Douglas & Lomason Company

Rockwell International Corporation

Semec, Inc.

Richard F Johnson

John W Wiers

Elaine S Schultz

Daniel W Roper

Olivier Lecerf

Ashok K Sahi

Cathy A DeVoss

Blaine J Michael

Gregory S Miller

James D Held

An adjustable belt guide and headrest apparatus for a vehicle seat. The apparatus includes a pair of first track members and a pair of second track members slidable longitudinally relative to the first track members. An upper end of the second track members includes a cantilevered headrest frame member and a shoulder belt guide, both of which move towards and away from a seat back portion of the vehicle seat when the second frame rails are moved slidably. A threaded drive rod is fixedly secured to the second frame rails. The threaded drive rod is driven by an operator controllable, reversible DC motor. Operation of the DC motor causes the threaded drive rod to be driven so as to cause the second track members to move up and down slidably relative to the seat back, thereby allowing the headrest and seat belt guide to be concurrently adjusted to suit the height of the driver with a single adjustment. In the preferred embodiment, a reinforcement member is affixed to a lateral side of the seat back portion and the first track members are mounted to the reinforcement member. This reinforced structure enables the present invention to exceed federal seat belt load standards.

Adjustable belt guide and headrest

A vehicular seat having an adjustment apparatus for horizontally and vertically positioning the seat is provided. The adjustment apparatus includes a four bar mechanism that extends from a base and supports cushioned seat members. As the four bar mechanism is articulated with respect to the base, the seat members supported thereon are moved vertically and horizontally between elevated forward positions and lowered rearward positions. The adjustment mechanism also includes a spring for storing a portion of the energy exerted while seat members are moved from an elevated forward position to a lowered rearward position. Energy stored within the spring is used to assist lifting the seat members and the occupant therein as the seat is elevated.

Seat position adjusting apparatus

A manually-operable automotive seat adjustment mechanism equipped with a traveling seat belt buckle anchor arrangement is disclosed. The traveling seat belt buckle anchorage arrangement is adapted to transfer vertically directed separation loads imparted on the seat belt buckle through a sliding hook-type load bracket and into the vehicle floor pan via a specially configured stationary riser. The riser is configured to maintain an interlocked relationship with respect to the sliding load bracket throughout the entire range of longitudinal fore and aft seat adjustment. In addition, the seat belt buckle anchorage arrangement includes an elongated reinforcement bracket secured to the sliding load bracket for sliding longitudinal movement therewith and which is adapted to inhibit excessive pivotable excursions of the seat belt anchor. Finally, the present structure includes a reinforced latching mechanism including primary and secondary shear plates releasably engageable with a pivotable locking arm for permitting selective fore and aft seat adjustment and which is operable for transferring shear loads to the vehicle's floor pan through the stationary riser.

Automotive seat adjustment mechanism with traveling seat belt buckle

An interlocking track arrangement for a seat slide device of the type used in manually-operable vehicle seat slide mechanisms is disclosed. The seat slide device also includes a latching arrangement having a lock plate fixed to a lower track and a latch plate supported from an upper track for rectilinear movement along a vertical plane. The latch plate has a plurality of locking teeth each having a segmented toothform defined by a first locking portion for facilitating initial receipt within a locking aperture formed in the lock plate, a second locking portion for facilitating complete interdigitated engagement therebetween, and a camming portion providing a ramped transition between the first and second locking portions. The rectilinear movement of the latch plate along the vertical plane provides improved operation and reliability.

