Support assembly for forwardly shiftable vehicle seat

A vehicle seat support assembly for mounting a seat on a vehicle floor laterally adjacent a side door of the vehicle, the support assembly comprising:

• a lower frame for mounting on the vehicle floor;
• an upper frame having laterally spaced frame members for supporting the seat;
• front and rear links associated with inboard and outboard sides of the assembly and having opposite ends respectively pivoted to the upper and lower frames such that the upper frame is movable between a rearward seating position and a forward easy-enter position where the area rearward of the seat supported by the assembly is accessible to adjacent the door area for entry into and exit from the vehicle;
• a latch mechanism for maintaining the upper frame in the rearward seating position and for selectively releasing the upper frame for movement to the forward easy-enter position;
• said latch mechanism having a first handle positioned at the outboard side of the assembly so as to permit release of the mechanism by a passenger entering the vehicle;
• the latch mechanism including a separate second handle that extends laterally between the frame members of the upper frame for pivotally supported movement about a horizontal axis to release the latch mechanism;
• and the second latch handle having a bight portion that extends rearwardly to adjacent the rear extremity of the assembly so as to permit release of the mechanism by a vehicle passenger from the rear of the assembly during exit from the vehicle.

A vehicle seat support assembly for mounting a seat on a vehicle floor laterally adjacent a side door of the vehicle, the support assembly comprising:

• a lower frame for mounting on the vehicle floor;
• an upper frame for supporting the seat;
• front and rear links associated with inboard and outboard sides of the assembly and having opposite ends respectively pivoted to the upper and lower frames such that the upper frame is movable between a rearward seating position and a forward easy-enter position where the area rearward of the seat supported by the assembly is accessible to adjacent the door for entry into and exit from the vehicle;
• the frames each having an outboard rear extremity;
• the opposite ends of the rear link at the outboard side of the assembly being pivotally connected to the outboard rear extremities of the upper and lower frames such that a straight line therebetween with the upper frame in the easy-enter position extends upwardly and forwardly from the lower frame to the upper frame through open space adjacent the rear outboard portion of the assembly;
• the outboard rear link having an intermediate portion connecting the opposite ends thereof with a curved shape that is located downwardly and forwardly with respect to the straight line between the opposite ends thereof when the upper frame is positioned in the easy-enter position whereby the location of pivotal link connection to the outboard frame extremities increases the space between the door area and the area rearward of the seat supported by the assembly and thus affords a passenger convenient access during entrance into and exit from the vehicle;
• a latch mechanism for maintaining the upper frame in the rearward seating position and for selectively releasing the upper frame for movement to the forward easy-enter position;
• said latch mechanism having a first handle positioned at the outboard side of the assembly so as to permit release of the mechanism by a passenger entering the vehicle;
• the latch mechanism including a separate second handle supported on the upper frame for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis to release the latch mechanism;
• and the second handle having a bight portion that extends rearwardly so as to be located adjacent the rear extremity of the assembly to permit release of the mechanism by a vehicle passenger from the rear of the seat during exit from the vehicle.