SLIDER FOR CAR SEAT SUPPORT

Abstract

Slider (1) for a car seat support which can be locked in different positions along a sliding direction (25), to be mounted in a metal rail (2), wherein the slider (1) has an extended base portion (3) and an extended upper portion (4). The base portion (3) and the upper portion (4) are connected by a constricted portion (13). The base portion (3) has two lateral guide portions (5,5) with guide protrusions (6,6) pointing upward in the direction of the upper portion (4) and forming, with the constricted portion (13), a groove (12) on each side. The slider may (1) essentially consist of fibre reinforced polyamide.

Claims

1. A slider for a car seat support which can be locked in different positions along a sliding direction, to be mounted in a metal rail, wherein the slider comprises an extended base portion and an extended upper portion, said base portion and said upper portion being connected by a constricted portion, wherein said base portion comprises two lateral guide portions with guide protrusions pointing upward in the direction of said upper portion and forming, with said constricted portion, a groove on each side, and wherein the slider essentially consists of fibre reinforced polyamide.

2. The slider according to claim 1, wherein the base portion, in a middle region along the sliding direction, comprises at least one through-opening to be penetrated by at least one tooth of at least one locking lever.

3. The slider according to claim 2, wherein said through opening comprises a metal sleeve.

4. The slider according to claim 1, wherein said groove has a transverse width in the range of 2-10 mm.

5. The slider according to claim 1, wherein said groove has an at least partially rounded bottom.

6. The slider according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion comprises at least one cutout for a holding pin, wherein the holding pin points essentially along the sliding direction, and wherein below said holding pin there is a passage opening with a rounded lower surface to said lower portion.

7. The slider according to claim 6, wherein the diameter of said rounded lower surface is in the range of 10-40 mm.

8. The slider according to claim 1, wherein the transverse width of the constricted portion is in the range of 10-20 mm, and/or wherein the transverse width of the guide protrusion is in the range of 5-15 mm, and/or wherein the height of the guide protrusion is in the range of 15-30 mm, and/or wherein the height of said groove is in the range of 4-12 mm, and/or a wherein the total transverse width of the bottom portion is in the range of 30-60 mm.

9. The slider according to claim 1, wherein from said constriction in a cross-sectional view the shape widens in an essentially conical portion to the width of the upper portion.

10. The slider according to claim 1, wherein it essentially consists of a fibre reinforced blend (A) of an aliphatic polyamide (A1) and a partially aromatic thermoplastic polyamide (A2).

11. The slider according to claim 1, wherein the fibre reinforcement is an endless or long fibre reinforcement, the number average length of the fibres in the slider being larger than 0.5 mm, and/or wherein the fibre reinforcement is a glass fibre reinforcement which consists of fibres having a diameter in the range of 10-25 m, and/or wherein the fibre reinforcement is a carbon fibre reinforcement which consists of fibres having a diameter in the range of 3-12 m, and/or wherein the fibre reinforcement is a glassfibre reinforcement; selected from the group consisting of A-glass, C-glass, D-glass, E-glass, ECR-glass, M-glass, S-glass, R-glass or a combination thereof.

12. The slider according to claim 1, wherein it has a heat deflection temperature HDT-A of at least 200 C., and/or a heat deflection temperature HDT-C of at least 190 C., in each case for a glassfibre reinforcement of 50% by weight.

13. A method for producing a slider according to claim 1, wherein it is produced in an injection moulding process starting out from long fibre reinforced pellets having a length of 3-25 mm.

14. A car with a slider according to claim 1.

15. (canceled)

16. The slider according to claim 2, wherein above said middle region there is located a window, and/or wherein in said middle region there are no lateral guide portions.

17. The slider according to claim 2, wherein said through opening comprises a metal sleeve, having a wall thickness in the range of 0.5-5 mm, or in the range of 1.0-3 mm, and wherein the metal of said sleeve is selected from the group consisting of iron, and alloys thereof, including steel and stainless steel.

18. The slider according to claim 1, wherein said groove has a transverse width in the range of 4-8 mm.

19. The slider according to claim 15, wherein said groove has an at least partially rounded bottom having a radius (R) in the range of 1-3 mm, and/or wherein the shape of the rounded bottom is rounded in the transition from said constriction with a large radius and forms a sharp edge or a rounded transition with a smaller radius with an inner face of the respective guide protrusion, wherein said smaller radius is in the range of 0.1-1 mm, or in the range of 0.2-0.7 mm.

20. The slider according to claim 6, wherein said upper portion comprises at least one cutout for a metal holding pin made of iron ore and alloys thereof, including steel and stainless steel, wherein the holding pin points essentially along the sliding direction, and wherein below said holding pin there is a passage opening with a rounded lower surface to said lower portion, and/or wherein said rounded lower surface in the bottom portion thereof essentially forms a half-cylindrical surface with a horizontal axis essentially perpendicular to the sliding direction.

