LOCKING MECHANISM FOR A BACKREST OF A VEHICLE

Abstract

A locking mechanism for a vehicle backrest includes a rotary latch engageable over a locking striker fixed to the vehicle, a detent pawl for locking the movement of the rotary latch in a locking position, and a leaf spring. The leaf spring includes two edges attached to the mechanism in first and second support points, and is placed in the mechanism such that, in the locking position, the striker is pushed by the leaf spring in one point of a contact area defined between first and second ends. The leaf spring further includes a central reinforced area and two exterior non-reinforced areas, wherein the reinforced area has smaller elastic deformation than the non-reinforced areas. A first edge of the reinforced area is placed between the first support point and first end, and a second edge of the reinforced area is placed between the second support point and second end.

Claims

1. A locking mechanism for a backrest of a vehicle comprising: a rotary latch engageable over a locking striker fixed to the vehicle; a detent pawl for locking the movement of the rotary latch in engagement over the locking striker in a locking position; and a leaf spring comprising two edges attached to the mechanism in a first support point and a second support point so that a working area is defined between the support points; the leaf spring being placed in the mechanism such that, in the locking position, the striker is pushed by the leaf spring in one point of a contact area within the working area, the contact area being defined between a first end and a second end corresponding to limit positions of the contact point of the striker along the leaf spring (4); wherein the leaf spring comprises a central reinforced area and two exterior non-reinforced areas, the reinforced area having smaller elastic deformation than the non-reinforced areas and wherein a first edge of the reinforced area is placed between the first support point and the first end of the contact area and a second edge of the reinforced area is placed between the second support point and the second end of the contact area.

2. The locking mechanism as in claim 1, wherein the reinforced area is longer than 20 mm.

3. The blocking mechanism as in claim 1, wherein the reinforced area further includes a contact surface for the striker forming an angle between 80-100 degrees with respect to the relative movement direction between the striker and the locking mechanism during the locking operation.

4. The locking mechanism as in claim 1, wherein the reinforced area comprises a contact surface for the striker which is orthogonal to the relative movement direction between the striker and the locking mechanism during the locking operation.

5. The locking mechanism as in claim 1, wherein the leaf spring comprises an additional part placed in the reinforced area.

6. The locking mechanism as in claim 5, wherein the additional part is a plastic part over-molded over the leaf spring in the reinforced area.

7. A seat of a vehicle with a locking mechanism as recited in claim 6.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] To complete the description and in order to provide for a better understanding of the disclosure, a set of drawings is provided. Said drawings form an integral part of the description and illustrate embodiments of the disclosure, which should not be interpreted as restricting the scope of the disclosure, but just as examples of how the disclosure can be carried out. The drawings comprise the following figures:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a top view of the mechanism in an unlocked position. The upper cap has been removed for clarity.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a top view of the mechanism in a locked position. The upper cap has been removed for clarity.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a top view of the mechanism. The detent pawl and rotary latch and the upper cap have been removed for clarity.

[0021] FIG. 4 is a perspective of the mechanism. The detent pawl, rotary latch and the upper cap have been removed for clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a locking mechanism in an unlocked position, comprising a rotary latch 1, a detent pawl 3 and a leaf spring 4. A locking striker 2 attachable to the vehicle structure is also represented although the vehicle structure is not illustrated.

[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a locking mechanism in a locking position, comprising a rotary latch 1 engaged over a locking striker 2, a detent pawl 3 locking the rotary latch 1 and a leaf spring 4 pushing upon the striker (2).

[0024] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a locking mechanism in which the detent pawl 1 and rotary latch 3 have been removed for clarity. The upper cap has also been removed. The locking mechanism comprises a leaf spring 4 mounted on the support base 5 of the mechanism through its two mounting edges 6, 6′. The first mounting edge 6 is attached to a first support point 7 of the support base 5 and the second mounting edge 6′ is attached to a second support point 7′ of the support base 5. A working area for the leaf spring 4 is defined between the edges 6, 6′. That means that the leaf spring can deform elastically between the supporting points 7, 7′ when a force is applied.

[0025] As can be seen in FIG. 3 the leaf spring 4 is placed in the support base 5 such that, in the locking position, the striker 2 is pushed by the leaf spring 4 in one point of a contact area within the working area. FIG. 3 illustrates three possible positions of the striker 2 and the trajectories (in doted lines) that show the three different contacts points on the leaf spring 4. The different contacts points define a contact area on the leaf spring with a first end 8 and a second 8′ corresponding to the extreme positions of the contact area.

[0026] As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 the leaf spring 4 comprises a central reinforced area 10 and two exterior non-reinforced areas 11, 11′. The reinforced area 10 has smaller elastic deformation than the non-reinforced areas 11, 11′ such that the contact against the striker 2 in any point of the contact area produces the same elastic deformation of the non-reinforced areas 11, 11′ and the deformation of the reinforced area 10 is practically negligible with respect to the non-reinforced areas 11, 11′. The force exerted by the leaf spring 4 in the three positions represented of the striker 2 is the same.

[0027] The reinforced area 10 comprises two edges 12, 12′. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 the first edge 12 of the reinforced area 10 is placed between the first support point 7 and the first end 8 of the contact area and the second edge 12′ of the reinforced area 10 is placed between the second support point 7′ and a second end 8′ of the contact area.

[0028] In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 the reinforced area comprises a contact surface 13 for the striker 2 which is orthogonal to the relative movement direction between the striker 2 and the locking mechanism during the locking operation. In one embodiment the reinforced area 10 of the leaf spring 4 is an additional plastic part 10′ over-molded over the leaf spring 4.

[0029] In this text, the term “comprises” and its derivations (such as “comprising”, etc.) should not be understood in an excluding sense, that is, these terms should not be interpreted as excluding the possibility that what is described and defined may include further elements, steps, etc.

[0030] Unless otherwise indicated, any ranges referred to in this document include the indicated end points.

[0031] The disclosure is obviously not limited to the specific embodiment(s) described herein, but also encompasses any variations that may be considered by any person skilled in the art (for example, as regards the choice of materials, dimensions, components, configuration, etc.), within the general scope of the disclosure as defined in the claims.