Vehicle seat support structure

Claim 2

A vehicle seat support structure for superposed seat and back means providing for an individual luggage storage space thereunder and individual seat movement with energy absorption control under sudden deceleration conditions, with such support structure comprising in combination, a rear lateral beam member and a front lateral beam member each of which is adapted to be connected to the vehicle floor, a fore-and-aft beam section at each side of the support structure which connects said front and rear beam members, said front lateral beam member having a vertical height sufficient to serve as a bulkhead for baggage retention means and cooperating with the beam sections at each side to define an open luggage storage space below the central portion of the seat, a rear supporting leg at each side of said support structure extending upwardly from said rear lateral beam member to the rear portion of the superposed seat and back means, and an upwardly extending deformable front support panel positioned above said front lateral beam member to effect support for the front portion of the superposed seat, with said deformable front panel having limited vertical stiffening therein to thereby permit bending thereof and to operate in combination with at least one other portion of the seat support structure a controlled energy absorption system upon the impact of predetermined deceleration of the vehicle.

Claim 3

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said rear lateral beam member is of a tubular configuration having a substantially smooth exterior surface and slidable ringlike members are utilized over such beam member to effect proper positioning and connector means for the rear legs and for the fore-and-aft beam sections.

Claim 4

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said front lateral beam member and said fore-and-aft beam sections are of a stiffened sheet metal panel construction so as to provide strong, lightweight construction.

Claim 5

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 1 further characterized in that each rear supporting leg includes a yieldable form energy absorbing means whereby to work in combination with a bending of said front support panel to yieldably oppose impact and deceleration loading conditions.

Claim 6

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 1 further characterized in that a substantially unstiffened bend zone is provided along the plane of the juncture between the top of the front lateral beam member and the lower portion of the front support panel so as to permit a hinge-type bend line along such juncture under impact conditions.

Claim 7

The vehicle seat support of claim 4 still further characterized in that the front seat support panel extends downwardly to be in part coextensive with said front lateral beam.

Claim 8

The vehicle seat support of claim 4 still further characterized in that the front support panel is crushably deformable to a collapsed, nonreturnable position and will provide in situ energy absorption.

Claim 9

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 1 further characterized in that slidable and removable seat attachment means are provided as extending downwardly from said front and rear lateral beam members whereby there may be a variable transverse position seat attachment to fixed position track means in the floor of a vehicle.

Claim 10

A vehicle seat support structure for superposed seat and back means providing for an individual luggage storage space thereunder and individual seat movement with energy absorption control under sudden deceleration conditions, with such support structure comprising in combination, a rear lateral beam member and a front lateral beam member each of which is adapted to be connected to the vehicle floor, a fore and aft beam section at each side of the support structure which connects said front and rear beam members, a rear supporting leg at each side of said support structure extending upwardly from said rear lateral beam member to the rear portion of the superposed seat and back means, and an upwardly extending deformable front support section positioned above said front lateral beam section to effect support for the front portion of the superposed seat, with said deformable front section having limited vertical stiffening therein to thereby permit bending thereof, an energy absorption means on each side of said structure comprising an expansible-type telescoping tube arrangement wherein one tube passes through fixed position restricting means and causes such tube to be extruded gradually, each oF said energy absorption means extending from said rear lateral beam member upwardly and diagonally forwardly to the upper end portion of the front seat support means, thereby to provide a controlled energy absorption system upon the impact of predetermined deceleration of the vehicle.

Claim 11

A vehicle seat support structure for superposed seat and back means providing for an individual luggage storage space thereunder and individual seat movement with energy absorption control under sudden deceleration conditions, with such support structure comprising in combination, a rear lateral beam member and a front lateral beam member each of which is adapted to be connected to the vehicle floor, a fore and aft beam section at each side of the support structure which connects said front and rear beam members, a rear supporting leg at each side of said support structure extending upwardly from said rear lateral beam member to the rear portion of the superposed seat and back means, and an upwardly extending deformable front support section positioned above said front lateral beam section to effect support for the front portion of the superposed seat, with said deformable front section having limited vertical stiffening therein to thereby permit bending thereof, an energy absorption means on each side of said structure comprising an expansible-type telescoping tube arrangement wherein one tube passes through fixed position restricting means and causes such tube to be extruded gradually, each oF said energy absorption means extending from said rear lateral beam member upwardly and diagonally forwardly to the upper end portion of the front seat support means, thereby to provide a controlled energy absorption system upon the impact of predetermined deceleration of the vehicle.

Claim 12

The vehicle seat support structure of claim 9 further characterized in that the energy-absorbing means are of the compressible type and each one extends from the top end of the rear leg to an upper edge portion of said front lateral beam member.