Vehicle safety device

• US 5,449,218 A
• Filed: 05/23/1991
• Issued: 09/12/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Life Force, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Life Force, Inc.
• Inventors: Meade, Albert J., Beauvais, Randall R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Application Number:
  US07/704,594
• Time in Patent Office: 1,573 Days
• Field of Search: 297/216.19, 297/311, 297/325, 297/329, 297/344, 297/346, 297/216.16, 248/371, 248/424, 248/429, 248/394, 248/395, 296/68.1
• US Class Current: 297/216.19
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4214 longitudinal
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4221 due to impact coming from the front
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/42736 of the whole seat

Abstract

A vehicle safety device designed to respond to a sudden deceleration of a vehicle by controlling movement of both the front and rear of the vehicle seat in forward and upward directions. In various embodiments the movement is controlled by ramps and linkages and by various combinations of ramps and linkage. The linkage may be a single component link or a linkage of two components pivotally connected together. The ramp may be defined by a slot having an arcuate portion and/or a straight portion.

Claims

1. A safety device for installation between a vehicle and a vehicle seat having a first member attached to the vehicle at a location below the seat and a second member attached to the seat, said safety device comprising means, connected between the first member and the second member, for moving the second member relative to the first member in substantially direct and substantially immediate response to a sudden acceleration along an axis extending, in the direction of acceleration, through the vehicle seat from a leading portion of the seat to a trailing portion of the seat,

said moving means including control means for directing the seat in an upward direction and for directing the motion of the seat, relative to the vehicle frame, in a direction opposite to direction of the sudden acceleration, such that the leading portion of the seat and the trailing portion of the seat move both upwardly and in the direction opposite to the direction of the acceleration, said leading portion of the seat moving upwardly at a greater rate than said trailing portion, wherein said control means comprises a first pin and slot connection between the first member and the second member, said first pin and slot connection including a first slot and a first pin slidably received therein and a second pin and slot connection between the first member and the second member, said second pin and slot connection including a second slot and a second pin slidably received therein wherein the first and second slots are carried by one of said first and second members and the first and second pins are carried by the other of said first and second members and wherein each of the first and second slots comprises a front portion and a rear portion, each of the front and rear portions of the first and second slots comprising an initial portion in which the pins are guided during an initial portion of the movement of the seat and a final portion in which the pins are guided during a final portion of the movement of the seat, the first and second pins being guided in the front portions of the first and second slots, respectively, if the seat moves in a forward direction and the first and second pins being guided in the rear portions of the first and second slots, respectively, if the seat moves in a rearward direction.

2. The safety device of claim 1 further comprising means provided in one of said initial and final portions of said first and second slots for modifying frictional forces between the first and second pins and the first and second slots, respectively, during the movement of the seat.

3. The safety device of claim 1 wherein one of said initial and final portions of each of the front and rear portions of the first and second slots has an approximately linear shape and the other of said initial and final portions has an arcuate shape.

4. The safety device of claim 3 wherein said arcuate shape is defined by a portion of a conic section.

5. In a vehicle having a chassis and a seat, the seat having a front portion and a rear portion, a safety device disposed between the seat and the chassis comprising means for guiding the elevation and forward movement of the seat between a first position and a second position, wherein said seat moves from the first position to the second position in response to a sudden acceleration of the vehicle, said seat guiding means comprising:

means for elevating the front portion of the seat at a first rate, wherein the means for elevating the front portion of the seat elevates the seat at an average rate which is approximately equal to the average rate of forward movement of the front portion of the seat; and

mean for elevating the rear portion of the seat at a second rate, wherein the first rate is greater than the second rate, and wherein the means for elevating the rear portion of the seat elevates the rear portion of the seat at an average rate approximately one half of the average rate of forward movement of the front portion of the seat.

6. In a vehicle having a chassis and a seat, the seat having a front portion and a rear portion, a safety device disposed between the seat and the chassis comprising means for guiding the elevation and forward movement of the seat between a first position and a second position, wherein said seat moves from the first position to the second position in response to a sudden acceleration of the vehicle, said seat guiding means comprising:

means for elevating the front portion of the seat at a first rate, wherein said seat front elevating means comprises a front pin and slot connection between the seat and the chassis; and

means for elevating the rear portion of the seat at a second rate, wherein said seat rear elevating means comprises a rear pin and slot connection between the seat and the chassis, and wherein said first rate is greater than said second rate.

7. The safety device of claim 6 wherein:

a. the slots of said front and rear pin and slot connections are carried by one of the seat and the chassis;

b. the pins of said front and rear pin and slot connections are carried by the other of said seat and chassis; and

c. the slots comprise a first portion in which the pins are guided during an initial portion of the movement of the seat and a second portion in which the pins are guided during a final portion of the movement of the seat.

8. The safety device of claim 7 further cmoprising means provided in said second portion of said slots for augmenting frictional forces between the pins and the slots during the second portion of the movement of the seat.

9. The safety device of claim 7 wherein one of said first and second portions of each of the front and rear slots has an approximately linear shape and the other of said first and second portions has an arcuate shape.

10. The safety device of claim 9 wherein said arcuate shape is a defined by a portion of a conic section.