US 6,123,380 AGranted

Automotive seat assembly with folding structural supports for storage in a foot well for an automotive vehicle body

AssigneeLear Corporation

InventorsAlan Sturt, Marcel C. Ban, William F. Best, Jr., Iris Drew

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A foldable seat assembly for an automotive vehicle including a base mounted by rollers in a track in a floor structure of a vehicle passenger compartment including support legs at the forward end of the vehicle seat assembly, the upper end of the forward legs being mounted pivotally to a lower frame of the vehicle seat portion and the lower end of the forward leg being assembled in a track in a foot well of the floor structure. Rear legs supporting the lower seat portion are joined to a roller assembly in a track located in the passenger compartment at a level above the level of the foot well. A driver-operated linkage mechanism at the rearward end of the lower seat portion unlocks the seat back portion, allowing it to fold over the lower seat portion. The driver-operated linkage mechanism at the forward end of the lower seat portion allows the seat assembly to move forward pivoting at the lower end of the front leg and downwardly for storage in the foot well as the forward legs pivot at their lower ends.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A foldable seat assembly for an automotive vehicle passenger compartment having a bi-level floor structure, first seat tracks being secured to a first part of the floor structure, a second part of the floor structure forward of the first floor structure part defining a foot well lower than the first floor structure part, and second seat tracks in the second floor structure part;

the seat assembly comprising a lower seat portion and a seat back portion, the lower seat portion comprising a frame, the seat back portion being pivotally mounted at a rearward margin of the lower seat portion frame;
rearward legs secured to the lower seat portion frame, rollers on the rearward legs engaging the first seat tracks permitting fore and aft adjustment of the seat assembly;
forward legs attached and releasably locked at their upper ends to the lower seat portion frame at a forward margin thereof, the forward legs having lower ends pivotally engageable with the second seat tracks, the lower ends including a releasable locking mechanism for locking the forward leg lower ends to the second seat tracks to prevent forward movement thereof whereby the seat assembly may be moved forward toward a stowed position in the foot well;
and lever means for releasing the attachment of the forward legs to the lower seat portion thereby permitting the forward legs to pivot about the forward leg lower ends as the seat assembly is being stowed in the foot well.

1 more element

A foldable seat assembly for an automotive vehicle passenger compartment having a bi-level floor structure, first seat tracks being secured to a first part of the floor structure, a second part of the floor structure rearward of the first floor structure part defining a foot well lower than the first floor structure part, and second seat tracks in the second floor structure part;

the seat assembly comprising a lower seat portion and a seat back portion, the lower seat portion comprising a frame, the seat back portion having a frame pivotally mounted at a rearward margin of the lower seat portion frame;
rearward legs secured to the lower seat portion frame, rollers on the rearward legs engaging the first seat tracks permitting fore and aft adjustment of the seat assembly;
forward legs releasably locked at their upper ends to the lower seat portion frame at a forward margin thereof, the forward legs having lower ends pivotally engageable with the second seat tracks, the lower ends including a releasable locking mechanism for locking the forward leg lower ends to the second seat tracks to prevent forward movement thereof whereby the seat assembly may be moved forward toward a stowed position in the foot well;
and lever means for releasing the attachment of the forward legs to the lower seat portion thereby permitting the forward legs to pivot about the forward leg lower ends as the seat assembly is being stowed in the foot well;
a releasable lock mechanism at the rearward legs for securing the lower seat portion frame to the first seat tracks;
and
a cam and cable mechanism connected to the releasably lock mechanism for releasing the rearward legs to permit forward movement of the seat assembly for both fore-and-aft seat assembly adjustment and movement of the seat assembly toward a stowed position.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.