Contacting system for electrically connecting a vehicle electrical system of a motor vehicle to a removable vehicle seat or a seat system
AssigneeMagna Seating (Germany) GmbH
InventorChristoph Brehm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A contact system to establish an electrical connection between a vehicle electrical system and a vehicle seat. The contact system includes a contact rail and at least one contact socket attached to the vehicle seat. The contact rail has at least two contact strips connected to the vehicle electrical system, while the contact socket has a sliding unit with contact elements movably retained in a housing unit. A relative movement between the sliding unit and the housing unit is carried out to electrically connect to the vehicle electrical system when the vehicle seat is retained in the guide rails. Removal of the electrical contact is achieved upon removal of the vehicle seat from the guide rails.
Claims20
A contact system to establish an electrical connection between a vehicle electrical system and a vehicle seat that is removeably retained in guide rails, the contact system comprising:
- a contact rail having at least two contact strips;
- at least one contact socket attached to the vehicle seat and configured to be received by the contact rail, the at least one contact socket having a sliding unit with contact elements movably retained in a housing unit, wherein:
- a relative movement between the sliding unit and the housing unit is carried out to establish the electrical connection between the vehicle electrical system and the vehicle seat when the vehicle seat is retained in the guide rails, and by which electrical contact between current contact elements of the vehicle seat and the contact strips is made via the contact elements, the relative movement being a combined rotational movement and a translational movement in which the rotational movement is carried out as a function of the translational movement and is a helical rotary movement between the sliding unit and the housing unit, and
- removal of the electrical contact is achieved upon removal of the vehicle seat from the guide rails.
A contact system for a motor vehicle, the system comprising:
- a contact rail having at least one contact strip configured for electrical connection to an electrical system of the motor vehicle;
- and
- a contact socket attached to a seat of the motor vehicle, the contact socket having a sliding unit with at least one contact element to establish electrical communication with the seat, and a contact rocker extending radially from the at least one contact element to establish electrical communication with the contact strip,
- wherein the sliding unit is configured to have relative movement to establish an electrical connection between the vehicle electrical system and the vehicle seat upon mounting of the seat in the vehicle, by which electrical contact between current contact elements of the vehicle seat and the contact strip is made via the contact elements.
A method for electrically connecting a removable vehicle seat to a vehicle electrical system of a motor vehicle, the method comprising:
- providing a contact system that includes a contact rail having at least two contact strips connected to the vehicle electrical system, at least one contact socket attached to the vehicle seat, the at least one contact socket having a sliding unit with contact elements and a cylindrical element movably retained in a housing unit;
- inserting the vehicle seat in a floor rail, such that the contact socket is inserted into the contact rail;
- lowering the vehicle seat until the cylindrical element of the contact socket encounters a stop and is oriented in a vertical direction in relation to the contact rail;
- and
- further lowering the vehicle seat such that when lowering the housing unit, the cylindrical element is rotated and during such rotation, electrical connection between the contact elements and the contact rail is established.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.