Rotating vehicle seat

An apparatus comprising:

• a seat body,
• a first support base supporting the seat body, the first support base capable of rotation,
• a second support base supporting the first support base, the second support base capable of moving the first support base in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, and
• means for coupling the rotational movement and the longitudinal movement of the seat body, the coupling means having a portion with gear teeth and a portion without gear teeth.

A rotating seat arranged and constructed for use in a vehicle comprising:

• a seat body arranged and constructed to rotate about a pivotal axis,
• a first support base supporting the seat body and comprising a circular-arc pinion gear coupled to the seat body so as to rotate with the seat body, the pinion gear having a first portion with gear teeth and a second portion without gear teeth,
• a second support base comprising a rack disposed along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and
• means for coupling rotational movement and longitudinal movement of the seat body, wherein the pinion gear and the rack are ranged and constructed such that the rack is not operatively coupled to the pinion gear during rotation of the seat body from a sitting position to an intermediate position, whereby the seat body rotates without moving along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and the rack is operatively coupled to the pinion gear during rotation of the seat body from the intermediate position to an entry/exit position, whereby the seat body simultaneously rotates while moving forward along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

An apparatus comprising:

• a vehicle seat body normally positioned in a sitting position that faces a forward portion of a vehicle,
• a vehicle seat support base,
• a rotary ring coupling the vehicle seat body to the vehicle seat support base, wherein the rotary ring is arranged and constructed to permit the vehicle seat body to rotate through a rotational range of approximately 90° with respect to the vehicle seat support base,
• a longitudinal support base disposed in a substantially parallel relationship along a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, wherein the longitudinal support base is operatively coupled to the vehicle seat support base to permit the vehicle seat body to forwardly move in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and
• means for rotating the vehicle scat from the sitting position to an intermediate position and for rotating the vehicle seat body while forwardly moving the vehicle seat body along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle from die intermediate position to a vehicle entry/exit position, said rotating means including a first portion with gear teeth and a second portion without gear teeth.