Vehicle seat support

Claim 1

A vehicle seat support comprising a floor frame assembly and a seat frame assembly each including two parallel side elements, parallel links at each side of said assemblies pivoted at their ends respectively to the side elements of the floor frame and seat frame assemblies, a series of longitudinally spaced notches in each of said side elements of the floor frame assembly, a female slide member fixed to each of said side elements of the floor frame assembly and a male slide member, having a circular aperture therein, slidably engaging each female slide member, a catch lever assembly including two cross-levers whose upper ends are pivotally connected to the side elements of the seat frame assembly and whose lower ends are provided with circular apertures receiving a transverse shaft, and two operating levers on said shaft each having a boss engageable in one of said notches in the adjacent side element of the floor frame assembly, said transverse shaft being a rod which is of circular section at least over end regions thereof which are spaced from the midlength point of said shaft, portions of said shaft which are located axially outwardly of said end regions with respect to said mid-length point being of cross-sectional shapes which are other than circular, said end regions of said shaft extending not only through the circular apertures in the cross-levers but also through said circular apertures in the male slide members, a stop means located on said shaft on that side of each of said crosslevers which is nearer to said mid-length point whereby movement of said cross-levers axially of the shaft toward said point is prevented, said two operating levers having apertures therein which are complementary to the non-circular cross-sectional shapes of said shaft portions which are located axially outwardly of said end regions, said shaft portions extending through said apertures in the operating levers, terminal portions of said shaft projecting beyond those faces of the operating levers which are directed away from said mid-length point, said terminal portions being spun or peened over onto said faces, a stop provided at each end of each female slide member to limit the extent of the relative movements of the male and female slide members, and a tension spring of which one end is adapted to be anchored to the vehicle and of which the other end is so anchored to said shaft as to tend at all times not only to cause said shaft to rotate about its longitudinal axis to ensure that said bosses are accommodated in two of said notches which are in alignment with one another transversely of the floor frame assembly but also to cause said seat frame assembly to assume its most elevated condition with respect to said floor frame assembly whereby the adjustment of the height of the seat frame assembly in relation to the floor frame assembly is effected under or against the influence of the power stored in said tension spring simply by a user of the seat rotating said shaft and the operating levers connected thereto against the influence of the power stored in said spring and thereby removing said bosses from the respective aligned notches in which they were accommodated and whereby the maintenance of the selected height is effected simply by said user permitting said shaft and the operating levers to be rotated under the influence of the power stored in said spring and said bosses to become accommodated in other aligned notches.