the spindle and a second welding electrode to the spindle holding element in order to pass an electric welding current through the spindle and the spindle holding element located between the first welding electrode and the second welding electrode.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first welding electrode is applied to a side of the spindle facing away from the spindle holding element.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first welding electrode has a curved abutment surface for abutment at the spindle.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the second welding electrode is applied to a side of the spindle holding element facing away from the spindle.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the second welding electrode is applied to a side of the connecting portion facing away from the spindle.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein the second welding electrode is applied to an underside of a fastening portion of the spindle holding element that faces away from the spindle, wherein the fastening portion is configured to attach the spindle holding element to a guide rail of the longitudinal adjustment device.

8. The method according to claim 2 further comprising: monitoring a distance between the first welding electrode and the second welding electrode; and switching off the welding current when the distance is less than a predetermined value.

9. The method according to claim 2, wherein the welding current is between 5 and 25 kA.

10. The method according to claim 2 further comprising: urging the first and second electrodes towards each other to apply a pressing force between the spindle and the connecting portion, wherein the pressing force is between 100 daN and 1000 daN.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resistance welding is performed for 50 ms to 500 ms.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion includes one of a flat bearing surface, a fillet extended parallel to the longitudinal axis, and a pocket with a curved bearing surface extended transversely to the longitudinal axis to provide a support for the spindle.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spindle includes a thread configured to engage with a spindle nut of the longitudinal adjustment device, and wherein the spindle is connected to the connecting portion at a portion that includes the thread.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein that the spindle has a diameter between 5 mm and 12 mm.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein that the connecting portion has a material thickness between 2 mm and 10 mm.

16. A longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat comprising: a guide rail; a spindle connectable to the guide rail and extending along a longitudinal axis; and a spindle holding element for connecting the spindle to the guide rail, wherein the spindle holding element includes a connecting portion configured to cohesively connect to the spindle, wherein the spindle is connected to the connecting portion via a welded joint produced by resistance welding.

17. The longitudinal adjustment device according to claim 16, wherein the connection portion has a semi-circular cross-section to define a pocket, and the spindle is disposed in the pocket.

18. The longitudinal adjustment device according to claim 16, wherein the connecting portion includes a filleted bearing surface that extends parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the spindle is disposed on the filleted bearing surface.

19. The longitudinal adjustment device according to claim 16, wherein the connecting portion defines a pocket having a bearing surface, and the spindle is disposed on the bearing surface.

20. The longitudinal adjustment device according to claim 16, wherein the spindle includes threads, and wherein the spindle is connected to the connecting portion at a portion that includes the threads.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The idea underlying the invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the Figures.

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a longitudinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat;

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of a spindle in conjunction with a spindle holding element;

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the spindle with the spindle holding element when producing a connection by using a resistance welding method;

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the spindle with the spindle holding element when producing a connection by using a resistance welding method, with another arrangement of welding electrodes;

[0041] FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of an exemplary configuration of welding electrodes;

[0042] FIG. 6A shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of a connecting portion of the spindle holding element forming a flat bearing surface;

[0043] FIG. 6B shows a view of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6A, viewed along the longitudinal axis of the spindle;

[0044] FIG. 7A shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of a connecting portion of the spindle holding element forming a fillet;

[0045] FIG. 7B shows a view of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7A, viewed along the longitudinal axis of the spindle;

[0046] FIG. 8A shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of a connecting portion of the spindle holding element forming a pocket;

[0047] FIG. 8B shows a view of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 8A, viewed along the longitudinal axis of the spindle;

[0048] FIG. 9A shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of a connecting portion of the spindle holding element having a bearing hump;

[0049] FIG. 9B shows a view of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9A, viewed along the longitudinal axis of the spindle;

[0050] FIG. 10A shows a schematic view of the support of the spindle to the connecting portion of the spindle holding element forming a fillet, before commencement of the welding process;

[0051] FIG. 10B shows a schematic view of the spindle to the connecting portion, after the welded joint has been produced; and

[0052] FIG. 11 shows a graphical view of an exemplary course of the pressing force and the welding current over time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

[0054] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a longitudinal adjustment device 1 that is used for longitudinally adjusting a vehicle seat 16 along a vehicle longitudinal direction X in a vehicle.

[0055] The longitudinal adjustment device 1 may include two guide rail pairs, each formed by guide rails 10, 11, of which an upper guide rail 11 is associated to the vehicle seat 16 and a lower guide rail 10 is associated to the vehicle floor. By longitudinally adjusting the guide rails 10, 11 relative to each other, the longitudinal position of the vehicle seat 16 in the vehicle can be adapted.

