Seat assembly with tunable tie bar

Abstract

A seat assembly having a tunable tie bar is provided and includes a main pivot and a housing operably supporting the tie bar. The housing is fixedly attached to a seatback of the seat assembly and includes C-shaped members fixedly joined together to provide a space in which the tie bar is disposed. The tie bar is fixedly attached to the housing and is in engagement with the main pivot, whereby the tie bar reacts against the main pivot to provide the seatback with sufficient support. The tie bar serves to strengthen the housing and ultimately provide the seatback with sufficient strength to support an occupant and the accompanying seatbelt loads associated with a seat-mounted retractor assembly. The tie bar is tunable between different seating applications and as such, allows the housing to be used in various seating applications and does not require extensive design and tooling for each application.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.