Vehicle seat assembly

• US 20080048477A1
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Delta Kogyo Company Limited, Mazda Motor Corporation, TOYO Seat Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Delta Kogyo Company Limited, Mazda Motor Corporation, TOYO Seat Company Limited
• Inventors: Akazawa, Terumi, Uemura, Hiroki, Ohtsubo, Tomonori, Ujimoto, Takushi, Iida, Keisuke, Hiyori, Teiji
• Granted Patent: US 7,533,936 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/344.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/045 Longitudinal adjustment by means of articulated rods supporting the seat, e.g. parallelogram mechanisms B60N2/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/067 by linear actuators, e.g. linear screw mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/1695 with simultaneous height and inclination adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/1814 Parallelogram-like structure
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/1825 including a curved slide
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/1846 pivoting about a distant axis, e.g. virtual

Abstract

A vehicle seat assembly comprises a coupling member 12 coupling a front end of a seat-cushion frame 2 to an upper rail 11, a rear link member 23 provided in a rear end of the seat-cushion frame 2, and a support member 24 provided on the side of a vehicle body to support the rear link member 23. The rear link member 23 includes a pivoted portion 26 pivotally supported by the upper rail 11, a coupled portion 28 coupled to the rear end of the seat-cushion frame 2, and an engaged portion engaged with the support member 24. The support member 24 includes a sliding drive portion (sliding groove 33) which slidably supports the engaged portion of the rear link member 23 to allow the rear link member 23 to be swingingly displaced in conjunction with a longitudinal movement of the seat-cushion frame 2, so as to move the coupled portion 28 in an upward/downward direction to drivingly lift and lower the rear end of the seat-cushion frame 2. The vehicle seat assembly of the present invention can effectively a height position of a seat cushion in conjunction with an operation of adjusting a longitudinal position of an occupant seat in conformity to occupant'"'"'s physique or the like.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat assembly comprising:

a pair of right and left seat slide rails including

a pair of right and left lower rails each fixed onto a floor portion of an occupant compartment to extend in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body, and

a pair of right and left upper rails slidably supported along corresponding ones of said lower rails; and

a pair of right and left seat-cushion frames each supported by a corresponding one of said seat slide rails in such a manner as to be moved in said longitudinal direction together with a corresponding one of said upper rails,

a coupling member coupling a front end of each of said seat-cushion frames to a corresponding one of said upper rails;

a rear link member provided in a rear end of each of said seat-cushion frames; and

a vehicle body-side support member provided on the side of the vehicle body to support said rear link member,

wherein;

said rear link member including;

a pivoted portion pivotally supported by said upper rail,

a coupled portion coupled to the rear end of said seat-cushion frame, and

an engaged portion engaged with said vehicle body-side support member; and

said vehicle body-side support member including;

a sliding drive portion which slidably supports said engaged portion of said rear link member to allow said rear link member to be swingingly displaced about said pivoted portion in conjunction with a longitudinal movement of said seat-cushion frame, so as to move said coupled portion of said rear link member in an upward/downward direction to drivingly lift and lower the rear end of said seat-cushion frame.

2. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said pivoted portion associated with said upper rail is provided in a front region of said rear link member;

said coupled portion associated with said seat-cushion frame is provided in a rear upper region of said rear link member; and

said engaged portion associated with said vehicle body-side support member is provided in a lower region of said rear link member.

3. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said rear link member is formed in an approximately triangular shape in side view, wherein said pivoted portion, said coupled portion and said engaged portion are provided in three apex regions of said rear link member, respectively.

4. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein a positional relationship of said pivoted portion, said coupled portion and said engaged portion provided in said rear link member is set such that, when said rear link member is moved to a lift position for drivingly lifting said seat-cushion frame, said coupled portion associated with said seat-cushion frame is displaced to be located in an uppermost apex region of said rear link member formed in an approximately triangular shape in side view.

5. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said vehicle body-side support member is formed with a gentle S-shaped sliding groove having, in side view, an upward inclination which gently increases and then gently decreases in a direction from a rear end to a front end of said vehicle seat assembly, wherein said engaged portion of said rear link member is slidably engaged with said sliding groove.

6. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said vehicle body-side support member is formed with a sliding groove having, in side view, an inclination which linearly increases in a direction from a rear end to a front end of said vehicle seat assembly, wherein said engaged portion of said rear link member is slidably engaged with said sliding groove.

7. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 1, further comprising a connection member connecting between the respective rear ends of said pair of right and left seat-cushion frames, wherein said coupled portion of said rear link member is coupled to said connection member.

8. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a seat-cushion support member disposed in a front end of each of said seat-cushion frames to support a seat cushion;

a pivot member pivotally mounting said seat-cushion support member to said seat-cushion frame; and

an angle adjustment mechanism adapted to swingingly displace said seat-cushion support member about said pivot member so as to adjust an angular position of said seat cushion.

9. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 8, wherein:

said pivot member associated with said seat-cushion frame is provided in a rear end of said seat-cushion support member; and

said angle adjustment mechanism is disposed frontwardly relative to said pivot member.

10. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 9, further comprising a motion-transmitting mechanism, wherein said angle adjustment mechanism is associated with one of said seat-cushion support members disposed on right and left sides of said seat cushion, wherein said motion-transmitting mechanism transmits a motion input to said one of said seat-cushion support members from said angle adjustment mechanism, to the other one of said seat-cushion support members so as to swingingly displace said other one of seat-cushion support members.

11. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 10, wherein said motion-transmitting mechanism includes:

a pair of right and left front link members each having a base end pivotally supported by a corresponding one of said seat-cushion frames and a distal end coupled to a corresponding one of said seat-cushion support members; and

an interlock member interlockingly connecting between the respective base ends of said front link members, said motion-transmitting mechanism being operable to transmit a motion input to said one of said seat-cushion support members and one of said front link members from said angle adjustment mechanism, to the other one of said front link members and said the other one of seat-cushion support members through said interlock member so as to swingingly displace said the other one of seat-cushion support members simultaneously with said one of said seat-cushion support members.

12. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said rear link member is formed as an arm-shaped member which has a central region provided with said pivoted portion associated with said upper rail, and opposite ends provided, respectively, with said coupled portion associated with said seat-cushion frame and said engaged portion associated with said vehicle body-side support member; and

said vehicle body-side support member includes an extension portion extending downwardly from a longitudinally central region of a corresponding one of said lower rails, in side view,

wherein said sliding drive portion is provided in said extension portion with a frontwardly-downward inclination.

13. The vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said vehicle body-side support member including said sliding drive portion is disposed on a laterally inward side relative to each of said seat slide rails.