Hold-open assembly for a recliner seat locking mechanism
View Patent ↗An assembly for holding open a locking mechanism for a motor vehicle folding seat includes a locking mechanism having a gear shaft and a release link fixedly attached to the gear shaft that transitions the locking mechanism between an engaged and a released orientation. A hold-open pin attached to the release link is received within a follower link notch to maintain the locking mechanism in the released orientation. An actuator positions the follower link notch to receive the hold-open pin within the follower link notch.
1. An assembly for holding open a locking mechanism for a motor vehicle folding seat, the assembly comprising:
a locking mechanism having a gear shaft;
a release link fixedly attached to the gear shaft, the release link having a first position in which the gear shaft is rotated such that the locking mechanism is engaged and a second position in which the gear shaft is rotated such that the locking mechanism is released;
a hold-open pin fixedly attached to the release link;
a follower link having a notch sized to receive the hold-open pin; and
an actuator operably attached to the follower link, the actuator having a first position in which the hold-open pin moves freely across an upper surface of the follower link and a second position in which the hold-open pin is received within the follower link notch;
wherein when the actuator is moved into the second position with the hold-open pin received within the follower link notch, the release link is maintained in its second position with the locking mechanism released.
2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the actuator includes a tab.
3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein the actuator tab is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the actuator.
4. The assembly of claim 2 further comprising:
a seatback bracket including a tab;
wherein the seatback bracket tab engages the actuator tab to transition the actuator between its first position and its second position.
5. The assembly of claim 4 wherein the seatback bracket tab is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the seatback bracket.
6. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
a seat bottom bracket;
wherein the follower link is rotatably attached to the seat bottom bracket.
7. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
a release handle;
wherein the release handle is rotatably attached to the release link.
8. The assembly of claim 7 further comprising:
a handle spring:
wherein a portion of the handle spring is attached to the release handle and a portion of the handle spring is attached to the seat bottom bracket.
9. The assembly of claim 7 further comprising:
at least one handle strap, the handle strap attached to one of the release handle and the release link.
10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the hold-open pin is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the release link.
11. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising:
an actuator spring;
wherein the actuator is operably attached to the follower link by the actuator spring.
12. An assembly for holding open a locking mechanism for a motor vehicle folding seat, the assembly comprising:
a locking mechanism comprising a gear shaft;
a release link connected to the gear shaft, wherein the release link is configured to engage and release the locking mechanism;
a hold-open pin connected to the release link;
a follower link comprising notch configured to receive the hold-open pin; and
an actuator connected to the follower link;
wherein the actuator comprises a first position in which the hold-open pin is configured to move freely across an upper surface of the follower link and a second position in which the hold-open pin is received within the notch; and
wherein when the actuator is moved into the second position, the release link releases the locking mechanism.