Step-by-step ratchet mechanism with a silent ratchet

Step-by-step ratchet mechanism for use in devices for adjusting vehicle seats, comprising in combination:

• a mount;
• a hand lever that is carried on the mount and that it is pivotal about an axis of the hand lever;
• a ratchet that is provided with a toothed set wheel and with an output shaft, the output shaft being rotatable about an axis of the ratchet provided in the mount;
• two catches that a) are each hinged on the hand lever and are pivotal about an axis of the catch, b) are each provided with a gear cutting which gear cutting cooperates with and matches the set wheel, c) are each provided with a supporting flank which supporting flank is arranged in the vicinity of an abutment of the mount and d) are provided with a first elastic means that resiliently pretensions the two supporting flanks towards adjacent the abutment, e) each catch being provided with a pin, the gear cutting being designed as a toothed quadrant with several teeth;
• two mean position levers that are carried on the mount and are pivotal each about an axis of the mean position levers, one mean position lever being assigned to each catch, the mean position levers being provided with a stop flank, the mean position levers being provided each with a guide bight which guide bight is designed for receiving and guiding the pin of the corresponding catch, has an aperture and is arranged so that its aperture faces the aperture of the other guide bight;
• a stop area of the hand lever that is assigned to and is arranged adjacent to each of said stop flanks;
• and
• a second elastic means that is allocated to the two mean position levers, said second elastic means resiliently pretensioning the stop flank against each stop area.