Release mechanism for a reclining vehicle seat

A reclining vehicle seat assembly, comprising:

• a base supported by the vehicle;
• a seat back connected to said base for rotation about a shaft;
• a transmission including a plurality of gears for rotating said shaft and releasing said seat back;
• a side shield attached to said base and covering at least a portion of a side of said base and a side of said seat back;
• and
• a lever attached to the base and said transmission via a wire, wherein said transmission and said wire are covered by said side shield;
• wherein (a) at least a portion of said shaft includes a plurality of teeth, and said plurality of gears includes a first gear having internal teeth for meshing with said plurality of teeth, and a second gear attached to said wire such that movement of said lever moves said wire thereby rotating said second gear about a pin extending from a housing and supporting said second gear, (b) said second gear includes first and second arms extending from a hub, said first arm attached to said wire and said second arm forming an arc having a plurality of teeth on an inner side of said arc, and (c) said reclining vehicle seat assembly further includes third and fourth gears for transmitting torque created by movement of said lever from said second gear to said first gear and said shaft, wherein the third and fourth gears each have a plurality of teeth, and said plurality of teeth of said third gear mesh with said plurality of teeth of said second gear and said plurality of teeth of said fourth gear, and said plurality of teeth of said fourth gear further mesh with said plurality of teeth of said first gear.