Drive system for a tilt adjustment, vehicle seat, method for operating a drive system

A drive system for a tilt adjustment of a backrest of a vehicle seat which is foldable between a use position, suitable for conveying a vehicle passenger, and a non-use position, which is pivoted forward with respect to the use position, wherein the backrest is held on a subframe of the vehicle seat by at least one fitting, the drive system comprising:

• a drive motor;
• an output pinion to be driven by the drive motor, the pinion being provided on a backrest side;
• a toothed segment, the output pinion cooperating with the toothed segment and the toothed segment being arranged fixedly in terms of rotation on the subframe;
• a clutch;
• and
• a compensation spring, wherein a pivoting movement of the backrest is carried out by means of the drive motor while the fitting is unlocked, the output pinion is able to be uncoupled from the drive motor by means of the clutch and the compensation spring acts between the backrest and the subframe to pretension the backrest in a direction of the non-use position.