Automatic presentable swiveling seat

• US 9,242,581 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2014
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Farooq, Iskander, Faruque, Mohammed Omar, Jaradi, Dean M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pedder, Dennis H
• Application Number:
  US14/314,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20150375638A1
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 296/65.06, 296/65.07, 297/344.13, 297/344, 297/24, 248/157, 248/415, 248/416, 248/425, 248/429
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0224 Non-manual adjustments, e.g. with electrical operation
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/06 slidable B60N2/12 , B60N2/2209 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0715 C or U-shaped
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0722 Constructive details
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/14 rotatable, e.g. to permit easy access B60N2/10 , B60N2/2869 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/1635 characterised by the drive mechanism
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/245 for handicapped persons

Abstract

An automobile seat includes a cushion, a back coupled with the cushion, and a mounting unit. The mounting unit includes a mounting track and an actuator slidably coupled with the mounting track and coupled with the cushion. The actuator is extendable along an axis to move the cushion toward and away from the mounting track and is rotatable about the axis to rotate the cushion relative to the mounting track.

Claims

1. An automobile seat, comprising:

a cushion;

a back coupled with the cushion; and

a mounting unit, comprising;

a mounting track;

an actuator having a housing slidably coupled with the mounting track and a piston coupled with the cushion and automatically extendable from the housing along an axis to move the cushion toward and away from the mounting track and automatically rotatable about the axis to rotate the cushion relative to the mounting track.

2. The automobile seat of claim 1, wherein:

the mounting track is coupleable with a portion of an automobile adjacent a floor thereof so as to support the seat and mount the seat to an automobile;

the actuator is extendable through an extension range at least equal to a height of a rocker of the automobile above the mounting track thereof.

3. The automobile seat of claim 1, wherein the actuator is extendable through an extension range of at least 80 mm.

4. The automobile seat of claim 1, wherein the actuator is rotatable through a rotation range of between about 75 degrees and 90 degrees.

5. The automobile seat of claim 4, wherein the actuator is independently extendable and rotatable.

6. The automobile seat of claim 1, wherein:

the mounting track is one of a pair of mounting tracks spaced apart from one another at a first lateral distance;

the mounting unit further includes a pair of support tracks spaced apart from one another at a second lateral distance that is greater than the first lateral distance such that the support tracks are disposed laterally outward of the mounting tracks; and

the cushion is releasably coupleable with the support tracks.

7. The automobile seat of claim 6, wherein:

the support tracks are fixed relative to the mounting tracks; and

the coupling of the cushion with the support tracks decouples during a movement of the cushion away from the mounting tracks by the actuator.

8. The automobile seat of claim 7, wherein the decoupling of the coupling of the cushion with the support tracks allows the actuator to rotate the cushion.

9. The automobile seat of claim 6, wherein the actuator is slideable along the mounting tracks to move the actuator in a longitudinal direction along the mounting tracks such that the cushion further moves in the longitudinal direction along the supporting tracks.

10. An automobile, comprising:

a floor;

a seat; and

a seat mount coupled between the floor and the seat, the mount including an actuator with a housing mounted to the floor and a piston coupled with the seat, the piston;

received within the housing;

automatically extendable from the housing to move the seat vertically between a driving height and an access height that is higher than the driving height; and

automatically rotatable to turn the seat between a forward-facing position that corresponds with the driving height and a side-facing position that corresponds to the access height.

11. The automobile of claim 10, wherein the seat mount further includes a mounting track extending longitudinally along the floor, the housing of the actuator being mounted to the floor by being slidably coupled with the mounting track such that the seat is moveable in a longitudinal direction with respect to the floor.

12. The automobile of claim 11, further including a pair of support tracks spaced laterally of the mounting track, the seat being releasably coupleable with the support tracks such that the seat is coupled with the support tracks when the seat is in the forward-facing position at the driving height and decoupled with the support tracks when the seat is at the access height.

13. The automobile of claim 10, further including a body within which the floor is included, the body further defining a door opening and a rocker extending at a rocker height between the floor and a lower edge of the door opening, wherein the access height of the seat is greater than the rocker height, and the driving height is less than the rocker height.

14. The automobile of claim 13, wherein the side-facing position of the seat is such that a portion of the seat extends laterally from the seat mount and over a portion of the rocker.

15. The automobile seat of claim 10, wherein:

the access height is at least 80 mm above the driving height; and

the side-facing position is at least 75 degrees from the forward-facing position.

16. A system for positioning a seat with respect to a vehicle door, comprising:

an actuator including a piston coupled with the seat and a housing coupled with a floor of the vehicle, the piston received within the housing; and

a controller coupled with the actuator and operable to cause the actuator to;

extend the piston from the housing to move the seat vertically between a driving height and an access height that is higher than the driving height; and

rotate the piston relative to the housing to turn the seat between a forward-facing position and a side-facing position.

17. The system of claim 16, further including an input device coupled with the controller to cause the controller to extend and rotate the actuator according to a user input.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the user input includes one of:

an access position command, whereby the controller moves the seat to the access height and rotates the seat to the side-facing position; and

a driving position command, whereby the controller moves the seat to the driving height and rotates the seat to the forward-facing position.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein:

the forward-facing position is such that the seat is aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle; and

the side-facing position is such that the seat is within about 75 degrees and 90 degrees of the longitudinal axis in a direction toward the vehicle door.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein:

the access height is at least 80 mm above the driving height; and

the side-facing position is at least 75 degrees from the forward-facing position.