Vehicle seat assembly with retracting latch/engaging roller seat-to-floor lock

A method of installing a removable vehicle seat into a vehicle including floor means having upwardly facing surface means, said floor means having front and rear wells disposed with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, extending below said upwardly facing surface means and anchor members extending across said wells in a position below said upwardly facing surface means, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a vehicle seat including:
• a pair of rigid support structures disposed on opposite sides of said vehicle seat and having downwardly facing surface means for engaging the anchor members of the vehicle floor means,
• a cushioned seat structure on said pair of rigid support structures,
• front and rear hook members mounted on each of said pair of rigid support structures,
• wheel members mounted on each of said pair of rigid support structures, certain of said wheel members being constructed and arranged with respect to certain of said hook members,
• (b) moving said certain hook members to an inoperative position while simultaneously moving said certain wheel members to an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means of the associated rigid support structure and said certain hook members,
• (c) moving said vehicle seat into an opening in the vehicle and onto said floor means so that said vehicle seat is disposed in rolling wheel member supported relation over the upwardly facing surface means of the vehicle floor means,
• (d) rolling said vehicle seat over the upwardly facing surface means until the hook members are disposed over said front and rear wells,
• (e) moving said certain hook members to an operative position while simultaneously moving said certain wheel members into an inoperative position above the operative position thereof so that said certain hook members extend below the downwardly facing surface means so as to enter the wells and engage in hooked relationship with the anchor members extending thereacross so as to detachably fixedly retain the rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon in a fixed operative position on said floor means with said anchor members and said downwardly facing surface means in engagement.

An easily removable vehicle seat assembly for use with a vehicle including floor means having upwardly facing surface means, said vehicle seat assembly comprising:

• an anchor assembly including guide surfaces and being coupled to said upwardly facing surface means, said anchor assembly having a pair of front and rear wells disposed with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, extending below said upwardly facing surface means and anchor members extending across said front and rear wells in a position one of above and below said upwardly facing surface means;
• and
• a vehicle seat including:
• a pair of rigid support structures having downwardly facing surface means for engaging the anchor members of the anchor assembly ,
• a cushioned seat structure on said pair of rigid support structures,
• front and rear hook members mounted on each of said rigid support structures for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means of the associated rigid support structure so as to enter the wells and engage in hooked relationship with the anchor members extending thereacross so as to detachably fixedly retain the rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon in a fixed operative position on said floor means with said anchor members and said downwardly facing surface means in engagement and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof so as to enable the rigid support structures to be moved relatively over said guide surfaces,
• front and rear wheel members mounted on each of said rigid support structures for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means of the associated rigid support structure and the associated hook members when in the inoperative position thereof so as to enable rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon to be rolled in wheel member supported relation over the guide surfaces and thus over the vehicle floor means and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof, and
• an actuating mechanism associated with each of said pair of rigid support structures and being constructed and arranged with respect to the associated rigid support structure and cooperable with the hook members and wheel members of the associated rigid support structure so as (1) to move said hook members into the operative position thereof and said wheel members into the inoperative position thereof when it is desired to fixedly retain the rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon in said fixed operative position thereof and (2) to move said hook members into the inoperative position thereof and said wheel members into the operative position thereof when it is desired to move the rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon from the operative position thereof in rolling wheel member supported relation over the upwardly facing surface means of the vehicle floor means and over said guide surfaces.

An easily removable vehicle seat for use with a vehicle including floor means having upwardly facing surface means, said floor means having front and rear wells, disposed with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, extending below said upwardly facing surface means and anchor members extending across said wells in a position one of above and below said upwardly facing surface means, said vehicle seat comprising:

• a pair of rigid support structures disposed on opposite ends of said vehicle seat and having downwardly facing surface means for engaging the anchor members of the vehicle floor means,
• a cushioned seat structure on said pair of rigid support structures,
• front and rear hook members mounted on each of said pair of rigid support structures for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means the associated rigid support structure so as to enter the front and rear wells and engage in hooked relationship with the anchor members so as to detachably fixedly retain the associated rigid support structure and hence the cushioned seat structure on said pair of rigid support structures in a fixed operative position on said floor means with said anchor members and said downwardly facing surface means in engagement and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof so as to enable the associated rigid support structure to be moved relatively over said floor means, and
• wheel members mounted on said rigid support structures for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means of said rigid support structures and hook members thereon when in the inoperative position thereof so as to enable the rigid support structures and hence the cushioned seat structure thereon to be rolled in wheel member supported relation over the upwardly facing surface means of the vehicle floor means and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof,
• certain of said hook members being constructed and arranged with respect to certain of said wheel members so as to be moved from the operative position thereof to the inoperative position thereof and from the inoperative position thereof to the operative position thereof while said certain wheel members are moved simultaneously from the inoperative position thereof to the operative position thereof and from the operative position thereof to the inoperative position thereof, respectively.

A riser support assembly for supporting a portion of a cushioned seat structure of a vehicle seat for use in a vehicle including floor means having upwardly facing surface means, said floor means having front and rear wells, disposed with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and extending below said upwardly facing surface means and anchor members extending across said wells in a position one of above and below said upwardly facing surface means, said riser support assembly comprising:

• rigid support structure constructed and arranged to be mounted to a portion of the seat structure and having downwardly facing surface means for engaging the anchor members of the vehicle floor means,
• front and rear hook members mounted on said rigid support structure for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means so as to enter the front and rear wells and engage in hooked relationship with the anchor members so as to detachably fixedly retain the rigid support structure and the portion of the seat structure when mounted thereon in a fixed operative position on said floor means with said anchor members and said downwardly facing surface means in engagement and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof so as to enable the rigid support structure and the portion of the seat structure when mounted thereon to be moved relatively over said floor means, and
• front and rear wheel members mounted on the rigid support structure for movement between (1) an operative position extending below the downwardly facing surface means of the rigid support structure and the hook members when in the inoperative position thereof so as to enable the rigid support structure and the portion of the seat structure when mounted thereon to be rolled in wheel member supported relation over the upwardly facing surface means of the vehicle floor means and (2) an inoperative position disposed above the operative position thereof,
• said hook members being constructed and arranged with respect to said wheel members so as to be moved from the operative position thereof to the inoperative position thereof and from the inoperative position thereof to the operative position thereof while said wheel members are moved simultaneously from the inoperative position thereof to the operative position thereof and from the operative position thereof to the inoperative position thereof, respectively.