Pivotable back-rest, particularly for the rear bench seats in motor vehicles

Claim 2

A pivotable back rest assembly for use in an automotive vehicle having body support structure, said back rest assembly comprising a back rest and hinge means for pivotally supporting said back rest for movement between an upright seat occupying position and a generally horizontal cargo carrying position, said hinge means including stationary hinges adapted to be secured to the vehicle body structure and having guide slot means therein and pairs of vertically spaced hinge pins carried by the back rest and extending laterally thereof, each of said pairs of hinge pins being slidably received within one of said guide slot means of a stationary hinge means and with the latter supporting said back rest for pivoting movement about an axis variable in height when the back rest is moved between its positions, the improvement being that said guide slot means are generally Y-shaped to define first and second intersecting guide paths to guide the movement of said hinge pins so as to enable said back rest to be moved between its generally upright and horizontal positions and that said stationary hinges are provided with an upwardly facing opening adjacent the fork of the generally Y-shaped guide slot means for allowing entry and removal of the hinge pins on the back rest into and out of the guide slot means to enable the back rest to be readily assembled to and disassembled from the stationary hinges.

Claim 3

A pivotable back rest assembly for use with a seat in an automotive vehicle having body support structure for supporting the seat and back rest assembly, said back rest assembly comprising a back rest and hinge means for pivotally supporting the back rest for movement between generally upright seat occupying position and a generally horizontal cargo carrying position, said hinge means including first and second spaced stationary hinges securable to the vehicle body structure and each of which has a guide slot means adjacent the back rest at its lower end and first and second pairs of vertically spaced hinge pins carried by the lower end of the back rest and extending laterally of its sides, said first and second pairs of hinge pins being slidably received in the guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges, respectively, and with the latter suppoting the back rest for pivotal movement about an axis variable in height when the back rest is moved between its positions, the improvement being that said guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges are generally Y-shaped to define a first elongated guide path for receiving one of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins and a second shorter guide path which intersects the first guide path between its ends and which receives the other of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins, said guide pins of each pair slidably moving from one end to the other end of their respective guide paths when the back rest is moved between its positions, and wherein said stationary hinges have upwardly facing openings in communication with the guide slots adjacent their fork to enable the guide pins to be readily inserted into and removed from the guide slot means so that the back rest can be readily assembled to and disassembled from the stationary hinges.

Claim 4

A pivotable back rest assembly for use with a seat in an automotive vehicle having body support structure for supporting the seat and back rest assembly, said back rest assembly comprising a back rest and hinge means for pivotally supporting the back rest for movement between generally upright seat occupying position and a generally horizontal cargo carrying position, said hinge means including first and second spaced stationary hinges securable to the vehicle body structure and each of which has a guide slot means adjacent the back rest at its lower end and first and second pairs of vertically spaced hinge pins carried by the lower end of the back rest and extending laterally of its sides, said first and second pairs of hinge pins being slidably received in the guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges, respectively, and with the latter suppoting the back rest for pivotal movement about an axis variable in height when the back rest is moved between its positions, the improvement being that said guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges are generally Y-shaped to define a first elongated guide path for receiving one of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins and a second shorter guide path which intersects the first guide path between its ends and which receives the other of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins, said guide pins of each pair slidably moving from one end to the other end of their respective guide paths when the back rest is moved between its positions, and wherein said stationary hinges have upwardly facing openings in communication with the guide slots adjacent their fork to enable the guide pins to be readily inserted into and removed from the guide slot means so that the back rest can be readily assembled to and disassembled from the stationary hinges.

Claim 5

A pivotable seat and back rest assembly for an automotive vehicle having body support structure for supporting the seat and back rest assembly, said seat being pivotally supported adjacent its front end by the body structure for movement about a generally horizontal axis between a horizontal seat occupying position and a vertical position spaced from the back rest assembly, said back rest assembly comprising a back rest and hinge means for pivotally supporting the back rest for movement between generally upright seat occupying position and a generally horizontal cargo carrying position, said hinge means including first and second spaced stationary hinges secured to the body structure of the vehicle and each of which has a guide slot means located adjacent the back rest at its lower sides and first and second pairs of vertically spaced hinge pins carried by the lower end of the back rest and extending laterally of its sides, said first and second pairs of hinge pins being slidably received in the guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges, respectively, and with the latter supporting the back rest for pivotal movement about an axis variable in height when the back rest is moved between its positions, the improvement being that said guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges are generally Y-shaped to define a first S-shaped elongated guide path for receiving one of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins and a second shorter straight guide path which intersects the first guide path between its ends and which receives the other of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins, said guide pins of each pair slidably moving from one end to the other end of their respective guide paths when the back rest is moved between its positions, and wherein said stationary hinges have upwardly facing openings in communication with the second guide paths adjacent their intersection with the first guide paths to enable the guide pins to be readily inserted into and removed from the guide slot means so that the back rest can be readily assembled to and disassembled from the stationary hinges.

Claim 6

A pivotable seat and back rest assembly for an automotive vehicle having body support structure for supporting the seat and back rest assembly, said seat being pivotally supported adjacent its front end by the body structure for movement about a generally horizontal axis between a horizontal seat occupying position and a vertical position spaced from the back rest assembly, said back rest assembly comprising a back rest and hinge means for pivotally supporting the back rest for movement between generally upright seat occupying position and a generally horizontal cargo carrying position, said hinge means including first and second spaced stationary hinges secured to the body structure of the vehicle and each of which has a guide slot means located adjacent the back rest at its lower sides and first and second pairs of vertically spaced hinge pins carried by the lower end of the back rest and extending laterally of its sides, said first and second pairs of hinge pins being slidably received in the guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges, respectively, and with the latter supporting the back rest for pivotal movement about an axis variable in height when the back rest is moved between its positions, the improvement being that said guide slot means of said first and second stationary hinges are generally Y-shaped to define a first S-shaped elongated guide path for receiving one of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins and a second shorter straight guide path which intersects the first guide path between its ends and which receives the other of said guide pins of one of said pairs of guide pins, said guide pins of each pair slidably moving from one end to the other end of their respective guide paths when the back rest is moved between its positions, and wherein said stationary hinges have upwardly facing openings in communication with the second guide paths adjacent their intersection with the first guide paths to enable the guide pins to be readily inserted into and removed from the guide slot means so that the back rest can be readily assembled to and disassembled from the stationary hinges.

Claim 7

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 2, and wherein the hinge pins are shaped as members of a round rod bent into U-form and with at least one of the hinge pins having a collar at its free end for slidably retaining the hinge pin with the guide slot means.

Claim 8

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 4, and wherein the hinge pins have a further inner collar which is adjacent the other collar 29 and that both collars enclose the slot guide 22 and form a lateral guide for the back rest in a direction transverse to the back rest.

Claim 9

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 3, and wherein the hinges 20 and the guide slot means 22 are arranged at the side walls 12, 13 of the motor vehicle.

Claim 10

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 6, wherein in addition to the hinges arranged at the side walls of the vehicle, there is also provided a central hinge means arranged on the vehicle floor centrally of the back rest assembly.

Claim 11

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 7, and wherein the hinges are made from sheet metal.

Claim 12

A back rest assembly in accordance with claim 6, and wherein the central hinge means comprises a pair of hinges stamped from sheet metal and folded back to back to provide a pair of oppositely facing hinges.