[001] The present subject matter described herein, relates to a vehicle construction and more particularly, relates to a side seat hinge bracket coupled to a rear seat of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART:
[002] Recent studies show that there is an increasing trend of risk of injuries for rear seat occupants as compared to front seat occupants; more over as compared to adult rear passengers, child rear passengers are prone to severe injuries during crash. Consideration of the rear child occupants in the standards, regulations and safety rating systems is increasing in all countries. In order to properly protect the child occupants, children less than 135 cm in height are restrained by a child restraint system (CRS or a booster) as per Economic commission for Europe.
[003] Child safety seats have been required for many years by law for small children riding in automotive vehicles. In the past, child safety seats have been secured to a passenger seat using standard seatbelts provided for adult passengers that are anchored to one or more structural members of the vehicle. The child safety seat mounting procedure is awkward and sometimes complex, which may result in improper securement of the child safety seat to the seat of the vehicle. So, a proper isofix anchorage seat system is required for anchoring the child seats in the vehicle for the safety of the children.
[004] In conventional design, the rear seats are provided with simpler designed seat hinge bracket for mounting seats with the body of the vehicle. However, the brackets are prone to deformation under stress and bending moment due to static loads acting during vehicle running condition or a crash like situation. With the vehicle having isofix anchorage structure on the seats, these brackets are unable to withstand the loading conditions which resulted in increased displacement of child seats and caused the failure of isofix anchorage system. In order to provide additional strength or stiffness to the isofix anchorage systems against the static

loads, there is a requirement of an efficiently designed seat hinge bracket which can withstand loads and provides additional strength to the isofix anchorage systems along with reduction in child seat displacement.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[005] The principal objective of the present invention is to provide an optimally designed side seat hinge bracket coupled to a rear seat of a vehicle, for providing strength to an isofix anchorage structure for securing child seats, having ability to withstand sufficient load and reduce displacement of child seats and to meet the stringent regulatory criteria for isofix anchorage strength evaluation as per ECER-14.
[006] Another object of the present subject matter is to provide a simple, cost effective, and efficiently designed side seat hinge bracket that is distinct from all conventional designs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[007] The present invention relates to a seat side hinge bracket for a vehicle. The seat side hinge bracket defining an L-shaped profile includes a first portion configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel, the first portion defining an inverted U-shape part having a base contacting the rear seat panel, and legs extending from the base away from the rear seat panel with arcuate flanges extending from the legs; a second portion extending orthogonally from the first portion, the second portion configured to be coupled to a side panel of the vehicle; and a stiffener member defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part coupled to the base, and arms, extending from the bottom part, coupled to the second portion.
[008] In order to further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit scope of the present subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[009] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0010] Fig. la illustrates a front perspective view of a vehicle construction having a rear seat provided with a seat side hinge bracket in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0011] Fig. lb illustrates an enlarged view of the isofix anchorage structure of Fig. la;
[0012] Fig. 2a illustrates a schematic diagram of the seat side hinge bracket of Fig. lb;
[0013] Fig. 2b illustrates a sectional view of the seat side hinge bracket taken along a section A-A' of Fig. 2a; and
[0014] Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b illustrate displacement of isofix jigs (corresponding to the child restraint seat) under a testing environment.
[0015] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
[0016] The present disclosure presents embodiments for a seat side hinge bracket for a vehicle. The seat side hinge bracket defining an L-shaped profile includes a first portion configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel, the first portion defining an inverted U-shaped part having a base contacting the rear seat panel, and legs extending from the base away from the rear seat panel with arcuate flanges extending from the legs; a second portion extending orthogonally from the first portion, the second portion configured to be coupled to a side panel of the vehicle; and a stiffener member defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part coupled to the base, and arms, extending from the bottom part, coupled to the second portion.
[0017] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0018] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be

noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
5 [0019] Fig. 1a illustrates a front perspective view of a vehicle construction having a rear seat 90. The rear seat 90 is provided with a seat side hinge bracket 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 1b illustrates an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1a depicting the seat side hinge bracket 100. In application, a child restraint system including a child restraint seat is configured to
10 be secured to the rear seat 90 through an isofix anchorage structure. In an embodiment, the seat side hinge bracket 100 includes an optimized and stiffer design for providing strength to the isofix anchorage structure against static loads along with reduction in displacement of the child restraint seat during a crash like situation. Further, the design of the seat side hinge bracket 100 is based upon
15 permissible limits for static loads and child restraint seat displacement as per ECER-14.
[0020] Fig. 2a illustrates a schematic diagram of the seat side hinge bracket 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the seat side hinge bracket 100 defines an L-shaped profile including a first portion
20 102 configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel 104 of the rear seat 90. The first portion 102 defines an inverted U-shaped part 106 having a base 108 contacting the rear seat panel 104, and legs 110 extending from the base 108 away from the rear seat panel 104. The first portion 102 further defines arcuate flanges 112 extending from the legs 110. In an example, the base 108 includes a first opening
25 126 such that the first portion 102 is bolted to the rear seat panel 104 through the first opening 126. Bolting allows easy assembly or disassembly of the seat side hinge bracket 100 with the rear seat panel 104.
[0021] The seat side hinge bracket 100 further includes a second portion 114
extending orthogonally from the first portion 102. In an example, the second
30 portion 114 is configured to be coupled to a side panel 116 of the vehicle. Further,
6

the second portion 114 is hingedly coupled to the side panel 116 through a second opening 128 provided on the second portion 114.
[0022] The seat side hinge bracket 100 further includes a stiffener member 118 defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part 120 coupled to the base 108 of 5 the first portion 102, and arms 122, extending from the bottom part 120, coupled to the second portion 114. In an example, the stiffener member 118 is welded to the first portion 102 and the second portion 114. Fig. 2b illustrates a sectional view of the seat side hinge bracket 100 taken along a section A-A’ of Fig. 2a.
[0023] During operation or running condition of the vehicle, the seat side hinge 10 bracket 100 undergoes stress and bending moment. In an embodiment, the flanges 112 provided with the seat side hinge bracket 100 provide extra strength against the stress and bending moment, specifically against static loads. In an example, depth & width of the flanges 112 can be varied based on stiffness requirement. . Further, the bottom part 120 and the arms 122 of the stiffener member 118 15 prevents collapsing of the seat side hinge bracket 100 under static loads. In an example, material, thickness and dimensions of the seat side hinge bracket 100 can be varied based on vehicle layout & performance requirements. Further, the side seat hinge bracket 100 can be easily manufactured by forming operation by reducing the overall manufacturing & tool cost. Hence, the various components of 20 the seat side hinge bracket 100 provides an optimized design and effective stiffness, that leads to reduction in deformation, and further leads to reduction in displacement of the child restraint seat, and the isofix anchorage structure falls well within safety standards.
[0024] Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b illustrate displacement of isofix jigs (corresponding to 25 the child restraint seat) using conventional seat hinge bracket represented by dotted lines 302, and the seat side hinge bracket 100 represented by bold lines 304 during a straight pull test. Figs. 3a and 3b provides displacement of left isofix jig 300 and right isofix jig 301 respectively. As shown in the Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b, the displacement of isofix jigs with the seat side hinge bracket 100 is less than the 30 displacement of isofix jigs with conventional seat hinge bracket. Based on the test
7

results, it has been observed that, the left jig displacement is reduced by 37% and right jig displacement is reduced by 12%.
[0025] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.

We claim:

1.A seat side hinge bracket (100) for a vehicle, the seat side hinge bracket (100) defining an L-shaped profile comprising:
a first portion (102) configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel (104), the first portion (102) defining:
an inverted U-shaped part (106) having a base (108) contacting the rear seat panel (104), and legs (110) extending from the base (108) away from the rear seat panel (104), and
arcuate flanges (112) extending from the legs (110)
a second portion (114) extending orthogonally from the first portion (102), the second portion (114) configured to be coupled to a side panel (116) of the vehicle; and
a stiffener member (118) defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part (120) coupled to the base (108), and arms (122), extending from the bottom part (120), coupled to the second portion (114).

