Drive Member

Abstract

A drive member including a motor with a longitudinal axis and with at an actuating end a gear mechanism. A support member carries a displacement rod that is movably mounted on the support member. The motor is with its actuating end connected to the support member. The gear mechanism includes a hinge member allowing pivoting of the displacement rod about a pivot axis that is oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis. The gear mechanism engages with the displacement rod and the support member is hingingly attached to a fixation bracket in a hinge connection that is hingeable about an axis which is oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis. The drive member can be used for the adjustment of the backrest of a rear seat in a motor vehicle.

Claims

1. A drive member, comprising: a motor with a longitudinal axis and with at an actuating end a gear mechanism; a support member carrying a displacement rod that is movably mounted on the support member, the motor being with its actuating end connected to the support member; wherein the gear mechanism comprises a hinge member allowing pivoting of the displacement rod about a pivot axis that is oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis, the gear mechanism engaging with the displacement rod; wherein the support member is hingedly attached to a fixation bracket in a hinge connection that is hingeable about an axis which is transverse to the longitudinal axis and to the pivot axis.

2. The drive member according to claim 1, wherein the displacement rod extends along the motor in the direction of the longitudinal axis.

3. The drive member according to claim 1, the gear mechanism comprising a housing through which the displacement rod extends via rounded hinge members that are spaced apart in the direction of the longitudinal axis, the displacement rod passing through the support member via an opening that is larger than the displacement rod, such as to provide a pivot space.

4. The drive member according to claim 1, the fixation bracket comprising a plate-shaped body with a central opening with at opposed edges of the opening a flange transversely to the plane of the body, the flanges carrying the support member.

5. The drive member according to claim 4, the motor being situated on a first side of the plate shaped body of the fixation bracket, the actuating rod extending through the opening to a second side of the plate-shaped body, and being provided at the second side with movable joint.

6. The drive member according to claim 2, the displacement rod at the side of the motor comprising a free end that is not provided with attachment means.

7. A vehicle, comprising: a seat with a back rest than can pivot about a lower pivot axis; a drive member, comprising: a motor with a longitudinal axis and with at an actuating end a gear mechanism; a support member carrying a displacement rod that is movably mounted on the support member, the motor being with its actuating end connected to the support member; wherein the gear mechanism comprises a hinge member allowing pivoting of the displacement rod about a pivot axis that is oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis, the gear mechanism engaging with the displacement rod; wherein the support member is hingedly attached to a fixation bracket in a hinge connection that is hingeable about an axis which is transverse to the longitudinal axis and to the pivot axis; wherein the fixation bracket is connected to a frame part of the vehicle and the displacement rod is attached to an upper part of the back rest.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the seat is a rear seat.

9. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the displacement rod extends along the motor in the direction of the longitudinal axis.

10. The vehicle according to claim 7, the gear mechanism comprising a housing through which the displacement rod extends via rounded hinge members that are spaced apart in the direction of the longitudinal axis, the displacement rod passing through the support member via an opening that is larger than the displacement rod, such as to provide a pivot space.

11. The vehicle according to claim 7, the fixation bracket comprising a plate-shaped body with a central opening with at opposed edges of the opening a flange transversely to the plane of the body, the flanges carrying the support member.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11, the motor being situated on a first side of the plate shaped body of the fixation bracket, the actuating rod extending through the opening to a second side of the plate-shaped body, and being provided at the second side with movable joint.

13. The vehicle according to claim 9, the displacement rod at the side of the motor comprising a free end that is not provided with attachment means.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] An embodiment of the drive member will, by way of non-limiting example, be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a drive member according to the disclosure,

[0019] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the drive member of FIG. 1, for different positions of the displacement rod,

[0020] FIG. 3 shows a top cross-sectional view of the drive member of FIG. 1,

[0021] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the pivoting motion of the displacement rod about the pivot axis,

[0022] FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional side of the gear mechanism of the drive member of FIG. 1, and

[0023] FIG. 6 shows the drive member according to the disclosure connected to a back rest of the rear seat of a motor vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a drive member 1 according to the present disclosure including a motor 2 with a longitudinal axis 3. The motor 2 is at its actuating end 5 connected to a support member 6. A gear mechanism is housed in a gearbox 9 and drives a displacement rod 7 that is slidably mounted in the support member 6. The support member 6 is connected to a fixation bracket 8 so that it can pivot about the axis 10 that is oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis 3.

[0025] The displacement rod 7 includes on its outer surface a toothed surface that engages with the gear mechanism in the gearbox 9 for displacement of the rod in its length direction. On its attachment end, the rod 7 includes a movable joint 13. At a free end 14 of the rod 7, no connection member is provided.

[0026] The fixation bracket 8 includes a plate-shaped body with a central opening 11 through which the displacement rod 7 extends. Two side parts 12,12′ of the bracket 8 are provided for connection, for instance to a frame part of a vehicle.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the drive member 1, in which the flanges 15 of the bracket 8 are visible, that carry the motor 2 in a hinging manner via a stub 16 on support member 6 that carries the gearbox 9. By hinging in the brackets 8, the displacement rod can assume the positions indicated by the dotted lines. The displacement rod can pivot about the pivot axis 4.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows the connection of the gear box 9 to the support member 6 and the pivoting connection of the stubs 16, 16′ of the support member 6 to the flanges 15,15′ of the fixation bracket 8. The gear box 9 includes rounded hinge members 25, 26, carrying the displacement rod 7, such that it can pivot about pivot axis 4. The displacement rod 7 passes through openings 23,24 in the support member 6 that leave sufficient space for the displacement rod 7 during pivoting about the pivot axis 4.

[0029] FIG. 4 shows the displacement rod in three different positions when pivoting about the pivot axis 4.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows the gear mechanism 19 driving the displacement rod 7 in its length direction. A central gear 20 of the motor 2 drives a transmission gear 21 that interacts with the gear 22 that is positioned around the rod 7. The inside of the gear 22 is provided with teeth that interact with grooves on the rod so that rotation of the gear 22 moves the rod 7 in its length direction.

[0031] FIG. 6 shows a back rest 30 of a rear seat, hingeable about a lower hinge axis 31. The fixation bracket 8 of the drive member 1 is connected to the frame 32 of the vehicle. The movable joint 13 of the drive member 1 is attached to an upper flange 33 of the backrest.

[0032] In this embodiment, the drive member 1 had been described for the adjustment of the back rest of a rear seat in a motor vehicle, but is not limited thereto. The drive member 1 according to the disclosure can be utilized for the adjustment of the relative positons of a wide range of interconnected objects.