Seat

• US 8,075,058 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2006
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Company KG (Martin Putsch,)
• Original Assignee: Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Company KG (Martin Putsch,)
• Inventors: Baumann, Jürgen
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Allred, David E
• Application Number:
  US11/884,937
• Publication Number:
  US 20090015047A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,128 Days
• Field of Search: 297/300.2, 297/342, 297/344.15, 297/321
• US Class Current: 297/342
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2209 by longitudinal displacement of the cushion, e.g. back-rest hinged on the bottom to the cushion and linked on the top to the vehicle frame
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/064 Adjustable inclination or position of seats

Abstract

The invention relates to a seat, in particular, a vehicle or aircraft passenger seat with seat components such as a seat base (12), a backrest (14) and a coupling device (16) for coupling the movement of at least one part of the seat components between an exit (I) and at least one comfortable (II) position and vice versa. According to the invention, the coupling device (16) comprises at least one control piece, which may be controlled using the movement of the backrest (14) and/or the seat base (12) and hence by means of at least one further control piece to move the seat base (12) and/or the backrest (14) between said positions (I, II), whereby an adjustment, in particular, tilting movement of the backrest is linked with a simultaneous adjustment movement of the seat base which, preferably in the rearward transition region into the backrest descends by a given amount relative to the front edge of the seat which simultaneously moves forward to increase the seat depth.

Claims

1. A passenger seat comprising:

a seat base;

a backrest;

a seat structure for erecting the seat on a floor; and

at least one coupling device for coupling a movement of the seat base and a movement of the backrest between an initial position of the seat and at least one comfort position of the seat and vice versa, wherein

the backrest moves from the comfort position to the initial position in a travel direction; and

the coupling device includes;

at least one control member, which can be actuated by movement of the backrest or of the seat base, wherein movement of the backrest moves the seat base and movement of the seat base moves the backrest, between the initial position and the at least one comfort position, the control member includes at least one angle lever, one end of which is rigidly coupled to the backrest, and wherein the angle lever provides a pivot axis about which the seat base is pivotally supported and wherein the pivot axis, at which the seat base is supported by the angle lever, moves downward and in the travel direction when the seat base and the backrest are moved from the initial position to the comfort position; and

at least one mechanical drive that includes a plurality of coupling locations for connecting the angle lever to the seat structure, and the angle lever is supported at least two coupling locations of the plurality of coupling locations, and the at least two coupling locations of the plurality of coupling locations are moved relative to the seat structure during a movement of the backrest and the seat base between the initial position and the at least one comfort position of the seat and vice versa, and wherein the at least two coupling locations of the plurality of coupling locations are moved along with the angle lever during the movement of the backrest and the seat base between the initial position and the at least one comfort position of the seat and vice versa, and

at every stage of the movement of the seat base and the backrest, one of the plurality of coupling locations is a rearmost coupling location with respect to the travel direction, and

the pivot axis, at which the seat base is supported by the angle lever, is located such that, during movement of the seat base and the backrest between the initial position of the seat and the at least one comfort position, the pivot axis lies behind the rearmost coupling location.

2. The seat according to claim 1, wherein in any state of motion between the initial position of the seat and the at least one comfort position, the coupling locations have an invariable distance among one another.

3. The seat according to claim 1, wherein the coupling device includes at least one coupling member, and the seat base can be tilted by the coupling member about the pivot axis at the angle lever about which the seat base is pivotally supported.

4. The passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein a tilt angle of the seat base that is formed between the seat base and the travel direction is increased by a movement of the seat base and the backrest from the initial position of the seat to the at least one comfort position of the seat.

5. The passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein

the plurality of coupling locations is formed by at least one pair of connecting rods,

each connecting rod has a first end and a second end, and the first end is opposite to the second end,

the first end of each of the connecting rods is pivotally connected to the angle lever, and

the second end of each of the connecting rods is pivotally coupled to the seat structure.

6. The passenger seat according to claim 5, wherein

in the initial position, the connecting rods of the at least one pair of connecting rods are tilted toward the backrest, and

in the comfort position, one of the connecting rods of the at least one pair of connecting rods is tilted toward the other connecting rod of the at least one pair of connecting rods.

7. The seat according to claim 5, wherein, as viewed from a side of the seat, in the initial position of the seat base and the backrest, one of the connecting rods of the pair of connecting rods is bent toward the other connecting rod of the pair of connecting rods.

8. The seat according to claim 5, wherein the connecting rods of the mechanical drive and a portion of the angle lever between the coupling locations, in each position of the mechanical drive, provide clearance for a cross-beam, which is a part of the seat structure and which is arranged perpendicular to the travel direction.

9. The passenger seat according to claim 5, wherein in the initial position of the seat base and the backrest, at least one of the connecting rods of the at least one pair of connecting rods is coupled to the angle lever and the seat structure, at coupling locations that are arranged such that a line that connects the coupling locations is tilted, with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the travel direction, in a direction opposite to the travel direction, by at least 45°

.

10. The passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein, in a state in which the one end of the angle lever is rigidly coupled to the backrest, the other end of the angle lever and the backrest form two rays of an angle, the magnitude of which is at least 90 degrees.

11. The passenger seat according to claim 1, wherein the angle lever is pivotally supported at the at least two coupling locations of the plurality of coupling locations.