An assembly for adjustment of the height and angle of tilt of a seat assembly, the seat assembly having a seat base and an upper seat portion, comprising:
- a frame having a portion configured to be connected to one of the seat base and upper seat portion;
- a base plate configured to be connected to the other of the seat base and the upper seat portion;
- said frame and said base plate each including a front end adjacent a front end of the seat assembly and a rear end adjacent a rear end of the seat assembly;
- and
- an adjustment assembly engaged between said frame and said base plate to move the frame and base plate relative to each other, said adjustment assembly including:
- at least one front latch gear rotatably supported by said frame at an axis of rotation adjacent said front end thereof, said front latch gear including a plurality of cogs, each cog corresponding to a predetermined distance between the front ends of said frame and said base plate;
- at least one rear latch gear rotatably supported by said frame at an axis of rotation adjacent said rear end thereof, said rear latch gear including a plurality of cogs, each cog corresponding to a predetermined distance between the rear ends of said frame and said base plate;
- a front biasing spring associated with each of said at least one front latch gear and arranged to engage the front latch gear and said frame to bias said at least one front latch gear to a maximum rotation position in which the respective front ends of said frame and said base plate are at a maximum distance apart;
- a rear biasing spring associated with each of said at least one rear latch gear and arranged to engage the rear latch gear and said frame to bias said at least one rear latch gear to a maximum rotation position in which the respective rear ends of said frame and said base plate are at a maximum distance apart;
- a front spindle movably supported on said frame and arranged to engage a selected one of the plurality cogs of said front latch gear to hold the latch gear at a predetermined angular position relative to said frame corresponding to a predetermined distance between the front ends of said frame and said base plate;
- a rear spindle movably supported on said frame and arranged to engage a selected one of the plurality cogs of said rear latch gear to hold the latch gear at a predetermined angular position relative to said frame corresponding to a predetermined distance between the rear ends of said frame and said base plate;
- a front actuation lever supported by said frame at the front end thereof and positioned for manual access at the front of the seat assembly, said front actuation lever coupled to said front spindle to move said front spindle into and out of engagement with said selected one of the plurality of cogs of said front latch gear;
- and
- a rear actuation lever supported by said frame at the front end of said frame and positioned for manual access at the front of the seat assembly, said rear actuation lever coupled to said rear spindle to move said rear spindle into and out of engagement with said selected one of the plurality of cogs of said rear latch gear,
- whereby when said front spindle is disengaged from a cog of said front latch gear the front end of said frame can be moved substantially vertically relative to said base plate and when said front spindle is engaged to a cog of said front latch gear the front end of said frame is held in position relative to said base plate,
- whereby when said rear spindle is disengaged from a cog of said rear latch gear the rear end of said frame can be moved substantially vertically relative to said base plate and when said rear spindle is engaged to a cog of said rear latch gear the rear end of said frame is held in position relative to said base plate, and
- whereby said front and rear spindles are operable independent of each other to permit independent vertical movement of said front and rear ends of said frame relative to said base plate.