Easy entry seat track assembly

Abstract

A seat assembly for a vehicle having a seat cushion and an seat back pivotally connected to the seat cushion for movement between a plurality of reclined seating positions and a forwardly dumped position. A track assembly has a pair of upper tracks mounted to the seat cushion and a pair of lower tracks mounted to the floor of the vehicle. The upper tracks are slidably coupled to the lower tracks for providing sliding movement of the seat assembly between a full forward position and a full rearward position. A locking mechanism is operatively coupled to the upper and lower tracks for movement between a locked position interlocking the tracks and an unlocked position allow sliding movement therebetween. A cam plate is pivotally coupled to one of the upper tracks for movement between a non-actuated position spaced from the locking mechanism and a actuated position engaged with the locking mechanism for maintaining the locking mechanism in the unlocked position in response to pivotal movement of the seat back from the reclined seating position to the forwardly dumped position. A trigger arm interlocks with the cam plate in the actuated position to maintain the locking mechanism in the unlocked position and allow sliding movement of the seat assembly to a forwardly extended position beyond the full forward seating position. A trigger tab engages the trigger arm when the seat is returned from the forwardly extended position to the full rearward position to release the cam plate to the non-actuated position and allow the locking mechanism to return to the locked position interlocking the upper and lower tracks and preventing further sliding movement therebetween.