Vehicle seat handle assembly for manually reclining a seat back and adjusting a vertical position of a seat bottom

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11243555-B2
Application number	US-202016824955-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 20, 2020
Priority date	Mar 20, 2020
Publication date	Feb 8, 2022
Grant date	Feb 8, 2022

Abstract

A handle assembly for a seat of a vehicle includes an up/down handle, a recline handle, and a finger guard. The up/down handle is configured to adjust a vertical position of a seat bottom when the up/down handle is rotated relative to the seat about a first pivot axis. The recline handle is configured to allow an angle of a seat back to be adjusted when the recline handle is rotated relative to the seat about a second pivot axis. The finger guard is configured to cover a gap between the up/down handle and the recline handle to prevent an occupant in the seat from inserting a finger into the gap. The finger guard is separate from and attached to the recline handle and is configured to rotate about a third pivot axis relative to the recline handle independent of rotation of the recline handle about the second pivot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A handle assembly for a seat of a vehicle, the handle assembly comprising:
an up/down handle configured to adjust a vertical position of a seat bottom when the up/down handle is rotated relative to the seat about a first pivot axis;
a recline handle configured to allow an angle of a seat back to be adjusted when the recline handle is rotated relative to the seat about a second pivot axis; and
a finger guard configured to cover a gap between the up/down handle and the recline handle to prevent an occupant in the seat from inserting a finger into the gap, wherein the finger guard is separate from and attached to the recline handle and is configured to rotate about a third pivot axis relative to the recline handle independent of rotation of the recline handle about the second pivot axis.

2. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein rotating the up/down handle upward about the first pivot axis causes the up/down handle to contact the finger guard and thereby rotate the finger guard upward about the third pivot axis.

3. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein rotating the recline handle upward about the second pivot axis causes the recline handle to contact the finger guard and thereby rotate the finger guard upward about the third pivot axis.

4. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein the finger guard is pivotally mounted to the recline handle along the third pivot axis.

5. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein the recline handle defines a hole that extends through the recline handle in a lateral direction of the vehicle, and the finger guard includes a plurality of mounting tabs that extend through and engage the hole.

6. The handle assembly of claim 5 further comprising a torsion spring that biases an underside surface of the finger guard toward a top surface of the recline handle, wherein the recline handle defines a first stop for a first end of the torsion spring, and the finger guard defines a second stop for a second end of the torsion spring.

7. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein, if the seat back rotates downward independent of actuation of the recline handle, the recline handle is configured to rotate downward with the seat back.

8. The handle assembly of claim 7 wherein the finger guard is configured to rotate downward with the recline handle until the finger guard contacts the up/down handle, and the recline handle is configured to continue rotating downward with the seat back as the finger guard is at rest due to contact between the finger guard and the up/down handle.

9. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein the up/down handle defines a hole for receiving a fastener to pivotally mount the up/down handle to the seat bottom, the handle assembly further comprising a cap configured to snap onto the up/down handle and cover the hole.

10. The handle assembly of claim 1 wherein the up/down handle defines a hole for receiving a fastener to pivotally mount the up/down handle to the seat bottom, and the finger guard covers the fastener when the up/down and recline handles are not actuated.

11. A seat assembly for a vehicle, the seat assembly comprising:
a seat bottom;
a seat back;
an up/down handle pivotally mounted to the seat bottom along a first pivot axis, wherein rotating the up/down handle relative to the seat bottom about the first pivot axis adjusts a vertical position of the seat bottom;
a recline handle pivotally mounted to the seat bottom along a second pivot axis, wherein rotating the recline handle relative to the seat bottom about the second pivot axis enables an angle of the seat back to be adjusted; and
a finger guard that covers a gap between the up/down handle and the recline handle to prevent an occupant in the seat from inserting a finger into the gap, wherein the finger guard is separate from the recline handle and is pivotally mounted to the recline handle along a third pivot axis to enable rotation of the finger guard relative to the recline handle about the third pivot axis independent of rotation of the recline handle about the second pivot axis.

12. The seat assembly of claim 11 wherein rotating the up/down handle upward about the first pivot axis causes the up/down handle to contact the finger guard and thereby rotate the finger guard upward about the third pivot axis.

13. The seat assembly of claim 11 further comprising a side shield that covers a side of the seat bottom, wherein the up/down and recline handles are disposed outboard of and adjacent to the side shield.

14. The seat assembly of claim 13 wherein each of the up/down and recline handles includes a base, a lever arm, and a grip, and the base of the recline handle is disposed rearward of and higher than the base of the up/down handle.

15. The seat assembly of claim 14 wherein the base of the recline handle defines a socket configured to receive a boss projecting outboard from the side shield to pivotally mount the recline handle to the seat bottom.

16. The seat assembly of claim 15 wherein the socket of the recline handle defines splines configured to engage corresponding splines on a seat recline mechanism.

17. The seat assembly of claim 14 wherein the finger guard includes a base, a lever arm, and a shroud, and the shroud of the finger guard is configured to cover an entire top surface of the grip of the recline handle.

18. The seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the shroud of the finger guard is configured to rest on the top surface of the grip of the recline handle except when the up/down handle is rotated upward while the recline handle is not rotate upward.

19. The seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the shroud of the finger guard is aligned with the grip of the up/down handle in a lateral direction of the vehicle.

20. The seat assembly of claim 17 wherein the shroud of the finger guard includes a top wall configured to cover the entire top surface of the grip of the recline handle and a horizontal gap between the side shield and the recline handle, and a sidewall configured to cover a vertical gap that exits between the top wall of the finger guard and the recline handle when the up/down handle is rotated upward.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Arico Daniel

Classifications

• B60N2/1605 Primary

  characterised by the cinematic · CPC title

• B60N2/22

  the back-rest being adjustable {(B60N2/2878 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60N2/16

  height-adjustable · CPC title

• G05G13/00

  Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with two or more controlling members and also two or more controlled members (interlocking G05G5/08) · CPC title

• G05G1/04

  Controlling members for hand actuation by pivoting movement, e.g. levers · CPC title