Long rail assembly with side opening for vehicle seat adjustment
AssigneeMagna Seating Inc.
InventorsDavid M. Runde, Omar D. Tame
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A long rail assembly attached to a vehicle floor for repositioning vehicle seats in a vehicle between a plurality of seating positions. The long rail assembly includes a fixed long rail having a C-shaped cross-section in profile and an elongated opening in a side wall of the long rail, a power rail drive module configured to travel along an interior of the long rail and having at least one striker extending laterally away from the rail drive module through the elongated opening in the side wall of the long rail, and a vehicle seat having at least one leg releasably coupled to the at least one striker by a seat latch assembly.
Claims22
A long rail assembly for transposing a vehicle seat longitudinally, said long rail assembly comprising:
- a fixed long rail having an elongated main body with a substantially C-shape profile in cross-section including a bottom wall, a top wall, opposing first and second side walls, an interior cavity, and an elongated opening extending longitudinally in said first side wall;
- and
- a rail drive assembly having a first striker extending away from said rail drive assembly, said rail drive assembly configured to be repositionable along said interior cavity of said fixed long rail with said first striker extending through said elongated opening in said first side wall of said long rail;
- wherein the vehicle seat is releasably coupled to said first striker, and wherein movement of said rail drive assembly along said long rail transposes the vehicle seat along said long rail;
- wherein said rail drive assembly includes a bracket through which said first striker extends, said bracket having a longitudinal length orientated generally parallel with a longitudinal axis of said rail drive assembly;
- and
- wherein said bracket is configured to substantially overlap said elongated opening in a portion of said long rail.
A method of transposing a vehicle seat along a fixed long rail fixedly coupled with a vehicle floor, the vehicle seat adapted to be releasably coupled to a rail drive assembly configured to travel along an interior cavity of the long rail between at least a first seating position and a second seating position, said method comprising:
- providing said fixed long rail having an elongated main body having a C-shape profile in cross-section including a bottom wall, a top wall, opposing first and second side walls, an elongated opening extending longitudinally in said first side wall, and a gripping surface fixedly coupled to an interior surface of said second side wall and extending longitudinally along at least a portion of said long rail;
- providing said rail drive assembly including:
- a power drive module coupled to at least one wheel carrier assembly, said power drive module including an electric motor operatively coupled to a drive wheel;
- a striker fixedly coupled to said at least one wheel carrier assembly and projecting away from said at least one wheel carrier assembly;
- and wherein said rail drive assembly is positioned within said interior cavity in said long rail with said striker projecting through said elongated opening in said first side wall of said long rail, said and drive wheel frictionally and/or meshingly engaged with said gripping surface;
- energizing said electric motor in a first rotational direction such that said drive wheel is rotated in a first drive wheel direction;
- rotating said drive wheel in said first drive wheel direction such that said rail drive assembly is transposed along said long rail towards said second seating position;
- de-energizing said electric motor when said rail drive assembly arrives in said second seating position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.