21. The slider according to claim 6, wherein the diameter of said rounded lower surface is in the range of 20-30 mm.

22. The slider according to claim 1, wherein the transverse width of the constricted portion is in the range of 12-16 mm, and/or wherein the transverse width of the guide protrusion is in the range of 7.5-12 mm, and/or wherein the height of the guide protrusion is in the range of 20-30 mm, and/or wherein the height of said groove is in the range of 7-11 mm, and/or a wherein the total transverse width of the bottom portion is in the range of 40-50 mm.

23. The slider according to claim 19, wherein the upper surface, in a cross-sectional view, is rounded, with a radius in the range of 10-30 mm, or in the range of 15-25 mm.

24. The slider according to claim 1, wherein it essentially consists of a fibre reinforced blend (A) of an aliphatic polyamide (A1) and a partially aromatic thermoplastic polyamide (A2), wherein the polyamide blend (A) consists of: (A1) 65 to 85 parts by weight of a partially crystalline aliphatic polyamide, with a glass transition temperature >70 C., measured according to ISO 11357-2:2020 on unconditioned material and mixtures thereof; (A2) 15 to 35 parts by weight of an amorphous partially aromatic polyamide built from (A2_1) 60 to 100 parts by weight, of polyamide units derived from isophthalic acid in combination with hexamethylenediamine (1,6-hexanediamine) in an essentially equimolar ratio, (A2_2) 0 to 40 parts by weight, of polyamide units derived from terephthalic acid in combination with hexamethylenediamine in an essentially equimolar ratio, wherein the parts by weight of components (A2_1) and (A2_2) together give 100 parts by weight, of the total amorphous partially aromatic polyamide (A2), and wherein the parts by weight of components (A1) and (A2) together give 100 parts by weight of the polyamide mixture (A), wherein said polyamide blend (A) is supplemented with 40-70% by weight, or in the range of 45-65% by weight of fibres (B), and can further be supplemented with further additives (C) in a proportion of 0-5% by weight, wherein the total of the material of the slider is given by the sum of (A)-(C).

25. The slider according to claim 1, wherein it essentially consists of a fibre reinforced blend (A) of an aliphatic polyamide (A1) and a partially aromatic thermoplastic polyamide (A2), wherein the polyamide blend (A) consists of: (A1) 65 to 85 parts by weight of partially crystalline aliphatic polyamide, with a glass transition temperature >70 C., measured according to ISO 11357-2:2020 on unconditioned material, selected from the group consisting of PA6, PA66, PA66/6, PA610 and mixtures thereof; (A2) 15 to 35 parts by weight of an amorphous partially aromatic polyamide built from (A2_1) 60 to 80 parts by weight, or 60 to 65 parts by weight or 67 parts by weight, of polyamide units derived from isophthalic acid in combination with hexamethylenediamine (1,6-hexanediamine) in an essentially equimolar ratio, (A2_2) 20 to 40 parts by weight, or 30 to 35 parts by weight or 33 parts by weight of polyamide units derived from terephthalic acid in combination with hexamethylenediamine in an essentially equimolar ratio, wherein the parts by weight of components (A2_1) and (A2_2) together give 100 parts by weight, of the total amorphous partially aromatic polyamide (A2), and wherein the parts by weight of components (A1) and (A2) together give 100 parts by weight of the polyamide mixture (A), wherein said polyamide blend (A) is supplemented with 40-70% by weight, or in the range of 45-65% by weight of glass fibres (B) and can further be supplemented with further additives (C) in a proportion of 0.1-2% by weight, wherein the total of the material of the slider is given by the sum of (A)-(C).

26. The slider according to claim 1, wherein the fibre reinforcement is an endless or long fibre reinforcement, the number average length of the fibres in the slider being larger than 0.7 mm, or in the range of 0.5-5 mm, or in the range of 0.7-3 mm and/or wherein the fibre reinforcement is a glass fibre reinforcement which consists of fibres having a diameter in the range of 11-18 m and/or wherein the fibre reinforcement is a carbon fibre reinforcement which consists of fibres having a diameter in the range of 4-10 m.

27. The slider according to claim 1, wherein it has a heat deflection temperature HDT-A of at least 240 C., or in the range of 240-260 C. and/or a heat deflection temperature HDT-C of at least 200 C., or in the range of 210-230 C., in each case for a glassfibre reinforcement of 50% by weight.

