Automotive Swivel Seat Mechanism

The present disclosure relates, in general, to a vehicle seat assembly. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a seat assembly for a passenger car vehicle having a swivel mechanism, so that the passengers can easy ingress to and egress from the vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Existing front passenger seat in cars or other vehicles doesn't give an easy access to the passengers' ingress to and egress from the vehicle as the front passenger seat is fixed rigidly to the floor of the vehicle and doesn't have any swivel mechanism.

Presently, in vehicles there is no such provision to rotate the front passenger seat so that the passengers including physically handicapped and elderly people can easy ingress to and egress from the vehicles.

The object of the present disclosure is to obviate the above drawbacks and provide a swivel mechanism for the front passenger seat of an automotive to help the passengers including physically challenged / handicapped and elderly people easy ingress to and egress from the vehicles.

Further object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle seat assembly with swivel mechanism so that the vehicle seat swivels in and out of the vehicle clearing all the clashes that might occur by the surrounding parts of the seat without wasting the interior space of the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides a mechanism that allows the front passenger seat to swivel using a hand lever and guide so that the seat rotates about 75 degrees facing it outside the vehicle once the door is opened and the passenger can easy ingress to and egress from the vehicle.

This mechanism is directly fitted underneath the front passenger seat as an attachment, which in turn is fitted on to the floor of the vehicle.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat having a main assembly fitted to the car seat, comprising:

base frame secured to the floor of the car,

base plate assembly secured to the base frame including a base plate with a slot having a predetermined curvilinear path;

slider assembly secured to the base frame and base plate for moving the vehicle seat over the slot of the base plate, and top plate assembly configured between the slider assembly and the vehicle seat

The base frame has a front assembly, a back assembly and support angles connected to each other with the help of connecting members to form a firm base for supporting the vehicle seat.

The slider assembly comprises:

linear slide bearing assembly having two slider shafts, connected to the base frame rotary bearing assembly for facilitating the movement of the vehicle seat upto 75°.

The top plate assembly comprises a seat mount plate and seat mount support plate for securing the vehicle seat.

The top assembly has a roller shaft which goes inside the rotary bearing assembly for facilitating the movement of the car seat.

The top plate assembly further includes a foot rest assembly.

The main assembly further comprises a toggle lever assembly connected to seat for operating the swivel mechanism.

Brief description of the Drawings:

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the ensuing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures and wherein:

It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawing illustrates only typical embodiment of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments

Figure 1A shows the plan view of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure IB shows the isometric view of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 shows the base frame of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 3 shows the base plate assembly of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 4 shows the slider assembly, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 shows the top plate assembly of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 6 shows the rotated view of the seat with the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 7 shows the side view of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed description of the drawings:

A detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed herein. It should be understood, however, the disclosed preferred embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as the basis for the claims and teaching one skilled in the art of the invention.

Figure 1A shows the plan view and Figure IB illustrates the isometric view of the main assembly (1) of the swivel mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

The main assembly (1) comprises a base frame (2), as shown in Figure 2, which is secured to the original seat mounts in the floor of the car.

The base frame (2) having a front assembly (7), a back assembly (8) and support angles (9) connected to each other with the help of connecting members like nuts and bolts for forming a firm base for supporting the vehicle seat. The front assembly (7) further has mounting brackets at left hand side (10a) and right hand side (10b) for mounting the mechanism to vehicle. The base frame (2) also has hook channels (1 la & 1 lb) as hard stops and acts as a lock in the event of crash with top plate (17).

Referring to Figure 3, it shows the base plate assembly (3) secured to the base frame with the help of connecting members. The base plate assembly (3) has a base plate (12) with a slot (13) having a predetermined curvilinear path. The slider assembly (4), as shown in Figure 4, is also secured to the base frame (2) for facilitating the movement of the vehicle seat over the slot (13) of the base plate (12). The slider assembly (4) secured to the base frame (2) comprises binocular shaped linear slide bearing assembly (14) holding two slider shafts (15a & 15b). The slider assembly (4) also includes rotary bearing assembly (16) connected to top plate (17) and slider assembly (4) for facilitating the movement of the vehicle seat.

The top plate assembly (5), as illustrated in Figure 5, is configured between the slider assembly (4) and the vehicle seat. The top plate assembly (5), which is also secured to the vehicle seat comprises a seat mount plate (17) for mounting the seat to the mechanism.

The seat mount plate (17) has a roller shaft (18) which goes inside the rotary bearing assembly (16) for facilitating the movement of the car seat secured to the top plate assembly over the slider assembly (4) and curvilinear path of the slot (13) of the base plate (12). Figure 6 illustrates the rotated view of the vehicle seat over the swivel mechanism.

The top plate assembly (5) further includes a foot rest assembly (19) for the ease of the passenger.

Figure 7 shows the side view of the main assembly (1) of the swivel mechanism over which the vehicle seat is mounted. The main assembly (1) further comprises a toggle lever assembly (6) connected to seat for operating the swivel mechanism.

Front striker assembly (20) is provided between the base plate (12) and seat mount plate (17) for the locking the seat in swiveled out position.

The vehicle seat is fixed on a seat frame that can rotate with constant Z axis which is offset with the CL of the seat which is near to B pillar of the car. This makes the seat swivel outside of the vehicle. With the mechanism the seat is lifted about 74mm along the Z- direction. The entire main assembly (1) with the seat is assembled to dry type maintenance free, lubrication free and rattle free linear guide ways, which allow the movement in the X direction.

A cam profile is assembled separately on the base plate (12). A cam follower which is a roller shaft (18) coupled with a bearing on which nylon sleeve is inserted and locked is attached to the top plate seat frame which is made to follow the cam profile. The toggle lever is moved to the right in order to unlock the swivel mechanism and the vehicle seat swivels out of the vehicle and locks automatically. The same toggle lever is used in order to swivel in the vehicle seat. The vehicle seat swivels in and out of the vehicle clearing all the clashes that might occur by the surrounding parts of the seat such as center console, dash board, sill section and B pillar etc. In order to facilitate the rotary motion, bearings are used in the rotating axis and the curvilinear path.

When the swivel mechanism is fixed, the seat is lifted about 94mm in the Z-direction. It makes a linear travel in X-direction and rotates at an angle of about 75° with constant Z-axis.

WORKING OF THE MECHANISM

To Egress: The occupant has to release the mechanism lock by moving the release lever to the right side and push oneself out of the vehicle, as the seat moves in a curvilinear motion towards the door and the seat will be self locked on the swiveled out position.

To Ingress: The occupant has to release the mechanism lock by moving the release lever to the right side and push oneself inside of the vehicle, as the seat moves in a curvilinear motion in to the traveling position and the seat will be self locked on the position.

Advantages:

• The advantage of this mechanism is its adaptability to the other vehicles. On altering the mounting positions and the cam path, the mechanism can be adapted to other vehicles with minimum other required changes.

• It can be used as after market fitment without touching the OEM seat
• The mechanism is cost effective

USES and APPLICATION:

The major application of this mechanism is for:

- Specifically in front passenger seats of all kind of passenger Cars, SUV etc.
- Automobile industry
- Office usage
- Domestic use

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined.

We claim:

1. A swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat having an assembly (1) fitted to the car seat, comprising:

base frame (2) secured to the floor of the car,

base plate assembly (3) secured to the base frame (2) including a base plate (12) with a slot (13) having a predetermined curvilinear path;

slider assembly (4) secured to the base frame (2) and base plate (12) for moving the vehicle seat over the slot (13) of the base plate (12), and top plate assembly (5) configured between the slider assembly (4) and the vehicle seat

2. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base frame (2) has a front assembly (7), a back assembly (8) and support angles (9) connected to each other with the help of connecting members to form a firm base for supporting the vehicle seat.

3. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slider assembly (4) comprises:

linear slide bearing assembly (14) having two slider shafts (15a and 15b), connected to the base frame (2), rotary bearing assembly (16) for facilitating the movement of the vehicle seat upto 75°.

4. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top plate assembly (5) comprises a seat mount plate (17) and seat mount support plate for securing the vehicle seat.

5. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top assembly (5) includes a roller shaft (18) which goes inside the rotary bearing assembly (16) for facilitating the movement of the vehicle seat.

6. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top plate assembly (5) optionally includes a foot rest assembly (19).

7. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the assembly (1) further comprises a toggle lever assembly (6) connected to seat for operating the swivel mechanism.

8. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the assembly (1) further comprises a front striker assembly (20) provided between the base plate (12) and seat mount plate (17) for the locking the seat in swiveled out position.

9. The swivel mechanism for a vehicle seat substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.