Vehicle seat assembly with inertia latch

Abstract

A seat track assembly for a motor vehicle is disclosed, comprising: an upper track sub-assembly having an upper track; a lower track sub-assembly having a lower track and a stop, with the upper track being slidable over the lower track; and a positive engagement inertia latch for resisting axial sliding motion of the upper track sub-assembly relative the lower track sub-assembly in response to acceleration of the gear relative the lower track sub-assembly. The inertia latch preferably comprises a gear being movable between a non-latching position wherein the gear is rotatable in response to axial sliding of the upper track sub-assembly and a latching position wherein in response to a sudden change in velocity the gear engages the stop, locking the upper track sub-assembly with the lower track sub-assembly. The gear can be mounted on an axle. A base is affixed to the lower seat track sub-assembly, having a contoured surface which receives the axle. The stop can comprise an incline, preferably unitary with the base, and the gear can have gear teeth which wedgingly lockingly engage a rack of teeth on the incline. An all-belts-to-seat latch may also be used to resist both axial displacement and vertical dislocation of the upper seat track relative the lower seat track.