Fold-Flat Vehicle Seat Linkage for a Low Load Floor
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seats in SUVs and minivans often result in a load floor that is either too high or require space within the vehicle's body-in-white, limiting cargo space and occupant comfort.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat design featuring a four-bar linkage that allows the seat cushion to be folded flat towards the floor, with the seatback overlapping the cushion, using first and second risers engaging with vehicle rails, and a latch mechanism to maintain the seat's position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If existing mechanical approaches are used to fold seats, then the load floor can be positioned at a significant height above the vehicle floor, but this results in reduced cargo space and higher load floor height
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic mechanisms including a four-bar linkage system that allows the seat cushion to fold downward toward the vehicle floor, and a seatback folding mechanism with pivots that enable the seatback to collapse onto the cushion. These dynamic transformations allow the seat to transition from an upright seating position to a flat load floor configuration, achieving low load floor height while maintaining ease of operation through controlled mechanical motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The seatback is designed to nest onto the seat cushion during the folding process. The seatback folds about a pivot and assumes a position that at least partially overlaps the seat cushion, creating a compact nested configuration. This nesting principle allows both components to occupy the same spatial envelope when folded, minimizing the overall height of the load floor while preserving the folding capability.
2Device complexity
If the seat cushion is supported by the seatback in comfort position, then structural support is simplified, but this prevents the seatback from folding over the cushion in the fold-flat position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the support functions by introducing a four-bar linkage mechanism that independently supports the seat cushion from the seatback. The four-bar linkage is connected to the vehicle floor and the seat cushion, providing structural support for the cushion in the upright position without relying on the seatback. This segmentation allows the seatback to be freed from its support function, enabling it to fold independently over the cushion during the folding operation, thus resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and folding capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat comprises: first and second risers to engage with respective first and second rails on a floor of a vehicle; a seatback extending from a first pivot at the first and second risers; and a seat cushion mounted to the first and second risers using a four-bar linkage, wherein the seat cushion is not attached to the seatback and is not supported by the seatback; wherein the vehicle seat has (i) a comfort position in which a latch holds the seat cushion in a first position relative to the seatback, the seat cushion supported only by the four-bar linkage in the first position, and (ii) a fold-flat position in which the four-bar linkage is folded to position the seat cushion toward the floor, and in which the seatback is folded about the first pivot and assumes a second position at least partially overlapping the seat cushion.