Seat apparatus

• US 20070052273A1
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Published: 03/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Tomonori, Higashi, Hidemitsu, Satta, Hiroki, Mizuguchi, Masaya, Kato, Hideharu
• Granted Patent: US 7,699,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/378.120
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0244 with logic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/206 to a position in which it can be used as a support for objects, e.g. as a tray
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3011 the back-rest being hinged on the cushion, e.g. "portefeuille movement"
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3065 in a longitudinal-vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3075 stowed in recess B60N2/3079 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/309 rods

Abstract

A seat apparatus includes a seat back capable of being used as a table at a surface thereof, a seat back driving device moving the seat back between a seating position and a table position, a controlling portion controlling the seat back driving device, and the controlling portion including an operating portion at which the user executes a certain operation, wherein, when the user executes the certain operation, the controlling portion controls the seat back to move in a first direction that is opposite to a second direction to which the seat back is moved most recently.

Claims

1. A seat apparatus comprising:

a seat back capable of being used as a table at a surface thereof;

a seat back driving device moving the seat back between a seating position and a table position;

a controlling portion controlling the seat back driving device, the controlling portion including an operating portion at which the user executes a certain operation, wherein,

when the user executes the certain operation, the controlling portion controls the seat back to move in a first direction that is opposite to a second direction to which the seat back is moved most recently.

2. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlling portion controls the seat back to stop when the certain operation is executed by the user while the seat back is moving, and when the certain operation is executed by the user while the seat back is stopped, the controlling portion controls the seat back to move in the first direction that is opposite to the second direction to which the seat back was moved before it is stopped.

3. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlling portion controls the seat back to stop when it reaches the seating position or the table position.

4. The seat apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controlling portion controls the seat back to stop when it reaches the seating position or the table position.

5. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operating portion is an automatic maintaining type switch outputting an operation signal while the automatic maintaining type switch maintains its state in an opened-state or an closed-state on the basis of the user'"'"'s operation, and when the operation signal is supplied to the controlling portion, the seat back is moved toward the seating position or the table position.

6. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operating portion is an automatic returning type switch outputting an operation signal when the automatic returning type switch temporally turns into and opened-state or an closed state on the basis of the user'"'"'s operation, and the operation signal is supplied to the controlling portion while the automatic returning type switch has been operated by the user, and thus the seat back has been moved while the automatic returning type switch has been operated by the user.

7. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlling portion further includes a seat back fine-adjustment operating portion supplying a fine-adjustment signal to the controlling portion in order to finely adjust an angle of the seat back relative to a seat cushion, and when the user operates the operating portion for the first time since the seat back fine-adjustment operating portion is operated, the seat back is moved toward the table position.

8. The seat apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controlling portion further includes a seat back fine-adjustment operating portion supplying a fine-adjustment signal to the controlling portion in order to finely adjust an angle of the seat back relative to a seat cushion, and when the user operates the operating portion for the first time since the seat back fine-adjustment operating portion is operated, the seat back is moved toward the table position.

9. The seat apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the controlling portion further includes a seat back fine-adjustment operating portion supplying a fine-adjustment signal to the controlling portion in order to finely adjust an angle of the seat back relative to a seat cushion, and when the user operates the operating portion for the first time since the seat back fine-adjustment operating portion is operated, the seat back is moved toward the table position.