WO2017068471A1

WO2017068471A1 - Console armrest assembly for an automobile

Info

Publication number: WO2017068471A1
Application number: PCT/IB2016/056158
Authority: WO
Inventors: In Muk PARK
Original assignee: MOTHERSON AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES & ENGINEERING (A Division of Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd.)
Priority date: 2015-10-21
Filing date: 2016-10-14
Publication date: 2017-04-27

Abstract

A console armrest assembly (10) for an automobile, having a sliding movement along a plane between a first position and a second position is disclosed. The console armrest assembly (10) comprises a lower substrate (103), at least one pair of guide rails (102), closure piece (106) comprising a rubber dampener, and a slider assembly (104). Said slider assembly (104) comprises at least two types of springs (300, 110). Said invention is aimed to provide light weight and controlled sliding console armrest assembly (10), thereby reducing the shortcoming of the metal based guide rails used in the conventional armrest assembly.

Description

CONSOLE ARMREST ASSEMBLY FOR AN AUTOMOBILE

FIELD OF INVENTION:

The present invention relates to an automotive component with sliding means, and more particularly, to a console armrest assembly for sliding the armrest of the automobile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

An important feature to seat comfort is an armrest position. This is so since vehicle occupants vary substantially in height, width, and arm length, as well as armrest position preferences. Currently, the vehicles comprise an armrest for resting the arms of the passenger(s) and driver and also provide passenger(s) with pleasant and comfort desirable environment. Additionally, these armrests comfort the driver while driving the vehicle. The armrest may be provided between the front seats and/or back seats over a center console. The armrest assembly is generally adjustable from a first position to a second position, wherein the first position is an extended position and the second position is a retracted position in the horizontal plane. The two positions are conventionally achieved by sliding movement of the armrest using a guide rails assembly. In the past, these guide rails assembly were manufactured with steel or metal guide rails with the damper mechanism which lacked any effective sliding mechanism.

Further, the conventional guide rails are heavy as they are made up of metal and thus the weight of the said guide rails along with the other components of vehicle together makes the vehicle heavier. Furthermore, other limitations of said conventional guide rails include rattling, squeaking, buzz, etc. This makes the installation of said conventional guide rails expensive as well as complex and time consuming.

Hence, in view of the above and other limitations of existing technologies/systems, there exists a need for developing a more efficient and comfortable armrest assembly for the vehicle with enhanced properties such as cost effectiveness, simple installation.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the disclosed methods and systems in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In view of the shortcomings of existing methods and systems, as discussed in the background section, it is apparent that there exists a need to provide a comfortable and easy to use armrest for a vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide smooth and non-jerky horizontal movement of the armrest in the horizontal plane. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide light weight and controlled sliding armrest assembly, thereby reducing the shortcoming of the metal based guide rails used in the armrest. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention relates to a console armrest assembly 10 for an automobile, having a sliding movement along a plane between a first position and a second position. Said console armrest assembly 10 comprises at least one pair of guide rails 102 mounted on a lower substrate 103 along the length of the console armrest assembly 10; an armrest lower substrate 103 consisting at least one profiled groove 108 provided between the mounted guide rails 102 and a closure piece 106 mounted at one end of the lower substrate 103. A slider assembly 104, to facilitate the sliding movement along the plane between the first position and the second position, fixed via the guide rails 102 and comprises with at least two types of springs 300, 110. Further, said at least two types of springs is the projecting spring 300 and the strip spring 110. Furthermore, the projecting spring 300 is operationally engaged with said at least one profiled groove 108 to facilitate the sliding movement forces of the console armrest assembly 10. Moreover, the strip spring 110 with at least one of its edge facing the guide rails 102 of the console armrest assembly 10.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Also, the embodiments shown in the figures are not to be construed as limiting the invention, but the possible variants of an automated system according to the invention are illustrated herein to highlight the advantages of the invention. Fig. 1 illustrates a longitudinal view of the console armrest assembly according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a slider assembly of the console armrest assembly according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates a cross sectional view of the rear end of the sliding armrest assembly according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. However, any individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein. Although headings are provided, information related to a particular heading, but not found in the section having that heading, may also be found elsewhere in the specification. Further, the information provided under a particular heading may not necessarily be a part of only the section having that heading.

Fig. 1 illustrates a longitudinal view of the console armrest assembly 10. Said console armrest assembly 10 comprises an armrest 100, at least one pair of guide rails 102, at least one slider assembly 104, a guide rail surface 107, at least one profiled groove 108, and a closure piece 106 comprising a rubber dampener, wherein said closure piece 106 is positioned at rear end of the armrest 100 and wherein said component (s)/element (s) are functionally and operably connected to each other to achieve the desired sliding movement of the console armrest assembly 10. The term armrest 100 and the term console armrest assembly 10 can be interchangeably used as and when required to illustrate the invention.

