Vehicle seat assembly

A hinge mechanism for use in a seat assembly for a vehicle of the type having a front end, a rear end, a longitudinal axis extending between the front end and the rear end, a lateral axis arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis and a floor, said hinge mechanism being of the type having:

• a seat cushion mounting bracket, said seat cushion mounting bracket, in use, forming part of a vehicle seat cushion and being operatively mounted on said floor;
• a seat back mounting bracket, said seat back mounting bracket, in use, forming part of a vehicle seat back;
• a rotary recliner comprising:
• a first portion securely attached to said seat cushion mounting bracket and defining a pivot axis, said pivot axis, in use, extending in a substantially lateral manner and being disposed adjacent the rear end of said seat cushion;
• and
• a second portion mounted to the first portion for selective relative pivotal movement about said pivot axis and having the seat back mounting bracket securely attached thereto so as to provide, in use, for selective pivotal movement of said seat back with respect to the seat cushion about said pivot axis within a first range of angular positions,
• said first range including
• a second range of positions whereat said seat cushion and seat back form an occupiable seat, said second range including a design position,
• a dumped position relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the second range,
• a frontmost position, relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the dumped position,
• a control shaft mounted to the rotary recliner for pivotal movement about the pivot axis between a disengaged position and an engaged position, the control shaft being biased for movement towards its engaged position and operably coupled to the rotary recliner such that said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion is permitted when the control shaft is at its disengaged position and is arrested when the control shaft is at its engaged position,
• wherein the improvement comprises:
• a tip activation handle mountable on said seat back for movement between a design position, a tipping position and an intermediate position therebetween;
• a control member;
• mounting means for mounting the control member on the seat back mounting bracket for pivotal movement therewith about the pivot axis in use and for constrained substantially radial relative movement between a first position and a second position,
• said mounting means comprising:
• a radial slot formed through the seat back mounting bracket and defining a translation axis;
• and a link member having a first end mounted to the seat back mounting bracket by a pin and socket mechanism and a second end mounted within said radial slot for translational movement along said translation axis between limit positions defined by the ends of said radial slot, the second end of said link member being connected to said control member to drive the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the second end of the link member between its limit positions,
• abutment means for selectively, when the control member is at its second position and said seat back is at its dumped position, engaging the control member to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the control member about the pivot axis, thereby to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis at the dumped position thereof when the control member is at its second position;
• and
• first linkage means for selectively effecting movement of the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the tip activation handle between its design position and its intermediate position and for controlling the rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion upon movement of the tip activation handle to its tipping position,
• said first linkage means comprising:
• a first spring operably connected between the seat back mounting bracket and the link member for biasing the control member for movement towards its first position;
• a crank rigidly extending from the control shaft, in a radial direction substantially transverse to said translation axis, to a free end;
• and
• a first Bowden cable, said first Bowden cable, in use, having the opposed ends of its inner wire operably connected to the tip activation handle and to the free end of the crank and the opposed ends of its sheath operably connected to said seat back and to the link member such that, when the tip activation handle is at its design position with the control member at its first position and the control shaft at its engaged position, movement of the tip activation handle from its design position to its intermediate position causes movement of the control member to its second position and such that, when the control member is at its second position with the control shaft at its engaged position and the tip activation handle at its intermediate position, movement of the tip actuation handle to its tipping position causes rotation of the control shaft to its disengaged position, thereby to provide, when the seat back is within the second range and upon manual manipulation of the tip activation handle from its design position to its tipping position, for said first linkage means to control said rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion only after the control member has reached its second position, so as to ensure that frontward pivotal movement of said seat back about the pivot axis beyond the dumped position is arrested by the abutment means.