Breakaway footrest
First Claim
1. A breakaway footrest for a vehicle comprising:
- a mounting bracket for securing to a vehicle seat mounting structure, said mounting bracket including a deformable element; and
a footrest rotatably mounted to said mounting bracket for movement between a first stored position and a second use position and including an edge engaging said deformable element for deforming said deformable element to allow said footrest to move to a broken-away position when an excessive force is applied to said footrest.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A footrest is mounted to the frame of a forward seat and is pivotally mounted thereto to be movable between a raised stored position adjacent the back of the seat to a lowered use position for supporting a second row passenger'"'"'s feet. The footrest responds to a force above a predetermined level to breakaway to prevent damage to the footrest which can be subsequently returned to the use or stored position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the footrest comprises a generally U-shaped member having a mounting bracket including the pivot coupling to opposite ends of the member to allow such pivotal movement. In addition, the mounting bracket and U-shaped footrest include a deformable stop extending between the two which holds the footrest in a use position and allows the footrest to pivot downwardly if an excessive force is placed thereon.
37 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A breakaway footrest for a vehicle comprising:
-
a mounting bracket for securing to a vehicle seat mounting structure, said mounting bracket including a deformable element; and
a footrest rotatably mounted to said mounting bracket for movement between a first stored position and a second use position and including an edge engaging said deformable element for deforming said deformable element to allow said footrest to move to a broken-away position when an excessive force is applied to said footrest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A breakaway footrest for a vehicle comprising:
-
a mounting bracket for securing to a vehicle seat mounting structure;
a footrest rotatably mounted to said mounting bracket for movement between a use position and a broken-away position; and
a deformable element on one of said mounting bracket and said footrest and engaging the other of said footrest and mounting bracket to hold said footrest in a use position and allow said footrest to move to a broken-away position when a force of greater than about 40 newtons is applied to the footrest. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A footrest for a vehicle comprising:
-
a mounting bracket including spaced-apart generally L-shaped ends coupled together by a cross member, said L-shaped ends including a flange for securing said bracket to a vehicle seat mounting structure;
a generally U-shaped tubular footrest having ends pivotally mounted to respective L-shaped ends of said mounting bracket for movement between a stored position and a use position; and
a deflectable stop, said L-shaped ends of said mounting bracket engaging said ends of said footrest to hold said footrest in a use position and allow said footrest to move to a broken-away position when a force of greater than about 40 newtons is applied to the footrest. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
-
Specification