Outer bearing for a backrest

United States Patent Application 20020145324

The invention relates to an outer bearing for a backrest, especially of a vehicle seat, comprising a bearing arm (1) for the backrest to which a supporting part (2) is assigned. According to the invention, the bearing arm (1) and the supporting part (2) should enter into a locking connection.

Metzler, Hubert (Ober-Obu, DE)
Emmrich, Stefan (Frankfurt am Main, DE)

09/980736

10/10/2002

03/05/2002

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METZLER HUBERT
EMMRICH STEFAN

297/378.1

A47C7/42; B60N2/20; (IPC1-7): A47C7/40

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WHITE, RODNEY BARNETT

Bachman & LaPointe (New Haven, CT, US)

1. An external bearing for a backrest, in particular of a vehicle, having a bearing arm (1) for the backrest, which bearing arm is assigned a supporting part (2), wherein the bearing arm (1) and the supporting part (2) enter into a latching connection.

2. The external bearing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the latching connection is self-locking.

3. The external bearing as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the supporting part (2) has a receiving means (6) for a connecting element (15) on the bearing arm (1).

4. The external bearing as claimed in claim 3, wherein the connecting element is a bolt (15).

5. The external bearing as claimed in claim 4, wherein the bolt (15) is retained by a bearing fork (17) on the bearing arm (1).

6. The external bearing as claimed in one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the receiving means has two spaced-apart receiving slots (7) which are connected to form a receiving fork (6).

7. The external bearing as claimed in claim 6, wherein the bearing fork (17) having the bolt (15) can be guided between the receiving fork (6), so that the bolt (15) slides into the receiving slots (7).

8. The external bearing as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the latching connection has a pivotable detent pawl (8).

9. The external bearing as claimed in claim 8, wherein the detent pawl (8) is arranged pivotably on the supporting part (2).

10. The external bearing as claimed in claim 9, wherein the detent pawl (8) has a locking slot (14).

11. The external bearing as claimed in claim 10, wherein the locking slot (14) has a self-locking connecting contour (13) in the region of the receiving slots (7).

12. The external bearing as claimed in at least one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the detent pawl (8) is arranged between the two receiving slots (7).

13. The external bearing as claimed in at least one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the detent pawl (8) is spring-loaded.

[0001] The invention relates to an external bearing for a backrest, in particular of a vehicle, having a bearing arm for the backrest, which bearing arm is assigned a supporting part, the bearing arm and the supporting part entering into a latching connection and the supporting part having a receiving means for a bolt on the bearing arm.

[0002] Known backrests in vehicles are, if possible, to be able to be folded over, this generally taking place via a rotating joint, in which case corresponding rotating bolts rotate in holes. This requires a considerable effort both for the assembly and for the disassembly.

[0003] DE 296 12 248 U1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,612 each disclose a bearing means for a backrest, in which a bearing pin sits in a guide slot of a supporting part. This guide slot is furthermore assigned a locking lever which is retained in a securing position by a spring.

[0004] The present invention is based on the object of developing an external bearing of the above-mentioned type, in which the assembly operations are considerably simplified, but the backrest can readily be folded over and the bearing means is improved.

[0005] This object is achieved by the bolt being retained by a bearing fork on the bearing arm and the receiving means having two spaced-apart receiving slots which are connected to form a receiving fork, in which case the bearing fork having the bolt can be guided over the receiving fork, so that the bolt slides into the receiving slots.

[0006] The bolt is orientated horizontally in relation to the supporting part and is inserted into the receiving means arranged on the supporting part. For this purpose, this receiving means has the two spaced-apart receiving slots which are formed into side members of a receiving fork. This receiving fork can be bent off from the supporting part, which simplifies the production of the supporting part.

[0007] The bearing fork having the bolt can be guided over the receiving fork in such a manner that the bolt slides into the receiving slots. This means that the respective fork links can be guided in one another.

