Vehicle seat back tilt control mechanism

• US 3,953,069 A
• Filed: 04/15/1975
• Issued: 04/27/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Fuji KIKO Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Fuji KIKO Company Limited (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Tamura, Takeo, Ishida, Hideo
• Primary Examiner(s): Frazier, Roy D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lyddane, William E.
• Application Number:
  US05/568,202
• Time in Patent Office: 378 Days
• Field of Search: 297/362, 297/364-367, 297/379, 297/353, 297/354, 297/355, 297/370, 16/146
• US Class Current: 297/367.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/20 the back-rest being tiltable, e.g. to permit easy access B60N2/04, B60N2/22 , B60N2/3002 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2354 and provided with memory locks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 148/136 Resistors

Abstract

A seat back tilts forward when an actuating lever is pulled, and remains forward after the lever is released. The seat back is restored to a desired operating position by pushing it backward until it stops moving. The desired position is set by pulling a release lever, pushing the seat back to the desired position, and releasing the release lever.

Claims

1. A tilt control mechanism for a vehicle seat having a seat cushion and a seat back tiltable about an axis, which comprises;

a first hinge member mounted on the side portion of said seat back;

a second hinge member mounted on the side portion of said seat cushion and hinged on said first hinge member by a rotatable shaft;

lock means locking said first hinge member at a selected angular position relative to said second hinge member when actuated and allowing said first hinge member to rotate when unlocked;

actuating means connected to said lock means and actuating said lock means;

said lock means including a dog plate pivotally mounted on a stub shaft securely fixed on said second hinge member, said dog plate having thereon a toothed portion, a toothed end portion of said first hinge member being engageable with the toothed portion of said dog plate;

memorizing means including

a generally circular memory plate coaxially disposed on said rotatable shaft and having on one peripheral portion thereof an arcuate gain for receiving said cam portion so as to cause said actuating plate to move said dog plate into engagement with said toothed end portion of said first hinge member thereby causing said first hinge member to be locked and having on another peripheral portion thereof a toothed portion, a dog member movably disposed on said first hinge member, said dog member being selectively engageable with the toothed portion of said circular memory plate;

memory change means allowing said memorizing means to change the memorized angular position thereof when actuated;

a release lever being rotatable about said axis and having means connectable with said actuating means, for releasing said actuating means when rotated; and

an actuating lever being rotatable about said axis for rotating said release lever and actuating said memory change means when it is manually rotated.

2. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 1, in which said actuating means includes an actuating plate pivotally mounted on said stub shaft and connected to said dog plate and having a cam portion.

3. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 1, in which said circular memory plate is formed with an arcuate slot engageable with a fixed pin mounted on said first hinge member, whereby the rotation extent of said lock plate is limited.

4. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 3, in which said memory change means includes:

a stop plate pivotally mounted on said stub shaft and having a stop pin,

a notched portion formed in a peripheral portion of said circular memory plate and being engageable with said stop pin to lock said circular memory plate.

5. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 4, in which said release lever is coaxially disposed on said shaft and positioned at the opposite side of said control arm with respect to said generally circular memory plate and has a first projection engageable with a pin extending from said actuating plate and has a second projection.

6. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 5, in which said actuating lever is coaxially disposed on said shaft and positioned at the opposite side of said generally circular memory plate with respect to said release lever and has a projection engageable with a projection projecting from said stop plate and a fixed pin mounted thereon engageable with said second projection.

7. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 1, further comprising limit means limiting the rotation extent of said stop plate.

8. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a press roller rotatably supported by a roller shaft mounted on said release lever, said press roller being biased to engage with said cam portion formed on said actuating plate by a biasing means.

9. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 3, in which said circular memory plate is axially movable, and in which the toothed portion of said circular memory plate is inclined and said dog member has an inclined toothed portion engageable with the toothed portion of said circular memory plate.

10. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a spring member coaxially disposed on said first hinge member for biasing said circular memory plate in a direction to effect engagement with said dog member.

11. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a biasing means superimposed on said circular memory plate for moving said circular memory plate in a direction to effect disengagement with said dog member.

12. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 11, in which said biasing means includes:

a retaining plate coaxially disposed on said shaft and positioned at the opposite side of said control arm with respect to said generally circular memory plate and having a plurality of blind holes thereon,

a plurality of balls retained in said blind holes of said retaining plate, and

a biasing plate integrally formed with said release lever, said biasing plate having thereon a plurality of elongated blind holes which receive said plurality of balls respectively, each of said elongated blind holes having an inclined bottom surface, whereby when said release lever is rotated, said retaining plate is axially moved toward said circular memory plate thereby to move the same toward said first hinge member to effect disengagement with said dog member.

13. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 12, in which said release lever has an auxiliary release member separately formed therefrom and coaxially disposed on said shaft and positioned between said release lever and said actuating lever.

14. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 13, in which said auxiliary release member has a first projection engageable with a pin extending from said actuating plate.

15. A tilt control mechanism as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a press roller rotatably supported on a roller shaft provided on said auxiliary release member, said press roller being biased to engage with a cam projection of said plate.