Vehicle seat assembly having a door stopper

Claim 2

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle and supporting said seat assembly for permitting sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; and a rigid member secured to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in said closed position, said rigid member having a leading end portion with a flat section which is substantially parallel with a portion of a surface of said closed door and which is positioned adjacent to said portion and spaced from said portion by a predetermined distance such that upon movement of said door inward of said passenger compartment beyond said closed position, said door contacts said flat section, said rigid member being attached between said seat assembly and said sliding mechanism for mounting said seat assembly on said sliding mechanism, whereby during a collision, when said door is pushed into said passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said door is brought into engagement with said flat section of said rigid member thereby either preventing further inward motion of said door or moving said seat assembly in response to movement of said door.

Claim 3

A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which said sliding mechanism includes an upper rail and said seat assembly includes a seat frame, wherein said rigid member has a horizontal base section secured to said upper rail and another flat section secured to said seat frame for mounting said seat assembly on said sliding mechanism.

Claim 4

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle and supporting said seat assembly for permitting sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; an L-shaped rigid member having an upright portion and a base portion, said rigid member being secured to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in said closed position, said rigid member upright portion having a leading end portion with a flat section which is substantially parallel with a portion of a surface of said closed door and which is positioned adjacent to said surface portion and spaced from said surface portion by a predetermined distance such that upon movement of said door inward of said passenger compartment beyond said closed position, said door contacts said flat section; and a reinforcing member attached between said upright and base portions of said rigid member for reinforcing said leading end portion; whereby during a collision, when said door is pushed into said passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said door is brought into engagement with said flat section of said rigid member thereby either preventing further inward motion of said door or moving said seat assembly in response to movement of said door.

Claim 5

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle and supporting said seat assembly for permitting sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; an L-shaped rigid member having an upright portion and a base portion, said rigid member being secured to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in said closed position, said rigid member upright portion having a leading end portion with a flat section which is substantially parallel with a portion of a surface of said closed door and which is positioned adjacent to said surface portion and spaced from said surface portion by a predetermined distance such that upon movement of said door inward of said passenger compartment beyond said closed position, said door contacts said flat section; and a reinforcing member attached between said upright and base portions of said rigid member for reinforcing said leading end portion; whereby during a collision, when said door is pushed into said passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said door is brought into engagement with said flat section of said rigid member thereby either preventing further inward motion of said door or moving said seat assembly in response to movement of said door.

Claim 6

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle and supporting said seat assembly for permitting sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; a rigid member secured to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in said closed position, said rigid member having a leading end portion with a flat section which is substantially parallel with a portion of a surface of said closed door and which is positioned adjacent to said portion and spaced from said portion by a predetermined distance such that upon movement of said door inward of said passenger compartment beyond said closed position, said door contacts said flat section; and stopper means for preventing relative sliding movement between the flat section of said rigid member and said door upon engagement therebetween; whereby during a collision, when said door is pushed into said passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said door is brought into engagement with said flat section of said rigid member thereby either preventing further inward motion of said door or moving said seat assembly in response to movement of said door.

Claim 7

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle and supporting said seat assembly for permitting sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; a rigid member secured to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in said closed position, said rigid member having a leading end portion with a flat section which is substantially parallel with a portion of a surface of said closed door and which is positioned adjacent to said portion and spaced from said portion by a predetermined distance such that upon movement of said door inward of said passenger compartment beyond said closed position, said door contacts said flat section; and stopper means for preventing relative sliding movement between the flat section of said rigid member and said door upon engagement therebetween; whereby during a collision, when said door is pushed into said passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said door is brought into engagement with said flat section of said rigid member thereby either preventing further inward motion of said door or moving said seat assembly in response to movement of said door.

Claim 8

A vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein said door comprises an inner panel, and said stopper means comprises a plurality of projections secured to said inner panel of said door, said projections extending toward said flat section when said door is in said closed position, and a plurality of openings formed in said flat section for respectively receiving therein said projections upon engagement between said flat section and said door.

Claim 9

A vehicle as claimed in claim 5, in which said inner panel has an outer surface facing said passenger compartment, and said stopper means further comprises a pad member which is mounted on said outer surface of said inner panel of said door in a manner to almost cover said projections.

Claim 10

A vehicle as claimed in claim 6, in which said inner panel has an inner surface, and said stopper means further comprises a reinforcing plate which is attached to said inner surface of said panel to assure a reliable connection between the projections and said inner panel.

Claim 11

A vehicle as claimed in claim 6, in which said projections on said door inner panel are equally spaced from one another, and said openings in the flat section of said rigid member are equally spaced from one another by a distance equal to that of said projections.

Claim 12

A vehicle as claimed in claim 8, in which said openings of said rigid member are each elongated.

Claim 13

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor, and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle for supporting said seat assembly for permitting a sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; a rigid member securely connected to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in closed position and terminating in an extreme end portion with a certain clearance between the closed door and said extreme end portion, said extreme end portion having at least one opening facing toward the closed door; a plurality of projections secured to the inboard side of said door in such a manner that one of said projections and said opening of said rigid member face each other when said door is in its closed position; and a flexible pad member fixed to the inboard side of said door to substantially cover said projections, whereby when said door is forced into the vehicle passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said inboard side of said door is brought into engagement with said extreme end portion of said rigid member moving the projection of the door into said opening of said rigid member.

Claim 14

A vehicle comprising: a chassis having a passenger compartment with a floor, and a door which can be moved between an open position and a closed position; a seat assembly located near said door in said passenger compartment; a sliding mechanism mounted on said floor of said vehicle for supporting said seat assembly for permitting a sliding movement of said seat assembly in a fore-and-aft direction relative to said floor; a rigid member securely connected to said seat assembly to move therewith, said rigid member extending toward the door in closed position and terminating in an extreme end portion with a certain clearance between the closed door and said extreme end portion, said extreme end portion having at least one opening facing toward the closed door; a plurality of projections secured to the inboard side of said door in such a manner that one of said projections and said opening of said rigid member face each other when said door is in its closed position; and a flexible pad member fixed to the inboard side of said door to substantially cover said projections, whereby when said door is forced into the vehicle passenger compartment by an external force applied thereto, said inboard side of said door is brought into engagement with said extreme end portion of said rigid member moving the projection of the door into said opening of said rigid member.

Claim 15

A vehicle as claimed in claim 10, in which said extreme end portion of said rigid member is formed with a plurality of openings which are equally spaced from one another, and in which said projections of said door are equally spaced from one another by a distance equal to that of said openings.

Claim 16

A vehicle as claimed in claim 11, in which each of said openings is elongated.

Claim 17

A vehicle as claimed in claim 12, in which said flexible pad member is formed with a plurality of openings in which said projections are respectively placed.

Claim 18

A vehicle as claimed in claim 13, in which said pad member has a thickness to almost cover said projections to allow the outer surface thereof to be flush with leading ends of said projections.

Claim 19

A vehicle as claimed in claim 14, in which said pad member is received in a recess formed in the inboard side of said door so that the outer face of said pad member is substantially flush with the major surface portion of said inboard side of said door.

Claim 20

A vehicle as claimed in claim 15, in which a reinforcing plate is attached to said inboard side of said door to assure connection between said projections and said door inboard side.