A vehicle seat back adjuster for achieving fine increments of adjustsment in the order of 1°, without resort to translation overdrive, through employment of reaction backup for teeth in the order of 1° pitch in an adjustment quadrant minimizing yield of components which could permit fine tooth disengagement. .Iadd.An inertia latch per se serves as stop element for seating back rest position as well as arresting element preventing forward tilting under high vehicle deceleration for all positions of adjustment. .Iaddend.

Superfine tooth seat back adjuster

An inertia sensitive hinge mechanism allows rotation of a first hinge member relative to a second hinge member about a pivot during normal use and prevents rotation about the pivot when predetermined deceleration forces are present. The inertia sensing latching assembly includes an inertial actuator operatively connected to and rotatable with respect to the second hinge member. The inertial actuator includes first and second cam surfaces and a wedging surface located therebetween. The inertial actuator has a center of gravity spaced from a center of rotation. A first positioning device connected to the first hinge member positions the inertial actuator by sliding engagement with the first cam surface as the first hinge member rotates in an opposite direction when the predetermined forces are not present. A second positioning device connected to the first hinge member positions the inertial actuator by sliding engagement with the second cam surface as the first hinge member further rotates in the opposite direction when the predetermined deceleration forces are not present. When the deceleration forces are present, the first hinge member initially rotates in the opposite direction, and the inertial actuator is positioned by the predetermined deceleration forces such that the wedging surface engages the second positioning device preventing further rotation of the first hinge member in the opposite direction.

Inertia hinge for seatback and armrest

A bidirectional inertial latch locks the position of a seat back of a seat on a motor vehicle during rapid changes in velocity The inertial latch has a bracket mounted on the seat base or bottom An arm is pivotably mounted on the bracket and securely attached to the seat back, and has a unitary arcuately toothed section for latching engagement A pawl is pivotally mounted on the bracket and has a center of gravity offset from its pivot axis The pawl has an arcuate toothed region for engaging the toothed region of the arm, and is pivoted by the inertial force experienced during either sudden deceleration or sudden acceleration to lockingly engage the arm to prevent the movement thereof Preferably the toothed sections of the pawl have at least three teeth

Bi-directional inertial latch

A seat assembly and a method of control. The seat assembly includes a power recliner assembly that allows a seat back to pivot with respect to a seat bottom. The power recliner assembly includes a motor for rotating a recliner mechanism. A switch assembly is electrically coupled to the motor and disables operation of the motor when in an open condition.

Seat assembly having a switch and method of operation

A seatback latching mechanism for use in a vehicle seat assembly having a backrest member pivotally tiltable over a seat member.The mechanism has a first latch means fixed relative to the seat member and a second latch means pivotally mounted on the backrest member for pivotal movement thereof between an unlatched and a latched position in which tilting movement of the backrest member over the seat member is restrained. Pendulum means are pivotally mounted on the backrest member for pivotal movement independently of the pivotal movement of the second latch means between first and second pendulum limit positions at which limit positions the pendulum means impinges upon the second latch means. In the normal upright position of the backrest member, the pendulum means is gravity biased to the first limit position in which the composite centre of gravity of the pendulum means and the second latch means is positioned eccentrically of the pivot axis thereby urging the second latch means towards the unlatched position. Upon the occurrence of a first vehicular deceleration force sufficient to overcome the gravity biasing of the pendulum means to the first limit position, the pendulum means pivotally moves to the second pendulum limit position thereby increasing the sensitivity of the mechanism to latching, such that, upon the attainment of a second greater vehicular deceleration force, the second latch means moves rapidly to the latched position thereof.

Inertial latching mechanism for seat assemblies

A passenger car seat back inertia latch providing gravity actuated latch release and deceleration responsive inertia latch retention characterized by a compound resolution of predominant opposing gravity and deceleration forces to provide more sensitive and dependable latch retention at a predetermined minimum emergency vehicle deceleration as well as minimum weight to unlock the latch when the vehicle is stationary over a wider range of seat back adjustment and vehicle inclination than is possible with the conventional simple one-piece inertia latch wherein horizontal and vertical coordinates of the center of gravity relative to a latch pivot are solely depended upon to produce respective opposite gravity actuated release and inertia actuated locking moments on the latch element.

Composite inertia latch for vehicle seat back

A gravity and inertia responsive latch mechanism for accommodating pivotal forward tilting of a vehicle seat back to permit ingress and egress of back seat passengers when the vehicle is stationary without requiring manual release and for automatically preventing forward tilting of the seat back under sudden deceleration such as incident to a front end collision. A spring detent cooperates to resist initial forward tilting of the seat back rendering the inertia latch more dependable under marginal and unusual conditions of operation.

Inertia latch system for vehicle seat

A vehicle seat back adjuster with manually releasable forward tilt lock providing fine increments of adjustment through the combination of a translation overdrive for a fine tooth ratchet accommodated by accurate location of extremity stops and special provision for assuring full tooth engagement at extremity positions.

Seat back adjuster

A hinge unit for a seat, particularly an automotive vehicle seat, has a fixed hinge element associated with a seat part of a seat and including an upper region provided with a recess with an end abutment, a pivotable hinge element associated with a back part of the seat and pivotably connected with the fixed hinge element, a two-side catch lever pivotally connected with the pivotable hinge element and having a locking projection engageable with the abutment of the fixed hinge element and a heavy arm with a weight urging the catch lever so that the projection assumes its free position, and a retaining element urging the catch lever so that the latter assumes its locking position.

Vikram Hiralal Zaveri

Papers

Composite inertia latch for vehicle seat back

Inertia latch system for vehicle seat

Seat back adjuster

Hinge unit for a seat, particularly a power vehicle seat

Gelenkbeschlag fuer sitze, insbesondere kraftfahrzeugsitze