Automobile seat

• US 6,183,033 B1
• Filed: 03/29/1999
• Issued: 02/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ikeda Bussan Co., Ltd. (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Ikeda Bussan Co., Ltd. (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Nakane, Katsunori, Arai, Tomiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Dayoan, D. Glenn
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENGLE, PATRICIA LYNN
• Application Number:
  US09/277,376
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 296/65.01, 296/65.09, 296/65.13, 296/65.14, 296/69, 296/66, 297/344.1, 297/313, 297/331, 297/334, 297/335, 297/336, 297/378.1, 297/378.12, 297/378.13, 297/354.13, 297/366, 297/377
• US Class Current: 296/65.09
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3013 the back-rest being hinged on the vehicle frame
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/305 the cushion being hinged on the vehicle frame
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/36 into a loading platform B60N2/065 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2002/0055 characterised by special measures to ensure that no seat or seat part collides, during its movement, with other seats, seat parts or the vehicle itself

Abstract

An automobile seat is composed of a seat cushion, seat back, and supporting element. The seat cushion supports the hip portion of a vehicle occupant at its normal position. The seat cushion is disposed so that the seat cushion may be freely movable while being forwardly rotated about a front end supporting fulcrum from the normal position to an inverted position. The seat cushion has a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal at its inverted position. The seat back supports the back of the vehicle occupant at its normal position. The seat back is disposed so that the seat back may be freely movable while being forwardly fallen down from the normal position to a fall-down position. The seat back has a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal at its fall-down position. The reverse surface of the seat cushion at the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back at the fall-down position are located at substantially the same height level. By the movements of the seat cushion and seat back to their respective inverted position and fall-down position, the seat has its attitude changed from its ordinary state to its flat state. The supporting element fixes the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body. The supporting element supports the seat cushion and seat back so that the seat cushion and seat back may be freely backwardly slidable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second position for the flat state.

Claims

1. An automobile seat whose attitude is freely changeable from an ordinary state to a flat state, comprising:

a seat cushion being rotatable forwardly about a front end support fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a hip portion of a vehicle occupant to an inverted position, the seat cushion having a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal at the inverted position thereof;

a seat back being rotatable forwardly about a lower supporting fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a back of the vehicle occupant to a fall-down position, the seat back having a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal at the fall-down position, the reverse surface of the seat cushion in the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back in the fall-down position being located at substantially the same height level, the seat changed from the ordinary state to the flat state by movements of the seat cushion and seat back to the inverted position and the fall-down position;

a supporting element for fixing the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body, the supporting element supporting the seat cushion and seat back so that the seat cushion and seat back may be freely backwardly slidable from first positions for their ordinary states to second positions for their flat states, respectively;

a first lock mechanism for locking the seat cushion in the normal position thereof;

a second lock mechanism for locking the seat back in the normal position thereof;

a first unlocking mechanism unlocking the first lock mechanism with a movement of the seat cushion toward the second position; and

a second unlocking mechanism for unlocking the second lock mechanism with a movement of the seat back toward the second position.

2. An automobile seat according to claim 1, wherein:

the supporting element is composed of a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a movable rail that supports the seat cushion and seat back, and

the movable rail is provided so that the movable rail may be freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail and freely movable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second state for the flat state.

3. An automobile seat according to claim 1, further comprising a seat frame for supporting the seat cushion and seat back, wherein:

the seat frame includes the front end supporting fulcrum and lower end supporting fulcrum, and

the supporting element supports the seat frame so that the seat frame may be freely slidable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second position for the flat state.

4. An automobile seat according to claim 3, wherein:

the supporting element is composed of a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a roller provided on the seat frame, and

the roller is freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail.

5. An automobile seat according to claim 4, wherein:

the rollers protrude laterally from both sides of the seat frame.

6. An automobile seat according to claim 4, wherein:

the seat frame has a slide lock freely engageable with the fixed rail and an operating lever for moving the slide lock; and

the slide lock having been engaged with the fixed rail fixes the seat frame to the fixed rail.

7. An automobile seat whose attitude is freely changeable from an ordinary state to a flat state, comprising:

a seat cushion being rotatable forwardly about a front end support fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a hip portion of a vehicle occupant to an inverted position, the seat cushion having a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal in the inverted position thereof;

a seat back being rotatable forwardly about a lower supporting fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a back of the vehicle occupant to a fall-down position, the seat back having a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal in the fall-down position, the reverse surface of the seat cushion in the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back in the fall-down position being located at substantially the same height level, the seat changed from the ordinary state to the flat state by movements of the seat cushion and seat back to the inverted position and fall-down position;

a seat frame for supporting the seat cushion and seat back, the seat frame including the front end supporting fulcrum and lower end supporting fulcrum;

a supporting element for fixing the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body, the supporting element supporting the seat frame so that the seat frame may be freely backwardly slidable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second position for the flat state, the supporting element having a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a roller provided on the seat frame, the roller freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail;

a first lock mechanism provided between the seat cushion and seat frame, the first lock mechanism being freely settable to a locked state where the seat cushion is maintained in the normal position and to an unlocked state where the rotational movement of the seat cushion is permitted, and being biased to the locked state;

a second lock mechanism provided between the seat back and seat frame, the second lock mechanism being freely settable to a locked state where the seat back is maintained in the normal position and to an unlocked state where the fall-down movement of the seat back is permitted, and being biased to the locked state;

a first unlocking mechanism changing the first lock mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state with a movement of the seat frame toward the second position; and

a second unlocking mechanism changing the second lock mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state with a movement of the seat cushion toward the second position.

