Passive self-adjusting seat assembly for a lawn maintenance vehicle
AssigneeMTD Products Inc
InventorsAdam Hiller, Adam Woodrum, Jeff Kucera, Josh Sooy, Michael Gretchko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passive self-adjusting seat assembly for a lawn maintenance vehicle having a frame. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly includes a base, a guide assembly attached to the base, and a platform assembly that is selectively movable or slidable relative to the guide assembly in order to maintain an operator in an upright or substantially vertical orientation as the lawn maintenance vehicle traverses uneven or sloped ground. The seat assembly further including a locking assembly for selectively locking the sliding or movement of the platform assembly relative to the guide assembly.
Claims17
A passive self-adjusting seat assembly for attachment to a frame of a lawn maintenance vehicle, said passive self-adjusting seat assembly comprising:
- a base attached to said frame, said base including a pair of opposing side brackets connected by at least two spaced-apart cross brackets that extend laterally between the side brackets;
- a guide assembly connected to said base, said guide assembly including a front guide plate and a rear guide plate oriented parallel to each other and operatively connected to each other, wherein each of said guide plates includes a curved guide slot formed therein;
- and
- a platform assembly including a seat support and a seat attached to said seat support, said platform assembly further including a plurality of guide wheels extending longitudinally forward or rearward from a front end of said seat support and longitudinally forward or rearward from a rear end of said seat support wherein each of said guide wheels is received within said guide slot of said front guide plate or said guide slot of said rear guide plate;
- wherein said platform assembly is selectively slidable relative to said guide assembly in response to said lawn maintenance vehicle traversing uneven or sloped ground to maintain a user in a substantially vertical orientation.
A locking assembly for a passive self-adjusting seat assembly, said seat assembly having a platform assembly engaging and electively movable relative to a guide assembly, said platform assembly including a support plate and said guide assembly including a guide plate positioned parallel to said support plate, said locking assembly comprising:
- a cam bolt attached to said guide plate, said cam bolt having a shank and a cam member, said cam member positioned at an end of said shank, said shank having a bore formed into said end thereof, forming a shoulder at an end of said bore;
- said cam member having a cam surface, said cam surface defining an upper seat and a lower seat;
- and
- an indexing rod having a first end of said indexing rod located within said bore of said cam bolt, a pin being attached to said first end, and a camming pin extending laterally from said indexing rod, said camming pin being in sliding contact with said cam surface of said cam bolt, wherein said first end comprises a threaded bore axially formed partially into said first end, wherein the pin is separate from the indexing rod, and wherein the pin is coupled to the engaging rod via a bolt that engages with the threaded bore;
- wherein said indexing rod is rotatable between a locked position in which said camming pin is received within said lower seat of said cam surface and an unlocked position in which said camming pin is received within said upper seat of said cam surface, said camming pin being slidable along said cam surface between said lower seat and said upper seat of said cam surface, wherein sliding of said camming pin between said lower seat and said upper seat causes said pin to engage and disengage from said indexing aperture of said support plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.