Hydro-formed seat adjuster system
View Patent ↗A seat adjuster system includes a shaft and an elongated member. In another aspect of the present invention, the member is a lever which is attached to the shaft by an interference fit. A further aspect of the present invention employs hydro-forming of the shaft to attach the member to the shaft, which is preferably a torsion tube for an automotive seat.
1. A seat adjuster system comprising:
a fluid-formed shaft having an enlarged bulge that includes a set of external flats that extend along its length; and
an elongated member having an aperture that includes a set of internal flats that extend completely through the aperture;
wherein the elongated member is affixed to the shaft by engagement of each member of the set of external flats of the enlarged bulge with a corresponding member of the set of internal flats of the aperture free of welding.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the enlarged bulge has a different peripheral shape than the adjacent sections of the shaft.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein adjacent to the enlarged bulge sections of the shaft are substantially circular-cylindrical.
4. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
the first fluid-formed shaft having a generally linear configuration, the first fluid-formed shaft having the first and a second enlarged bulge spaced apart from each other, the second enlarged bulge each having a set of external flats;
a second fluid-formed shaft having first and second end portions each having a generally linear configuration and an offset portion coupled to the first and second end portions by first and second bent segments, respectively, the first end portion having a third enlarged bulge and the offset portion having a fourth enlarged bulge, the third and fourth enlarged bulges each having a set of external flats; and
second, third, and fourth elongated members each having an aperture having a set of internal flats that extend through their respective apertures;
wherein the members of the sets of internal flats of the second, third, and fourth elongated members mate with a corresponding member of the sets of external flats of the second, third, and fourth enlarged bulges, respectively, and free of welding.
5. The system of claim 4 further comprising first and second actuators coupled to the first and third elongated members, respectively, the first actuator operably causing the first elongated member and first fluid-formed shaft to rotate and the second actuator operably causing the third elongated member and second fluid-formed shaft to rotate, thereby operably causing seat lifting and tilting motion.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the aperture of the elongated member is an internal aperture defined by an inside edge that entirely surrounds the adjacent periphery of the shaft.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the shaft is a hollow torsion tube made by hydro-forming and the member is a lever.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the multiple flats of the shaft define a polygon of at least six sides.