Apparatus for quickly rotating an assembly of a vehicle seat

An apparatus (10) for quickly rotating a rotatable assembly (100) of a vehicle seat, the rotatable assembly (100) being a backrest or a seat cushion, comprising

• a first cam (20), a second cam (30), a drive shaft (12) and a sprocket (14), the first cam (20) and the sprocket (14) being non-rotatably arranged on the drive shaft (12) and the second cam (30) being rotatably arranged thereon, the drive shaft (12) being rotatably mounted on the assembly, the first cam (20) being coupled to the second cam (30) by means of a spring element (25) such that, when the drive shaft (12) rotates, the second cam (30) also rotates, the second cam (30) having a first locking contour (32) and a second locking contour (34),
• a locking element (40) having a locking region (42) and an unlocking region (44) that is rotatably fixed to the assembly,
• a stationary latching element (50), and
• a toothed element (60) which is rotatable about an axis of rotation (110) of the assembly (100)
• the aforementioned elements being formed and arranged such that,
• in a first locking position,
• the locking element (40) is engaged with the latching element (50), and
• the first locking contour (32) of the second cam (30) is in physical contact with the locking region (42) of the locking element and secures said locking element in position, and
• while the drive shaft (12) is rotated,
• the first cam (20) hits the unlocking region (44) of the locking element (40) and thus rotates said locking element out of the engagement with the latching element (50), while
• the first locking contour (32) of the second cam (30) is rotated out of the locking region (42) of the locking element (40), and
• the sprocket (14) transfers a rotation of the second cam (30) to the toothed element (60), the toothed element (60) being rotated about the axis of rotation (110) of the assembly (100) and thus relative to the latching element (50) until an engagement (54) with the latching element (50) limits a rotational movement of the toothed element (60), and
• upon further meshing of the sprocket (14) with the toothed element (60),
• the rotatable assembly (100) rotates about the axis of rotation (110) of the assembly (100) until the second locking contour (34) of the second cam (30) meets the locking region (42) of the locking element (40), said locking region being formed to stop further rotation of the second cam (30) until the locking element (40) engages with the latching element (50) for a second locking position, and
• the rotation of the second cam (30) is tracked by means of the spring force of the spring element (25) and thus the second locking contour (34) rotates towards the locking region (42) of the locking element (40) in order to secure said locking element in position.