Vehicle seat, particularly a motor vehicle seat

A vehicle seat, comprising:

• a seat part;
• a backrest;
• a lock and a first mating element which interacts with the lock for locking the backrest to vehicle structure;
• a backrest drive unit for moving the first mating element or the lock relative to the vehicle structure while the first mating element and the lock are separated from one another;
• at least one fitting including
• (a) a first fitting part,
• (b) a second fitting part which is pivotable about an axis relative to the first fitting part, wherein the backrest is attached at least by way of the fitting to the seat part so that the backrest is pivotable about the axis relative to the seat part,
• (c) a signaler that is on the second fitting part,
• (d) a sensor that is on the first fitting part and is responsive to the signaler so that
• (1) the sensor outputs a signal when the second fitting part pivots relative to the first fitting part, and
• (2) the signal is indicative of a relative angular position between the fitting parts;
• (e) a locking element movably mounted on the first fitting part, and
• (f) a second mating element that is on the second fitting part, wherein the second mating element interacts with the locking element to lock the fitting, the locking element and the second mating element are disengaged with respect to one another while the fitting is unlocked, and the backrest is locked by way of the fitting while the fitting is locked;
• and
• a control unit connected to the sensor for evaluating the signal from the sensor, wherein the control unit is operative
• for determining, at least by way of the signal from the sensor, whether the locking element and the second mating element are appropriately aligned for locking the fitting,
• for actuating the backrest drive unit, while the backrest is locked to the vehicle structure by way of the first mating element and the lock, to cause the locking element and the second mating element to become appropriately aligned for locking the fitting, and
• so that the actuating of the backrest drive unit is responsive to the determining as to whether the locking element and the second mating element are appropriately aligned for locking the fitting.

A vehicle seat, comprising:

• a seat part;
• a backrest;
• and
• at least one fitting including
• (a) a first fitting part,
• (b) a second fitting part which is pivotable about an axis relative to the first fitting part, wherein the backrest is attached at least by way of the fitting to the seat part so that the backrest is pivotable about the axis relative to the seat part,
• (c) a signaler that is on the second fitting part, wherein the signaler is a periodic sequence of different regions,
• (d) a sensor that is on the first fitting part and is responsive to the signaler so that the sensor outputs a signal when the second fitting part pivots relative to the first fitting part, and the signal is indicative of a relative angular position between the fitting parts, wherein the sensor is responsive to the periodic sequence of different regions so that the signal comprises pulses,
• (e) a locking element movably mounted on the first fitting part, and
• (f) a mating element that is on the second fitting part, wherein the mating element interacts with the locking element to lock the fitting, the locking element and the mating element are disengaged with respect to one another while the fitting is unlocked, and the backrest is locked by way of the fitting while the fitting is locked;
• and
• a control unit connected to the sensor for evaluating the signal from the sensor, wherein
• the control unit is operative for counting the pulses and determining, at least by way of the counting of the pulses, the relative angular position between the fitting parts, and
• the control unit is operative for determining, at least from the relative angular position between the fitting parts, whether the locking element and the mating element are appropriately aligned for locking the fitting.