[0008] The above-mentioned detent pawl which is to be arranged pivotably on the supporting part is provided for securing the latching connection. This detent pawl has a locking slot which in turn has a self-locking locking contour in the region of the receiving slots. The detent pawl preferably sits between the two receiving slots, but it is also conceivable to arrange it outside them, although the bolt then also has to reach above the receiving slots so that a hook of the detent pawl can fit over it.

[0009] In order for the detent pawl to be held in an end position in which it strikes, for example, against a rear wall of the receiving fork, a spring is provided. The spring force and the configuration of the locking contour ensure a play-free operation and an automatic opening of the detent pawl is prevented. The detent pawl opens only under the pressure of the bolt when the bearing arm is to be connected to the supporting part.

[0010] The arrangement the other way around is also to lie within the scope of the invention, that is to say, the receiving fork together with the detent pawl is provided on the bearing arm and the bolt together with the bearing fork is provided on the supporting part.

[0011] Further advantages, features and details of the invention emerge from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments and with reference to the drawing, in which

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a front view of an external bearing according to the invention for a backrest;

[0013] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the external bearing according to FIG. 1;

[0014] FIGS. 3a) to 3d) show a perspective view of various working steps in the assembly of the external bearing.

[0015] An external bearing according to the invention has, according to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bearing arm 1 and a supporting part 2. The bearing arm 1 is preferably secured to a backrest of, for example, a rear bench of a vehicle, while the supporting part 2 is placed onto a chassis. The supporting part 2 is of angular design and has a set-down plate 3 having corresponding holes 4 to place a chassis on or to place onto a chassis.

[0016] Protruding from the set-down plate 3 is a retaining plate 5 from which a receiving fork 6, which can be seen better in FIG. 3a), is angled. This receiving fork 6 has two spaced-apart receiving slots 7, it only being possible to see one slot in the exemplary embodiment shown. The other slot is situated behind a detent pawl 8 which is connected to the retaining plate 5 via a rotating joint 9.

[0017] The detent pawl 8 is of tongue-like design and strikes against a rear wall 10 of the receiving fork 6 in an end position. The detent pawl 8 is retained in this position by a spring 11. The spring 11 is connected at one end to the detent pawl 8 and at the other end to the retaining plate 5 in a positionally fixed manner. In this case, it may be fitted, for example, into a retaining tab 12.

[0018] A locking contour 13 is formed by a receiving slot 14. In this case, the locking contour 13 or the locking slot 14 is designed in such a manner that in its end position, when it strikes against the rear wall 10, it is self-locking for a bolt 15. In this end position, the detent pawl 8 fits with a hook 16 over the bolt in such a manner that said bolt cannot slide out of the locking slot 14. This means that the hook 16 has to fit at least over an upper apex of the casing of the bolt 15.

[0019] The bolt 15 is received in a bearing fork 17 which is connected in turn via a connecting plate 18 to the bearing arm 1.

[0020] The assembly of the external bearing will be described with reference to FIGS. 3a) to 3b) . In FIG. 3a), the bearing arm and supporting part are still separate. According to FIG. 3b), the bearing arm 1 is moved closer to the supporting part 2, in which case the bolt 15 enters into the receiving slots 17. In the process, it pushes the detent pawl 8 out of its end position, as shown in FIG. 3c), with the result that the detent pawl 8 springs open. This takes place by the bolt 15 rolling along a rounded head of the hook 16.

[0021] Finally, the bolt 15 traverses a hook tip, with the result that the detent pawl 8 can snap back into its end position which is shown in FIG. 3d). In this end position, the detent pawl 8 fits with the hook 16 over the bolt 15 and retains the latter securely in this position of use. The bolt 15 is now used as a rotating bearing for the backrest, with the result that the backrest can be folded over at any time. 1

List of reference numbers
1	Bearing arm
2	Supporting part
3	Set-down plate
4	Hole
5	Retaining plate
6	Receiving fork
7	Receiving slot
8	Detent pawl
9	Rotating joint
10	Rear wall
11	Spring
12	Retaining tab
13	Locking contour
14	Locking slot
15	Bolt
16	Hook
17	Bearing fork
18	Connecting plate