The armrest 100 may be located between the front seats and/ or rear seats, and on top of the console. Further, the armrest 100 comprises an upper substrate 101 (illustrated in Fig. 3) and a lower substrate 103, wherein said upper substrate 101 is configured to provide a support system for user to rest his/her arm. The lower substrate 103 faces the storage space or the upper substrate 101 of the console. Thus, the present invention encompasses varied applications of armrest 100 including, but not limited to, support system and storage space. Also, the lower substrate 103 comprises ribs that are horizontally positioned along the two opposite sides of the lower substrate 103, capable to accommodate guide rails 102 in the ribs. Further, the present invention encompasses that the armrest 100 can be manufactured with ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or PC (Polycarbonate) or combination of ABS+PC, etc. It may, however, be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that any other appropriate material can be used to manufacture the different components of the present invention. Furthermore, the armrest 100 may have any shape including, but not limiting to, rectangle, wherein the shape and size of the same may vary according to the requirement of the vehicle or comfort of the passenger (s).

The guide rail 102, positioned horizontally along two opposite sides of said lower substrate 103 of said armrest 100. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, said guide rails 102 is in turn fastened to said lower substrate 103 with the help of snap locks. It is further encompassed by the invention that the guide rails 102 is adapted to receive the slider assembly 104 within the guide rails surface 107 provided along the two inner sides of the guide rails 102. The guide rails 102 and the slider assembly 104 can be manufactured with thermoplastics such as POM (Polyoxymethylene) or Polyamide, etc. It may, however, be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that any other appropriate material can be used to manufacture the different components of the present invention.

The slider assembly 104 is fixedly positioned via the guide rails 102. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the slider assembly 104 is coupled at the rear end of the center console or back of armrest 100 via the closure piece 106. Also, said slider assembly 104 can be attached by the help of screws to the mounting bracket.

Fig. 3 illustrates a cross sectional view of the rear end of the console armrest assembly 10 depicting the positioning of the console, guide rails 102, the projecting spring 300, the armrest upper substrate 101 and the armrest lower substrate 103. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the slider assembly 104 comprises with at least two types of springs 300, 110. Further, said at least two types of springs is the projecting springs 300 and the strip string 110. Furthermore, the projecting spring 300 is operationally engaged with said at least one profiled groove 108 to facilitate the sliding movement forces of the console armrest assembly 10. The strip spring 110 has at least one of its edges facing the guide rails 102 of the console armrest assembly 10. Additional, the strip spring 110 of varying dimensions may also be positioned on the upper substrate 101 and the lower substrate 103 of the slider assembly 104. The strip spring 110 helps in reducing friction and rattles in Y & Z direction, as shown in Fig. 2.

Further, the present invention relates to guide rail mechanism encompassed by the armrest 100. Said guide rail mechanism enables the armrest 100 to slide along the plane between a first position and a second position, wherein said first position is an extended position and wherein said second position is a retracted position. The present invention encompasses that said two positions are adjustable based upon the requirements and preference of the passenger(s).

In a preferred embodiment, the armrest 100 comprises at least two profiled grooves 108 to restrict the movement of the armrest 100 at two specific positions in the plane. For further smoothening of the overall sliding mechanism, appropriate amount of grease or any lubricant may be applied over different component of the sliding armrest assembly 100.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments and equivalents are possible. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with functional and procedural details, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in terms of the procedural steps within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms. Thus various modifications are possible of the presently disclosed system and process without deviating from the intended scope and spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, in one embodiment, such modifications of the presently disclosed system and method are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A console armrest assembly 10 for an automobile, having a sliding movement along a plane between a first position and a second position, the console armrest assembly 10 comprising:

- at least one pair of guide rails 102 mounted on a lower substrate 103 along the length of the console armrest assembly 10;

- an armrest lower substrate 103 consisting at least one profiled groove 108 provided between the mounted guide rails 102 and a closure piece 106 mounted at one end of the lower substrate 103;

- a slider assembly 104, to facilitate the sliding movement along the plane between the first position and the second position, fixed via the guide rails 102 and comprises with at least two types of springs 300, 110.

The console armrest assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least two types of springs is the projecting spring 300 and the strip spring 110.

The console armrest assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the projecting spring 300 is operationally engaged with said at least one profiled groove 108 to facilitate the sliding movement forces of the console armrest assembly 10.

The console armrest assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip spring 110 with at least one of its edge facing the guide rails 102 of the console armrest assembly 10.

The guide rails 102 and the slider assembly 104 as claimed in claim 1 are made up of thermoplastics.