Seamless seat cushion extension assembly and method

A seat of a vehicle, the seat comprising:

• a seat base, comprising:
• an outer cushion forming a top of the seat base extending, in one unitarily formed piece, down a front of the seat base and back underneath or within the seat base, such that excess material of the outer cushion is disposed underneath or within the seat base;
• and
• a mechanism adapted to pull the excess material underneath or within the seat base when the seat base is in a retracted configuration and to release the excess material from underneath or within the seat base when the seat base is in an extended configuration, wherein at least a portion of the excess material is used to form part of an extended seat for a vehicle occupant when the seat base is in the extended configuration,
• wherein the mechanism comprises:
• a cord connected directly or indirectly to an end of the outer cushion at the excess material;
• and
• a motor adapted to pull or release the cord and thereby pull the excess material in the retracted configuration or release the excess material in the extended configuration;
• a backrest pivotably coupled to the seat base;
• and
• a headrest extendably coupled to the backrest.

A seat base for a seat of a vehicle, the seat base comprising:

• an outer cushion forming a top of the seat base extending, in one unitarily formed piece, down a front of the seat base and back underneath or within the seat base, such that excess material of the outer cushion is disposed underneath or within the seat base;
• a mechanism adapted to pull the excess material underneath or within the seat base when the seat base is in a retracted configuration and to release the excess material from underneath or within the seat base when the seat base is in an extended configuration, wherein at least a portion of the excess material is used to form part of an extended seat for a vehicle occupant when the seat base is in the extended configuration;
• and
• a shell disposed underneath at least a back portion of the outer cushion and side capping members disposed on either side of a front portion of the outer cushion, wherein the side capping members are each coupled to the shell via a slider member enabling the side capping members to translate towards and away from the shell, and wherein the side capping members are coupled to each other via a support rod disposed through an interior space defined by the outer cushion;
• wherein the mechanism comprises one of:
• a cord connected to a crossbar coupled between the side capping members and a motor adapted to pull or release the cord and thereby pull the excess material in the retracted configuration or release the excess material in the extended configuration as the side capping members are translated, and
• an actuator coupled to the crossbar and adapted to translate the side capping members and the support rod towards and away from the shell within the outer cushion and an elastic member connected directly or indirectly to an end of the outer cushion at the excess material and adapted bias the excess material towards the shell in all configurations.