Thigh support device in a seat for vehicles

In a vehicle seat having a seat frame, a thigh support device which comprises:

• a thigh support frame pivotally mounted to said seat frame so as to be freely reciprocally pivotal with respect to said seat frame in the up and down directions;
• and
• a lock mechanism mounted along said seat frame for controlling the pivoting of said thigh support, said lock mechanism including
• a shaft rotatably mounted with respect to said seat frame and horizontally disposed with respect to said thigh support frame,
• a lock piece pivotally fixed to said rotatable shaft and being pivotally connected to said thigh support frame
• a freely pivotable stopper mounted on said thigh support frame and engagable with said lock piece, said lock piece and stopper having a locking position and a non-locking position with respect to each other, said pivotally fixed lock piece being biased toward said stopper in said locking position, and
• a lock release lever including a bore with a camming surface through which a lock control pin projecting from said stopper passes for camming engagement with said bore to engage and push said stopper upon actuation of said lever in said non-locking position with respect to siad lock piece to thereby release said lock piece from said locking position,
• whereby said thigh support frame is movable in the up direction with respect to said seat frame by grasping said thigh support frame at substantially any point along the length of said thigh support frame while said lock piece and said stopper are in one of said locking and unlocking positions, and by pivoting said thigh support frame to a selected position with respect to said seat frame.