Patents Examined by Timothy J Brindley
  • Patent number: 11297946
    Abstract: A chair (10) has a composite structure (14) attached to a frame (12). The composite structure includes a plastic plate (16) having an edge (22), and a metal plate (18) having a peripheral crimp (21) including a gap (20), with the edge of the plastic plate inserted into the gap and with the peripheral crimp clamped onto the edge of the plastic plate, to attach the plastic plate onto the metal plate. The composite structure provides a seating surface of the chair. The composite structure maximizes the advantages of both the plastic plate and the metal plate, with each plate compensating for the disadvantages of the other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: NEW-TEC INTEGRATION (XIAMEN) CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Luhao Leng
  • Patent number: 11292374
    Abstract: A vehicle seat assembly is provided with a seat back frame with an upper crossbar. A deformable member is welded to the seat back frame. A pair of tubes is welded to the deformable member. A pair of head restraint posts are each received in one of the pair of tubes to support a head restraint. A pair of spaced apart limit bracket bases is welded to the upper crossbar and extend away from the seat back frame to support a pair of limit bracket contact portions. A pair of contact target plates are each welded to one of the pair of tubes, spaced apart from and aligned with one of the pair of limit bracket contact portions so that the deformable member deforms under a rear vehicle impact until the contact target plates contact the contact portions of the limit brackets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Lear Corporation
    Inventors: Mathias Busch, Florian Gerbl, Tino Schneider, Gregory Pistilli, Alexej Niederhaus, Rajdeep Rajput, Michael Schuhbauer, Arunkumar Boda
  • Patent number: 11292373
    Abstract: A motor vehicle seat having a metal frame, the seat defining a volume (V). The frame is configured to be electrically connected to a chassis of the motor vehicle so as to generate a Faraday effect. The seat includes an electronic and/or electrotechnical device having at least one electronic control unit and/or a motor connected to a power cable. The cable is intended for connection to a power supply of the motor vehicle for the at least one electronic control unit and/or motor. The electronic and/or electrotechnical device is at least partially arranged within the volume (V) of the seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: FAURECIA SIÉGES D'AUTOMOBILE
    Inventors: Naraindranath Doorgah, Nordine Bouziane
  • Patent number: 11285849
    Abstract: A seat and armrest assembly includes a seat including a frame having a movable element that is supported on the frame in a position. An armrest is supported on the frame and is movable relative to the seat between a first position and a second position. The armrest includes a locking pin that is disposed adjacent to the movable element of the frame to retain the armrest in the first position. A free play adjustment mechanism is provided to adjust the position of the movable element relative to the frame to minimize or eliminate space between the movable element and the locking pin. The free play adjustment mechanism includes an adjustment actuator having a threaded outer surface that cooperates with a correspondingly threaded inner surface of an aperture extending through the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Lear Corporation
    Inventors: Bastien Zimmermann, Martyn Chee, Jem Burgoyne
  • Patent number: 11279300
    Abstract: A seating assembly includes a seat base operably coupled with a seatback. A panel assembly includes a first panel coupled with the seatback and a second panel hingedly coupled with the first panel. The second panel includes a connector assembly having a housing and a support slidably coupled with the housing. The second panel is movable between a first position and a second position. The second panel is vertically aligned with the first panel in the first position and is substantially coplanar with the first panel in the second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Johnathan Andrew Line, Anna Hendrickson, Jason Matthew Koberstein, Keith Allen Godin, Sean Bayle West
  • Patent number: 11279270
    Abstract: A seat for a vehicle may include a seatback including an intermediate portion including a first portion having a first stiffness and a second portion including a second material different than a first material of the first portion, such that the seatback quickly couples an associated occupant and dissipates as much energy as possible. The intermediate portion may be configured such that as at least a portion of the back of an occupant of the seat pushes against a front surface of the seatback and the seatback is at least partially compressed, a reaction force from the seatback against at least a portion of the back of the occupant increases from a minimal reaction force to a first reaction force corresponding to a first displacement, and thereafter the reaction force decreases to a second reaction force as displacement of the front surface of the seatback further displaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Anthony Baer, Mark Alan Bates, Markus Jost, Brandon Loeb, Karthikeyan Marudhamuthu, Andrew John Piper, Marcos Puerta Terron, Kern Rameshwar Sharma
  • Patent number: 11273737
