Vehicle seat

• US 8,523,280 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2010
• Issued: 09/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kuno, Satoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Abraham, Tania
• Application Number:
  US12/753,321
• Publication Number:
  US 20100259081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,250 Days
• Field of Search: 297320-322, 297/329, 297/342, 297/343
• US Class Current: 297/322
• 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

Abstract

In a vehicle seat having a seat back and a seat cushion that are placed in one of a normal position and a reclining position that is more reclined than the normal position, a link mechanism is operable to change the positions of the seat back and the seat cushion by moving the seat back and the seat cushion in relation to each other, so that a back contact point of the seat back, where a predetermined portion of the back of the seated person contacts the seat back, contacts the predetermined portion of the back of the seated person in both the normal position and the reclining position, and so that an ischial contact point of the seat cushion, where a tuber-of-ischium of the seated person contacts the seat cushion, contacts the tuber-of-ischium of the seated person in both the normal position and the reclining position.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat comprising:

a seat back that is placed in one of a first position and a second position relative to a mounting portion of a vehicle body on which the seat back is mounted;

a seat cushion that is placed in one of a first position and a second position relative to a mounting portion of the vehicle body on which the seat cushion is mounted; and

a linked position-changing unit that moves the seat back and the seat cushion in relation to each other, so as to change the seat back and the seat cushion between the first positions and the second positions, wherein

the linked position-changing unit includes a multi-point pivot link coupling the seat back with the seat cushion and a straight link pivotally coupled to a front end of the seat cushion such that when the seat back and the seat cushion are moved between the first positions and the second positions, respectively, the straight link and the multi-point pivot link move in relation to one another,

when the seat back is in the first position, the seat back is inclined forward in a frontward direction of the vehicle seat relative to the seat back when the seat back is in the second position, and when the seat back is in the second position, the seat back is reclined backwards in a rearward direction of the vehicle seat relative to the seat back when the seat back is in the first position, and

the linked position-changing unit moves the seat back and the seat cushion in relation to each other, so that a back contact point of the seat back, at which a predetermined portion of a back of a seated person contacts the seat back when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the first positions, is located at substantially the same position as a predetermined portion of the back of the seated person when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the second positions and so that an ischial contact point of the seat cushion, at which a tuber of ischium of the seated person contacts the seat cushion when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the first positions, is located at substantially the same position as the tuber of ischium of the seated person when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the second positions.

2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the back contact point and the ischial contact point when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the first positions is substantially equal to the distance between the back contact point and the ischial contact point when the seat back and the seat cushion are in the second positions.

3. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the seat cushion and the seat back pivot about a point in the vicinity of the ischial contact point when the vehicle seat is viewed in a side view.

4. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein

when the position of the seat back is changed between the first position and the second position while the seated person is seated in the vehicle seat, the position of the seat cushion is changed in connection with the change in the position of the seat back, such that substantially no change arises in a positional relationship of the tuber of ischium of the seated person relative to the seat cushion when the vehicle seat is viewed in a side view.

5. The vehicle seat according to claim 4, wherein the seat cushion pivots about a first point at which the seat cushion is coupled to the linked position-changing unit, the first point being located at the same position as the ischial contact point when the vehicle seat is viewed in the side view, and the seat back pivots about the first point via the linked position-changing unit.

6. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein when the positions of the seat back and the seat cushion are changed from the first positions to the second positions, an upward change in the position of the seat cushion relative to the mounting portion of the vehicle body and a downward change in the position of the seat back relative to the mounting portion of the vehicle body are effected at the same time in relation to each other.

7. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle seat is configured to correct a displacement of the ischial contact point of the seat cushion due to a deformation of the seat cushion based on a load applied from the seated person when the vehicle seat is moved from the first position to the second position and from the second position back to the first position so as to maintain a positional relationship of the tuber of ischium of the seated person relative to the seat cushion.

8. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein when the seat cushion and the seat back are in the first positions, the straight link is inclined in the rearward direction of the vehicle seat, and when the seat cushion and the seat back are in the second positions, the straight link is pivoted in the frontward direction of the vehicle seat.

9. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the multi-point pivot link is an L-shaped link.

10. The vehicle seat according to claim 9, wherein the L-shaped link has three pivot points.

11. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the multi-point pivot link is a three-point pivot link.

12. The vehicle seat according to claim 11, wherein the three-point pivot link is an L-shaped link.