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EP-4438480-B1 - SEAT MOUNTING SYSTEM WITH A STRAIGHT HOLDING EDGE

EP4438480B1EP 4438480 B1EP4438480 B1EP 4438480B1EP-4438480-B1

Inventors

  • ROBRECHT, VOLKER
  • VOLLMER, Malte

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230330

Claims (12)

  1. A seat mounting system (300), comprising: a seat rail (100) configured to be mounted to a floor (50); and a seat fitting (200) configured to be coupled with the seat rail (100), wherein the seat rail (100) comprises an upper portion (110) having a plurality of holes (115), wherein each hole (115) comprises a straight edge (112) extending in a transverse direction of the seat rail (100), and wherein the seat fitting (200) comprises at least one hook (220, 230) configured to be inserted into one of the plurality of holes (115) and to hook around the straight edge (112), wherein the seat fitting (200) further comprises: a fastener (250) arranged above an upper surface of the upper portion (110), when the at least one hook (220, 230) hooks around the straight edge (112), characterised in that the fastener (250) is configured to press against the upper portion (110) of the seat rail (100), and, when moving towards the at least one hook (220, 230), to pull the at least one hook (220, 230) towards the fastener (250), thereby clamping the at least one hook (220, 230) to the upper portion (110) of the seat rail (100).
  2. The seat mounting system (300) according to claim 1, wherein the seat rail (100) further comprises a supporting structure (120, 130) arranged underneath the upper portion (110) excluding an area underneath the holes (115).
  3. The seat mounting system (300) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one hook (220, 230) comprises a horizontal protrusion (230) sized to fit through the hole (115) in a substantially vertical movement and to abut against a bottom surface (114) of the upper portion (110).
  4. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fastener (250) comprises a plate configured to press against the upper surface of the upper portion (110) of the seat rail (100).
  5. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a seal (260) configured to cover one or more of the plurality of holes (115) of the seat rail (100).
  6. The seat mounting system (300) according to claim 5, wherein the seat fitting (200) further comprises an upper portion (210), and wherein the seal (260) is further configured to be mounted underneath the upper portion (210) of the seat fitting (200).
  7. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the seat fitting (200) further comprises a seat mount (270) configured to mount a seat or seats thereto.
  8. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the upper portion (110) of the seat rail (100) comprises a rising portion (117), so that the plurality of holes (115) is arranged at a raised level, wherein, preferably, the rising portion (117) of the seat rail (100) has a height corresponding to a height of a floor element (190).
  9. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the seat rail (100) has a one-piece body, preferably made by extrusion, wherein, further preferably, the plurality of holes (115) is punched or cut into the one-piece body.
  10. The seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the seat rail (100) is made by pressing, preferably cold-pressing, wherein, further preferably, the plurality of holes (115) is made during the pressing by cutting the upper portion (110) along the straight edge (112) and press forming a section (111) of the upper portion (110) adjacent to the straight edge (112) to a level below the straight edge (112).
  11. The seat mounting system (300) according to claim 10, when dependent on claim 2, wherein the supporting structure (120, 130) further comprises an upper flange (140), and wherein the upper portion (110) of the seat rail (100) is mounted on the upper flange (140).
  12. A vehicle (1) comprising a seat mounting system (300) according to one of claims 1 to 11.

Description

The present disclosure generally relates to a seat mounting system for passenger vehicles. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a seat mounting system with a seat rail having a plurality of holes in an upper portion, the holes having a straight edge. The present disclosure further relates to a vehicle comprising such mounting system. Document US2012299352A1 discloses a vehicle seat interface assembly having a track including a web having a substantially uniform thickness and one of a key and a key slot. A seat bracket is operably connected with a vehicle seat. The seat bracket includes a support that has the other of the key and the key slot disposed thereon. The key includes first and second side portions. The space defined between the first side portion and the support is greater than the thickness of the web. The space defined between the second side portion and the support is less than the thickness of the web, such that the key may be inserted into the key slot and laterally translated until the web is frictionally secured between the second side portion and the support. Document US2020086966A1 discloses an aircraft flooring system which includes a floor beam, a seat track having a base flange, the base flange including a plurality of apertures, where the one or more of the apertures have a diamond-shaped profile, a seat track fitting coupleable to the seat track via the diamond-shaped profile of the plurality of apertures of the seat track, and a first floor panel. The aircraft flooring system also includes an edge panel that is sized and shaped to couple the first floor panel to the seat track. Document US2019106217A1 discloses an integrable seat leg for an equipment manufacturer seat, including a vertical member, including a front end and a rear end, a first side surface and a second side surface, a top surface and a bottom surface, one or more engaging members extending from the bottom surface, and one or more through-bores arranged proximate the top surface to secure the integrable seat leg to the seat, wherein the one or more engaging members are operatively arranged to engage one or more respective apertures in track. In current passenger vehicles, such as aircrafts, buses and trains, seat rows are mounted to a floor of the vehicle using the seat rails arranged along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Such seat rails comprise a continuous opening extending in a longitudinal direction, along which a seat foot can glide. In order to insert and mount the seat foot (in)to the seat rail, the seat rail has a crown portion with a corrugated longitudinal opening. Due to the corrugations, wider crown portions allow insertion of the seat foot, while narrow crown portions allow mounting the seat foot to the narrow crown portion. A drawback of such seat rails is the large opening in the crown portion over the lengths of the seat rail. Thus, items can fall and/or liquids can flow into the crown portion, which may affect the condition of the seat rail. For instance, current seat rails often suffer from corrosion due to liquids accumulating in the crown portion. Moreover, the manufacturing of such seat rails is time consuming and, hence, comes with high manufacturing costs. It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide an improved seat mounting system for a vehicle This object is solved by the present invention as defined in independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments are defined by the dependent claims. According to a first aspect to better understand the present disclosure, a seat mounting system comprises a seat rail configured to be mounted to a floor, and a seat fitting configured to be coupled with the seat rail. The seat rail comprises an upper portion having a plurality of holes, wherein each hole comprises a straight edge extending in a transverse direction of the seat rail. The transverse direction of the seat rail is arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the seat rail. Since the longitudinal direction of the seat rail usually corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, in which the seat rail is mounted, the straight edge also extends along a cross-section of the vehicle. Furthermore, the seat fitting comprises at least one hook configured to be inserted into one of the plurality of holes and to hook around the straight edge, and a fastener arranged above an upper surface of the upper portion, when the at least one hook hooks around the straight edge, wherein the fastener is configured to press against the upper portion of the seat rail, and, when moving towards the at least one hook, to pull the at least one hook towards the fastener, thereby clamping the at least one hook to the upper portion of the seat rail. In an implementation variant, the straight edge delimits the associated hole at a front side of the hole, i.e. a side of the hole in the longitudinal direction of the seat rail that will be closer to a front of the vehicle, once t