Seat slide device

A manually-operable six-way seat adjustment mechanism having a pair of laterally spaced tracks which are fixed securely to the vehicle's floor pan. A pair of carriages are slidably coupled to the tracks and are operable for synchronous longitudinal movement thereon. A seat assembly is fixedly secured to seat frame members supported from the elongated carriages for longitudinal movement therewith. A horizontal adjustment mechanism is operatively interconnected between each of the tracks and carriages to enable a seat occupant to selectively adjust the longitudinal position of the assembly. The manually-operable six-way seat adjustment mechanism also includes a front vertical adjustment mechanism and a rear vertical adjustment mechanism which are each operably interconnected between the laterally spaced seat frame members and the carriages to enable selective and independent vertical adjustment of their respective front and rear portions of the seat assembly. Finally, a travelling seat belt buckle anchorage arrangement is provided in association with at least one set of the slidably interconnected tracks and carriages for enabling selective longitudinal movement of a seat belt buckle anchor point with the seat assembly along the tracks while inhibiting vertical and horizontal separation therebetween.

Six-way manual seat adjustment mechanism

A powered hinge for adjusting the position of inclination of a vehicle's seatbacks has a planetary gear train in which are fixed to the vehicle a pair of bifurcated internal gears between which is coaxially supported for relative bidirectional rotation a driven internal gear attached to the seatback and driven by the second of a pair of compounded external gears, the first of which is bifurcated axially and disposed on either side of the second to form a satellite which is driven eccentrically with rolling, planetary motion within the fixed pair of internal gears by means of an eccentric cam rotated bidirectionally by, e.g., a shaft driven by an electric motor. The gearing, in which the number of teeth in corresponding external and internal gear pairs differs by only about one tooth, permits extremely large gear train values to be achieved within a very compact package and the use of relatively low-torque electric motors.

Seatback recliner

A vehicle seat is constrained for adjustable movement in two degrees of freedom, viz., tilting and longitudinal sliding by an apparatus which includes three longitudinally-extending, laterally-parallel tracks in the outer two of which are retained a pair of followers attached to the bottom edge of the seat for guiding the seat longitudinally and for tilting it vertically thereabout. A carrier slides along the center track and is lockable in a plurality of longitudinal positions. A tilt-adjustment-arm is pivotally attached to the carrier at one end and has a second end pivotally attached to the seat generally rearward of the front edge and is lockable in a plurality of tilt positions relative to the carrier to permit the seat to be locked in one of a plurality of independent tilt positions.

Vehicle seat position adjuster

The invention consists of an infinitely variable seat reclining mechanism which is composed of a first arm attached to the seat cushion frame and a second arm attached to the seat back frame. A pivot pin rigidly secured to the second arm extends to at least one side thereof on an axis of rotation. The first arm is rotatably mounted on the pivot pin to be capable of relative rotation with respect to the second arm. A pair of locking pawls are rotatably mounted on the first arm. The locking pawls are capable of rotation toward and away from one another about separate pivot points and into contact with a circular friction surface on the second arm. The circular friction surface on the second arm has its center at the axis of rotation between the first and second arms. A spring is included for biasing the locking pawls toward one another. Each of the locking pawls has a substantially V-shaped groove on one end thereof which is capable of engaging the friction surface on the second arm. The friction surface also has a substantially V-shaped section with an included angle equal to the included angle of the grooves in the locking pawls. The interaction between the grooved surfaces on the locking pawls and on the second arm prevent relative rotation between the first and second arms. A lever arm is included for moving the locking pawls away from one another against the spring and out of engagement with the friction surface of the second arm thereby allowing relative rotation between the first and second arms.

Infinitely variable seat recliner mechanism

An automatic seat belt restraining system which is to be used in a vehicle of the type having a passenger compartment including a seat therein. The system is made up of a three point shoulder and lap belt assembly which has first ends attached to the body of the vehicle. The second ends of the shoulder and lap belts are separately attached to a continuous cable drive assembly. The shoulder and lap belt drive cable is contained in a guide track located outboard of the seat on an inner surface of the door of the vehicle. The cable is rigid enough to be driven forward and backward in the guide track. A motor-pinion gear drive assembly drives the cable through the guide track to simultaneously move the belts to a position which either restrains the occupant or permits him to leave the vehicle. A door switch and limit switches are used to activate and deactivate the system.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomfield Hills, MI, United States of America

Richard F Johnson