Chairs and seats – Movable back – Tiltable
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-31
2004-05-18
Barfield, Anthony D. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Movable back
Tiltable
C297S378100, C297S341000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06736461
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/373,313, filed Apr. 18, 2002.
The present invention relates to hinge mechanisms for vehicle seat assemblies, and more particularly, to a hinge mechanism which can be deployed to provide a vehicle seat assembly having, inter alia, reclining, dumping and fold-flat functionality.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Passenger vehicles are known which have vehicle seat assemblies provided with reclining and fold-flat functionality, whereby the seat back may be selectively reclined about a pivot axis through a range of substantially upright, occupiable positions, for selection by the user of a preferred seating position, and also may be pivoted frontwardly to a “fold-flat” position, whereat the seat back substantially overlies the seat cushion in a generally horizontal orientation. In the case of, for example, a front row passenger seat in a 2+2 coupe, a minivan or the like, placing the seat back at its fold-flat position facilitates carriage of large or lengthy objects, such as skis or lumber, inside the vehicle.
It is known for seat assemblies to be also provided with dumping functionality whereby the seat back may be, by manipulation of a lever or the like, tilted frontwardly about said pivot axis to a so-called “dumped position” whereat it projects over the seat cushion to facilitate ingress and egress to and from the interior space in the vehicle to the rear of the seat assembly, for example, to allow occupant access to a rear row seat, in the case of a 2+2 coupe, or a third row seat, in the case of a minivan.
Rotary recliners are commonly utilized in hinge mechanisms to provide such reclining and fold-flat functionality, since they have their working components substantially enclosed (which lends reliability and safety), are relatively lightweight, quiet in use, fit into a relatively small design envelope and are known to be capable of relatively inexpensive manufacture. Exemplary rotary recliners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,313 (Rohee), issued Jul. 14, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,679 (Smuk et al.), issued Jan. 8, 2002, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Attempts have also been made in the prior art to utilize rotary recliners to attain dumping functionality. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,053 (Magyar), issued Nov. 6, 2001, there is disclosed a seat assembly including a rotary recliner which provides for the seat back to be rapidly pivoted frontwardly by turning a recliner knob. However, this assembly suffers in that the recliner knob is inconveniently positioned adjacent the base of the seat assembly, and further suffers in that, in a rapid tilt operation, the seat back travels pivotally frontwardly until it meets the seat cushion, which may be inconvenient if, for example, the functionality was inadvertently triggered while fragile goods were positioned on the seat cushion.
Other mechanisms are known to provide such reclining, fold-flat and dumping functionality, but utilize a separate load bearing lock or latch for each function, actuated by independent actuation mechanisms, adding complexity and cost. Another problem with this “latch upon latch” approach of the prior art is that it multiplies the number of issues related to strength, durability, reliability, release effort and noise. Lastly, the “latch upon latch” approach results in tolerance stacking problems, which, in turn, raises rattling, jamming and other quality control concerns.
All of these issues are of serious concern to present-day vehicle manufacturers, who demand continually higher quality content at increasingly lower prices.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle seat assembly having, inter alia, reclining, dumping and fold-flat functionality that is relatively reliable, safe, lightweight, quiet in use, small and inexpensive to manufacture and that does not utilize separate load bearing locks or latches for each of the foregoing functions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an improved vehicle seat assembly for use in a vehicle of the type having a front end, a rear end, a longitudinal axis extending between the front end and the rear end, a lateral axis arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis and a floor.
The vehicle seat assembly is of the type having a seat including a seat cushion, a seat back and a rotary recliner. The seat cushion has a seat cushion mounting bracket, and, in use, is operatively mounted on said floor. The seat back has a seat back mounting bracket. The rotary recliner comprises a first portion and second portion. The first portion is securely attached to said seat cushion mounting bracket and defines a pivot axis, said pivot axis, in use, extending in a substantially lateral manner and being disposed adjacent the rear end of the seat cushion. The second portion is mounted to the first portion for selective relative pivotal movement about said pivot axis and has the seat back mounting bracket securely attached thereto so as to provide, in use, for selective pivotal movement of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion about said pivot axis within a first range of angular positions.
The first range of angular positions includes a second range of positions whereat the seat is occupiable, said second range including a design position of the seat back. The first range further includes a dumped position relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the second range and a frontmost position, relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the dumped position.
The improvement comprises a tip activation handle, a control member, mounting means, first linkage means and abutment means.
The tip activation handle is mounted on the seat back for movement between a design position, a tipping position and an intermediate position therebetween.
The mounting means is for mounting the control member on the seat back for pivotal movement therewith about the pivot axis and for movement relative thereto between a first position and a second position.
The abutment means is for selectively, when the control member is at its second position and the seat back is at its dumped position, engaging the control member to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the control member, thereby to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis at the dumped position thereof when the control member is at its second position.
The first linkage means is for selectively effecting movement of the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the tip activation handle between its design position and its intermediate position and for controlling the rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion upon movement of the tip activation handle to its tipping position.
This provides, when the seat back is within the second range and upon manual manipulation of the tip activation handle from its design position to its tipping position, for said first linkage means to control said rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion only after the control member has reached its second position, so as to ensure that frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis beyond the dumped position thereof is arrested by the abutment means.
As another aspect, the invention also comprises a hinge mechanism for use in a seat assembly for a vehicle of the type having a front end, a rear end, a longitudinal axis extending between the front end and the rear end, a lateral axis arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis and a floor.
The hinge mechanism is of the type having a seat cushion mounting bracket, a seat back mounting bracket, a rotary recliner and a control shaft.
The seat cushion mounting bracket, in use, forms part of a vehicle seat cushion and is operatively mounted on said floor.
The seat back mounting bracket, i
Blair David M.
Morrow Mike
Nickolopoulos Jim
Smuk Wojciech
Traks Peter
Barfield Anthony D.
Faurecia Automotive Seating Canada Limited
Hofbauer Patrick J.
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