Tumble forward seat
AssigneeHoover Universal, Inc.
InventorsKarl G. Sponsler, Kurt A. Seibold, Mark A. Pattok
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tumble forward seat having mounting brackets that are rigidly attachable to a motor vehicle body and which establish a pivot axis for the seat frame. The brackets are releasably attached to a pair of front mounting pins in the vehicle body floor to hold the brackets stationary in the vehicle. The seat assembly frame then pivots about the mounting brackets from a generally horizontal use position to a tumble forward stowed position to increase the cargo capacity of the vehicle. When rotated forwarded to the up-tilted position, the rear legs of the seat rotate into the envelope formed by the seat frame to avoid leaving the rear legs projecting into the cargo space.
Claims23
A seat for a vehicle, the vehicle having a body with a fore and aft longitudinal direction and a side to side lateral direction and the vehicle body including first and second elongated front mounting pins, the front mounting pins extending in the lateral direction and being longitudinally spaced from one another and a third elongated rear mounting pin, the rear mounting pin also extending in the lateral direction and being spaced longitudinally rearward from the front mounting pins, said seat comprising:
- a seat frame having front and rear ends;
- a support frame pivotally coupled to said seat frame adjacent said front end for rotation of said seat frame relative to said support frame about a transverse axis extending in the lateral direction;
- mounting means for rigidly, nonrotatably and releasably attaching said support frame to the first and second mounting pins in the vehicle body to fix the position of said transverse axis relative to the vehicle body and to prevent rotation of said support frame relative to the vehicle-body whereby said seat frame can be rotated relative to said support frame and the vehicle body about said transverse axis;
- and
- rear latch means at said rear end of said seat frame for releasably attaching said seat frame to said third mounting pin to hold said seat frame stationary relative to the vehicle body about said transverse axis.
A seat for a vehicle having a body, said seat comprising:
- a seat frame having front and rear ends and having a use position within the vehicle body in which said seat frame extends fore and aft between said front and rear ends;
- a support frame pivotally coupled to said seat frame adjacent said front end for rotation of said seat frame relative to said support frame about a transverse axis;
- mounting means for rigidly, nonrotatably and releasably attaching said support frame to the vehicle body to fix the position of said transverse axis relative to the vehicle body and to prevent rotation of said support frame relative to the vehicle body whereby said seat frame can be rotated relative to said support frame and the vehicle body from said use position to an uptilted stowed position in which said rear end of said seat frame is raised above said front end of said seat frame;
- rear latch means adjacent said rear end of said seat frame for releasably attaching said seat frame to the vehicle body at a location spaced rearward from said transverse axis to hold said seat frame in said use position, said rear latch means being selectively releasable to permit rotation of said seat frame to said uptilted stowed position;
- and
- a seat cushion and seat back carried by said seat frame for rotation about said transverse axis together with said seat frame.
A seat for a vehicle having a body with fore and aft spaced front and rear seat supporting structures, said seat comprising:
- a seat frame having front and rear ends and having a use position within the vehicle body in which said seat frame extends fore and aft between said front and rear ends;
- a pair of laterally spaced support plates pivotally coupled to said seat frame adjacent said front end for rotation of said seat frame relative to said plates about a transverse axis;
- mounting means for rigidly, nonrotatably and releasably attaching said support plates to the vehicle front seat supporting structure to fix the position of said transverse axis relative to the vehicle body and to prevent rotation of said support plates relative to the vehicle body so that said seat frame can be rotated about said transverse axis relative to said support plates and vehicle body from said use position to an uptilted stowed position by raising the rear end of the seat frame above said front end of said seat frame;
- means forming at least one rear leg attached to said seat frame at said rear end and extending downward from said seat frame when said seat frame is in said use position for supporting said seat frame at said rear end;
- rear latch means carried by said at least one rear leg for releasably attaching said at least one rear leg to the vehicle body rear seat supporting structure whereby said seat frame is prevented from rotating about said transverse axis;
- and
- a seat cushion and seat back carried by said seat frame for rotation about said transverse axis together with said seat frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.