US 4,786,110 AGranted

Hinge joint for seats of motor vehicles and the like

AssigneeKeiper Recaro GmbH & Co.

InventorsHorst Mahling, Bernd Kluting, Hans-Walter Busch, Hans-Joachim Berghof

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Abstract

A hinge joint wherein one of the leaves is secured to a fixed part and the other leaf is secured to the pivotable back rest of a seat in motor vehicle and is pivotable with reference to the fixed leaf about the axis of a pintle which can be rotated by a hand wheel or a motor. The other leaf carries a braking member with a cylindrical or frustoconical internal surface which is engaged by the peripheral surface of a prestressed elastic split ring defining a gap for the projection of a blocking element which is affixed to the pintle and urges the split ring into stronger frictional engagement with the braking member when the back rest is acted upon to pivot the other leaf. A coupling device is secured to the hand wheel or to the motor to disengage the split ring from the braking member when the pintle is rotated by the hand wheel or by the motor. The end portions of the split ring flank the projection of the blocking element and are flanked by two protuberances of the coupling device.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A hinge joint, particularly for changing the mutual positions of two parts of a seat in a motor vehicle, comprising a first section connectable to the first part of a seat;

a second section connectable to the second part of a seat;
a shaft pivotably mounting said second section on said first section;
means for rotating said shaft;
a transmission interposed between said sections and operative to change the position of said second section with reference to said first section in response to rotation of said shaft;
and means for locking said second section in a selected position with reference to said first section, including a braking member provided on one of said sections and having an internal surface, a resilient brake shoe including a flat radially expandible ring normally in frictional engagement with said internal surface and having two motion transmitting portions, a coupling device operatively connected with said rotating means and including a disengaging portion cooperating with said motion transmitting portions to reduce friction between said ring and said braking member in response to rotation of said shaft by said rotating means, and a blocking element provided on said shaft and having an engaging portion cooperating with said motion transmitting portions to urge said ring against said internal surface in response to application to said second section of a force tending to change the position of said second section and said shaft relative to said first section.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.