Integrated power thigh extender

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9616776-B1
Application number	US-201514941936-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 16, 2015
Priority date	Nov 16, 2015
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle seat assembly includes a seat portion with a carrier assembly having an adjustable thigh support assembly disposed therein. First and second slide members are disposed on a support platform coupled to the carrier assembly in a carriage receiving area. A carriage assembly is configured for lateral reception in the carriage receiving area. The carriage assembly includes first and second guide channels. The first and second slide members are slideably received in the first and second guide channels of the carriage assembly to slideably couple the carriage assembly to the carrier assembly for lateral movement of the carriage assembly between extended and stowed positions relative to a rear portion of the seat portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle seat, comprising:
a seat portion having front and rear portions;
a carrier assembly disposed in the front portion and including a first side member spaced-apart from a second side member to define a carriage receiving area therebetween;

first and second slide members disposed in the carriage receiving area, wherein the first and second slide members are disposed on an upper surface of a support platform, the support platform coupled to the carrier assembly in the carriage receiving area; and
a carriage assembly slideably received in the carriage receiving area, the carriage assembly including first and second guide channels disposed on an underside of a body portion, wherein the first and second slide members are slideably received in the first and second guide channels of the carriage assembly to slideably couple the carriage assembly to the carrier assembly for movement of the carriage assembly between stowed and extended positions relative to the rear portion of the seat portion.

2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 , including:
a receiving aperture disposed through the support platform between the first and second slide members.

3. The vehicle seat according to claim 2 , including:
a motor coupled to the support platform, the motor having an outwardly extending drive shaft configured for rotation as powered by the motor; and
a mounting bracket operably coupled to the drive shaft and further coupled to the body portion of the carriage assembly through the receiving aperture of the support platform, wherein the motor is configured to drive the carriage assembly between stowed and extended positions as coupled thereto via the mounting bracket.

4. The vehicle seat according to claim 1 , wherein a gap is formed between the front portion of the seat portion and the rear portion of the seat portion when the carriage assembly is in the extended position.

5. The vehicle seat according to claim 4 , including:
a gap hider assembly having a first portion coupled to the carriage assembly for movement therewith, and a second portion coupled to the support platform, wherein the first portion is configured to slide along an upper surface of the second portion as the carriage assembly moves between the stowed and extended positions.

6. The vehicle seat according to claim 5 , including:
a seat cover disposed on the front portion of the seat portion, wherein the seat cover is operably coupled to the carriage assembly and includes an extension portion configured to cover the gap between the front portion of the seat portion and the rear portion of the seat portion when the carriage assembly is moved to the extended position.

7. The vehicle seat according to claim 6 , including:
a biasing member coupled to the extension portion of the seat cover, wherein the biasing member biases the extension portion of the seat cover towards a concealed position between the front and rear portions of the seat portion when the carriage assembly is in the stowed position, and further wherein the biasing member is flexibly resilient to pay out the extension portion of the seat cover as the carriage assembly moves from the stowed position to the extended position.

8. A vehicle seat, comprising:
a carrier assembly disposed in a seat portion and having a carriage receiving area disposed between first and second side members;
a carriage assembly slideably coupled to the carrier assembly for movement between extended and stowed positions; and
a slide assembly having upper and lower slide members disposed on the carriage assembly and the carrier assembly, respectively, for guiding the movement of the carriage assembly relative to the carrier assembly, wherein the upper slide member includes inner and outer L-shaped brackets having inwardly extending mounting portions to define a guide channel therebetween, and further wherein the inner and outer L-shaped brackets are disposed on an underside of the carriage assembly.

9. The vehicle seat according to claim 8 , wherein the lower slide member is disposed on a support platform coupled to the carrier assembly.

10. The vehicle seat according to claim 9 , wherein the lower slide member includes inner and outer L-shaped flanges having outwardly extending mounting portions slideably received in the guide channel of the carriage assembly, and further wherein the inner and outer L-shaped flanges are disposed on an upper side of the support platform.

11. The vehicle seat according to claim 10 , wherein the slide assembly includes first and second slide assemblies.

12. The vehicle seat according to claim 11 , including:
a motor disposed on the support platform and operably coupled to the carriage assembly for powering the carriage assembly between the extended and stowed positions; and
a mounting bracket operably coupled to a drive shaft extending outwardly from the motor at a ferrule portion of the mounting bracket, wherein the mounting bracket is further coupled to a body portion of the carriage assembly through a receiving aperture disposed through a body portion of the support platform.

13. A vehicle seat, comprising:
a seat portion including a seat frame;
a carrier assembly disposed in the seat portion and operably coupled to the seat frame, the carrier assembly including a first side member spaced-apart from a second side member to define a carriage receiving area therebetween;
a support platform disposed in the carriage receiving area and having at least one slide member disposed on an upper surface thereof;
a carriage assembly received in the carriage receiving area, the carriage assembly including a substantially planar body portion having at least one guide channel disposed on an underside of the body portion of the carriage assembly for slideably receiving the at least one slide member, wherein the at least one guide channel is defined by inner and outer brackets which are spaced-apart from one another on the underside of the body portion of the carriage assembly having inwardly extending mounting portions;
a motor operably coupled to the carrier assembly and having an outwardly extending drive shaft configured for rotation as powered by the motor; and
a mounting bracket operably coupled to the drive shaft and further coupled to the body portion of the carriage assembly, wherein the motor is configured to drive the carriage assembly between stowed and extended positions.

14. The vehicle seat according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one slide member is defined by inner and outer flanges disposed on the upper surface of the support platform, the inner and outer flanges having outwardly extending mounting portions slideably received on the inwardly extending mounting portions of the inner and outer brackets.

15. The vehicle seat according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one guide channel includes first and second guide channels.

16. The vehicle seat according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one slide member includes first and second slide members received in the first and second guide channels.

17. The vehicle seat according to claim 13 , wherein the carrier assembly includes one or more frame engagement features configured to couple the carrier assembly to the seat frame at a cross member thereof.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Kondrad Marcos Silva
• Hosbach Christian J
• Line Johnathan Andrew
• Brinker Rodney Charles
• Billardello Nicholas Alphonse

Classifications

• B60N2/62 Primary

  Thigh-rests {(B60N2/914 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60N2/0284 Primary

  Adjustable seat-cushion length (B60N2/0224 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60N2/7094

  Upholstery springs · CPC title

• B60N2/5825

  by hooks, staples, clips, snap fasteners or the like · CPC title

• B60N2/0232

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic