Vehicle seat recliner mechanism with selective torque transmission connectors

A vehicle seat comprising:

• a seat base;
• a seat back;
• a pair of recliners that connect the seat back to the seat base in a range of angular orientations, the pair of recliners are normally maintained in a locked condition wherein the seat back is positioned at a selected angular orientation relative to a seat base, the recliners are manually shifted to an unlocked condition wherein the seat back may be repositioned to set a new selected angular orientation relative to the seat base;
• a pair of selective torque transmission joints are connected to each other by a connecting rod and are each connected to one of the recliners, and each selective torque transmission joint has a lost motion connector, wherein each of the selective torque transmission joints includes an inner member that is received in an outer member, the outer member comprises a slot and the inner member comprises a tab received in the slot, the tab and slot provide a linking element spaced radially outward from the connecting rod, and wherein the inner and outer members are connected together by the linking element when the recliners are pivoted manually to the unlocked condition, and the inner and outer members are disconnected by the linking element when the load is applied to the seat back in a collision;
• each inner member comprises a receptacle that receives a respective end of the connecting rod in non-rotatable engagement, a retaining ring has a plurality of spring fingers that engage the connecting rod and retain the inner member on the connecting rod;
• and
• wherein the selective torque transmission joints permit torque to be transmitted between the recliners by the connecting rod when the recliners are pivoted manually in a first rotary direction to the unlocked condition and wherein the lost motion connector prevents torque from being transmitted in a second rotary direction that is opposite the first rotary direction between the recliners by the connecting rod in the event that a load is applied to the seat back in the collision.