Passive self-adjusting seat assembly for a lawn maintenance vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11877537-B2
Application number	US-202016782409-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 5, 2020
Priority date	Feb 5, 2019
Publication date	Jan 23, 2024
Grant date	Jan 23, 2024

Abstract

A passive self-adjusting seat assembly for a lawn maintenance vehicle having a frame. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly includes a base, a guide assembly attached to the base, and a platform assembly that is selectively movable or slidable relative to the guide assembly in order to maintain an operator in an upright or substantially vertical orientation as the lawn maintenance vehicle traverses uneven or sloped ground. The seat assembly further including a locking assembly for selectively locking the sliding or movement of the platform assembly relative to the guide assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A passive self-adjusting seat assembly for attachment to a frame of a lawn maintenance vehicle, said passive self-adjusting seat assembly comprising:
a base attached to said frame, said base including a pair of opposing side brackets connected by at least two spaced-apart cross brackets that extend laterally between the side brackets;
a guide assembly connected to said base, said guide assembly including a front guide plate and a rear guide plate oriented parallel to each other and operatively connected to each other, wherein each of said guide plates includes a curved guide slot formed therein; and
a platform assembly including a seat support and a seat attached to said seat support, said platform assembly further including a plurality of guide wheels extending longitudinally forward or rearward from a front end of said seat support and longitudinally forward or rearward from a rear end of said seat support wherein each of said guide wheels is received within said guide slot of said front guide plate or said guide slot of said rear guide plate;
wherein said platform assembly is selectively slidable relative to said guide assembly in response to said lawn maintenance vehicle traversing uneven or sloped ground to maintain a user in a substantially vertical orientation.

2. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 1 further comprising a locking assembly connected to said guide assembly for selectively engaging said platform assembly to prevent sliding or movement of said platform assembly relative to said guide assembly.

3. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein said locking assembly includes an indexing rod operatively connected to said front guide plate, wherein said indexing rod is longitudinally translatable relative to said front guide plate so that an end of said indexing rod selectively engages an indexing aperture formed in said platform assembly to prevent said platform assembly from sliding or moving relative to said guide assembly.

4. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein said locking assembly provides a locked position in which said locking assembly engages said platform assembly to prevent sliding or movement of said platform assembly relative to said guide assembly, and said locking assembly also provides an unlocked position in which said locking assembly disengages from said platform assembly to allow sliding or movement of said platform assembly relative to said guide assembly.

5. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein said locking assembly includes a cam bolt attached to said front guide plate, an indexing rod at least partially positioned within said cam bolt, and a biasing member engages said cam bolt and said indexing rod for biasing said indexing rod longitudinally within said cam bolt.

6. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 5 , wherein said cam bolt includes a hollow shank and a cam member located at an end of said hollow shank, said cam member having a cam surface, wherein a camming pin extending from said indexing rod slides along said cam surface when said indexing rod is rotated between a locked position and an unlocked position, said rotation of said indexing rod causes said indexing rod to translate longitudinally relative to said cam bolt.

7. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 1 wherein each of said curved guide slots is formed as an arcuate shape.

8. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 7 wherein said guide slots have a radius of curvature greater than five (5) inches.

9. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 7 wherein a center of a radius of curvature of said guide slots is configured to be located near an operator's chest when seated.

10. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein said platform assembly includes a base, a front guide plate attached to a front end of said base, a rear guide plate attached to a rear end of said base, and a pair of said guide wheels is attached to said front guide plate and a pair of said guide wheels is attached to said rear guide plate.

11. The passive self-adjusting seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein said platform assembly includes a seat support on which said seat is attached.

12. A locking assembly for a passive self-adjusting seat assembly, said seat assembly having a platform assembly engaging and electively movable relative to a guide assembly, said platform assembly including a support plate and said guide assembly including a guide plate positioned parallel to said support plate, said locking assembly comprising:
a cam bolt attached to said guide plate, said cam bolt having a shank and a cam member, said cam member positioned at an end of said shank, said shank having a bore formed into said end thereof, forming a shoulder at an end of said bore; said cam member having a cam surface, said cam surface defining an upper seat and a lower seat; and
an indexing rod having a first end of said indexing rod located within said bore of said cam bolt, a pin being attached to said first end, and a camming pin extending laterally from said indexing rod, said camming pin being in sliding contact with said cam surface of said cam bolt, wherein said first end comprises a threaded bore axially formed partially into said first end, wherein the pin is separate from the indexing rod, and wherein the pin is coupled to the engaging rod via a bolt that engages with the threaded bore;
wherein said indexing rod is rotatable between a locked position in which said camming pin is received within said lower seat of said cam surface and an unlocked position in which said camming pin is received within said upper seat of said cam surface, said camming pin being slidable along said cam surface between said lower seat and said upper seat of said cam surface, wherein sliding of said camming pin between said lower seat and said upper seat causes said pin to engage and disengage from said indexing aperture of said support plate.

13. The locking assembly of claim 12 , wherein when said camming pin is located in said lower seat of said cam surface, said pin is received within an indexing aperture formed through said support plate to prevent movement of said platform assembly relative to said guide assembly, and when said camming pin is located in said upper seat of said cam surface, said pin is withdrawn from said indexing aperture to allow movement of said platform assembly relative to said guide assembly.

14. The locking assembly of claim 12 further comprising a biasing member positioned within said bore of said cam bolt, said biasing member being in contact with said shoulder of said cam bolt and said pin to bias said pin into engagement with said indexing aperture as well as to bias said camming pin toward said lower seat of said cam surface.

15. The locking assembly of claim 14 , wherein said biasing member is a compression spring.

16. The locking assembly of claim 12 , wherein said cam surface is a helical surface extending between said upper and lower seats.

17. The locking assembly of claim 12 , wherein said indexing rod being J-shaped.

Assignees

• Mtd Products Inc

Inventors

• Hiller Adam
• Woodrum Adam
• Kucera Jeff
• Sooy Josh
• Gretchko Michael

Classifications

• A01D75/285 Primary

  with arrangements for holding the harvesting or mowing apparatus in a horizontal position · CPC title

• A01D34/64

  mounted on a vehicle, e.g. a tractor, or drawn by an animal or a vehicle (A01D34/695 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A01D34/82

  Other details · CPC title

• B60N2/39 Primary

  Seats tiltable to compensate for roll inclination of vehicles · CPC title

• B60N2/919

  Positioning and locking mechanisms (B60N2/16, B60N2/18, B60N2/22, B60N2/225 take precedence) · CPC title