Granted Patent B2

US 8,182,016 · App. 12/326,136 · Granted May 22, 2012

Abstract

Claims (22)

1. A seat assembly for a vehicle having a floor extending generally along a horizontal plane, the seat assembly comprising:

a seat bottom;

a mounting assembly carrying said seat bottom, said mounting assembly having a first portion that releasably attaches to the vehicle floor permitting removal of the entire seat assembly from the vehicle and reinstallation of the entire seat assembly back into the vehicle and a second portion generally overlying said first portion and having an asymmetric relationship with said first portion wherein rotation of said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor is about an axis of rotation extending through said first portion, and said second portion and said seat bottom rotate between a forward-facing position and a rearward-facing position to translate said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor during rotation, wherein the axis of rotation is perpendicular to the floor of the vehicle; and

a manipulable locking mechanism operative to releasably lock said seat bottom in either said forward-facing position or said rearward-facing position.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein said forward-facing position is substantially one hundred eighty degrees from said rearward-facing position.

3. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein said first portion comprises at least one latch mechanism that releasably attaches said first portion of said mounting assembly to the vehicle, said at least one latch mechanism movable between a latched state that maintains engagement of said first portion with the vehicle and an unlatched state permitting removal of said first portion of said mounting assembly from the vehicle.

4. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein said second portion of said mounting assembly is configured to permit rotation of said seat bottom relative to said first portion in a manner that causes concurrent movement of said seat bottom toward or away from a virtual centerline extending along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

5. The seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an electrical connector attached to said first portion of said mounting assembly that provides the seat assembly with electrical power when said first portion is attached to the vehicle.

6. The seat assembly of claim 5 , wherein said electrical connector includes a first contact attached to a structure of the vehicle and a second contact attached to said first portion of said mounting assembly, said first contact in electrical contact with said second contact when said first portion of said mounting assembly is attached to the vehicle to provide the seat assembly with electrical power.

7. The seat assembly of claim 6 , wherein at least one of said first contact and said second contact is biased into an extended position so that said first and second contacts remain in electrical connection with respect to each other and supply the seat assembly with electrical power when said seat bottom rotates and translates relative to said first portion of said mounting assembly.

8. The seat assembly of claim 5 further comprises a heating element in said seat bottom, wherein said electrical connector is arranged to couple said heating element to electrical power.

9. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein said seat bottom includes at least one wheel to facilitate movement of the seat assembly when removed from the vehicle.

10. The seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a seatbelt latch attached to said seat bottom via a tether that permits movement of said seatbelt latch relative to said seat bottom to facilitate ingress and egress onto said seat bottom when said seat bottom is in a rearward-facing position.

11. The seat assembly of claim 10 , wherein said tether is a braided steel cable.

12. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein said first portion comprises a plurality of floor latch mechanisms that each releasably engages a striker of the vehicle floor, with said floor latch mechanisms movable between a latched state where said floor latch mechanisms are each releasably engaged with a corresponding striker of the vehicle floor, and an unlatched state where said floor latch mechanisms are disengaged from the strikers of the vehicle floor enabling removal of the seat assembly from the vehicle.

13. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein said locking mechanism comprises a rotation locking mechanism operative to lock said seat bottom in each one of a plurality of seat rotation positions.

14. The seat assembly of claim 13 further comprising a seat slide arrangement enabling linear movement of said seat bottom relative to the vehicle.

15. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein rotation of said seat bottom relative to said first portion from said forward-facing position toward said rearward-facing position translates said seat bottom closer to a longitudinally extending virtual centerline of the vehicle during rotation.

16. A seat assembly for a vehicle having a floor extending generally along a horizontal plane, the seat assembly comprising:

a seat bottom;

a mounting assembly having a first portion that releasably attaches to the vehicle floor permitting removal of the entire seat assembly from the vehicle and reinstallation of the entire seat assembly back into the vehicle and a second portion carrying said seat bottom that is asymmetric with said first portion such that rotation of said second portion and said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor about an axis of rotation extending through said seat bottom between a forward-facing position and a rearward-facing position translates said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor toward a virtual centerline of the vehicle during rotation of said seat bottom from said forward-facing position toward said rearward-facing position; and

a locking mechanism operative to lock said seat bottom in either said forward-facing position or said rearward-facing position.

Assignments (17)