Vehicle seat bottom assembly having an anti-submarine device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9403452-B2
Application number	US-201414333573-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2014
Priority date	Jul 17, 2014
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

A seat bottom assembly includes a seat bottom frame and an anti-submarining device having a pivot shaft and a panel. The frame extends along a longitudinal axis between a front edge and a rear edge and the pivot shaft is mounted on the frame. The panel extends along the longitudinal axis between a front edge and a rear edge and is mounted to the pivot shaft for pivoting movement between a design position and an open position angularly spaced from the design position. The panel opposes forward displacement of an occupant supported by the frame while in the open position. The rear edge of the panel is spaced forward of a midpoint of the frame such that only a forward portion of the seat bottom assembly between the midpoint and the front edge of the frame opposes forward displacement of the occupant when the panel is in the open position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat bottom assembly for a vehicle, the seat bottom assembly comprising:
a seat bottom frame extending along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a front edge and a rear edge; and
an anti-submarining device configured to minimize submarining movement of an occupant during rapid deceleration of the vehicle, the anti-submarining device including:
a pivot shaft mounted on the seat bottom frame, and
a panel extending along the longitudinal axis between a front edge and a rear edge, the panel mounted to the seat bottom frame through the pivot shaft for pivoting movement between a design position and an open position angularly spaced from the design position, the panel configured to oppose forward displacement of the occupant supported by the seat bottom frame while in the open position, wherein the rear edge of the panel is spaced forward of a midpoint of the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis;
a one-way locking device operable to permit pivoting movement of the panel from the design position and prevent pivoting movement of the panel to the design position; and
a biasing device operably positioned between the seat bottom frame and the panel to urge the panel to the open position;
wherein the one-way locking device is positioned outside of the seat bottom frame and the biasing device is positioned inside the seat bottom frame.

2. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a biasing device operably positioned between the seat bottom frame and the panel to urge the panel to the open position.

3. The seat bottom assembly of claim 2 , further comprising a latching assembly including:
a striker fixed to the panel;
a latch arranged for pivoting movement between a latched position engaging the striker and a released position spaced from the striker; and
an actuator operable to move the latch from the latched position to the released position.

4. The seat bottom assembly of claim 3 , wherein the panel extends along a lateral direction of the vehicle between an inner edge and an outer edge, and wherein the striker is substantially centered between the inner and outer edges.

5. The seat bottom assembly of claim 3 , wherein the actuator exerts a pulling force on the latch.

6. The seat bottom assembly of claim 2 , wherein the biasing device encircles the pivot shaft.

7. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the one-way locking device includes a release positioned on an outwardly-facing edge of the seat bottom frame.

8. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the one-way locking device includes a ratchet with a plurality of teeth, each tooth defining one of a plurality of different positions of the panel.

9. The seat bottom assembly of claim 8 , wherein the ratchet is fixed on the pivot shaft, and wherein the one-way locking device further comprises a pawl mounted on the seat bottom frame, the ratchet and the pivot shaft freely rotatable in an angular direction corresponding to pivoting movement of the panel toward the open position, the ratchet and the pivot shaft locked against rotation in an angular direction corresponding to pivoting movement of the panel toward the design position.

10. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pivot shaft extends between opposite sides of the seat bottom frame and wherein the biasing device further comprises left and right springs encircled by the seat bottom frame.

11. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the panel and the seat bottom frame overlap, and wherein the panel extends less than half-way across the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis.

12. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pivot shaft is positioned closer to the front edge of the seat bottom frame than the rear edge of the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis, and wherein a central axis of the pivot shaft is positioned closer to the front edge of the seat bottom frame than a midpoint of the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis.

13. The seat bottom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seat bottom frame defines a depth along the longitudinal axis and substantially one quarter of the depth is lost when the panel is in the open position.

14. A seat bottom assembly for a vehicle, the seat bottom assembly comprising:
a seat bottom frame extending along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a front edge and a rear edge;
an anti-submarining device configured to minimize submarining movement of an occupant during rapid deceleration of the vehicle, the anti-submarining device including:
a pivot shaft mounted on the seat bottom frame, and
a panel extending along the longitudinal axis between a front edge and a rear edge, the panel mounted to the seat bottom frame through the pivot shaft for pivoting movement between a design position and an open position angularly spaced from the design position, the panel configured to oppose forward displacement of the occupant supported by the seat bottom frame while in the open position;
wherein the rear edge of the panel is spaced forward of a midpoint of the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis such that only a forward portion of the seat bottom assembly between the midpoint and the front edge of the seat bottom frame opposes forward displacement of the occupant when the panel is in the open position; and

a latching assembly including:
a striker fixed to the panel;
a latch arranged for pivoting movement between a latched position engaging the striker and a released position spaced from the striker; and
an actuator operable to move the latch from the latched position to the released position;
Wherein the front edge of the seat bottom frame includes a slot, and wherein the striker is received in the slot when the panel is in the design position.

15. A seat bottom assembly for a vehicle, the seat bottom assembly comprising:
a seat bottom frame extending along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a front edge and a rear edge;
an anti-submarining device configured to minimize submarining movement of an occupant during rapid deceleration of the vehicle, the anti-submarining device including:
a pivot shaft mounted on the seat bottom frame, and
a panel extending along the longitudinal axis between a front edge and a rear edge, the panel mounted to the seat bottom frame through the pivot shaft for pivoting movement between a design position and an open position angularly spaced from the design position, the panel configured to oppose forward displacement of the occupant supported by the seat bottom frame while in the open position;
wherein the rear edge of the panel is spaced forward of a midpoint of the seat bottom frame along the longitudinal axis such that only a forward portion of the seat bottom assembly between the midpoint and the front edge of the seat bottom frame opposes forward displacement of the occupant when the panel is in the open position;
a one-way locking device operable to permit pivoting movement of the panel from the design position and prevent pivoting movement of the panel to the design position; and
a biasing device operably positioned between the seat bottom frame and the panel to urge the panel to the open position, wherein the biasing device and at least a portion of the one-way locking device encircle the pivot shaft;
wherein the one-way locking device is positioned outside of the seat bottom frame and the biasing device is positioned inside the seat bottom frame.

Assignees

• Subramanian Arunkumar
• Venkatakrishnan Prasanna
• Fca Us Llc

Inventors

• Subramanian Arunkumar
• Venkatakrishnan Prasanna

Classifications

• B60N2/42763 Primary

  with anti-submarining systems · CPC title

• B60N2/4221

  due to impact coming from the front · CPC title

• B60N2/4279

  electric or electronic triggering · CPC title