National Seating Company, Inc.

Rodney F Smith

There is provided a low profile valve assembly for controlling flow of air and the like. The valve assembly includes a housing defining inlet and outlet ports and a valve operator located within the housing. The operator includes a body portion seated in the housing with an axis of rotation and defining an internal passage with inlet and outlet ends. An actuator rotates the body portion a first predetermined distance to a fill position to allow flow through the internal passage and a second predetermined distance opposite the first direction to a vent position to allow flow to vent from the valve assembly through the outlet end. A spring extends from the valve operator adjacent the body portion between the axis of rotation and the valve housing. The spring extends partially about the axis of rotation to bias the body portion to an off position to substantially prohibit flow through the valve operator when the body portion is not being actuated to the fill and vent positions. The spring operates substantially within an internal space in the operator about the axis of rotation. The valve assembly includes an orifice to reduce volume flow through the valve assembly and an exhaust passage portion to reduce flow pressure between the inlet and outlet ends.

Spring biased rotary air valve

A base assembly for a suspension system of a vehicle seat utilizes lower and upper support frame and two pairs of elongated arms which are pivotally connected between the upper and lower support frames to accommodate forward and rearward movement (as well as upward and downward movement) of the upper support frame relative to the lower support frame. The arms act as parallel linkages during the movement of the upper support frame relative to the lower support frame and include broad abutment surfaces which engage one another when the upper support frame is moved forwardly relative to the lower support frame by a prescribed amount to thereby limit the forward movement of the upper support frame relative to the lower support frame. The abutment surfaces are relatively long in length in relation to the overall length of the arms and are bounded by tabs which interlock the arms together at the forward limit of travel of the upper support frame.

Base assembly for use with a suspension system of a vehicle seat

A pneumatic spring for damping the relative motion between a vehicle seat and a base upon which the seat is mounted utilizes a rolling lobe sleeve, a plug secured within one end of the sleeve and a piston secured within the other end of the sleeve for movement toward and away from the plug as the sleeve rolls along the outside surface of the piston. The piston, sleeve and plug provide the surfaces of a variable-volume chamber, and the piston includes an internal piston cavity of a fixed size and shape. The variable-volume chamber and piston cavity contain a pneumatic fluid, and an orifice is provided within the piston which permits flow communication between the variable-volume chamber and the piston cavity. When the internal pressure of the variable-volume cavity is increased as the piston is moved toward the plug in response to relative motion between the seat and base, the orifice controls the rate at which pneumatic fluid contained within the variable-volume chamber is permitted to flow into the piston cavity so that the spring is provided with desirable rate characteristics when exposed to either low frequency input or high frequency input. In addition, the permitted flow of pneumatic fluid between the variable-volume chamber and the piston cavity returns the spring to rest in a condition of equilibrium relatively quickly and with few cyclic movements.

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Seymour, TN, United States of America

Rodney F Smith