2. The seat side hinge bracket (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first portion (102) is bolted to the rear seat panel (104) through a first opening (126) provided on the base (108).

3. The seat side hinge bracket (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second portion (114) is hingedly coupled to the side panel (116) through a second opening (128) provided on the second portion (114).

4. The seat side hinge bracket (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stiffener member (118) is welded to the first portion (102) and the second portion (114).
, Description:SEAT SIDE HINGE BRACKET
FIELD OF INVENTION:
[001] The present subject matter described herein, relates to a vehicle construction and more particularly, relates to a side seat hinge bracket coupled to a rear seat of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART:
[002] Recent studies show that there is an increasing trend of risk of injuries for rear seat occupants as compared to front seat occupants; more over as compared to adult rear passengers, child rear passengers are prone to severe injuries during crash. Consideration of the rear child occupants in the standards, regulations and safety rating systems is increasing in all countries. In order to properly protect the child occupants, children less than 135 cm in height are restrained by a child restraint system (CRS or a booster) as per Economic commission for Europe.
[003] Child safety seats have been required for many years by law for small children riding in automotive vehicles. In the past, child safety seats have been secured to a passenger seat using standard seatbelts provided for adult passengers that are anchored to one or more structural members of the vehicle. The child safety seat mounting procedure is awkward and sometimes complex, which may result in improper securement of the child safety seat to the seat of the vehicle. So, a proper isofix anchorage seat system is required for anchoring the child seats in the vehicle for the safety of the children.
[004] In conventional design, the rear seats are provided with simpler designed seat hinge bracket for mounting seats with the body of the vehicle. However, the brackets are prone to deformation under stress and bending moment due to static loads acting during vehicle running condition or a crash like situation. With the vehicle having isofix anchorage structure on the seats, these brackets are unable to withstand the loading conditions which resulted in increased displacement of child seats and caused the failure of isofix anchorage system. In order to provide additional strength or stiffness to the isofix anchorage systems against the static loads, there is a requirement of an efficiently designed seat hinge bracket which can withstand loads and provides additional strength to the isofix anchorage systems along with reduction in child seat displacement.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[005] The principal objective of the present invention is to provide an optimally designed side seat hinge bracket coupled to a rear seat of a vehicle, for providing strength to an isofix anchorage structure for securing child seats, having ability to withstand sufficient load and reduce displacement of child seats and to meet the stringent regulatory criteria for isofix anchorage strength evaluation as per ECER-14.
[006] Another object of the present subject matter is to provide a simple, cost effective, and efficiently designed side seat hinge bracket that is distinct from all conventional designs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[007] The present invention relates to a seat side hinge bracket for a vehicle. The seat side hinge bracket defining an L-shaped profile includes a first portion configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel, the first portion defining an inverted U-shape part having a base contacting the rear seat panel, and legs extending from the base away from the rear seat panel with arcuate flanges extending from the legs; a second portion extending orthogonally from the first portion, the second portion configured to be coupled to a side panel of the vehicle; and a stiffener member defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part coupled to the base, and arms, extending from the bottom part, coupled to the second portion.
[008] In order to further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit scope of the present subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[009] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0010] Fig. 1a illustrates a front perspective view of a vehicle construction having a rear seat provided with a seat side hinge bracket in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0011] Fig. 1b illustrates an enlarged view of the isofix anchorage structure of Fig. 1a;
[0012] Fig. 2a illustrates a schematic diagram of the seat side hinge bracket of Fig. 1b;
[0013] Fig. 2b illustrates a sectional view of the seat side hinge bracket taken along a section A-A’ of Fig. 2a; and
[0014] Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b illustrate displacement of isofix jigs (corresponding to the child restraint seat) under a testing environment.
[0015] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
