DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0029] The first aspect of the invention relates to a stowable second row mini-van seat, and is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 - 10 . The second row mini-van seat is reconfigurable (collapsible) and will stow in a low, flat position against a vehicle floor in order to achieve as much as cargo room as possible without having to remove the seat. The seat can also be stowed either above or below (i.e. recessed into) the vehicle load floor, depending on the floor pan type. The backs of the lower seat and seat back form the load floor when the seat assembly is collapsed.

[0030] With the present invention, the seat reconfigures in such a way that cargo room is available up to the backs of the front seats. The surfaces of the cushion and back which face up when in the stowed position are made of a durable material, preferably plastic. There is also a rotation stop to make sure the lower seat cushion and seat back A-surfaces (fabric) do not lay on the floor and become soiled.

[0031] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the seat assembly 10 in side views illustrating various reconfigured positions between upright and stowed positions. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the seat assembly 10 in the design position. The structure of the seat assembly 10 will first be described with reference to FIGS. 1 - 3 , and then the functionality of the seats will be described.

[0032] As shown, the seat assembly 10 includes a back frame 12 which is pivotally connected about a recliner pivot joint 14 for reclining operations, and about a second pivot point 16 , about which the back frame 12 may “dump” to a table position (such as that shown in FIG. 10 ). The back of the seat back will have an integrated plastic tray table with molded-in cup holders for use in the table position shown in FIG. 10 .

[0033] The recliner portion 18 at each side of the seat back frame 12 is attached to a pair of movable upper supports 20 , 22 . A non-structural cushion pan 24 is also attached to the upper supports 20 , 22 . The forward edge of the cushion pan 24 is pivotally connected at the pivot joint 26 to the upper support 20 , and similarly attached at the opposing side, for roughly 180 degrees of forward pivoting movement. The rear portion of the cushion pan 24 is attached on each side by a hook 29 which latches onto a pin protruding from each upper support 20 , 22 .

[0034] The upper supports 20 , 22 are pivotally connected to four parallelogram-type linkages 28 , 30 which are operative to rotate rearward and downward, as most clearly shown in FIG. 2 , about the pivot points 32 , 34 . The pivot points 32 , 34 are on the structural risers 36 , 38 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 . As shown in FIG. 1 , each front linkage 28 includes a pin 40 near the upper end thereof. The pin 40 is positioned to lock within latches 42 , 44 , alternately, when the linkages are in the up and down positions. This engagement is shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 . The latches 42 , 44 are positioned on the risers 36 , 38 . The risers 36 , 38 are attached to a pair of fore-aft tracks 46 , 48 . The tracks 46 , 48 are bolted to the floor 50 of the vehicle.

[0035] In order to collapse the seat assembly, the occupant pulls a strap which extends from the “bite line” (the interface between the rear edge of the lower seat cushion and the lower edge of the seat back cushion) of the seat. The strap (not shown) is operative to unlatch the hooks 29 to allow pivotal movement of the cushion and cushion pan 24 from the horizontal position shown in FIG. 3 , to the vertical position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 . As the cushion and cushion pan 24 are rotated forward, this rotation triggers, by cable connection, the unlocking of the latch 42 to allow pivotal movement of the front and rear linkages 28 , 30 .

[0036] FIG. 5 shows a front view of the seat assembly 10 with the cushion pan 24 in the upright position before the linkages 28 , 30 begin to rotate. As shown in FIG. 5 , the risers 36 , 38 and tracks 46 , 48 are wide enough to allow collapse of the rest of the seat assembly between the risers 36 , 30 and tracks 46 , 48 against the floor of the vehicle.

[0037] Turning to FIG. 6 , the linkages 28 , 30 continue to rotate toward a substantially horizontal position, and the upper supports 20 , 22 are lowered to a position below the upper edge of the risers 36 , 38 . This position is also shown in FIG. 7 , wherein the linkages 28 , 30 have rotated to the substantially horizontal position, and the pin 40 has engaged the latch 44 .

[0038] Between the positions of FIGS. 7 and 8 , the cushion pan 24 is continued to rotate forward to the substantially flat position, and the back frame 12 is collapsed to the flat position when the recliner is triggered to dump the seat back forward.

[0039] In the stowed position shown in FIG. 8 , the lower seat cushion sits upside down and the seat back sits flat with its back surface facing up and takes up the space formerly occupied by the lower seat cushion.

[0040] The underside of the cushion and the back of the seat back are made of or covered by some type of durable plastic. The risers, linkages, and tracks are all outboard of the cushion and seat back, i.e., the cushion and seat back are narrower than the rest of the seat so they can rotate between the risers, linkages, etc. The seat also provides a stowage area behind the seat back for the head restraint, which must be removed in order to stow the seat.

[0041] FIG. 10 illustrates the seat back frame 12 being pivoted about the second pivot point 16 to the table position. As mentioned previously, the back of the seat is preferably hard plastic with cup holders, etc. formed therein.

[0042] A further aspect of the invention is shown in FIGS. 11 - 14 , and is an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,581, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This aspect of the invention is for a third row minivan seat, but could be used in the second row. The seat described in Pat. No. 5,261,581 is a stowable seat that stows into a floor cavity behind the seat. The seat back folds forward flat against the cushion, and then the entire seat rotates rearward 180 degrees to store into the floor cavity. The bottom surface of the cushion then becomes the load floor. The lower seat is a tubular design with a sheet metal stamping that covers the entire bottom surface and acts as the load floor.

[0043] With the present invention, the seat movement in order to stow the seat is the same, but the cushion (i.e., lower seat) construction is different. The lower seat can be a simple tubular design with elastomeric suspension and a thinner foam pad compared with the current seat design. (Because the current design uses a stamping, the foam must be thicker in order for the occupant to be comfortable and not to bottom out on the metal.) This will reduce the seat thickness in the stowed position and also save weight. Since the stowed seat thickness is thinner than that of the conventional seat, two shallow indentations could be made on the underside of the cushion to stow the head restraints.

[0044] In order to stow the seat assembly, the head restraints must be removed and stowed elsewhere. The head restraints may be stowed on the back of the seat backs. When the seat is stowed, a sliding cover can be slid over the seat to act as the load floor. This cover sits underneath the seat when the seat is in its upright position, or it could be slid over the cavity to act as an elevated load floor if the objects (such as suitcases, boxes, etc.) are too big to fit in the cavity. The occupants could also put stowable objects in the cavity, slide the cover over it, and use it either to hide the stowed objects or act as a second elevated load floor.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 11 , the seat assembly 110 includes attachment joints 112 , 114 which attach the seat assembly to the sides of the vehicle. The attachment joint 114 is operative as a pivot joint to enable pivotal movement of the seat assembly 110 to the collapsed position, shown in FIG. 13 . The seat assembly 110 is collapsible into a stowage cavity 116 . A sliding cover 118 may be selectively positioned over the stowage cavity 116 to enclose various items 120 , 122 within the cavity 116 , or to enclose the collapsed seat assembly 110 within the cavity 116 .

[0046] As shown in FIG. 12 , when the seat back 130 is collapsed against the lower seat 128 , the top surface 131 of the cushion of the lower seat 128 is compressed to reduce the overall thickness of the collapsed assembly. FIG. 14 shows a storage pocket 125 for storing the headrest 126 on the underside of the lower seat 128 .

[0047] While the best modes for carrying out the invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.