Upper thoracic support for vehicle seating assembly

A vehicle seating assembly, comprising:

• a seat;
• and
• a seatback pivotably coupled to the seat, the seatback comprising:
• a frame;
• a sub-frame member pivotably coupled to an occupant-facing surface of the frame by a bracket, the bracket defining an axis about which the sub-frame member pivots;
• a retention member that is coupled to the bracket and the sub-frame member, the retention member retaining the sub-frame member to the frame, the retention member defining an aperture;
• a carrier coupled to the frame such that the sub-frame member is positioned between the frame and the carrier, the carrier being pivotable about the axis defined by the bracket;
• a fastener received within the aperture defined by the retention member, the fastener coupling the carrier to the bracket such that the carrier is pivotable about the axis that is defined by the bracket;
• a cushion coupled to an occupant-facing surface of the carrier;
• and
• an inflatable member positioned between the occupant-facing surface of the frame and an interior surface of the sub-frame member, the inflatable member being operable between a deflated state and an inflated state, wherein the sub-frame member directly contacts the occupant-facing surface of the frame when the inflatable member is in the deflated state, wherein the inflatable member initiating pivotable motion of the sub-frame member about the axis defined by the bracket, wherein a surface area of contact between the inflatable member and the interior surface of the sub-frame member is greater when the inflatable member is in the deflated state than the surface area of contact between the inflatable member and the interior surface of the sub-frame member when the inflatable member is in the inflated state, and wherein the inflatable member, the sub-frame member, the carrier, and the cushion are positioned in an upper thoracic region of the seatback.

A vehicle seating assembly, comprising:

• a seat;
• and
• a seatback pivotably coupled to the seat, the seatback comprising:
• a frame;
• a sub-frame member pivotably coupled to an occupant-facing surface of the frame by a bracket;
• a carrier coupled to the frame such that the sub-frame member is positioned between the frame and the carrier;
• a cushion coupled to an occupant-facing surface of the carrier;
• an inflatable member positioned between the occupant-facing surface of the frame and an interior surface of the sub-frame member, the inflatable member being operable between a deflated state and an inflated state, and the inflatable member initiating pivotable motion of the sub-frame member about an axis defined by the bracket;
• and
• a recess defined by the frame, the inflatable member being positioned within the recess of the frame.