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US 10,864,830 B2Granted
Recliner mechanism having welded encapsulating ring
AssigneeFisher & Company, Incorporated
InventorsRalph L. Schmitz, Sapan Mahendra Poptani, Steven Anthony Hessell, Vicki Ann Wood
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The recliner mechanism includes a housing plate, a recliner heart and an encapsulating ring. The recliner heart is mounted to the housing plate and operable in an unlocked state permitting relative rotation between a seatback and a seat bottom and a locked state preventing relative rotation between the seatback and the seat bottom. The encapsulating ring is attached to the housing plate.
Claims17
A recliner mechanism comprising:
- a first bracket plate;
- a second bracket plate;
- a recliner heart mounted to the first and second bracket plates and operable in an unlocked state permitting relative rotation between a seatback and a seat bottom and a locked state preventing relative rotation between the seatback and the seat bottom, wherein the recliner heart includes a first plate and a second plate that are rotatable relative to each other when the recliner heart is in the unlocked state, and wherein the first and second bracket plates are rotatable relative to each other when the recliner heart is in the unlocked state;
- and
- an encapsulating ring contacting and fixed to the first bracket plate, wherein the encapsulating ring includes a body, a first flange, and a second flange,
- wherein the body of the encapsulating ring is disposed radially outward relative to outer rims of the first and second plates such that the body surrounds the outer rims,
- wherein a first weld is between the first bracket plate and the first flange of the encapsulating ring to fixedly attach the encapsulating ring to the first bracket plate,
- wherein a second weld is between the first plate and the body of the encapsulating ring to fixedly attach the encapsulating ring to the first plate, and
- wherein the second flange is disposed axially between the second bracket plate and the outer rim of the second plate.
6 more elements
A recliner mechanism comprising:
- a first bracket plate;
- a second bracket plate;
- a recliner heart mounted to the first and second bracket plates and operable in an unlocked state permitting relative rotation between a seatback and a seat bottom and a locked state preventing relative rotation between the seatback and the seat bottom;
- and
- an encapsulating ring disposed between the first and second bracket plates, the encapsulating ring contacting and fixed to the first bracket plate,
- wherein the encapsulating ring includes a body and a flange, and wherein the flange extends radially outwardly from an axial end of the body, and
- wherein the recliner heart includes a first plate and a second plate, and wherein a first weld is between the second plate and the second bracket plate to attach the second plate to the second bracket plate.
4 more elements
A method for assembling a recliner mechanism, the method comprising:
- attaching an encapsulating ring of the recliner mechanism to a recliner heart of the recliner mechanism, the encapsulating ring covering a periphery of the recliner heart;
- attaching the encapsulating ring to a first bracket plate of the recliner mechanism;
- and
- attaching the recliner heart to a second bracket plate of the recliner mechanism,
- wherein the recliner heart and the encapsulating ring are disposed between the first and second bracket plates when the encapsulating ring is attached to the first bracket plate and the recliner heart is attached to the second bracket plate,
- wherein the encapsulating ring and the first bracket plate are attached by laser welding such that a first laser beam contacts a portion of the encapsulating ring and a portion of the first bracket plate, and
- wherein the recliner heart and the second bracket plate are attached by laser welding such that a second laser beam contacts a portion of the recliner heart and a portion of the second bracket plate.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.