[0056] The adjustment of the guide rails 10, 11 relative to each other is effected electromotively via a spindle drive, which in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, includes a spindle 12 fixed to the lower guide rail 10 and an adjusting gear unit 15 attached to the upper guide rail 11, for each guide rail pair. The spindle 12 is stationarily and thus non-rotatably held on the lower guide rail 10 via spindle holding elements 13, 14 and includes an external thread 120 via which the spindle 12 is in threaded engagement with a spindle nut of the adjusting gear unit 15 in such a way that by electromotively driving the spindle nut, the same can be put into a rotary movement relative to the spindle 12 and thereby rolls on the spindle 12 via the threaded engagement, so that the adjusting gear unit 15 is longitudinally adjusted relative to the spindle 12 along a longitudinal axis L, along which the spindle 12 is extended, and thus upper guide rail 11 is shifted relative to the lower guide rail 10 along the longitudinal axis L.

[0057] In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the spindle 12 is firmly connected to the lower guide rail 10 via spindle holding elements 13, 14 and therefor fixed to a bottom 100 of the lower guide rail 10 via the spindle holding elements 13, 14.

[0058] While the spindle 12 is screwed for example into the spindle holding element 13 and thereby is connected to the spindle holding element 13, the spindle 12 is cohesively connected to the other spindle holding element 14 via a welded joint 2, as this is schematically shown in FIG. 2. One end 121 of the spindle 12 rests on a connecting portion 142 of the spindle holding element 14 configured as a holding bracket, is cohesively connected to the connecting portion 142 via the welded joint 2, and thus is non-rotatably fixed to the spindle holding element 14. Via a connecting portion 141, the connecting portion 142 is connected to a fastening portion in the form of a flange 140 via which the spindle holding element 14 is applied to the bottom 100 of the guide rail 10 and is connected to the bottom 100 of the guide rail 10 for example by a screw connection 148 (schematically shown in FIG. 2).

[0059] In accordance with the present disclosure, the welded joint 2 between the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 of the spindle holding element 14 is produced by a resistance welding method in which a welding current I is passed through the spindle 12 and the spindle holding element 14 via welding electrodes 30, 31, as this is schematically shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. A first welding electrode 30 rests against the spindle 12, while a second welding electrode 31 on the back of the spindle 12 rests against the connecting portion 142 (in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3) or against an underside 146 of the fastening portion 140 of the spindle holding element 14 (in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4), which faces away from the spindle 12.

[0060] A welding current I is passed through the spindle 12 and the spindle holding element 14 via the welding electrodes 30, 31. At the transition between the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 such a large current density is obtained that the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 are melted in the region of the transition, and thus a cohesive connection is produced between the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142.

[0061] A pressing force F is applied to the spindle 12 and the spindle holding element 14 via the welding electrodes 30, 31 so that the spindle 12 is pressed against the connecting portion 142, which causes the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 to settle towards each other during welding. This allows to compensate tolerances and to set a height position of the spindle 12 relative to the spindle holding element 14 and to the associated guide rail 10 in an exact way.

[0062] The welding electrodes 30, 31 are part of a welding device 3 which includes a control device 32 for controlling the welding process. Via the control device 32, the welding current I through the welding electrodes 30 is controlled, and the pressing force F exerted on the spindle 12 and the spindle holding element 14 also is set via the welding electrodes 30, 31.

[0063] Via the control device 32, the welding current I may be set to a value between 5 kA and 25 kA, or between 10 kA and 20 kA, or between 13 kA and 18 kA. The pressing force F for example can be set to a value between 100 daN and 1000 daN, between 400 daN and 900 daN, or between 500 daN and 800 daN. The holding time for the pressing force F and also the current time for the welding current I also can be set and controlled via the control device 32.

[0064] Via the welding electrodes 30, 31, the welding current I is fed in such a way that the welding current I flows through the spindle 12 and the spindle holding element 14, and at the transition between the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 such a current density is obtained that the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 are melted in areas. To effect a favorable current injection, the first welding electrode 30, as shown in FIG. 5, can include an abutment surface 300 which is semi-circularly curved and is adapted in its shape to the shape of the spindle 12 such that a planar abutment can be obtained between the first welding electrode 30 and the spindle 12.

[0065] The second welding electrode 31 on the other hand can be configured flat, for example, for a planar abutment at the connecting portion 142 when the connecting portion 142 is designed flat. It is also conceivable and possible, however, to adapt the second welding electrode 31 to the shape (deviating from a flat shape) of the connecting portion 142, when the connecting portion 142 is not designed flat. It is also conceivable and possible that the second welding electrode 31 for example is designed flat for a planar abutment at the underside 146 of the fastening portion 140.

[0066] For contact with the spindle 2, the connecting portion 142 can be shaped quite differently, as is shown in different exemplary embodiments in FIGS. 6A, 6B to 9A, 9B. The abutment of the spindle 12 at the connecting portion 142 in particular is important for the production and shape of the welded joint 2, because at the point where the spindle 12 rests against the connecting portion 142 a large current density is obtained and correspondingly the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 are melted.

