Flattable seat structure of automobile

• US 6,196,613 B1
• Filed: 07/15/1999
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1998
• 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: Arai, Tomiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Gordon, Stephen T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENGLE, PATRICIA LYNN
• Application Number:
  US09/353,784
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• Field of Search: 296/65.01, 296/65.09, 296/65.13, 296/65.14, 296/69, 296/66, 296/65.05, 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, 297/367
• US Class Current: 296/65.13
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3031 in a longitudinal-vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/3065 in a longitudinal-vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/366 characterised by the locking device

Abstract

A flattable seat structure of an automobile includes: a slide rail fixed to a floor of the automobile; a seat cushion having a front roller which is engaged with the slide rail in a front-and-rear direction slidably; a first lock mechanism for maintaining the seat cushion in a seated state; a seat back having a lower-end roller which is engaged with the slide rail in the front-and-rear direction slidably; a second lock mechanism for maintaining the seat back in a seated state; a cushion link connected with a middle fulcrum of the seat cushion and connected with a middle portion of the slide rail; and a back link whose one end is connected with a middle fulcrum of the seat back positioned in an upper side further than the lower-end roller, the other end of the back link being connected with the middle portion of the slide rail. In the construction, after the first and second lock mechanism are released, a back surface of the seat cushion and a rear surface of the seat back are facing and in a same horizontal level.

Claims

1. A flattable seat structure of an automobile, comprising:

a slide rail fixed to a floor of the automobile;

a seat cushion composing a seat, the seat cushion having a front roller at its front side projected to a vehicle transverse direction outer side, the front roller being engaged with the slide rail in a front-and-rear direction slidably;

a first lock mechanism for maintaining the seat cushion in a seated state;

a seat back composing the seat, the seat back having a lower-end roller at its lower end projected to the vehicle transverse direction outer side, the lower-end roller being engaged with the slide rail in the front-and-rear direction slidably;

a second lock mechanism for maintaining the seat back in a seated state;

a cushion link whose one end is connected with a middle fulcrum of the seat cushion positioned in a rear side further than the front roller, the other end of the cushion link being connected with a middle portion of the slide rail; and

a back link whose one end is connected with a middle fulcrum of the seat back positioned in an upper side further than the lower-end roller, the other end of the back link being connected with the middle portion of the slide rail,

wherein after the first lock mechanism is released, the front roller is slid to the rear side so that the seat cushion is turned over in a forward-rotational direction; and

wherein after the second lock mechanism is released, the lower-end roller is slid to the rear side so that the seat back is folded in a forward-rotational direction,

thereby a back surface of the seat cushion, which faces upward and is in a horizontal state, is substantially level with a rear surface of the seat back which faces upward and is in the horizontal state.

2. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 1, further comprising:

a fixing link fixed to a side surface of the seat cushion, the front roller being provided to a front end of the fixing link, the middle fulcrum being provided at a rear end of the fixing link.

3. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 1, further comprising:

a bracket provided to a vicinity of the middle portion of the slide rail, the bracket supporting the cushion link and the back link so that they are capable of pivoting.

4. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 3, wherein

the bracket is formed with a stepped section for upwardly supporting the middle portion of the slide rail from a lower side of the slide rail.

5. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 1, wherein

a notched section where the lower-end roller is taken in and out is formed on an upper portion of the slide rail.

6. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 1, wherein

portions of the slide rail, which correspond to a position where the front roller is located when the seat cushion is in the seated state, to a position where the front roller is located when the seat cushion is in the horizontal state, to a position where the lower-end roller is located when the seat back is in the seated state and to a position where the lower-end roller is located when the seat back is in the horizontal state, are provided so that their dimensions in the up-and-down direction substantially coincide with diameters of the front roller and the lower-end roller;

and

a dimension of the slide rail in the up-and-down direction other than the four positions is set so as to be larger than the diameters of the front roller and the lower-end roller.

7. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 6, wherein

the slide rail is composed of an upper surface section, a side surface section and a lower surface section;

and

the upper surface section of the slide rail corresponding to the four positions is projected downward,

thereby the dimension between a lower surface of the upper surface section and an upper surface of the lower surface section substantially coincides with the diameters of the front roller and the lower-end roller.

8. A flattable seat structure of an automobile according to claim 5, wherein

a concave section for housing luggage including a spare tire is formed in a position below the seat back on the floor of the automobile.