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Foldable head restraint

Foldable head restraint description/claims

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/633,770, which was filed on Aug. 4, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. ______). This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/633,770, which was filed on Aug. 4, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. ______) and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/797,294, which was filed on Mar. 10, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. ______).

The invention relates generally to vehicle head restraints and more particularly to foldable vehicle head restraints.

Head restraints protect a vehicle occupant from serious injury due to sudden movement of the vehicle. The head restraints generally extend upward from the seat.

While the head restraints are necessary to insure the safety of passengers, at times the head restraints can present difficulties. Head restraints can obstruct the driver's view when looking rearward. If a seat is folded forward to allow a passenger to enter the rear portion of a vehicle, the head restraint may contact an object in front of the seat thus stopping the seat from fully folding down. In vehicles with seats that fold flat into the floor, the head restraint must be removed or additional stowage space in the floor of the vehicle must be provided.

A foldable head restraint has been described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/672,703, assigned to the assignee of this patent application. A foldable head restraint has a design position where the head restraint is generally upright and serves as protection for a vehicle passenger. The foldable head restraint also has a folded position, where the head restraint is rotated to allow complete kinematic movement of the seatback, or to increase rearward visibility.

While foldable head restraints offer advantages over non-foldable head restraints, foldable head restraints are generally more difficult to assemble and therefore relatively more expensive. A foldable head restraint which is easier to manufacture and less expensive is thus desirable.

The aforementioned problems are overcome in the present invention. An articulating head restraint with minimal freeplay includes an armature. A pair of rods extending from the armature are configured to hold a bun.

A first end of the armature is inserted through a bracket hole. The second end of the armature is inserted through a hole in a slave bracket. The slave bracket is then attached to the bracket. Because the armature is inserted into the bracket and the slave bracket before the slave bracket is attached to the bracket, the diameter of the holes in both the bracket and the slave bracket can be near the size of the diameter of the armature, or even be made to accommodate a line to line fit condition. Thus, lateral movement of the armature within the bracket slave bracket is minimized.

Further, the articulating head restraint includes a torsion spring. A cam is positioned about the armature. The cam has a stop acumination and a lock acumination. The stop acumination and the lock acumination work in coordination with a slide. The slide moves laterally so as to become in contact with the lock acumination. The wedging action of the slide and lock acumination prohibit rotation of the armature.

A cable is attached to the slide. If a force is exerted on the cable, the slide will translate away from the lock acumination, allowing the cam to rotate, and thereby allowing the armature to rotate. The torsion spring causes the armature to rotate in a first direction. The stop acumination on the cam is positioned to prohibit excessive rotation of the armature in a second direction.

Because the cam, the acuminations on the cam, and the slide can be manufactured to a high degree of precision, the interaction of the lock acumination with the slide are exacting. Free play of the head restraint mechanism is thereby minimized, resulting in a solid feel and an ergonomically pleasing head restraint.

Further, a foldable head restraint has two head restraint supports set within a bracket. The head restraint supports are comprised of a metal substrate and a section of an over-molded geometry. The over-molded geometry is generally plastic. A latch is made integral with the metal substrate. The latch rests against a stop to prohibit rotation of the head restraint support in a first direction and rests against a rotational cam to prohibit movement of the head restraint supports in a second direction. A user rotates the cam to an open position to allow the head restraint supports to be pivoted to a folded position. To reduce the size of the slots in the seatback which are often provided to accommodate foldable head restraints, the head restraint supports have a general shape of a “J”. Other shapes and configurations are possible.

The metal substrate of the head restraint supports could be fine blanked, precision stamped, or manufactured by a close tolerance metal fabrication process thereby significantly reducing the cost of the head restraint support. The metal substrate can then be over-molded. The over-molded shape and cross-section can be varied as needed to allow mating of the head restraint supports with components found in the head restraint bun.

The head restraint supports for the primary side and the secondary side of the head restraint are identical, allowing for ease of mass production. Also, due to the geometry of the metal substrate and over-molded geometry the package size of the head restraint supports is more compact when compared to similar mechanisms.

These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be more readily understood and appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the drawings.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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