Vehicle seat mounted angled desk top

• US 9,758,064 B1
• Filed: 08/03/2016
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Dry, Alan George, Line, Johnathan Andrew, Kondrad, Marcos Silva, Preuss, Kevin Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Jose V
• Application Number:
  US15/227,130
• Time in Patent Office: 405 Days
• Field of Search: 297146, 297147, 297145, 297154, 297163, 297164, 297167, 108 44
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/206 to a position in which it can be used as a support for objects, e.g. as a tray
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 3/002 of trays

Abstract

A vehicle seating assembly includes a vehicle desk operably coupled to a rear portion of a seatback. The vehicle desk is movable between at least a stowed position and a use position. A hinge assembly includes a finger-grip rotator knob assembly and a moveable element, such as a working surface or desk. The moveable element is operably coupled to, and rotatable with, the finger-grip rotator knob assembly.

Claims

1. A vehicle seating assembly comprising:

a seatback operably coupled to a base by a pitch joint capable of adjusting the seatback relative to the base about a pitch axis to a user-selected pitch angle; and

a vehicle desk operably coupled to a rear portion of the seatback and capable of rotational motion about a hinge assembly to a use position, wherein the hinge assembly comprises a plurality of recesses each having a corresponding locking pin.

2. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, wherein the hinge assembly is manually transitioned from a stowed position to the use position.

3. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 2, wherein the use position is rotated at least forty-five degrees from the stowed position.

4. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, wherein the hinge assembly comprises a spring-loaded assembly having protrusions that fit into receiving portions to define meshing points.

5. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 4, wherein the meshing points facilitate locked configurations of the hinge assembly in fixed angular increments.

6. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, wherein the hinge assembly is operably coupled to the vehicle desk at an upper corner of the vehicle desk proximate the user.

7. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one drawer in the vehicle desk.

8. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one recessed area in the vehicle desk that can be used to hold an item the user wishes to keep within reach.

9. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 1, wherein the vehicle desk extends substantially beyond the seatback when in the use position.

10. A vehicle seating assembly comprising:

a seatback operably coupled to a base by a pitch joint capable of adjusting the seatback relative to the base about a pitch axis to a user-selected pitch angle; and

a vehicle desk operably coupled to a rear portion of the seatback by a hinge assembly that suspends the vehicle desk above the seatback such that the vehicle desk is free of direct contact with the rear portion when in a stowed position.

11. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 10, wherein the vehicle desk rotates without contacting any of a vehicle door assembly, a dashboard assembly, and an instrument panel.

12. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 10, wherein the vehicle desk remains locked in a use position without user interaction after initial setup.

13. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 10, wherein the rotational motion is facilitated by the hinge assembly, which is manually transitioned from a stowed position to a use position.

14. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 13, wherein the use position is rotated at least forty-five degrees from the stowed position.

15. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 13, wherein the hinge assembly comprises a spring-loaded assembly having protrusions that fit into receiving portions to define meshing points.

16. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 15, wherein the meshing points facilitate locked configurations of the hinge assembly in fixed angular increments.

17. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 13, wherein the hinge assembly is operably coupled to the vehicle desk at an upper corner of the vehicle desk proximate the user.

18. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 10, wherein the vehicle desk extends substantially beyond the seatback when in the use position.

19. A vehicle seating assembly comprising:

a vehicle desk operably coupled to a rear portion of a seatback by a hinge assembly, wherein the vehicle desk is suspended above the seatback by the hinge assembly, and wherein the hinge assembly comprises a plurality of recesses each having a corresponding locking pin, and wherein the locking pins are simultaneously actuated by a pressure-actuated lock release.

20. The vehicle seating assembly of claim 19, wherein the pressure-actuated lock release further comprises:

a plurality of lock release protrusions that correspond with the locking pins such that the lock release protrusions actuate the locking pins between a raised position and a lowered position.