Vehicle seat with foldable stow position

A foldable vehicle seat mounted in a vehicle rearward of at least one forward vehicle seat, the foldable vehicle seat including:

• a seat base;
• a seatback connected to the seat base for pivotal movement relative to the seat base from at least one generally vertical use position to a generally horizontal stow position atop the seat base;
• at least one mounting bracket mounted to a vehicle floor support;
• a riser assembly including at least two pivoting links, wherein each of which links are connected for pivotal rotation with respect to both the mounting bracket and the seat base such that, when the seatback is moved from its use position to the stow position, the seat base is moved rearward and downward to thereby provide a lower load floor position;
• and
• a drive linkage interconnecting the seatback and the seat base for transmitting a portion of the force applied to move the seatback to rotate at least one of the pivoting links to move the seat base to a second position, the drive linkage including,
• a drive pin mounted on the seatback for rotation about the seatback's pivot axis,
• a plate pivotally mounted on the seat base for rotation about a pivot axis parallel to the pivot axis of the seat back, the plate including a drive slot and a driving connection to one of the pivoting links, and whereby the plate is sized and positioned so that the drive pin engages and is received within the drive slot in a selected range of non-use positions, whereby rotation of the seatback within the range of non-use positions moves the drive pin within the slot, thereby rotating the plate and thereby moving the pivoting links to raise or lower the seat base;
• and
• a seat base lock mechanism operably connected to engage and lock at least one of the pivoting links from rotation to thereby lock the seat base in a first position when the seatback is positioned within a selected range of use positions, and unlock the at least one of the pivoting links to allow rotation of the links to thereby move the seat base to a second position when the seatback is positioned outside the range.

A foldable vehicle seat mounted in a vehicle rearward of at least one forward vehicle seat, the foldable vehicle seat including:

• a seat base;
• a seatback connected to the seat base for pivotal movement relative to the seat base from at least one generally vertical use position to a generally horizontal stow position atop the seat base;
• at least one mounting bracket mounted to a vehicle floor support;
• a riser assembly including at least two pivoting links, wherein each of which links are connected for pivotal rotation with respect to both the mounting bracket and the seat base such that, when the seatback is moved from its use position to the stow position, the seat base is moved rearward and downward to thereby provide a lower load floor position, and at least one of the pivoting links including a cam surface;
• and
• a drive linkage interconnecting the seatback and the seat base for transmitting a portion of the force applied to move the seatback to rotate at least one of the pivoting links to move the seat base to a second position, the drive linkage including,
• a drive plate mounted on the seatback for rotation about the seatback's pivot axis, the drive plate including a drive pin and a generally convex cam surface,
• a slotted bell crank pivotally mounted on the seat base for rotation about a pivot axis parallel to the pivot axis of the seat back, the slotted bell crank including a drive slot and a driving connection to one of the pivoting links,
• a lock cam pivotally connected to the bell crank, the lock cam having first and second ends, the first end including a drive pin, the second end including a cam surface positioned to be engageable with the cam surface of the pivoting link whereby the lock cam may be moved to a position where the cam surface of the lock cam engages the cam surface of the pivoting link and lock the pivoting link from rotation, thereby locking the seat base in position, whenever the seat back is positioned in a first selected range of use positions;
• whereby the drive plate is sized and positioned so that the generally convex cam surface of the plate engages the drive pin of the lock cam as the plate is rotated in a second selected range of seatback inclinations, whereby the engagement of the arcuate convex cam surface and the drive pin of the lock cam causes the lock cam to rotate about its pivot axis such that rotation of the seatback within the second selected range causes the drive pin of the lock cam to contact the cam surface of the drive plate, thereby causing the lock cam to rotate out of its position of locking engagement with the pivoting link, and
• whereby the plate is sized and positioned so that the drive pin engages and is received within the drive slot in the second selected range of seatback inclinations, whereby rotation of the seatback within the second selected range moves the drive pin on the drive plate within the drive slot on the bell crank, thereby rotating the bell crank and thereby moving the pivoting links to raise or lower the seat base.