Vehicle seat having hydraulic actuator

A vehicle seat comprising:

• a seat cushion assembly constructed and arranged to support an occupant seated thereon,
• a seat back cushion assembly constructed and arranged to support the back of an occupant seated on said seat cushion assembly,
• a first mounting assembly constructed and arranged to mount said seat cushion assembly on a vehicle floor assembly,
• a second mounting assembly constructed and arranged to mount said seat back cushion assembly on said seat cushion assembly,
• an adjusting mechanism operatively embodied in one of said first and second mounting assemblies constructed and arranged to enable the cushion assembly mounted by said one mounting assembly to be moved in opposite directions through a range of adjustable positions with respect to the assembly on which the one mounting assembly mounts the cushion assembly,
• said adjusting mechanism including an extensible and retractable unit constructed and arranged such that said extensible and retractable unit extends when said one cushion assembly mounted by said one mounting assembly is moved in one opposite direction and retracts which said one cushion assembly mounted by said one mounting assembly is moved in another opposite direction,
• said adjusting mechanism including a locking and releasing device constructed and arranged to be moved between (1) a locking position wherein said locking and releasing device is operable to lock said extensible and retractable unit to prevent movement in either direction of the cushion assembly enabled to be moved thereby and (2) a releasing position wherein the locking and releasing device is operable to release said extensible and retractable unit to permit the cushion assembly enabled to be moved thereby to be manually moved in relatively unrestricted fashion in one direction and returned in relatively unrestricted fashion in the opposite direction, and
• a vehicle crash sensing system operatively connected with said extensible and retractable unit constructed and arranged to provide control of the movement of the cushion assembly mounted by said one mounting assembly in response to the sensing of a crash condition which occurs while said locking device is in said releasing position.