Lear Corporation

Philip W Leistra, Iii

James C Masters

Andrew J Massara

Russell K Davidson

Rich Sanders

Richard Lawrence Matsu

Gregory P Allison

Mohammad Saberan

Sheryar Durrani

Brian D Phillips

Todd A Mysliwiec

Eric A Partington

Stephen Lambrecht

Vijay Musukula

Steve Lambrecht

Greg Allison

Dan Bateson

David J Thieda

Majid Arefi

A headrest assembly ( ) for a vehicle seat ( ) and a method of installation. The headrest assembly ( ) includes a support post ( ) pivotally connected to an installation post ( ) via an installation hinge ( ). The installation post ( ) is installed into a guide sleeve ( ) of the seat back ( ) such that the installation hinge ( ) is still exposed, allowing the headrest body ( ) to tip down and forward. The seat ( ) is then installed into the vehicle body ( ), after which, the headrest body ( ) is tipped up and pushed down until a support post notch ( ) engages with an installation catch ( ) mounted on the guide sleeve ( ). The headrest ( ) will now remain in its use position with the hinge ( ) contained within the guide sleeve ( ).

Hinged headrest for a vehicle seat

A method of installing a front seat assembly in a vehicle interior is disclosed. The front seat assembly has first and second seats which are fastened together prior to installation of the front seat assembly in the vehicle. The front seat assembly is positioned in the vehicle as a single unit and then fastened to the vehicle. A method of installing a rear seat assembly is also disclosed. The rear seat assembly includes a seat back and a package tray pivotally attached to the seat back. Prior to installation, the package tray is positioned so that the rear seat assembly can be inserted through a door opening of the vehicle. The rear seat assembly is inserted through the door opening and the package tray is positioned to an extended position from the seat back and fastened to the vehicle. The seat back is also fastened to the vehicle.

Modular seat assembly and method of installing the same within a vehicle

A front seat assembly (10), comprising first and second seats, is to be installed as a unit into a vehicle (12). A plurality of brackets (18) and (20) are attached to fixed rails (16) for attachment to the vehicle (12) and for interconnecting the fixed rails (16) of the two seats making up the front seat assembly (10). A slide rail (24) is supported by each of the fixed rails (16) for fore and aft movement relative to the fixed rails (16) and a pair of front (28) and rear (30) cross beams interconnect the slide rails (24) for supporting all of the remaining components of each seat. The rear cross beam (30) has an triangular cross section and a seat back (34) is supported on the rear cross beam (30) by flanges (32) having an triangular opening (36) complementary to and surrounding the rear cross beam (30). A support sheet (40) extends between and is supported by the cross beams (28) and (30) and a seat pan (42) is disposed above the support sheet (40) for supporting an occupant. A rear bladder (44) and a front bladder (46) are disposed between the sheet (40) and the pan (42) for raising and lowering the respective back and front of the pan (42) relative to the sheet (40) for adjusting the position of the seat. A stylized seat bottom trim (60) is supported on the pan (42) and a stylized back trim (62) is supported on the seat back frame (34). A center console (70) is supported on the frame members (20) between the first and second seat assemblies and a cover (68) is disposed over each of outside and laterally disposed pair of fixed (16) and slide (24) rails.

Automotive modular seat frame assembly

An automotive seat back having a pair of spaced upright members with lower ends and upper ends interconnected by a cross member to define a substantially rectangular back frame. The upright members and the cross member also have a front surface and a rear surface. A shoulder belt housing extends upwardly between the upright members from below the cross member to an upper distal end disposed above the cross member. The shoulder belt housing also extends forward of the front surfaces of the upright members and the cross member. Specifically, the front surfaces define a frontal plane of the back frame and the distal end of the shoulder belt housing extends forwardly beyond the frontal plane of the back frame. The housing includes a coffin portion, defined by side walls and a bottom, and a cover disposed over and in sealing engagement with the side walls. A seat belt passes within the coffin portion and out through an opening in the cover to overlay a front surface of the seat back.

Automotive seat back

The seat back flanges (32) mount a seat back (34) to a seat frame for reclining movement relative to the seat frame and a control mechanism controls the pivotal movement of the seat back (34). The control mechanism includes a tubular cylinder (54) and a first coil spring (56) is wound around and in gripping engagement with the cylinder (54). The cylinder (54) is non-rotatably secured to the seat frame by being welded or otherwise secured to the flanges (32). The first coil spring (56) has first (58) and second (60) ends extending tangentially from the cylinder (54). A second coil spring (62) is wound in the opposite direction around and is in gripping engagement with the cylinder (54) and, likewise, has third (64) and fourth (66) ends extending tangentially from the cylinder (54). A cam shaft (72) is included for moving the second end (60) relative to the first end (58) for unwinding the first coil spring (56) in a clockwise direction from the gripping engagement with the cylinder (54) to allow the pivotal movement of the seat back (34) relative to the seat frame and for moving the fourth end (66) relative to the third end (64) for unwinding the second coil spring (62) in a counterclockwise direction from the gripping engagement with the cylinder (54) to allow the pivotal movement of the seat back relative to the seat frame.

Automotive seat back recliner

An automotive rear seat assembly having a seat back with a top and a bottom for supporting the back of an occupant. A package tray extends from the top of the seat back to an outer periphery. A rotational connection is disposed between the package tray and the top of the seat back which pivotally connects the package tray to the seat back. The rear seat assembly may be shipped with the package tray overlying the seat back and installed in a vehicle by rotating the package tray relative to the seat back to a position transverse to the seat back. Accordingly, the package tray and seat back may be installed within the vehicle as one unitary piece.

Rear seat and package tray sub assembly

An automotive seat back (34) which comprises a pair of spaced upright members (40) each having lower ends rotatably supported on pivot pins (38) and interconnected by a cross member (42) extending between the upper ends. A shoulder belt housing (44) extends upwardly between the upright members (40) from below the cross member (42) to a distal end (46) disposed above and outside the cross member (42). Crisscrossing truss elements (52) interconnect the upright members (40) and the housing (44) to suspend the housing (44) within the periphery of the seat back as defined by the upright members (40) and the cross member (42). The upright members (40) and the cross member (42) and the truss elements (52) and the housing (44) are all integrally die cast of magnesium. The housing (44) includes a coffin portion, defined by side walls (54) and a bottom (56), and a cover (58) disposed over and in sealing engagement with the side walls (54). The cover (58) of the housing (44) includes a guideway (62) for a shoulder belt (50). To accommodate the angled exit of the belt (50) from the angled belt opening (48), the guideway (62) has a compound curve to prevent the edges of the shoulder belt (50) from gathering.

Growing community of inventors

Birmingham, MI, United States of America

Philip W Leistra, Iii