Reclining rear seat assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10369904-B2
Application number	US-201715670388-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2017
Priority date	Nov 25, 2016
Publication date	Aug 6, 2019
Grant date	Aug 6, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle seat assembly for a vehicle includes a bulkhead mountable to a vehicle body structure at a first location. The seat assembly also includes a seat bottom having a seat pan mountable to the vehicle body structure at a second location that is different than the first location. A seat back of the seat assembly includes a frame. A lower end of the frame is pivotably attached to the bulkhead at a pivot point so that the seat back is pivotable relative to the bulkhead and is supported above the seat bottom by the bulkhead when the vehicle seat assembly is mounted to the vehicle body. A recline mechanism has a driving arrangement mounted to one of the bulkhead and the frame and a driven arrangement mounted to the other of the bulkhead and the frame. The recline mechanism is operable to pivot the seat back relative to the bulkhead.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rear seat assembly for a vehicle having a vehicle body, the rear seat assembly comprising:
a bulkhead pivotably mountable to the vehicle body;
a seat back including a frame having a front side and a backside, and a cushion supported by the frame, wherein the frame is pivotably attached to the bulkhead with the backside facing the bulkhead; and
a recline mechanism arranged to pivot the seat back relative to the bulkhead.

2. The rear seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the recline mechanism includes a drive arrangement mounted to one of the bulkhead and the seat back and a driven arrangement mounted to the other of the bulkhead and the seat back, wherein the drive arrangement is configured to be driveably engaged with the driven arrangement such that actuation of the drive arrangement pivots the seat back relative to the bulkhead.

3. The rear seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein the drive arrangement is mounted to the bulkhead and the driven arrangement is mounted to the seat back.

4. The rear seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein the drive arrangement includes a pinion driveably connected to an actuator, and the driven arrangement includes a sector gear configured to be in meshing engagement with the pinion.

5. The rear seat assembly of claim 4 , wherein at least one end of the sector gear is attached to the frame with a removable fastener, and another end of the sector gear is pivotably attached to the frame.

6. The rear seat assembly of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is an electric motor.

7. The rear seat assembly of claim 1 further comprising a fold-forward mechanism arranged to pivot the bulkhead to a fold-forward position.

8. The rear seat assembly of claim 7 further comprising a bracket configured to connect the bulkhead to the vehicle body and wherein the fold-forward mechanism further includes an actuator and a gearing arrangement configured to pivot the bulkhead relative to the bracket.

9. A vehicle seat assembly for a vehicle having a vehicle body, the vehicle seat assembly comprising:
a bulkhead mountable to the vehicle body at a first location and including a pair of spaced brackets;
a seat bottom including a seat pan mountable to the vehicle body at a second location that is different than the first location and including a bottom cushion disposed on the seat pan;
a seat back including a frame having a pair of spaced apart side members and at least one cross member extending between the side members, wherein a lower end of each of the side members is pivotably attached to a corresponding one of the brackets at a pivot point such that the seat back is pivotable relative to the bulkhead about the pivot point and is supported above the seat bottom by the bulkhead when the vehicle seat assembly is mounted to the vehicle body, and wherein the frame further includes a backside facing the bulkhead and a front side having a back cushion adjacent thereto; and
a recline mechanism including a driving arrangement mounted to one of the bulkhead and the frame and a driven arrangement mounted to the other of the bulkhead and the frame, wherein the recline mechanism is operable to pivot the seat back relative to the bulkhead.

10. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the pivot points are vertically positioned above a top surface of the bottom cushion when the vehicle seat assembly is mounted to the vehicle body.

11. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the seat bottom and the seat back are not directly connected to each other when the vehicle seat assembly is mounted to the vehicle body.

12. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the drive arrangement includes a pinion driveably connected to an actuator, and the driven arrangement includes a sector gear configured to be in meshing engagement with the pinion.

13. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 12 , wherein the sector gear is attached to one of the side members at only two attachment points, wherein one of the attachment points is formed by a removable fastener and the other of the attachments points is operable to permit pivoting of the sector gear relative to the one of the side members when the removable fastener is removed.

14. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the drive arrangement is mounted to the bulkhead and the driven arrangement is mounted to the frame.

15. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the bulkhead is pivotably mountable to the vehicle body at the pivot point.

16. The vehicle seat assembly of claim 15 further comprising a fold-forward mechanism configured to pivot the bulkhead to a fold-forward position, wherein the fold-forward mechanism further includes an actuator arranged to pivot the bulkhead about the pivot points.

17. A method of assembling a vehicle seat including a bulkhead, a back frame, and a recline mechanism having a drive member and a driven member, the method comprising:
attaching the drive member to one of the bulkhead and the back frame;
attaching the driven member to the other of the bulkhead and the back frame;
pivotably attaching the back frame to the bulkhead with a backside of the back frame facing the bulkhead;
with the drive member and the driven member disconnected, installing trim on the back frame while the back frame is in a trim-installation position; and
pivoting the back frame towards the bulkhead and subsequently connecting the driven member to the driver member, wherein the bulkhead is pivotably mountable to a vehicle body, and the recline mechanism is configured to enable the back frame to pivot relative to the bulkhead.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
removing a fastener of the driven member to permit pivoting of the driven member; and
pivoting the driven member to disengage the driven member from the drive member.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the drive member is connected to the bulkhead and includes a pinion, and the driven member is a sector gear having a first end pivotably connected to the back frame and a second end defining an aperture, and wherein the method further comprises installing a threaded fastener through the aperture and into the back frame to secure the sector gear in meshing engagement with the pinion.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein, in the trim-installation position, an angle between the back frame and the bulkhead is at least 60 degrees.

Assignees

• Lear Corp

Inventors

• Tarade Kishore
• Pater Rafal

Classifications

• B60N2/68 Primary

  Seat frames · CPC title

• B60N2/2213

  Gear wheel driven mechanism (B60N2/2231, B60N2/225 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60N2/20 Primary

  the back-rest being tiltable, e.g. to permit easy access (B60N2/04, B60N2/22 {, B60N2/3002} take precedence) · CPC title

• B60R21/026

  Rigid partitions inside vehicles, e.g. between passengers and load compartments (B60R21/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60N2/3013

  the back-rest being hinged on the vehicle frame · CPC title