Vehicle seat assembly having a hardness gradient via “A” surface intrusions and/or protrusions
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A vehicle seat assembly for use by an occupant, the vehicle seat assembly comprising:
- a frame; and
a cushion supported on the frame, the cushion having an A”
surface, facing away from the frame, a “
B”
surface disposed adjacent to and facing the frame, a central portion, and two bolster areas, with each bolster area being adjacent the central portion, the cushion having a plurality of intrusions extending from the “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface to form a hardness gradient between at least one of the bolster areas and the central portion of between 8% to 25%, the intrusions decreasing in size as they extend from that “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface, and wherein the cushion comprises a seat bottom cushion, with the central portion having a front half having a lower hardness than the rear half.
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0 Petitions
Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle seat assembly comprising a cushion having an “A” surface and a “B” surface, a central portion, and two bolster areas. Each bolster area is adjacent the central portion, with the cushion having a plurality of intrusions extending from the “A” surface towards the “B” surface to form a hardness gradient between at least one of the bolster areas and the central portion of between 8% to 25%.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle seat assembly for use by an occupant, the vehicle seat assembly comprising:
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a frame; and a cushion supported on the frame, the cushion having an A”
surface, facing away from the frame, a “
B”
surface disposed adjacent to and facing the frame, a central portion, and two bolster areas, with each bolster area being adjacent the central portion, the cushion having a plurality of intrusions extending from the “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface to form a hardness gradient between at least one of the bolster areas and the central portion of between 8% to 25%, the intrusions decreasing in size as they extend from that “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface, and wherein the cushion comprises a seat bottom cushion, with the central portion having a front half having a lower hardness than the rear half. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A vehicle seat assembly for use by an occupant, the vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a cushion having an “
A”
surface adjacent to the occupant when the occupant is seated in the seat assembly, a “
B”
surface, a central portion, two side bolster areas laterally spaced from each other and adjacent the central portion, and a front bolster area extending between and connecting the side bolster areas, wherein each of the side bolster areas have an uppermost surface portion elevated relative to an uppermost surface portion of the central portion to enable the bolster areas to be capable of supporting an increased load relative to the central portion when the occupant gets in or out of the seat assembly, the central portion of the cushion has a first plurality of intrusions extending from the “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface to form a hardness gradient between at least one of the side bolster areas and the central portion of between 8% to 25%, and the front bolster area has a second plurality of intrusions, less than the first plurality of intrusions, extending from the “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface to form a hardness gradient between the front bolster area and the central portion of 5% to 20%, wherein the side bolster areas do not have any pronounced holes formed therein.- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A vehicle seat assembly for use with a vehicle, the vehicle seat assembly comprising:
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a cushion having a “
A”
surface and a “
B”
surface, the “
A”
surface overlying the “
B”
surface;a central portion; two opposed side bolster areas laterally spaced from each other and adjacent to the central portion; and a front bolster area extending between the side bolster areas, wherein the central portion of the cushion has a first plurality of intrusions extending from the “
A”
surface towards the “
B”
surface to form a hardness gradient between at least one of the side bolster areas and the central portion of between 10% and 20% when measured using ASTM D-3574, and the front bolster area having a second plurality of intrusions extending from the “
A”
towards the “
B”
surface to form a harness gradient between the front bolster area and the central portion of 8% to 18% when measured using ASTM D-3574, when the seat assembly provides a counter response to pressure input to the cushion for demographically matched consumers of the vehicle, wherein the holes have a diameter of 0.2 to 0.5 cm and a length of 0.1 to 5 cm and wherein the bolster areas are laterally spaced from each other and comprise the outermost inboard and outboard sides of the vehicle seat assembly. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification