US 11,833,937 B2
Occupant support
Michael P. Miller, Auburn Hills, MI (US); and Grzegorz Wojtowicz, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Assigned to Faurecia Automotive Seating, LLC, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by Faurecia Automotive Seating, LLC, Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Sep. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/469,296.
Prior Publication US 2023/0071936 A1, Mar. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. B60N 2/20 (2006.01); B60N 2/235 (2006.01); B60N 2/22 (2006.01)
CPC B60N 2/206 (2013.01) [B60N 2/2222 (2013.01); B60N 2/2352 (2013.01); B60N 2/2356 (2013.01); B60N 2/236 (2015.04); B60N 2/2354 (2013.01); B60N 2/2362 (2015.04)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An occupant support comprising
a seat bottom,
a seat back including a backrest-frame support coupled to the seat bottom and arranged to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom in a normal-seating configuration, and a backrest frame coupled to the backrest-frame support and arranged to extend upward away from the backrest-frame support and the seat bottom in the normal-seating configuration, and
a seat-back mode-changing unit including a seat back recliner arranged between the seat bottom and the backrest-frame support to provide a seat-back recliner pivot axis about which the seat back pivots relative to the seat bottom between a rearward-reclined position and a forward-reclined position when the seat back is in the normal-seating configuration, and a backrest-frame brace unit coupled to the backrest-frame support and configured to block movement of the backrest frame relative to the backrest-frame support when the seat back is in the normal-seating configuration,
wherein the backrest frame is coupled to the backrest-frame support for pivotable movement relative to the backrest-frame support about a backrest-frame pivot axis that is spaced apart from the seat-back recliner pivot axis between an upright position when the backrest frame is in the normal-seating configuration and a folded-forward position in which the backrest frame folds forward toward the seat bottom relative to the backrest-frame support when the seat back pivots forward past the forward-reclined position,
wherein the backrest-frame brace unit includes a backrest-frame pivot-blocker lever coupled to the backrest-frame support, a slip-blocker lever coupled to the backrest-frame support, and a fixed stop coupled to at least one of the seat bottom and the seat-back recliner, and wherein the slip-blocker lever is configured to engage the fixed stop to change the backrest-frame pivot-blocker lever from an engaged position to a freed position in which the backrest frame is free to pivot about the backrest-frame pivot axis,
wherein the fixed stop is stationary and remains fixed relative to the slip-blocker lever in response to the seat back pivoting between the forward-reclined position.