Johnson Controls Technology Company

Vasudeva Murthy

Timothy R Butt

Joseph P Vitale

Kurt A Siebold

Christopher E Woon

A back frame for a vehicle seat assembly having an upright frame member capable of supporting compressive and tensile loading and a secondary, tensile load carrying member capable only of supporting significant loads in tension. The tensile load carrying member is attached to the upright frame member at the upper end of the back frame and extends downward behind the upright frame member and is attached to a base at the lower end of the back frame. The upright frame member is also attached to the base at the lower end of the back frame. The result is a triangular truss formed by the upright frame member, the tensile load carrying member and the base. During a frontal vehicle collision forward loading applied to the back frame results in a tensile load in the tensile load carrying member which reduces the bending loading in the upright frame member thus providing a significant increase in the forward load carrying capability of the back frame with only a slight increase in the back frame weight as compared to conventional seat assembly back frames not having a tensile load carrying member.

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Vasudeva Murthy