The headrest on an automobile seat is often made adjustable as to height. One common way in which the headrest is mounted on the seat in a way that permits height adjustment is for the headrest to be provided with two downwardly extending pegs, and the pegs engage sockets secured into the frame of the seat. Detent means are usually provided which interact between the pegs and the sockets, whereby the headrest may be set, by the occupant of the vehicle, at one of a number of pre-set heights.
The socket in which the peg is received comprises a metal tube. A plastic liner may be provided in the tube, to act as a bearing material for the peg. In the conventional system, the tube is welded to a bracket, and the bracket is welded to a frame piece of the seat. This manner of attachment, though secure enough (because it has to be secure by regulation), unfortunately is expensive as to the labour time and the materials needed to make it that secure. Any securement system that involves welding tends to be labour-intensive and therefore expensive, besides being difficult to inspect and test. A welded system generally has to be over-engineered.
Also, welding does not lead to high accuracy. The need for accuracy of placement of the headrest on the seat is not high, although the accuracy of the spacing of the pegs and their sockets cannot be too far out; the conventional welded-on system is just about at the limit for accuracy for welding, which means that, when welding is used as the basis of the attachment method, skilled care has to be taken, which in turn does nothing to ease the cost problem.
The invention is aimed at providing a manner of securing a headrest support tube into a seat frame, in a manner that eases some of the compromises that have had to be resorted to in the conventional systems.
Typically, the operations carried out in a conventional seat manufactory include welding, bending of frame pieces, securing components together, and assembly, all of which tend to have a higher labour content. It is an aim of the headrest support system as described herein, to minimise the labour content of the task of attaching the support tubes to the seat frame piece.
Support tubes for headrests are conventionally attached to the seat frame piece by welding a bracket onto the frame piece, and then welding the tube to the bracket. Sometimes, the tube is pressed into holes in the welded-on bracket; but welding is nearly always resorted to, to assure that the tube remains in position on the bracket. Of course, the tubes can be attached securely enough, but the conventional costs of ensuring that security are high.