Armrest retractable upon an adverse event and seat assembly employing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9573497-B2
Application number	US-201314135857-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2013
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

The present invention in one or more embodiments provides a seat assembly of a vehicle, including a seat base, a seat back communicating with the seat base, an armrest communicating with at least one of the seat back and the seat base, and a pretension unit connected to the armrest such that the armrest is retractable upon activation of the pretension unit. The pretension unit may include a pretensioner, a pulley, and a cable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat assembly of a vehicle, comprising:
a seat base;
a seat back connected to the seat base;
an armrest rotatably coupled with at least one of the seat back and the seat base; and
a pretension unit including a cable and a pretensioner, the cable being connected to the armrest such that the armrest is retractable to be pulled to rotate forwardly and downwardly toward the seat base upon an activation of the pretensioner.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pretension unit further includes a pulley in communication with the cable, such that the cable is connected to an underside of the armrest via the pulley to effect a pulling of the armrest toward the seat base.

3. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the armrest includes a first part, a second part, and a lockable hinge connecting the first and second parts, the second part extends away from the seat back in an open position and retracts towards the seat base in a closed position, and wherein the cable is connected to an underside of the second part.

4. The seat assembly of 3 , wherein the second part is received within a cavity positioned on and defined into the seat back when fully retracted.

5. The seat assembly of claim 3 , wherein the pretension unit further includes a pulley in communication with the cable and positioned spaced apart from the lockable hinge.

6. The seat assembly of claim 3 , further comprising a glider connected to the second part such that an end of the cable glides through the glider between the open position and the closed position.

7. A seat assembly of a vehicle, comprising:
a seat base;
a seat back connected to the seat base;
an armrest connected to the seat back and including a first part, a second part, and a lockable hinge connecting the first and second parts;
a glider positioned on an underside of the second part; and
a pretension unit including a cable, a pulley and a pretensioner, the pulley being spaced apart from the lockable hinge, the cable contacting and being glidable through the glider via the pulley to effect a pulling of the second part toward the seat base upon an activation of the pretensioner in response to an adverse event, wherein the second part is received within a cavity of the seat back when fully retracted.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc
• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Jaradi Dean M
• Faruque Mohammed Omar

Classifications

• B60N2/76

  in a recess of the cushion · CPC title

• B60N2/753

  movable to an inoperative position · CPC title

• B60N2/757 Primary

  in a recess of the back-rest · CPC title

• B60N2/4235

  transversal · CPC title

• B60N2/42727 Primary

  involving substantially rigid displacement · CPC title