Car seat

• US 5,890,764 A
• Filed: 07/09/1997
• Issued: 04/06/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Lee, Chang-Seog
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuomo, Peter M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Allred, David E.
• Application Number:
  US08/891,182
• Time in Patent Office: 636 Days
• Field of Search: 297/344.24, 297/344.22, 297/344.23, 297/344.25, 248/349.1, 248/231.61, 248/425, 248/418, 248/415
• US Class Current: 297/344.22
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/02246 Electric motors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/067 by linear actuators, e.g. linear screw mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/146 characterised by the locking device

Abstract

A car seat, which is rotatable and linearly movable. The car seat has a lower plate having a centrally located pinion on the top surface and parallel movable rails on the bottom side. The movable rails are linearly movable on support rails fixed onto the floor of a car body. An upper plate is rotatably connected to the lower plate by a connecting shaft with a predetermined space therebetween and having a seat cushion thereon. A swivel mechanism is provided between the lower and upper plates and is used for adjusting the rotatable position of the upper plate relative to the lower plate. A plurality of locking holes are formed on each of the support rails, while a sliding lever is rotatably mounted to the movable rails and has a stopper selectively locked into or released from the locking holes.

Claims

1. A car seat for a car body having a floor, the car seat comprising:

a lower plate having a pinion on a top side, and parallel movable rails secured to a bottom side, said movable rails being linearly movable on corresponding support rails adapted to be fixed on the floor of the car body;

an upper plate spaced apart from and rotatably connected to said lower plate by a connecting shaft, said upper plate having a bottom side and a top side, the top side having a seat cushion mounted thereon;

a swivel mechanism provided between the lower and upper plates for rotatably adjusting said upper plate relative to said lower plate, said swivel mechanism comprising a pair of holding arms pivotally coupled to the bottom side of the upper plate and partially surrounding the pinion, each holding arm having a rack adjacent an opposite side of the pinion, and a return spring between the holding arms for biasing the holding arms together such that the racks engage the pinion; and

a swivel lever operatively coupled to the holding arms for selectively disengaging the racks from the pinion to allow rotation of the car seat.

2. The car seat as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of locking holes formed on each of said support rails along a length of the support rails;

a slide lever rotatably mounted to said movable rails and having a stopper, said stopper being selectively locked into or released from said locking holes to adjust the linear movable position of the seat.

3. The car seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the swivel mechanism comprises:

a plurality of guide links hingedly connected to said holding arms, respective guide links each hingedly connected to respective said holding arm, arms on a side of the pinion opposite the return spring;

a movable link coupled to said guide links and capable of pivoting the racks toward or away from the pinion in response to actuation of the swivel lever; and

a cable connecting said movable link to the swivel lever, thus causing the movable link to move when said swivel lever is actuated.

4. The car seat as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the holding arms comprises a first end, and wherein the return spring is provided between and coupled to the first ends of the holding arms.

5. The car seat as claimed in claim 4 wherein the return spring and the movable link are provided on opposite sides of the pinion.

6. A car seat for a car body having a floor, the car seat comprising:

a lower plate adapted to be slidably coupled to the floor and having an upper side and a lower side;

an upper plate spaced apart from and rotatably coupled to the lower plate, and having a lower side;

a rotating mechanism provided between the lower plate and the upper plate, the rotating mechanism comprising a pinion coupled to the upper side of the lower plate, a pair of holding arms pivotally coupled to the lower side of the upper plate and partially surrounding the pinion, each holding arm having a rack adjacent an opposite side of the pinion, and a biasing member provided between the holding arms for biasing the holding arms together such that the racks engage the pinion; and

a rotation lever operatively coupled to the holding arms for controlling rotation of the car seat.

7. The car seat as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a pair of sliding rails on opposite sides of the lower side of the lower plate slidably engaging a corresponding pair of support rails adapted to be fixed to the floor of the car body.

8. The car seat as claimed in claim 7 further comprising:

a plurality of locking holes formed along a length of each of the support rails; and

a slide lever rotatably coupled to said sliding rails, said slide lever having a stopper for selectively engaging one of the plurality of locking holes to adjust a linear position of the car seat.

9. The car seat as claimed in claim 6 further comprising:

respective guide links each pivotally coupled to an end of respective said holding arms, opposite the biasing member; and

a connecting member provided between the guide links and capable of pivoting the racks toward or away from the pinion in response to actuation of the rotation lever.

10. The car seat as claimed in claim 9 further comprising a connecting cable operatively coupling the connecting member to the rotation lever, such that actuation of the rotation lever produces movement of the connecting member.

11. The car seat as claimed in claim 6 wherein each of the holding arms comprises a first end, and wherein the biasing member is provided between and coupled to the first ends of the holding arms.

12. The car seat as claimed in claim 11 wherein the biasing member and the connecting member are provided on opposite sides of the pinion.