Seat assembly having an adjustable head restraint assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10314401-B2
Application number	US-201715649397-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2017
Priority date	Jul 20, 2016
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A seat assembly having a support post, a headrest, and a latch mechanism. The latch mechanism may have first and second guide wires that control movement of the headrest along first and second axes, respectively. The latch mechanism may permit movement of the headrest along the first and second axes when in an unlatched position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat assembly comprising:
a support post;
a headrest that is moveable with respect to the support post;
a traverse member through which the support post extends, wherein the traverse member is disposed inside the headrest and is moveable along a first axis;
a slider rod that extends through the traverse member, wherein the slider rod is disposed inside the headrest and is moveable along a second axis with respect to the traverse member; and
a latch mechanism having a first guide wire that controls movement of the headrest along the first axis and a second guide wire that controls movement of the headrest along the second axis, wherein the latch mechanism permits movement of the headrest along the first axis and the second axis when in an unlatched position.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the first axis is disposed substantially perpendicular to the second axis.

3. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the latch mechanism further comprises a button and an actuator plate, wherein the actuator plate is disposed between the button and the traverse member and is engageable with the first guide wire and the second guide wire.

4. The seat assembly of claim 3 wherein the actuator plate exerts force on the first guide wire and the second guide wire to disengage the first guide wire from the support post and disengage the second guide wire from the slider rod when the button actuates the actuator plate toward the traverse member.

5. The seat assembly of claim 3 wherein the actuator plate has a body, a first engagement feature that protrudes from the body to engage the first guide wire, and a second engagement feature that protrudes from the body to engage the second guide wire.

6. The seat assembly of claim 5 wherein the first engagement feature is received in a first receiving opening in the traverse member.

7. The seat assembly of claim 6 wherein the second engagement feature is received in a second receiving opening in the traverse member.

8. The seat assembly of claim 7 wherein the actuator plate further comprises a biasing member mounting feature that is disposed between the first engagement feature and the second engagement feature, wherein a biasing member is received in the biasing member mounting feature and extends from the actuator plate to the traverse member to urge the actuator plate away from the traverse member.

9. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the first guide wire is receivable in a first wire guide slot of a support post guide bushing and the second guide wire is receivable in a second wire guide slot of a slider rod guide bushing.

10. A seat assembly comprising:
a seat back;
a support post that is fixedly positioned with respect to the seat back; and
a headrest that is moveable along a first axis and a second axis with respect to the support post, the headrest including:
a traverse member that is disposed inside the headrest, wherein the traverse member is moveable along the first axis and has a support post opening and a slider rod opening;
a support post guide bushing that is disposed inside the support post opening and that has a guide bushing passage through which the support post extends and a first wire guide slot;
a slider rod guide bushing that is disposed inside the slider rod opening and that has a slider bushing passage and a second wire guide slot;
a slider rod that extends through the slider bushing passage and is moveable along the second axis with respect to the traverse member; and
a latch mechanism that has a first guide wire that controls movement of the headrest along the first axis and a second guide wire that controls movement of the headrest along the second axis, wherein the first guide wire is received in the first wire guide slot and the second guide wire is received in the second wire guide slot when the latch mechanism is in a latched position.

11. The seat assembly of claim 10 wherein the first guide wire is received in a notch in the support post and the second guide wire is received in a notch in the slider rod when the latch mechanism is in the latched position.

12. The seat assembly of claim 10 wherein the first guide wire is not received in the first wire guide slot and the second guide wire is not received in the second wire guide slot when the latch mechanism is in an unlatched position in which the headrest is simultaneously moveable along the first axis and the second axis.

13. The seat assembly of claim 10 wherein the traverse member has top side that faces away from the seat back, wherein the first guide wire extends across the top side.

14. The seat assembly of claim 13 wherein the traverse member has a support post block that protrudes from the top side and that has a support post block slot that is defined by the support post block and the top side, wherein the first guide wire extends through the support post block slot.

15. The seat assembly of claim 14 wherein the support post guide bushing is partially received in the support post block.

16. The seat assembly of claim 10 wherein the traverse member has a rear side that faces toward the rear side of the headrest, wherein the second guide wire extends across the rear side of the traverse member.

17. The seat assembly of claim 16 wherein the traverse member has a slider block that protrudes from the rear side of the traverse member and that has a slider block slot that is defined by the slider block and the rear side, wherein the second guide wire extends through the slider block slot.

18. The seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the slider rod guide bushing is partially received in the slider block.

19. The seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the traverse member has a protrusion that protrudes from the rear side of the traverse member and that has a hook that inhibits movement of the second guide wire along the first axis and the second axis.

20. The seat assembly of claim 19 wherein the hook is open in a direction that faces toward the seat back and the slider block slot is open in a direction that faces away from the seat back.

Assignees

• Lear Corp

Inventors

• Schwerma Bernd Rolf
• Diefenthaler Florian
• Brunner Stefan
• PEKLO Thomas

Classifications

• B60N2/894

  with rods solidly attached to the back-rest · CPC title

• B60N2/897

  with sleeves located in the back-rest for guiding the rods of the head-rest · CPC title

• B60N2/818

  with stepwise positioning · CPC title

• B60N2/815 Primary

  Release mechanisms, e.g. buttons · CPC title

• B60N2/865

  providing a fore-and-aft movement with respect to the occupant's head · CPC title