Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Basf Se Corporation

Flex-n-gate Advanced Product Development, LLC

Gregory Todd Donovan

Vikas Bhatia

Michael Sweers

Lindsay Anne-Allor Babian

Itoh Daisuke

John Salvia

Michael John Ebel

Todd Muck

Charles P Patterson

Matthew Frank Parkinson

Patrick J Edgar

Steven Perucca

Michael Zielinski

Yi-Ru Chen Sosnowski

Shelby Leigh Brown

John Fredrik Runske

Shotaro Tani

Jacob A Herget

A seat back assembly including a pultrusion reinforcement and a seat back frame formed of a resin material, the seat back frame is only partially overmolded onto the pultrusion reinforcement such that the pultrusion reinforcement is configured to be visually inspected through a plurality of openings formed in the seat back frame.

Seat back frame assemblies and seat assemblies including pultrusion reinforcements

A vehicle seat assembly including a seat frame assembly including a seat base and a seat back pivotally connected to the seat base. The seat back includes at least one resin fuse arranged in the seat back to indicate structural loading in the vehicle seat assembly above a tolerance loading. The at least one resin fuse includes an aperture extending through the seat back and comprising a flange encircling the aperture and extending generally perpendicular to the seat back, and an indicator bar extending across a diameter of the aperture. The aperture is open on either side of the indicator bar.

Resin fuses and vehicles comprising the same

A seat cushion, for a seat assembly, includes a seat cushion frame formed of a resin material. The seat cushion frame includes a base wall, a pair of side walls, and a front wall. The base wall includes a pair of side edges and a front edge that extends between the pair of side edges. The pair of side walls extend outward from the pair of side edges of the base wall. The front wall extends outwardly from the front edge of the base wall. The front wall configured to provide an anti-submarining feature.

Resin tip-up seat cushion frames and seat assemblies having resin tip-up seat cushion frames

Disclosed is a separating panel assembly for a vehicle with a rear trunk. An opening is defined in a portion of a separating panel and an access chute is located adjacent to the opening and leads into the trunk. A trunk release handle is located relative to the access chute such that the access chute guides a hand inserted from the passenger compartment through the opening to the trunk release handle. The opening is further located behind a foldable armrest when the armrest is folded up. A movable cover may be provided to cover the opening and reduce air flow between the trunk and the passenger compartment.

Vehicle separating panel assembly with access to trunk release

A seat back assembly including a frame formed of a low density material such as expanded polypropylene (EPP) and a reinforcement structure encapsulated within the frame is provided. The reinforcement structure includes a load transferring surface extending between opposite ends of the seat back. Each end of the reinforcement structure is secured to a vehicle body structure. The reinforcement structure transfers a load placed upon the seat back assembly throughout the frame so as to maintain the structural integrity of the frame under a predetermined load. Specifically, the load transferring surface of the reinforcement structure is in contact with the frame and transfers the load across a predetermined area of the frame and to the vehicle body.

Seat back assembly with integral reinforcement structure

A carrier assembly of a seat assembly for use in a motor vehicle allows for the efficient installation of the carrier assembly and several seat assembly accessories. The seat assembly has a seat back, a locking frame and a seat cushion. The carrier assembly includes an elongated base member extending along a longitudinal axis. A pair of outer hinge brackets are attached to the ends of the elongated base member. The seat back is pivotally mounted to the outer hinge brackets about a pivot axis that is spaced apart and parallel to said longitudinal axis of the elongated base member. A pair of floor brackets attached to the ends of the elongated base member secures the elongated base member to the floor of the motor vehicle. The carrier assembly is independent of the locking frame and the seat cushion.

Integrated carrier assembly for a seat back of a motor vehicle

A seat back support for seat cushioning to be attached thereto and provide a seat component is disclosed. In addition, a process for making the seat back support is also disclosed. The seat back support can have first panel and a second panel. The first panel can have a base portion and a raised portion extending outwardly from the base portion, and the second panel can have a corrugated structure with a channel portion extending from a joining surface. The second panel is fixedly attached to the first panel by having at least part of the raised portion melt and re-solidified while in contact with the joining surface of the second panel.

Multiple part resin seat back with integrated adjustable headrest support

Growing community of inventors

Britton, MI, United States of America

Gregory Todd Donovan