Nissan Motor Company Limited

Nissan Shatai Co., Ltd.

Yoshihiro Umetsu

Masakazu Muraishi

Yasuo Hirama

Osamu Ito

Masakatsu Kakeba

An automotive folding seat is adapted to be retracted to provide a wider entrance space for passengers. The seat back can be folded onto a seat cushion and the seat in its entirety can be pivoted to a retracted position wherein the seat cushion is aligned vertically with the seat back folded onto the seat cushion. A locking mechanism serves to hold the seat cushion in its normal operating position. The locking mechanism is engageable to a striker rigidly mounted on the vehicle body and associated with a hinge mechanism which latches the seat back in its normal operating position and allows pivotal movement to the folded position in response to release operation of an operation lever. The operation lever also causes the locking mechanism to release its locking engagement with the striker to allow retracting movement of the seat cushion. The locking mechanism and the striker are adapted to ensure mutual locking engagement by restricting their relative displacement to even when a significant bending stress is applied to the seat.

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Zama, Japan

Yoshihiro Umetsu