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US 8,573,701 B2Granted
Support member for vehicle seat head restraint
AssigneeLear Corporation
InventorsArjun Yetukuri, Eric Veine, Mark A. Farquhar, Sai Prasad Jammalamadaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A head restraint assembly for a vehicle seat has a head restraint post adapted to be mounted to the vehicle seat. A support member is coupled to the head restraint post. The support member having a plurality of attachment receptacles to mount the head restraint post to one of the plurality of attachment receptacles. A compressible pad member is mounted to the support member. A convex outer surface provides support for a head of an occupant. The support member is mounted to head restraint post at one of the plurality of attachment receptacles positions the compressible pad at a distance from the convex outer surface.
Claims17
A head restraint assembly for a vehicle seat, the head restraint assembly comprising:
- a head restraint post adapted to be mounted within a vehicle proximate a vehicle seatback;
- a support member for use in various head restraints having various thickness, the support member comprising:
- a fixed portion coupled to the head restraint post, the support member having a plurality of attachment receptacles provided at a plurality of locations so that the support member can be employed in the various head restraints having various thickness, wherein the head restraint post is mounted to only one of the plurality of attachment receptacles;
- a movable portion defining a front wall of the support member and movably coupled to the fixed portion;
- and
- a compressible pad member mounted to the support member having an outer surface to provide support for a head of an occupant, wherein the outer surface of the compressible pad is located a fixed distance from the front wall of the support member so that while limiting the head restraint post to only one of the plurality of attachment receptacles after the support member is mounted to the head restraint post;
- and
- a hinge connecting the movable portion to the fixed portion such that the hinge pivots the movable portion to position the front wall of the support member the fixed distance from the outer surface of the compressible pad member,
- wherein the movable portion is movable to maintain the outer surface of the compressible pad at a fixed location relative to the head restraint post in each of the various head restraints having various thickness while the head restraint assembly is in use.
6 more elements
A method of assembling a head restraint assembly comprising:
- providing a head restraint post adapted to be mounted to a vehicle seat;
- providing a support member having a movable portion defining a front wall of the support member and a fixed portion with a plurality of attachment receptacles at various locations within the support member so that the support member can be employed in various head restraints having various thickness;
- providing a compressible pad member having an outer surface to provide support for a head of an occupant;
- coupling the head restraint post to the support member within only one of the plurality of attachment receptacles;
- mounting the compressible pad member to the support member such that the outer surface of the compressible pad is positioned a fixed distance from a front wall of the support member;
- positioning the movable portion to maintain the front wall of the movable portion at a fixed mounting location relative to the head restraint post so that the head restraint post is limited to being mounted to only one of the plurality of attachment receptacles after the support member is mounted to the head restraint post while the head restraint assembly is in use;
- and
- coupling the movable portion to one of the plurality of attachment features formed along an upper surface of the fixed portion thereby ensuring the outer surface of the compressible pad is maintained at the fixed distance from the head restraint post.
5 more elements
A method of assembling a head restraint assembly comprising:
- providing a support member, having a movable portion defining a front wall of the support member and a fixed portion with a plurality of attachment receptacles at various locations along the support member so that the support member can be employed in various head restraints having various thickness;
- coupling a head restraint post to one of the attachment receptacles to form a first head restraint having a first thickness;
- moving the movable portion to a first position to position the front wall a fixed distance relative to the head restraint post in the first head restraints having the first thickness;
- coupling the head restraint post to another one of the attachment receptacles within the support member to form a second head restraint having a second thickness being different from the first thickness;
- and
- moving the movable portion to a second position to position the front wall the fixed distance relative to the head restraint post in the second head restraint having the second thickness,
- wherein coupling the movable portion to one of the plurality of attachment features formed along an upper surface of the fixed portion thereby ensures an outer surface of a compressible pad is maintained at the fixed distance from the head restraint post.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.