Vehicle having transformable rear seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11904743-B2
Application number	US-202117335394-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2021
Priority date	Jun 1, 2021
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

A vehicle includes a cabin interior, a floor, and a tailgate at the rear end of the cabin interior, wherein at least a portion of the tailgate pivots between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position. The vehicle has a first seat track assembly is supported on the floor in the cabin interior, a second seat track assembly supported on the tailgate, and a seat assembly. The seat assembly including a first seat panel, a second seat panel, a bracket that allows the first seat panel and the second seat panel to pivot between a forward facing position and a rearward facing position, and a guide supporting the bracket on one of the first and second seat track assemblies, wherein the seat assembly may slide rearward along the first seat track assembly onto the second seat track assembly when the tailgate is in the open position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a cabin interior;
a floor;
a tailgate at the rear end of the cabin interior, wherein at least a portion of the tailgate pivots between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position;
a first seat track assembly supported on the floor in the cabin interior;
a second seat track assembly supported on the tailgate; and
a seat assembly comprising:
a first seat panel that serves as a seat base in a forward facing seat position;
a second seat panel that serves as a seat back in the forward facing seat position;
a bracket that allows the first and second seat panels to pivot between the forward facing seat position and a rearward facing seat position; and
a guide supporting the bracket on one of the first and second seat track assemblies, wherein the seat assembly may slide rearward along the first seat track assembly and onto the second seat track assembly when the tailgate is in the open position.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the tailgate comprises a lower tailgate and an upper tailgate, wherein the second seat track assembly is supported on the lower tailgate.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the seat assembly may extend rearwardly of a rear end of the lower tailgate when the lower tailgate is in the open position.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first seat track assembly comprises a first pair of seat tracks and the second seat track assembly comprises a second pair of seat tracks.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seat assembly may be stored on the tailgate assembly when the tailgate assembly is in the closed position.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the guide comprises a roller and one or more spring biased supports, wherein the roller rolls within the track.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seat assembly further comprises a headrest, wherein the headrest may be removably attached to the first seat panel or the second seat panel.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first seat panel comprises a first connector for connecting onto a second connector on the floor of the vehicle when the seat assembly is in the forward facing seat position.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the second seat panel comprises a third connector for connecting onto a fourth connector on the tailgate when the seat assembly is in the rearward facing seat position.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seat assembly is a rearward most seat assembly of the vehicle.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle comprises first and second seat assemblies, each seat assembly having a first seat panel, a second seat panel, a bracket, and a guide that enables the bracket to slide on a first pair of the first track assemblies on the floor and a second pair of second track assemblies on the tailgate.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the bracket allows the first seat panel and second seat panel to rotate together at an angle of about 90°.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first seat panel serves as the seat back in the rearward facing seat position and the second seat panel serves as the seat based in the rearward facing seat position.

14. A vehicle comprising:
a cabin interior;
a floor;
a tailgate at the rear end of the cabin interior, wherein at least a portion of the tailgate pivots between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position;
a first seat track assembly comprising a first pair of seat tracks supported on the floor in the cabin interior;
a second seat track assembly comprising a second pair of seat tracks supported on the tailgate; and
a rear seat assembly comprising:
a first seat panel that serves as a seat base in a forward facing seat position and serves as a seat back in a rearward facing seat position;
a second seat panel that serves as a seat back in the forward facing seat position and serves as the seat based in the rearward facing seat position;
a bracket that allows the first seat panel and the second seat panel to pivot together at an angle of about 90° between the forward facing position and the rearward facing position; and
a guide supporting the bracket on one of the first and second seat track assemblies, wherein the seat assembly may slide rearward along the first seat track assembly and onto the second seat track assembly when the tailgate is in the open position.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the tailgate comprises a lower tailgate and an upper tailgate, wherein the second seat track assembly is supported on the lower tailgate.

16. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the seat assembly may extend rearwardly of a rear end of the lower tailgate when the lower tailgate is in the open position.

17. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the seat assembly may be stored on the tailgate assembly when the tailgate assembly is in the closed position.

18. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the guide comprises a roller and one or more spring biased supports, wherein the roller rolls within the track.

19. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the seat assembly further comprises a headrest, wherein the headrest may be removably attached to the seat base or the seat back.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Salter Stuart C
• Glickman David Brian
• Dellock Paul Kenneth
• West Sean Bayle
• Line Johnathan Andrew
• Phung Peter
• Preuss Kevin Wayne

Classifications

• B60N2/3095 Primary

  Auxiliary rear seats accessible from outside the vehicle when in an in-use position · CPC title

• B60N2/065

  Rear seats · CPC title

• B60N2/0735

  Position and orientation of the slide as a whole · CPC title

• B60J5/107

  constructional details, e.g. about door frame, panels, materials used, reinforcements · CPC title

• B60N2/07 Primary

  Slide construction · CPC title