Back to results
US 8,240,758 B2Granted
Deformable seat pan for a tiltable vehicle seat
AssigneeNissan North America, Inc.
InventorJohn Combest
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tiltable vehicle seat has a tiltable metallic seat pan that tilts upon rapid vehicle deceleration. The metallic seat pan is supported for movement between a normal seating position and a tilted or deployed position. The seat pan includes a deformable anti-submarining beam that extends laterally across the seat pan. The deformable anti-submarining beam is deformable in response to a prescribed deformation force exerted from the general direction of a buttocks supporting end thereof with the seat pan in the deployed position.
Claims21
A metallic seat pan comprising:
- a rear buttocks supporting portion;
- and
- a front femoral supporting portion including a deformable anti-submarining beam extending laterally across the front femoral supporting portion from a first lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion to a second lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion opposite the first lateral side,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam being configured and arranged relative to the rear buttocks supporting portion to restrict movement of an occupant's buttocks in a longitudinal direction from the rear buttocks supporting portion towards the front femoral supporting portion,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam having a prescribed rigidity that resists deformation, the prescribed rigidity being set to a prescribed deformation limit that reduces spinal compression of an occupant by deforming when the occupant's buttocks applies a deformation force in the longitudinal direction that exceeds the prescribed deformation limit, the deformable anti-submarining beam including at least one cut-out that facilitates deformation, the at least one cut-out being centered between and spaced apart from the first and second lateral sides of the front femoral supporting portion.
2 more elements
A tiltable vehicle seat comprising:
- a stationary seat mounting structure;
- an occupant seating structure attached to the stationary seat mounting structure, the occupant seating structure including a metallic seat pan having
- a rear buttocks supporting portion, and
- a front femoral supporting portion including a deformable anti-submarining beam extending laterally across the front femoral supporting portion from a first lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion to a second lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion opposite the first lateral side,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam being configured and arranged relative to the rear buttocks supporting portion to restrict movement of an occupant's buttocks in a longitudinal direction from the rear buttocks supporting portion towards the front femoral supporting portion,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam having a prescribed rigidity that resists deformation, the prescribed rigidity being set to a prescribed deformation limit that reduces spinal compression of an occupant by deforming when the occupant's buttocks applies a deformation force in the longitudinal direction that exceeds the prescribed deformation limit, the deformable anti-submarining beam including at least one cut-out that facilitates deformation, the at least one cut-out being centered between and spaced apart from the first and second lateral sides of the front femoral supporting portion;
- and
- a seat pan tilting mechanism configured and arranged to selectively tilt the front femoral supporting portion upwardly relative to the rear buttocks supporting portion.
5 more elements
A metallic seat pan comprising:
- a rear buttocks supporting portion;
- and
- a front femoral supporting portion formed with the rear buttocks supporting portion as a one-piece unitary structure from a single sheet of metallic material, at least one section of the front femoral supporting portion defining a deformable anti-submarining beam extending laterally across the front femoral supporting portion from a first lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion to a second lateral side of the front femoral supporting portion opposite the first lateral side,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam being configured and arranged relative to the rear buttocks supporting portion to restrict movement of an occupant's buttocks in a longitudinal direction from the rear buttocks supporting portion towards the front femoral supporting portion,
- the deformable anti-submarining beam having a prescribed rigidity that resists deformation, the prescribed rigidity being set to a prescribed deformation limit that reduces spinal compression of an occupant by deforming when the occupant's buttocks applies a deformation force in the longitudinal direction that exceeds the prescribed deformation limit, the deformable anti-submarining beam including at least one cut-out that facilitates deformation, the at least one cut-out being centered between and spaced apart from the first and second lateral sides of the front femoral supporting portion.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.