    Abstract: A removable vehicle seat convertible from a seat configuration into a platform configuration. In the seat configuration, the seat may include a cushion having a front end and a back end removably engaged with a floor of an interior of the vehicle. In the platform configuration, the front end may be positioned on the ground at a non-parallel direction to the ground. The seat may includer a back having a top end, a bottom end, and a rear surface pivotally attached to the cushion. The bottom end may be oriented towards the back end. The rear surface may be usable as a load-bearing utility surface. The cushion may support the back from the bottom end. The seat may include a headrest removably attached to the top end. The headrest may be engaged with a bumper or a tailgate of the vehicle and support the back from the top end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Hamshivraj Singh Dhamrat, Lindsay A. Babian
  • Patent number: 11273744
    Abstract: A seat back (20) includes an upper thoracic support section (20a) for supporting at least a portion corresponding to a lower part of the upper thoracic spine of a seated occupant, and a lower thoracic support section (20b) disposed on a front side with respect to the upper thoracic support section (20a) and configured to support a portion corresponding to the lower thoracic spine of the seated occupant. The lower thoracic support section (20b) is configured to displace backward greatly, as compared with the upper thoracic support section (20a) in such, a way that the upper thoracic spine of the seated occupant is inclined forward, when backward inertia force acts on the seated occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masanari Kuroda, Akinari Koga
  • Patent number: 11273743
    Abstract: A mat mounting structure for mounting a mat on a seat back frame in a seat back may have a guide wire attachable to the mat configured to receive a force from a back of an occupant on the seat back. The guide wire may have a straight part extending linearly in a longitudinal direction of the seat back frame on a head side or a root side of the seat back frame. A bushing including a penetration hole in which the straight part is insertable in the longitudinal direction may be included in the structure. An attachment hole part in the seat back frame may also be part of the structure. The bushing may be detachably engageable with and attachable to the attachment hole part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignees: Adient Engineering and IP GmbH, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Frederick L. Wilkinson, Sean M. Osinski, Yunxiao Li, Wenting Zhang, Naoto Komiya, Laxmikant Indi, Toshimitsu Mizukoshi, Taiji Misono, Hiroki Ikeda, Hiromitsu Nagatomo, Yuki Fukuda, Souhei Noguchi
  • Patent number: 11273732
    Abstract: Pawls in a lifter device have: outer teeth that are rotatably supported by shafts in lock plates and are meshed with inner teeth of a base; and pins that are provided in an intermediate section in the radial direction, between the shaft center of the shafts and the teeth tips of the inner teeth, and are pressed in the rotation direction by a rotation transmittance plate during a release operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA BOSHOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yusuke Kajino, Yasuaki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11273742
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat having a seat pad and a planar seat cover. The seat cover may include a plurality of the skin materials and at least one seam allowance formed by sewing the adjacent skin materials each other. The seam allowance includes end portions of the adjacent skin materials projecting from a back surface of the seat cover. The seat pad may include a plurality of recessed grooves and an intersecting area of the grooves. The skin material may include a high-rigidity portion disposed at the intersecting area and configured to cover at least one of the corners formed at the intersecting area. The high-rigidity portion may include a planer overlapping portion laid over a back surface of the skin material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA BOSHOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideki Ohtsu, Yuya Ota
  • Patent number: 11254249
    Abstract: A backrest may have a seat back structure and a carrier module for a headrest. The carrier module may have at least one carrier element arranged on an upper portion of the seat back structure and fixedly connected to the seat back structure. The carrier module may also have at least one supporting element adapted to support the carrier element. The at least one carrier element may have a receiving space configured to receive the headrest and a fixing structure projected towards into the receiving space and adapted to detachably fasten the supporting element to the carrier element. The backrest may be used with a seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Adient Engineering and IP GmbH
    Inventors: Jörg Haubrich, Frank Zagromski, Boris Mrázik, Andrea Mose
  • Patent number: 11247592
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a center hinge assembly for a vehicle rear seat, which includes a lower bracket having a first seating groove formed at one end thereof so that a first shaft or a second shaft is inserted into the first seating groove, and a first locking groove formed at the other end thereof, deeper than the first seating groove, so that a bush fastened to the first or second shaft is inserted and locked into the first locking groove, and an upper bracket having a second seating groove formed at one end thereof so that the first or second shaft is inserted into the second seating groove, and a second locking groove formed at the other end thereof, deeper than the second seating groove, so that the bush is inserted and locked into the second locking groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Suk Won Hong, Sang Do Park, Jong Seok Han, Sung Hak Hong, Sang Man Seo, Chan Ho Jung, Ju Yeol Kong
  • Patent number: 11241980
