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US 10,479,232 B2Granted
Passenger support and methods of use
AssigneeFaurecia Automotive Seating, LLC
InventorThomas J. Cooley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passenger support includes vehicle seat having a seat base mounted to a track for sliding the seat base longitudinally. A sliding motion controller is provided. The seat base is movable from a slid-back configuration to a forward-seating configuration when the sliding motion controller is activated.
Claims14
A passenger support comprising
- a foundation frame configured to be coupled to a vehicle,
- a vehicle seat including a seat base mounted to the foundation frame for sliding movement between a slid-back configuration and a slid-forward configuration, the seat base configured to move from a horizontal-use configuration to a tilted configuration,
- a sliding motion controller configured to block the seat base from moving to the slid-forward configuration when the sliding motion controller is deactivated and to allow the seat base to move toward the slid-forward configuration when the sliding motion controller is activated,
- a pivoting motion controller configured to block the seat base from moving from the horizontal-use configuration to the tilted configuration when the pivoting motion controller is deactivated and to allow the seat base to move to the tilted configuration when the pivoting motion controller is activated,
- a locking mechanism configured to lock the seat base in the tilted configuration as the seat base is moved to the slid-forward configuration, and
- a longitudinal motion controller including a forward tab and a rear tab,
- wherein the sliding motion controller comprises a handle that engages the longitudinal motion controller when the sliding motion controller is activated to cause the rear tab to tilt downwardly and engage a stopper when the seat base is moved from the slid-back configuration to a forward-seating configuration between the slid-back configuration and the slid-forward configuration.
4 more elements
A method of moving a passenger support between a passenger-use configuration and an easy entry configuration comprising the steps of
- activating a sliding motion controller to move a seat base relative to a foundation frame from a slid-back configuration to a forward-seating configuration,
- activating a pivoting motion controller to move the seat base from a horizontal-use configuration to a tilted configuration when the seat base is in the slid-back seating configuration,
- locking the seat base in the tilted configuration, and
- sliding the seat base to a slid-forward configuration when the seat base is locked in the tilted configuration,
- wherein the seat base further comprises a slide that longitudinally moves along a track of the foundation frame when the seat base is in the horizontal-use configuration and a slide latch to lock the slide to the track of the foundation frame when the sliding motion controller is deactivated and
- wherein, when activated, the sliding motion controller engages concurrently:
- (i) the slide latch to unlock the slide from the track of the foundation frame, and (ii) a longitudinal motion controller so that the seat base is blocked from sliding forward past the forward-seating configuration until the pivoting motion controller is activated.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.