Vehicle seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016280096-A1
Application number	US-201615081376-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 25, 2016
Priority date	Mar 26, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle seat includes a seat bottom and a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom and move relative to the seat bottom. The vehicle seat is coupled to a vehicle floor for movement relative to the vehicle floor between a use arrangement and a storage arrangement.

First claim

1 . A vehicle seat motion system for loading cargo into a vehicle, the vehicle seat motion system comprising
a vehicle seat including a bottom and a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to pivot about relative to the seat bottom, the seat bottom being adapted to slide back and forth along a vehicle floor, a remote interface unit, a sensor unit coupled to the vehicle seat to sense an arrangement of the vehicle seat relative to the vehicle floor, an actuator unit coupled to the seat bottom to cause the seat bottom to slide selectively relative to the vehicle floor, and a controller configured to provide means for receiving a signal from the remote interface unit, activating the actuator unit in response to a sensed force applied to the seat back to facilitate moving the vehicle seat to a predetermined arrangement, and deactivating the actuator unit in response to sensing the vehicle seat at the predetermined arrangement so that storage space in the vehicle is maximized while time and effort expended by a user is minimized.

2 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 1 , wherein the actuator unit includes a longitudinal lock unit movable between a locked position in which the seat bottom is blocked from sliding relative to the vehicle floor and an unlocked position in which the seat bottom is permitted to slide relative to the vehicle floor and a longitudinal lock actuator configured to move the longitudinal lock unit between the locked position.

3 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 2 , wherein the controller deactivates the actuator unit in response to the predetermined arrangement not having been reached after a predetermined period of time has passed since the actuator unit was activated.

4 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 1 , further comprising a seat back actuator arranged to release the seat back from a locked position.

5 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 1 , further comprising a force sensor unit coupled to the controller and configured to detect one-handed forces applied to the seat back or seat front and generate signals indicative of the forces, wherein the controller is further configured to receive activation signals from the force sensor unit and activate the actuator unit, wherein activation of the actuator unit facilitates rearrangement of the vehicle seat to the predetermined arrangement to allow for cargo storage in front of or behind the seat.

6 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 1 , wherein the remote interface unit includes a first set of remote release buttons and an interactive display coupled to a steering wheel and a remote release button coupled to the seat back of the vehicle seat.

7 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 6 , wherein the first set of release buttons and remote release button are programmed to trigger storage, deletion, or recall of various arrangements of the seat.

8 . A vehicle seat motion system for loading cargo into a vehicle, the vehicle seat motion system comprising
a vehicle seat including a bottom and a seat back coupled to the seat bottom to pivot about relative to the seat bottom, the seat bottom being adapted to slide back and forth along a vehicle floor, a remote interface unit, a sensor unit coupled to the vehicle seat to sense an arrangement of the vehicle seat relative to the vehicle floor, an actuator unit comprising a guide rod, a slide mechanism, and a spring clamp, wherein the guide rod is coupled to the slide mechanism in a fixed position, the seat bottom is coupled to the guide rod so as to slide back and forth along the guide rod, and the spring clamp is coupled to the guide rod to move between an engaged locked position and a disengaged slidable position allowing movement of the vehicle seat and locking of the vehicle seat at any location along a longitudinal path of the vehicle seat relative to the vehicle floor, and a controller configured to provide means for receiving a signal from the remote interface unit, activating the actuator unit in response to a sensed force applied to the seat back to facilitate moving the vehicle seat to a predetermined arrangement, and deactivating the actuator unit in response to sensing the vehicle seat at the predetermined arrangement so that storage space in the vehicle is maximized while time and effort expended by a user is minimized.

9 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 8 , wherein the actuator unit further includes a longitudinal lock actuator coupled to the spring clamp via a Bowden cable to control movement between the engaged locked position and disengaged slidable position.

10 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 8 , further comprising a seat height mover including a seat height actuator coupled to a seat height input plate and a seat height support link coupled to the vehicle seat, wherein activation of the seat height actuator unlocks the seat height input plate and the seat height support link to cause movement of the vehicle seat to a predetermined position to maximize space for cargo storage front of or behind the seat.

11 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 8 , further comprising a force sensor unit coupled to the vehicle seat, wherein the controller activates the actuator unit allowing sliding of the vehicle seat forward along the vehicle floor in response to a cargo force applied to the seat back and deactivates the actuator unit blocking further sliding in response to removal the cargo force to the seat back.

12 . The vehicle seat according to claim 11 , wherein the controller deactivates the actuator unit blocking further sliding when the vehicle seat comes into contact with an obstruction.

13 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 12 , wherein the controller actuates a seat back actuator causing folding of the seat back towards the seat bottom in response to an additional force applied to the seat back after the vehicle seat comes into contact with the obstruction.

14 . A vehicle seat motion system for loading cargo, the vehicle seat motion system comprising
a vehicle seat with a seat back and a seat bottom, wherein the seat bottom is adapted to be mounted to a track to slide along a vehicle floor and the seat back is adapted to pivot about the seat bottom and powered means for rearranging the vehicle seat by sliding the seat bottom along the vehicle floor in response to an applied force that is applied to the seat back to allow for cargo storage in front of or behind the vehicle seat.

15 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 14 , wherein the powered means includes a slide motor configured to move the seat bottom along the vehicle floor, a sensor unit that detects forces applied to front and back sides of the seat back, and a controller coupled to the slide motor and the sensor unit.

16 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 14 , further comprising a recline motor arranged to pivot the seat back relative to the seat bottom.

17 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 14 , further comprising an enablement unit configured to provide means for enabling or disabling movement of the vehicle seat.

18 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 17 , wherein the enablement unit includes a vehicle condition sensor configured to detect if a vehicle coupled to the vehicle seat motion system is moving and disable movement of the vehicle seat while the vehicle is moving.

19 . The vehicle seat motion system of claim 15 , wherein the powered means slides the vehicle seat in a forward direction away from a trunk entry of a vehicle when the sensor unit sens

Assignees

• Faurecia Automotive Seating Llc

Inventors

• Bonk Jeffery T
• Frye Dale J
• Moulton Timothy L
• Judson Jared A

Classifications

• B60N2002/0268

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60N2/0232

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60N2/206 Primary

  to a position in which it can be used as a support for objects, e.g. as a tray · CPC title

• B60N2/0244 Primary

  with logic circuits · CPC title

• B60N2/0881

  Activation of the latches by the control mechanism · CPC title