[0016] The present disclosure presents embodiments for a seat side hinge bracket for a vehicle. The seat side hinge bracket defining an L-shaped profile includes a first portion configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel, the first portion defining an inverted U-shaped part having a base contacting the rear seat panel, and legs extending from the base away from the rear seat panel with arcuate flanges extending from the legs; a second portion extending orthogonally from the first portion, the second portion configured to be coupled to a side panel of the vehicle; and a stiffener member defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part coupled to the base, and arms, extending from the bottom part, coupled to the second portion.
[0017] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0018] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures. It should be noted that the description merely illustrates the principles of the present subject matter. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its scope.
[0019] Fig. 1a illustrates a front perspective view of a vehicle construction having a rear seat 90. The rear seat 90 is provided with a seat side hinge bracket 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 1b illustrates an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1a depicting the seat side hinge bracket 100. In application, a child restraint system including a child restraint seat is configured to be secured to the rear seat 90 through an isofix anchorage structure. In an embodiment, the seat side hinge bracket 100 includes an optimized and stiffer design for providing strength to the isofix anchorage structure against static loads along with reduction in displacement of the child restraint seat during a crash like situation. Further, the design of the seat side hinge bracket 100 is based upon permissible limits for static loads and child restraint seat displacement as per ECER-14.
[0020] Fig. 2a illustrates a schematic diagram of the seat side hinge bracket 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the seat side hinge bracket 100 defines an L-shaped profile including a first portion 102 configured to be coupled to a rear seat panel 104 of the rear seat 90. The first portion 102 defines an inverted U-shaped part 106 having a base 108 contacting the rear seat panel 104, and legs 110 extending from the base 108 away from the rear seat panel 104. The first portion 102 further defines arcuate flanges 112 extending from the legs 110. In an example, the base 108 includes a first opening 126 such that the first portion 102 is bolted to the rear seat panel 104 through the first opening 126. Bolting allows easy assembly or disassembly of the seat side hinge bracket 100 with the rear seat panel 104.
[0021] The seat side hinge bracket 100 further includes a second portion 114 extending orthogonally from the first portion 102. In an example, the second portion 114 is configured to be coupled to a side panel 116 of the vehicle. Further, the second portion 114 is hingedly coupled to the side panel 116 through a second opening 128 provided on the second portion 114.
[0022] The seat side hinge bracket 100 further includes a stiffener member 118 defining a U-shaped profile having a bottom part 120 coupled to the base 108 of the first portion 102, and arms 122, extending from the bottom part 120, coupled to the second portion 114. In an example, the stiffener member 118 is welded to the first portion 102 and the second portion 114. Fig. 2b illustrates a sectional view of the seat side hinge bracket 100 taken along a section A-A’ of Fig. 2a.
[0023] During operation or running condition of the vehicle, the seat side hinge bracket 100 undergoes stress and bending moment. In an embodiment, the flanges 112 provided with the seat side hinge bracket 100 provide extra strength against the stress and bending moment, specifically against static loads. In an example, depth & width of the flanges 112 can be varied based on stiffness requirement. . Further, the bottom part 120 and the arms 122 of the stiffener member 118 prevents collapsing of the seat side hinge bracket 100 under static loads. In an example, material, thickness and dimensions of the seat side hinge bracket 100 can be varied based on vehicle layout & performance requirements. Further, the side seat hinge bracket 100 can be easily manufactured by forming operation by reducing the overall manufacturing & tool cost. Hence, the various components of the seat side hinge bracket 100 provides an optimized design and effective stiffness, that leads to reduction in deformation, and further leads to reduction in displacement of the child restraint seat, and the isofix anchorage structure falls well within safety standards.
[0024] Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b illustrate displacement of isofix jigs (corresponding to the child restraint seat) using conventional seat hinge bracket represented by dotted lines 302, and the seat side hinge bracket 100 represented by bold lines 304 during a straight pull test. Figs. 3a and 3b provides displacement of left isofix jig 300 and right isofix jig 301 respectively. As shown in the Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b, the displacement of isofix jigs with the seat side hinge bracket 100 is less than the displacement of isofix jigs with conventional seat hinge bracket. Based on the test results, it has been observed that, the left jig displacement is reduced by 37% and right jig displacement is reduced by 12%.
[0025] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.