8. An automobile seat whose attitude is freely changeable from an ordinary state to a flat state, comprising:

a seat cushion being rotatable forwardly about a front end support fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a hip portion of a vehicle occupant to an inverted position, the seat cushion having a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal in the inverted position thereof;

a seat back being rotatable forwardly about a lower supporting fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a back of the vehicle occupant to a fall-down position, the seat back having a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal in the fall-down position, the reverse surface of the seat cushion in the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back in the fall-down position being located at substantially the same height level, the seat changed from the ordinary state to the flat state by movements of the seat cushion and seat back to the inverted position and fall-down position;

a seat frame for supporting the seat cushion and seat back, the seat frame including the front end supporting fulcrum and lower end supporting fulcrum;

a supporting element for fixing the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body, the supporting element supporting the seat frame so that the seat frame may be freely backwardly slidable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second position for the flat state, the supporting element having a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a roller provided on the seat frame, the roller freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail;

a first lock mechanism provided between the seat cushion and seat frame, the first lock mechanism being freely settable to a locked state where the seat cushion is maintained in the normal position and to an unlocked state where the rotational movement of the seat cushion is permitted, and being biased to the locked state;

a second lock mechanism provided between the seat back and seat frame, the second lock mechanism being freely settable to a locked state where the seat back is maintained in the normal position and to an unlocked state where the fall-down movement of the seat back is permitted, and being biased to the locked state;

a first unlocking mechanism changing the first lock mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state with a movement of the seat frame toward the second position; and

a second unlocking mechanism changing the second lock mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state with a movement of the seat cushion toward the second position, wherein;

each of the first and second unlocking mechanisms includes a guide plate provided on the fixed rail; and

the movements of the first and second lock mechanisms relative to the guide plate cause the occurrence of the unlocked states.

9. An automobile seat whose attitude is freely changeable from an ordinary state to a flat state, comprising:

a seat cushion being rotatable forwardly about a front end support fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a hip portion of a vehicle occupant to an inverted position, the seat cushion having a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal at the inverted position thereof;

a seat back being rotatable forwardly about a lower supporting fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a back of the vehicle occupant to a fall-down position, the seat back having a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal at the fall-down position, the reverse surface of the seat cushion in the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back in the fall-down position being located at substantially the same height level, the seat changed from the ordinary state to the flat state by movements of the seat cushion and seat back to the inverted position and the fall-down position;

a supporting element for fixing the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body, the supporting element supporting the seat cushion and seat back so that the seat cushion and seat back may be freely backwardly slidable from first positions for their ordinary states to second positions for their flat states, respectively;

wherein

the supporting element is composed of a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a movable rail that supports the seat cushion and seat back,

the movable rail is provided so that the movable rail may be freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail and freely movable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second state for the flat state,

the seat cushion includes, when the seat cushion is located at the normal position, an intermediate supporting fulcrum located backwardly from the front end supporting fulcrum; and

the intermediate supporting fulcrum is freely rotatably connected through a link to a fixed supporting fulcrum located backwardly from the intermediate supporting fulcrum and fixed to the floor of the automobile body.

10. An automobile seat according to claim 9, wherein:

the fixed supporting fulcrum is provided on the fixed rail.

11. An automobile seat according to claim 9, wherein:

the front end supporting fulcrum is disposed in the vicinity of a front end of the movable rail.

12. An automobile seat whose attitude is freely changeable from an ordinary state to a flat state, comprising:

a seat cushion being rotatable forwardly about a front end support fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a hip portion of a vehicle occupant to an inverted position, the seat cushion having a reverse surface which is made substantially horizontal at the inverted position thereof;

a seat back being rotatable forwardly about a lower supporting fulcrum from a normal position for supporting a back of the vehicle occupant to a fall-down position, the seat back having a rear surface which is made substantially horizontal at the fall-down position, the reverse surface of the seat cushion in the inverted position and the rear surface of the seat back in the fall-down position being located at substantially the same height level, the seat changed from the ordinary state to the flat state by movements of the seat cushion and seat back to the inverted position and the fall-down position;

a supporting element for fixing the seat cushion and seat back to an automobile body, the supporting element supporting the seat cushion and seat back so that the seat cushion and seat back may be freely backwardly slidable from first positions for their ordinary states to second positions for their flat states, respectively;

wherein

the supporting element is composed of a fixed rail fixed to a floor of an automobile body and a movable rail that supports the seat cushion and seat back,

the movable rail is provided so that the movable rail may be freely slidably engaged with the fixed rail and freely movable from a first position for the ordinary state to a second state for the flat state,

the seat back includes an intermediate supporting fulcrum; and

the intermediate supporting fulcrum is connected to the fixed rail through a link that is freely foldable.

13. An automobile seat according to claim 12, wherein:

the lower end supporting fulcrum is disposed in the vicinity of a back end of the movable rail.