28. The method according to claim 13, wherein the long fibre reinforced pellets have a length of 4-12 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the following with reference to the drawings, which are for the purpose of illustrating the present preferred embodiments of the invention and not for the purpose of limiting the same. In the drawings,

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a rail and a slider for a car seat in a perspective view;

[0051] FIG. 2 shows in a) a cut through the slider according to FIG. 1 in a direction transverse to the sliding direction, and in b) the bottom portion thereof with dimensions;

[0052] FIG. 3 shows in a) a slider together with a magnification of the middle region for the locking, in b) the general principle of form closure locking and in c) a lateral view on the cutout without metal pin.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0053] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view onto a slider 1 and a metal rail 2. In FIG. 2 a) a cut a long a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction 25 is given and in b) the details of the foot section of the slider alone with dimensions.

[0054] The slider 1 comprises a base portion 3 and an upper portion 4, each extending along the sliding direction 25. The slider 1 slides in a metal rail 2. The slider is made of thermoplastic amorphous polyamide material which is glassfibre reinforced.

[0055] The base portion 3 comprises two lateral guide portions 5, which in an upwards direction each comprise guide protrusions 6. Between these guide protrusions 6 slot 12 is formed, which on the outer side is bordered by the inner surface 29 of the respective protrusion 6 and by a constriction 13, which is located between the base portion 3 and the proportion 4. Above the constriction 13 the proportion widens in a conical portion 28 to reach the final width of the widened portion 14, and the top surface 29 is rounded. The widened portion essentially defines an upper axis 15, along which also the holding pin 17 is located.

[0056] At one and of the slider 1 there is located a cutout 16 from the top, in which the holding pin 17 is mounted, in a direction essentially parallel to the sliding direction. The holding pin is there to fix the actual seat construction on the slider. Below the holding pin 17 there is a passage opening 18.

[0057] In a middle portion of the slider 1 there is located a window 26, which provides a through opening between the widened portion 14 and the base portion 3, which themselves extend along essentially the full length of the slider. The function of that window 26 will be detailed further below.

[0058] As one can see from FIG. 2 a) the metal rail 2 typically has a bottom portion 8, which is followed by two lateral sidewalls 9, followed by inwardly pointing horizontal portions 10. At the inner end of that horizontal portion 10 in each case there is a downward facing portion 11. That downward facing portion 11 penetrates and engages with the above-mentioned slot 12 in the slider. Typically the metal rail is produced in a punching and forming process from flat metal starting material.

[0059] The bottom surface 7 of the base portion 3 slides on the upper surface of the bottom portion 8 of the metal rail. As mentioned above, the downward facing portions 11 of the metal rail engage with the slots 12 between the constriction 13 and the guide protrusion. The slot 12 has a particular shape to provide for maximum stability, namely it is provided with a rounded bottom 27 which is however asymmetric in the sense that it is smoothly rounded at the transition from the constriction 13 to the bottom, and then in an essentially sharp edge transitions to the inner surface 30 of the guide protrusion 6. In fact, that very shape provided significantly improved mechanical stability in particular in case of using long glass fibre reinforced polyamide as material for the slider.

[0060] The mechanism for locking the slider in a particular position or rather essential elements thereof are illustrated in FIGS. 3 a) and b). In a middle portion of the slider there is provided the above-mentioned window 26. Below that window the base portion 3 does not comprise lateral guide portions, in other words the guide portions 5 are interrupted in the region of that window 26. In that middle region therefore the base portion 3 is narrower than in the terminal regions of the slider. That narrow portion, which is the locking section 19 of the slider, is provided with through openings 20 penetrating the locking section 19 in a transverse direction. In order to provide for sufficient stability under load in case of using long fibre reinforced polyamide material for the slider these openings 20 are provided with metal sleeves 21 which are mounted in these openings. This increases the mechanical stability for the situation as illustrated in FIG. 3b, namely when the teeth 23 of the locking lever 22 which is arranged in the region of the window 26 penetrates through the openings 20 and engages with corresponding recesses in the metal rail.

[0061] Another important element for achieving sufficient stability in case of using long fibre reinforced polyamide material for the slider is illustrated in FIG. 3 c). It was found that for achieving the sufficient mechanical stability is beneficial if the passage opening 18 is provided with a rounded lower surface 24 which is essentially given by a half cylinder surface with an axis transverse to the sliding direction 25.

