Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Seats with body modifications
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-02
2001-05-22
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Seats with body modifications
C296S065160, C296S069000, C296S065130, C296S065090, C296S065050, C297S015000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234553
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to vehicle seating and in particular to a seat system which provides flexibility in the use of the vehicle between transporting passengers and carrying cargo within the vehicle.
Vehicle manufacturers are constantly striving to increase the usefulness of motor vehicles. Doing so enables consumers to perform a greater variety of tasks with their vehicles. In many vehicles, the rear seating area is used more often for carrying cargo than it is for carrying passengers. This is particularly true in multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPV's) and sport utility vehicles (SUV's) having three rows of seats. The third row seat may be used for A passengers only in a few instances when a large number of passengers are being transported at a given time. Much of the time, the area occupied by the third row seat is used for carrying cargo. Thus, it is desirable to provide a seating system for such vehicles, particularly the third row seat, which can quickly and easily be changed from carrying passengers to carrying cargo in the vehicle.
One means to provide the desired flexibility between passengers and cargo in a vehicle is with seats that can be removed from the vehicle when not being used for passengers to increase the cargo carrying capacity of the vehicle. A difficulty with removable seats is that often the seats are heavy, making them difficult to lift and maneuver out of the vehicle. Accordingly, a need exists for a seat that can be conveniently stored within the vehicle and occupy a minimal amount of space therein to maximize the cargo carrying capability of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a flexible seating system in which a vehicle seat having a generally horizontal seat cushion and an upright seat back is movable from a use position to a stowed position lying flat upon the vehicle floor or recessed within a well in the vehicle floor. The seat back has an outboard edge located adjacent to a side wall of the vehicle. The seat back is connected through a sliding bearing device to a track fixed to the side wall to guide the motion of the seat back as the seat is moved between the use position and stowed position. The seat bottom can be supported on one or more links coupled to the vehicle floor which serve as stanchions for supporting the seat bottom in the use position. If two stanchions are used, a front stanchion and a rear stanchion, the stanchions and the seat bottom function as a 4-bar linkage which rotates between the use and stowed positions of the seat.
In a typical embodiment, a pair of identical seats will be provided in the vehicle to form the third seating row. Each seat is movable between an upright use position and a stowed position so that depending upon the needs of the vehicle user, one or both of the seats can be used for passengers or one or both of the areas occupied by the seats can be used for carrying cargo. Alternatively, a single seat extending the width of the vehicle can be provided in which the seat back has an outboard edge along each side wall of the vehicle body. The seat back can be attached to a track in each of the vehicle side walls for guiding movement of the seat back between the use and stowed positions.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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Dykla James Anthony
Eschelbach Randy Glenn
Scott Glenn
Dayoan D. Glenn
Engle Patricia
Foley & Lardner
Johnson Controls Technology Company
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