Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Seats with body modifications
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-18
2004-01-27
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Seats with body modifications
C296S065160, C296S069000, C297S015000, C297S335000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06682120
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat wherein a seat back is folded up on a seat cushion, and wherein the seat cushion and the seat back so folded up on the seat cushion are rotated to the rear of a vehicle so as to be stored in a recessed portion provided in a vehicle body floor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a vehicle seat, for example, a “seat storing structure” is known which is disclosed in JP-B-5-40029U.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, the conventional seat storing structure relates to a vehicle seat
208
wherein a seat back
211
is attached to a seat cushion
210
in such a manner as to be folded up on the seat cushion via a pivot shaft
215
, and wherein a front part of the seat cushion
210
is detachably attached to a floor
202
via a support portion
218
whereas a rear part of the seat cushion
210
is rotatably attached to the floor
202
via a pivot shaft
217
. The seat back
211
is folded up on the seat cushion
210
, and the seat cushion
210
and the seat back
211
so folded up on the seat cushion
210
are rotated to the rear of a vehicle so that the seat cushion
210
and the seat back
211
can be stored in a recessed portion
209
formed in the floor
202
.
According to the seat storing structure described above, however, in a state where the seat cushion
210
and the seat back
211
are stored in the recessed portion
209
in the floor
202
after the seat back
211
is folded up on the seat cushion
210
and then the seat cushion
210
and the seat back
211
folded up on the seat cushion
210
are rotated to the rear of the vehicle, the support portion
218
is left projecting upwardly at right angles.
Then, time and labor are required to collapse the perpendicularly projecting support portion
218
, this complicating the series of operations of folding up the seat, rotating the seat so folded up and storing the same.
Namely, a technique is desired for improving the seat arrangement for more convenience while making the storage of the seat easier.
For example, in a case where a vertically long article such as a garden plant is loaded on a vehicle, it is convenient to store it by making use of a recessed portion
209
behind the seat back
211
without folding up the seat back
211
, and in a case where a horizontally long box-like article is loaded on the vehicle, it is sometimes convenient to store it with the seat back
211
being folded up.
With the seat storing structure, however, since only available seat arrangements are a seating condition where the seat back
211
is erected from the seat cushion
210
, a folded condition where the seat back
211
is folded up on the seat cushion
210
and a stored condition where the seat cushion
210
and the seat back
211
are stored in the recessed portion
209
, the seat storing structure is sometimes felt to be inconvenient when, for example, the vertically long article such as a garden plant and the horizontally long box-like article are tried to be loaded on the vehicle at the same time, the versatility in seat arrangements being thereby desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a vehicle seat which can provide the required versatility in seat arrangements and improve the convenience in seat arrangements, as well as the storing properties of the seat.
With a view to attaining the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat, including:
left and right seat cushions;
left and right seat backs attached to the left and right seat cushions, respectively, in such a manner as to be folded up thereon,
a support shaft provided on the left and right seat cushions for allowing the left and right seat cushions and the left and right seat backs folded up on the left and right seat cushions to be rotated toward the rear of a vehicle individually, wherein the seat cushions and the seat backs so rotated about the support shaft are storable in a recessed portion in a vehicle body floor,
wherein the support shaft is provided in such a manner as to be situated in the vicinity of the surface of the vehicle body floor or within the recessed portion so that the support shaft is supported in the vicinity of edge portions of the recessed portion.
According to the construction wherein the left and right seat backs are attached, respectively, to the left and right seat cushions in such a manner as to be folded up on the left and right seat cushions, respectively, and wherein the seat cushions and the seat backs so folded up on the seat cushions are rotated individually to the rear of the vehicle so that the seat cushions and the seat backs can be stored in the recessed portion in the vehicle body floor, for example, by storing one of the left and right seat cushions and seat backs in the recessed portion and folding up the other of the seat backs on the other of the seat cushions a vertically long article such as a garden plant is loaded on the vehicle by making use of the recessed portion and a horizontally long box-like article is loaded on the seat back so folded up or on the seat cushion stored in the recessed portion. Namely, the vertically long article such as a garden plant and the horizontally long box-like article can be loaded at the same time, and a variety of seat arrangements can be realized depending upon the types of articles.
In addition, the support shaft which is provided to be supported in the vicinity of the surface of the vehicle body floor or within the recessed portion constitutes no hindrance to the loading and unloading of articles. As a result, the working efficiency with which articles are loaded and unloaded can be improved. In addition, since the support shaft is supported in the vicinity of the edge portions of the recessed portion, the rigidity of the edge portion allows the left and right seat cushions to be supported at central positions of the recessed portion.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat as set forth in the first aspect of the invention, wherein inner tubes of bearings are fitted on the support shaft, and wherein outer tubes of the bearings are fixed to the left and right seat cushions via holding members, whereby end portions of the support shaft are fixed to sides of the surface of the vehicle body floor or sides of the recessed portion.
In general, central portions of the vehicle body surface or central portions of the recessed portion are low in rigidity when compared with end portions thereof. In case the support shaft is fixed to the portions which are low in rigidity, reinforcements are sometimes required, leading to a call for an increase in weight of the vehicle body. To cope with this, fixing the support shaft to the sides of the vehicle body floor surface or the sides of the recessed portion, for example, to the side frames which are higher in rigidity at the end portions thereof can manage to omit reinforcements, thereby making it possible to reduce weight of the vehicle.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat including:
a seat cushion;
a seat back folded up on the seat cushion, wherein the seat cushion and the seat back so folded up on the seat cushion are rotated toward the rear of a vehicle so that the seat cushion and the seat back so rotated are stored in a recessed portion provided in a vehicle body floor;
a supporting member (a lock member adapted to be fixed to a striker on the vehicle body floor or a support member adapted to be struck against the vehicle body floor) suspended from a lower surface of a front part of the seat cushion in such a manner as to freely swing back and forth;
a bracket of the vehicle body floor for rotatably attaching a rear part of the seat cushion; and
a connecting member (a link or a cable) connecting the bracket with the support member so that the support member is allowed to fall down into the lower surface of the seat cushion when the seat cushion is rotated rearward.
It will be preferred that the perpendicular
Kamida Koji
Kaneko Kazuyuki
Engle Patricia L.
Gordon Stephen T.
Honda Giken Kabushiki Kaisha
Merchant & Gould P.C.
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