Motor actuated seat back latch release mechanism

Claim 1

In a seat assembly having a seat member and a back member pivoted to said seat member, a first latch part carried by one of said members, and a second latch part carried by the other of said members, one of said latch parts being fixed and the other being pivoted for movements into and out of latching engagement with said fixed latch part so as respectively to disable and enable relative pivotal movement of said members, the improvement comprising oscillatable operating means; means mounting said operating means on one of said members for oscillating movement from a first position to a second position; motion transmitting means interconnecting said operating means and said movable latch part for moving the latter out of latching engagement with said fixed latch part in response to oscillating movement in one direction of said operating means to said second position; a rotary, unidirectional electric motor adapted to be connected to and disconnected from a source of electric current for respectively energizing and deenergizing said motor; means coupling said motor to said operating means for imparting movement to the latter in said one direction in response to connection of said motor to said source; current limiting means carried by and movable with said operating means to said second position and in said second position being operable to minimize current supplied to said motor while maintaining said motor energized; and spring means acting on said operating means for restoring the latter to its first position in response to deenergization of said motor.