Hoover Universal, Inc.

Johnson Controls Technology Company

Ronald R Siegrist

Wee Tzee Gam

Marc D Hewko

Yannis Poulos

David W Husted

Chester S Fudala

James A Kargol

Bruce A Hiemstra

Robert W Jones

Lance Erick Larsen

Daniel J Koester

William Shawn Brewer

Neil J Bush

Alexander Saveski

William M Huffman

Robert J Hicks

Tod A Shivak

Michael Laskowski

Roger A Whitley

Minal Mulay

An adjuster mechanism () includes a tilt bracket (), a sector (), and a motor and transmission assembly () and has minimal mass. The adjuster mechanism () is useful hi providing adjustability to a vehicle seat () for adjusting the front portion of a seat base cushion () between a plurality of positions.

Front tilt motor gear assembly and mechanism for a power seat adjuster

A seat frame for a vehicle includes a first seat frame member () and a second seat frame member (). The second seat frame member () includes a body portion () and a first flexible member () extending from the body portion (). The flexible member () is welded to the first seat frame member () at a first location () to couple the second seat frame member () to the first seat frame member ().

Seat frame system and method of manufacturing

An activity center for a vehicle includes a base defining a storage area and a panel having first and second surfaces. The base is connected to the rear surface of a vehicle seat back. The panel, in turn, is connected to the base for movement between a closed position, which prevents access to the storage area and an open position which allows access to the storage area. The panel is also preferably coupled to the base so that either the first or second surface thereof may face away from the base. The two surfaces of the panel may be configured for a wide variety of educational, entertainment or work-related uses.

Activity center for a vehicle

A power seat adjuster for bucket type vehicle seats includes inboard and outboard track assemblies each including a fixed lower section, a movable upper or movable section and a precision sliding interface including roller bearings between the moving upper track and the fixed lower track, the surfaces of the tracks that are engaged by the roller bearings being crowned to provide a bearing surface that is slightly convex when the seat is unoccupied but which becomes nearly flat when the seat is occupied, and the bearing surfaces of the track being coated with a multi-layer dry film lubricant including a base coating of an anti-friction material and a top coating of an anti-stick material. The power seat adjuster includes screw drive mechanisms for providing horizontal fore-and-aft adjustment, vertical up-and-down adjustment and adjustment in the inclination of the seat back, with the length of travel being limited by travel limit stops, that include anti-jam mechanisms which are adapted to reduce the breakaway torque required to move the drive screws of the screw drive mechanisms away from either end position.

Vehicle seat adjuster

A child seat attachment system for a vehicle seat having a seat cushion and a seat back extending upwardly from the rear end of the seat cushion. The child seat attachment system includes a cross-bar extending laterally of the seat where at least one end of the cross-bar can be coupled to the mounting mechanism for attaching either or both of the seat cushion and seat back to the vehicle. The cross-bar has a child safety seat anchorage portion projecting through the bight line of the seat between the seat cushion and seat back for attachment of the child safety seat thereto. In a preferred embodiment, the cross-bar is rotatable about a lateral axis to enable the cross-bar to move downward against the seat cushion when the seat is occupied by an adult seat occupant to improve the comfort for the adult seat occupant.

Child seat attachment system

A power seat adjuster for bucket type vehicle seats includes inboard and outboard track assemblies each including a fixed lower section, a movable upper or movable section and a precision sliding interface including roller bearings between the moving upper track and the fixed lower track, the surfaces of the tracks that are engaged by the roller bearings being crowned to provide a bearing surface that is slightly convex when the seat is unoccupied but which becomes nearly flat when the seat is occupied, and the bearing surfaces of the track being coated with a multi-layer dry film lubricant including a base coating of an anti-friction material and a top coating of an anti-stick material. The power seat adjuster includes screw drive mechanisms for providing horizontal fore-and-aft adjustment, vertical up-and-down adjustment and adjustment in the inclination of the seat back, with the length of travel being limited by travel limit stops that include anti-jam mechanisms which are adapted to reduce the breakaway torque required to move the drive screws of the screw drive mechanisms away from either end position.

A seat adjuster for a vehicle seat assembly is disclosed in which a drive nut and drive screw are provided with the drive nut lugs and mounting bracket configured to enable assembly of the seat adjuster after the drive screw has been threaded onto the drive nut. The drive screw is a four start screw enabling the speed of rotation of the screw to be reduced while maintaining the operating speed of the seat adjuster. The reduced rotating speeds reduces sound emission during operation of the seat adjuster.

Drive nut and screw for seat adjuster

A bushing is disclosed for use in a pivot system to eliminate lateral looseness of a pivoting member mounted between a pair of support plates. The bushing is placed between one support plate and the pivoting member in an interference fit relationship to provide a retaining force on the pivoting member to hold it laterally in place. By using a compressible nylon of for the bushing having high lubricity, excessive wear of the bushing is eliminated and binding of the pivot system during operation is precluded. The bushing through passage is formed with an enlarged portion at the bushing ends to provide an annular space between the bushing and a pivot pin for compression of the bushing ends.

Bushing for reducing lateral looseness in a pivot system

A floating drive mechanism for a power seat adjuster in which carriages are carried by two parallel inserts, each of the inserts including a toothed rack in mesh with a pinion drive gear. The gear and rack are held in a consistent mesh with one another by a spring retainer so that during adjustment of the seat, as the carriage is moving, dimensional variations of the carriages and inserts do not effect the mesh between the gears and racks. The gears include drive shafts which terminate in spherically radiused square drive ends to which are crimped the ends of a torque tube coupling the pinion gears to one another. A transmission/motor assembly pivotally mounted to one of the carriages is used to drive the two gears. The drive shaft couplings with the torque tube enable the two gears to float relative to one another and also relative to the motor/transmission assembly to maintain the consistent mesh between the gears and the racks.

Power seat adjuster with floating drive mechanism

A seat belt anchorage mechanism, particularly adapted for motor vehicles, which allows a seat belt anchorage to move with the seat during fore-and-aft adjustment of the seat for improved occupant comfort and convenience. The mechanism has a toothed track fixed to the vehicle structure with a rail attached to the seat cushion slidable along the track. The belt anchorage assembly has a pair of separated plates having an engaging shaft positioned in close proximity to the toothed track. The anchorage assembly is fastened to a slide rail by frangible fasteners. When a load above a predetermined level is applied to the anchorage, the fasteners fail and enable the engaging shaft to mesh with a toothed track, thus locking the track and rail together and restraining forward excursion of the anchorage.

Growing community of inventors

Grass Lake, MI, United States of America

Ronald R Siegrist