Vehicle having hitch supported tailgate seating assembly
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsStuart C. Salter, Jeff Robert Seaman, Annette Lynn Huebner, Michael John Harmon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle including a body defining a cabin interior, the body including a tailgate movable between an open position exposing the cabin interior and a closed position closing the cabin interior, a hitch, a deployable seat assembly configured to move between a first position within the cabin interior and a second position extending outside of the cabin interior when the liftgate door is in the open position, and a hitch support mechanism coupled to the seat assembly and configured to connect to the assembly to support the seat assembly in the second position.
Claims17
A vehicle comprising:
- a body defining a cabin interior, the body including a tailgate movable between an open position exposing the cabin interior and a closed position closing the cabin interior;
- a hitch;
- a deployable seat assembly configured to move between a first position within the cabin interior and a second position extending outside of the cabin interior when the liftgate is in the open position;
- a hitch support mechanism coupled to the seat assembly and configured to connect to the hitch to support the seat assembly in the second position;
- a deployment mechanism operative to move the seat assembly between the first and second positions, wherein the deployment mechanism comprises a seat rotator assembly operable to rotate the seat assembly between the first position facing forward within the cabin interior and the second position facing rearward outside of the cabin interior.
A vehicle comprising:
- a body defining a cabin interior, the body including a tailgate movable between an open position exposing the cabin interior and a closed position closing the cabin interior;
- a hitch;
- a deployable seat assembly configured to move between a first position within the cabin interior and a second position extending outside of the cabin interior when the liftgate is in the open position;
- and
- a hitch support mechanism coupled to the seat assembly and configured to connect to the hitch to support the seat assembly in the second position, and wherein the seat assembly is configured in a rear facing direction in the second position outside the cabin interior.
A vehicle comprising:
- a body defining a cabin interior, the body including a tailgate movable between an open position exposing the cabin interior and a closed position closing the cabin interior;
- a hitch having a receiver end;
- a deployable seat assembly configured to move between a first position within the cabin interior and facing forward and a second position extending outside of the cabin interior and facing rearward when the liftgate is in the open position;
- and
- a hitch support mechanism coupled to the seat assembly and configured to connect to the receiver end of the hitch to support the seat assembly in the second position, wherein the hitch support mechanism comprises a reconfigurable support arm having a first end connected to the seat assembly and a second end having a plug configured to engage the receiver end of the hitch.
A seat assembly for a vehicle, the seat assembly comprising:
- a seat and seat base configured to move between a first position within a cabin interior of the vehicle and a second position extending outside of the cabin interior when a liftgate of the vehicle is in the open position;
- a deployment mechanism configured to move the seat and seat base between the first, and second positions;
- and
- a hitch support mechanism coupled to the seat assembly and configured to connect to a hitch of the vehicle to support the seat assembly in the second position, wherein the hitch support mechanism comprises a reconfigurable support arm having a first end coupled to the seat base and a second end configured to connect in a receiver of the hitch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.