Vehicular switch operation mechanism

Abstract: Operation switches, which a passenger operates with his/her fingers, are disposed on the front end of the upper portion of a console box, and a palm rest on which the passenger rests his/her palm is set rearward of the operation switches. An operation knob that releases the locked state of the console box is disposed on a lower portion of the palm rest in a range where the passenger can reach the operation knob with his/her fingers. Consequently, when the passenger wishes to adjust the front-rear position of the palm rest, the passenger can move the console box by simply lifting up the operation knob with one hand to release the locked state, and without having to conduct an operation such as opening a lid or the like. (end of abstract)

Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP - Washington, DC, US
Inventors: Kazuhiro Kawachi, Hiroshi Uekitai, Kimio Sakakibara, Masanobu Muto, Naoki Omatsu
USPTO Applicaton #: #20070018493 - Class: 297411370 (USPTO)

Vehicular switch operation mechanism description/claims

The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070018493, Vehicular switch operation mechanism.

Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-055000, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a vehicular switch operation mechanism including a palm rest that is disposed rearward of an operation portion and on which a passenger rests his/her palm when operating the operation portion with his/her fingers.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2003-280814, JP-A No. 2002-211277 and JP-A No. 2002-254950 disclose technology where a palm rest, on which a passenger rests his/her palm when operating various switches, is formed on the upper portion of a console box, which is one example of an operation portion installation.

[0006] Although it is not disclosed in the three aforementioned publications, technology has conventionally been known where the entire console box is disposed such that it is movable in the vehicle front-rear direction along guide rails, so that the front-rear position of the console box is adjustable. In this case, a lock device and a lock release knob are disposed in order to retain the console box in its position after adjustment.

[0007] However, when the driver is seated in the front seat and moves the console box frontward or rearward to adjust the position of the palm rest to a position that is optimal for the driver, the operation becomes complicated if the lock release knob is disposed at a position far from the palm rest. For example, if a lock release lever is disposed on the side surface of an inner storage compartment that appears when a lid on the upper portion of the console box is opened, it is necessary to first open the lid in order to release the locked state, and it is difficult to adjust the front-rear position of the palm rest with one hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] In view of this circumstance, it is an object of the present invention to obtain a vehicular switch operation mechanism with which a passenger can easily adjust the position of the palm rest while seated in a vehicular seat.

[0009] In a first aspect of the invention, a vehicular switch operation mechanism, having an operation portion that is disposed on an operation portion installation disposed adjacent to a vehicular seat and which a passenger operates with his/her fingers and a palm rest that is disposed rearward of the operation portion and on which the passenger rests his/her palm when the passenger operates the operation portion with his/her fingers, includes: palm rest moving means for moving the palm rest in a vehicle front-rear direction, a vehicle width direction, or a vehicle diagonal direction; locking means that retains the palm rest in the position after movement; and release means that is disposed in a range where the passenger can reach the release means with his/her fingers when the passenger rests his/her palm on the palm rest and is for releasing the locked state by the locking means.

[0010] In a second aspect of the invention, the palm rest moving means is configured by a palm rest moving mechanism that moves the palm rest relative to the operation portion installation, and the locking means is configured by a palm rest locking mechanism that retains the palm rest in the position to which the palm rest has been moved by the palm rest moving mechanism.

[0011] In a third aspect of the invention, the palm rest moving means is configured by an operation portion installation moving mechanism that moves the operation portion installation integrally with the palm rest with respect to a vehicle body floor in the vehicle front-rear direction, the vehicle width direction, or the vehicle diagonal direction, and the locking means is configured by an operation portion installation locking mechanism that retains the operation portion installation in the position to which the operation portion installation has been moved by the operation portion installation moving mechanism.

[0012] In a fourth aspect of the invention, the palm rest moving means further includes an operation portion installation moving mechanism that moves the operation portion installation integrally with the palm rest with respect to a vehicle body floor in the vehicle front-rear direction, the vehicle width direction, or the vehicle diagonal direction, and the locking means further includes an operation portion installation locking mechanism that retains the operation portion installation in the position to which the operation portion installation has been moved by the operation portion installation moving mechanism. Moreover, the release means is configured by a first release portion for releasing the locked state of the palm rest by the palm rest locking mechanism and a second release portion for releasing the locked state of the operation portion installation by the operation portion installation locking mechanism.

[0013] In a fifth aspect of the invention, the vehicular switch operation mechanism further includes: an upper lid member that can close an inner compartment inside the operation portion installation and with which the palm rest is integrally disposed; and rotating means for rotating the upper lid member, wherein the locked state of the palm rest by the locking means is released by the release means and the palm rest is moved to a predetermined rotation position by the palm rest moving means, whereby the rotation of the upper lid member via the rotating means is enabled, such that the inner compartment is openable/closeable.

[0014] In a sixth aspect of the invention, the release means based on any of the first to fifth aspects is disposed on a lower portion or a side portion of the palm rest.

[0015] According to the first aspect, when the passenger wishes to operate the operation portion disposed on the operation portion installation disposed adjacent to the vehicular seat, the passenger places his/her palm on the palm rest disposed rearward of the operation portion and operates the operation portion with his/her fingers.

[0016] But sometimes, when the passenger wishes to operate the operation portion with his/her fingers, the position of the palm rest in the vehicle front-rear direction is too far frontward or too far rearward for the passenger (the same is true in regard also to the vehicle width direction or the vehicle diagonal direction). In such a case, the passenger need only release the locked state by the locking means with the release means and use the palm rest moving means to move the palm rest in the vehicle front-rear direction such that the position of the palm rest becomes an optimal position. When the passenger finishes adjusting the position of the palm rest, the palm rest is retained in the position after movement by the locking means.

[0017] In this aspect, release means for releasing the locked state by the locking means is disposed in a range where the passenger can reach the release means with his/her fingers when the passenger rests his/her palm on the palm rest. Thus, the passenger can adjust the position of the palm rest while his/her palm is placed on the palm rest. In other words, there is the excellent effect that the passenger can easily adjust the position of the palm rest while the passenger is seated in the vehicular seat.

[0018] According to the second aspect, when the passenger wishes to adjust the position of the palm rest, the passenger need only release the locked state of the palm rest locking mechanism with the release means and use the palm rest moving mechanism to move the palm rest toward or away from the operation portion installation. That is, according to this aspect, the passenger can adjust the position of the palm rest using the operation portion disposed on the operation portion installation as a reference.

[0019] In other words, there is the excellent effect that the passenger can easily adjust the position of the palm rest to a position that is optimal with respect to the size of the palm of the passenger.

[0020] According to the third aspect of the invention, when the passenger wishes to adjust the position of the palm rest, the passenger need only release the locked state of the operation portion installation locking mechanism with the release means and use the operation portion installation moving mechanism to move the operation portion installation in the vehicle front-rear direction, the vehicle width direction, or the vehicle diagonal direction, with respect to the vehicle body floor. That is, according to this aspect, the passenger can adjust the position of the palm rest using the vehicle body floor as a reference.

[0021] In other words, there is the excellent effect that the passenger can easily adjust the position of the palm rest to a position that is optimal with respect to the length of the arm of the passenger.

Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
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Previous Patent Application:
Vehicle seat with a seat part, a seat back and an underframe
Next Patent Application:
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Industry Class:
Chairs and seats

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