    Abstract: A vehicle seat positioning system includes a seat occupancy sensor that generates a signal indicating the presence or absence of an occupant in each of a first vehicle seat and a second vehicle seat, a seat proximity sensor that generates a seat proximity signal indicating a distance between the first vehicle seat and an occupant of the second vehicle seat, and vehicle seat position controller configured to command the first vehicle seat to move away from the second vehicle seat in response to a signal from the seat occupancy sensor indicating absence of an occupant in the first vehicle seat and the presence of an occupant in the second vehicle seat and a signal from the seat proximity sensor indicating a distance between the first vehicle seat and the occupant of the second vehicle seat is less than a predetermined threshold distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Valor Yaldo
  • Patent number: 11235685
    Abstract: A vehicle seat (1) having adjustment kinematics, in particular height-adjustment kinematics (6), with movable rockers (12, 14), in particular for adjusting the height of a seat frame of the vehicle seat (1) relative to a connectable vehicle structure, wherein at least one rocker (14) is mounted rotatably about an axis (A), in particular about an axis (A) of a transverse tube (16), and a toothed segment (18) which is connected to the at least one rocker (14) is provided, wherein the vehicle seat (1) has a drive (20) for moving the at least one rocker (14), and the drive (20) is mounted on a seat frame, in particular on a side part (100) of the seat frame, wherein a pinion (26) of the drive (20) meshes with the toothed segment (18), wherein, by aligning the position of the entire drive (20) relative to the side part (100) by means of a compensating body (200), the pinion (26) is positioned relative to the toothed segment (18) in a manner free from play.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Keiper Seating Mechanisms Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ludger Muehlenbrock
  • Patent number: 11235880
    Abstract: The invention provides a rear side shell structure in the form of a back covering that can be attached to a lower structure of a seat without support legs. One representative rear side shell structure and seat unit according to the invention relates to a rear side shell structure for covering a back of a seat, the rear side shell structure including a front surface member and a rear surface member, wherein a reinforcing region in which a space reinforcing member is provided between the front surface member and the rear surface member is provided in a portion of the rear side shell structure, and the front surface member and the rear surface member are directly joined to each other except for in the reinforcement region. Further, the front surface member and the rear surface member are formed of composite members. Also, the space reinforcing member has a honeycomb structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: JAMCO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaji Ozaki, Michihito Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11230210
    Abstract: A vehicle seating assembly includes a frame with an engagement portion, a carrier, and a strap disposed between the frame and the carrier, wherein if the carrier is in an attached position relative to the frame, then application of an actuating force to the strap moves the carrier to a detached position relative to the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Vishal Vinayak Nageshkar, Sangram Laxman Tamhankar, Patrick Maloney, Kevin VanNieulande
  • Patent number: 11229296
    Abstract: A seating support device of a wearable chair includes a femoral link extending in a direction where a femoral region extends and configured to be connected with the femoral region, a crural link extending in a direction where a crural region extends, and configured to be connected with the crural region, and including a housing that is coupled at an upper end thereof to a lower end of the femoral link to be rotatable relative thereto and a sliding part that is slidably coupled to the housing in a direction in which the housing extends, and a limiting device operated in conjunction with a relative rotation between the femoral link and the crural link to allow the sliding part to slide vertically and to prevent sliding between the sliding part and the housing in a state where an angle between the femoral link and the crural link is a seating angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Hyun Seop Lim, Dong Jin Hyun
  • Patent number: 11225181
    Abstract: A vehicle seat assembly including a seat frame assembly including a seat base and a seat back pivotally connected to the seat base. The seat back includes at least one resin fuse arranged in the seat back to indicate structural loading in the vehicle seat assembly above a tolerance loading. The at least one resin fuse includes an aperture extending through the seat back and comprising a flange encircling the aperture and extending generally perpendicular to the seat back, and an indicator bar extending across a diameter of the aperture. The aperture is open on either side of the indicator bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Gregory T. Donovan
  • Patent number: 11220196
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes a seat base and a seatback coupled to the seat base. The seatback includes a rigid frame, a first textile layer attached to the rigid frame, a second textile layer attached to the rigid frame, and at least one textile interconnecting tube coupling the first textile layer to the second textile layer. The textile interconnecting tube is attached in tension between the first textile layer and the second textile layer to dampen dynamic loads applied to the seatback. Instead of (or in addition to) the textile interconnecting tube, the seatback may include a plurality of tension elements interconnecting the first textile layer and the second textile layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Paul W. Alexander, Nancy L. Johnson, Daniel W. Booth