[0067] In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 6A, 6B the connecting portion 142 is designed flat. At the beginning of the welding process the spindle 12 rests on a flat bearing surface 147 formed by the connecting portion 142 along a line L1 extended parallel to the longitudinal axis L.

[0068] In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 7A, 7B the connecting portion 142 forms a fillet 143, comprising bearing surfaces 147 extended at an angle to each other, on each of which the spindle 12 is supported along a line L1, L2 directed parallel to the longitudinal axis L at the beginning of the welding process.

[0069] In an exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 8A, 8B the connecting portion 142 forms a pocket 144 with a curved bearing surface 147, wherein the curvature of the bearing surface 147 deviates from the surface curvature of the spindle 12, and thus in turn a support along a line L1 directed parallel to the longitudinal axis L is obtained.

[0070] In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 9A, 9B the connecting portion 142 includes a bearing hump 145 which is extended transversely to the longitudinal axis L and on which the spindle 12 rests at the beginning of the welding process, but which is melted during the welding process so that a planar welded joint is obtained between the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142, with a cross weld in the area of the bearing hump 145.

[0071] During the welding process, the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 are melted at the point where a contact exists so that the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 settle towards each other, as this is shown at the transition from FIG. 10A towards FIG. 10B using the example of the fillet-shaped connecting portion 142 of FIGS. 7A, 7B. After producing the welded joint, a flat connection of the spindle 12 to the connecting portion 142 each is obtained in the different configurations of the connecting portion 142 of FIGS. 6A, 6B to 9A, 9B, as can be taken from FIG. 10B, wherein the shape and expansion of the welded joint 2 is dependent on the concrete shape of the connecting portion 142.

[0072] The welding connection of the spindle 12 to the connecting portion 142 can be effected in an area of the spindle 12 in which the thread 120 of the spindle 12 extends. The thread 120 can extend up to the end 121 of the spindle 12 at which the spindle 12 is connected to the connecting portion 142. When using the resistance welding method, it is not required to create a cylindrical portion without thread at the end 121 of the spindle 12, which facilitates the connection of the spindle 12 to the connecting portion 142 and possibly saves costs.

[0073] In the welding process, the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 are pressed against each other with a pressing force F via the welding electrodes 30, 31, and a welding current I is injected. The holding time for the pressing force F and the current time of the welding current I may not be the same, but the pressing force F can be applied for a longer period of time than the welding current I, as is shown in FIG. 11 by way of example. After switching off the welding current I, the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 thus are still pressed against each other with force for a certain time, until the welded joint 2 is hardened.

[0074] The welding process can be effected in a controlled way for example in dependence on the distance H1, H2 of the welding electrodes 30, 31 to each other (see FIGS. 3 and 4). For example, the distance of the welding electrodes H1, H2 to each other, which correlates with the height position of the spindle 12 relative to the spindle holding element 14, can be used as a switch-off criterion. When it is detected during welding that the distance H1, H2 of the welding electrodes 30, 31 has reached a predetermined distance value and thus the spindle 12 and the connecting portion 142 have settled to the connecting portion 142 down to a certain height position of the spindle 12, the welding current I can be switched off and the welding process can be terminated.

[0075] Such a control can be effected in series production. However, it is also conceivable and possible to use such a control to set process parameters in connection with an initial calibration procedure so as to then carry out the future series production on the basis of the set process parameters without control using the distance H1, H2 of the welding electrodes 30, 31 to each other.

[0076] The idea underlying the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above, but can also be realized in a completely different way.

[0077] For example, one spindle holding element or also two spindle holding elements can be connected to the spindle in order to connect the spindle to an associated guide rail using resistance welding as described above. The spindle holding elements can also be designed differently than shown and for example can have a block shape or the like.

[0078] The following is a list of reference numbers shown in the Figures. However, it should be understood that the use of these terms is for illustrative purposes only with respect to one embodiment. And, use of reference numbers correlating a certain term that is both illustrated in the Figures and present in the claims is not intended to limit the claims to only cover the illustrated embodiment.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0079] 1 longitudinal adjustment device

[0080] 10 guide rail (lower rail)

[0081] 100 bottom

[0082] 11 guide rail (upper rail)

[0083] 12 spindle

[0084] 120 thread

[0085] 121 end

[0086] 13 spindle holding element

[0087] 14 spindle holding element

[0088] 140 fastening portion

[0089] 141 connecting portion

[0090] 142 connecting portion

[0091] 143 fillet

[0092] 144 pocket

[0093] 145 bearing hump

[0094] 146 underside

[0095] 147 bearing surface

[0096] 148 screw connection

[0097] 15 adjusting gear unit

[0098] 16 vehicle seat

[0099] 2 welded joint

[0100] 3 welding device

[0101] 30, 31 welding electrode

[0102] 300, 310 abutment surface

[0103] 32 control device

[0104] D diameter

[0105] F force

[0106] H1, H2 height

[0107] I current

[0108] L longitudinal axis

[0109] L1, L2 line

[0110] M material thickness

[0111] While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.