Locking device for a rear seat back rest

Claim 1

A rear seat assembly for an automotive vehicle including a rear seat back rest which is pivotally supportable by body structure of the vehicle for movement between an upright position and a folded down position, and a releasable locking device carried by said seat back rest for engaging a generally horizontally disposed locking member on said vehicle body structure for automatically locking said back rest in its upright position when moved thereto, but which is manually releasable to permit said back rest to be unlocked from said locking member and be moved from its upright position toward its folded down position, the improvement being that said locking member comprises a tongue like member having a recess therethrough and that said locking device comprises a plastic housing secured to said back panel of said seat back rest adjacent its upper end, said housing having a transverse slot therethrough defined by sides and upper and lower surfaces of said housing which receives therein said locking member when the seat back rest is in its upright position, said housing having a generally vetically extending opening in communication with said slot adjacent its end remote from said back panel and which slidably receives a pin extending through the seat back rest at its upper end which can be manually depressed, a plastic locking lever mounted to a pivot pin means supported by the sides of said housing for rotation about its axis toward and away from said upper surface defining said slot, said lever having a first portion remote from said axis of rotation of said pivot pin means for engaging said slidable pin at its lower end and a second portion defining a transversely extending locking tab at a location spaced a lesser distance from said axis of rotation than said first portion, said second portion having an arcuate surface facing toward said pin which is concentric with said axis of rotation of said lever and a beveled surface facing toward said upper surface defining said slot, and spring means engageable with said housing and said lever for biasing said lever toward said top surface defining said slot and into engagement with said lower end of said pin means, said beveled surface of said second portion of said locking lever being engageable with said tongue like locking member to cause said lever to be pivoted away from the upper surface defining said slot as said seat is being moved toward its upright position until said second portion is aligned with said recess in said locking member whereupon said spring means moves said locking lever toward said upper surface and said arcuate surface into engagement with said locking member to both lock said backrest in its upright position and to prevent rattling between the back rest and said locking member, said pin being manually depressible to move said locking lever away from said upper surface to disengage said second portion thereof from said tongue like locking member to enable said back rest to be moved from its upright position toward its folded over position.