[0062] The material of the slider is given as in Table 1. The slider was produced using injection moulding and subsequent insertion of the metal sleeves 21 and of the holding pin. The slider was able to withstand conventional tests, there was no break when using the corresponding design even under heavy load.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Composition and properties of the materials B1-B4, used for making the sliders Component Unit B1 B2 B3 B4 PA66 (component A1) wt.-% 37.2 37.2 29.8 29.8 PA 6I/6T (component A2) wt.-% 12.4 12.4 9.9 9.9 GF Roving 17 m diameter wt.-% 50 60 (component B) GF Roving 12 m diameter wt.-% 50 60 (component B) Irganox 1098 (component C) wt.-% 0.25 0.25 0.2 0.2 Bruggolen H10 (component C) wt.-% 0.15 0.15 0.1 0.1 Properties HDT A C. 255 255 255 255 HDT C C. 220 220 225 230 ISO tensile modulus MPa 17500 17500 22500 23500 of elasticity ISO ultimate tensile MPa 270 290 230 315 strength ISO tensile strain % 2.5 2.6 2.1 2.2 at break Impact resistance, 23 C. kJ/m.sup.2 105 115 115 125 Notched impact resistance, 23 C. kJ/m.sup.2 35 40 40 45

[0063] The polyamide materials used were as follows:

TABLE-US-00002 PA66 (A1) Polyamide 66 having a melting temperature of 260 C. measured according to ISO 11357-2:2020 on unconditioned material and a relative viscosity of 1.8 measured in m-cresol at a concentration of 0.5% and a temperature of 20 C. according to ISO 307 (2019). PA 6I/6T (A2) Polyamide 6I/6T with a proportion of 6I to 6T blocks of 2:1, a glass transition temperature of 125 C. measured according to ISO 11357-2:2020 on unconditioned material and a relative viscosity measured in m-cresol at a concentration of 0.5% and a temperature of 20 C. according to ISO 307 of 1.48.

[0064] The moulding compositions having the compositions B1-B4 in Table 1 were prepared by a pultrusion process in which the polyamide blends A (components A1 and A2) combined with further additives (component C), were mixed and melted in a twin-screw extruder before being transferred to an impregnation unit and brought into contact with the preheated continuous filament glass fibres (GF Roving 17 m and GF Roving 12 m, continuous filament glass fibres).

[0065] Specifically, the pultrusion process proceeded as follows: Components A1, A2 and C were metered into the feed zone of a twin-screw extruder with a screw diameter of 40 mm. Subsequently, the components were mixed with an increasing temperature profile of 270 to 340 C. The extruder, which was firmly connected to the impregnation unit, conveyed the melt directly into the impregnation unit so that the glass fibres, preheated to 180 to 220 C., were infiltrated. The continuous glass fibres, 1200 tex rovings in the case of 12 m fibres and 2400 tex rovings in the case of 17 m fibres, were drawn through the impregnation zone at a speed of 8 to 15 meters per minute, with heating zones ranging from 340 to 400 C. The strands thus impregnated were cut to a length of 10 mm after cooling in water. After pelletization and drying for 24 h at 110 C., the properties of the pellets were measured and the test specimens were produced.

[0066] The test samples were produced in an Arburg Allrounder injection-moulding machine, with the cylinder temperatures set at from 250 C. to 350 C. and a peripheral velocity of the screw of 15 m/min. The mould temperature selected was 80 to 130 C. The measurements were made in accordance with the following standards on the following test samples.

[0067] Tensile modulus of elasticity was determined in accordance with ISO 527 with tensile velocity 1 mm/min, yield stress, ultimate tensile strength and tensile strain at break were determined in accordance with ISO 527 with tensile testing velocity 50 mm/min (unreinforced variants) or with tensile testing velocity 5 mm/min (reinforced variants) at a temperature of 23 C., using as test sample an ISO tensile specimen, standard: ISO/CD 3167, type A1, 17020/104 mm. Tensile modulus of elasticity, ultimate tensile strength and tensile strain at break were determined perpendicularly to the direction of processing, according out the tests described above

[0068] Impact resistance and notched impact resistance were measured in accordance with ISO 179 on an ISO test specimen, standard: ISO/CD 3167, type B1, 80104 mm at temperature 23 C.

[0069] Heat deflection temperature was determined in the form of HDT A (1.8 MPa) and HDT C (8 MPa) in accordance with ISO 75 (2013) on ISO impact specimens measuring 80104 mm.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

TABLE-US-00003 1 slider/upper rail 2 metal/lower rail 3 base portion of 1 4 upper portion of 1 5 lateral guide portion 6 guide protrusion 7 bottom surface 8 bottom portion 9 sidewall 10 horizontal portion 11 downward facing portion 12 groove 13 constriction 14 widened portion 15 upper axis 16 cutout 17 holding pin 18 passage opening 19 locking section 20 through opening 21 metal sleeve 22 locking lever 23 tooth of 22 24 rounded lower surface of 16 25 sliding direction 26 window 27 rounded bottom of 12 28 conical portion 29 upper surface of 4 30 inner surface of 6 a1 transverse width of 13 a2 inner height of 12 a3 inner width of 12 a4 total width of 12 a5 width of 6 a6 total height of 12 a7 height of 3 b1 transverse width of 19 d1 diameter of 24 R radius w total transverse width of bottom portion