Walk-in mechanism in seat assembly

Claim 1

In a seat assembly including a seat cushion, a seatback pivotally connected to the seat cushion, a stationary rail stationarily mounted on a floor, a movable rail slidably disposed on said stationary rail and mounting thereon said seat cushion, a fore-and-aft position lock mechanism having a pivotal latch pawl member which locks said movable rail to said stationary rail when pivoted in a first direction and releases said movable rail from said stationary rail when pivoted in a second direction, and a reclining mechanism including a first pivot shaft about which said seatback is pivotal to determine an angular position of said seatback relative to said seat cushion and means for locking said seatback at said angular position, a walk-in mechanism comprising: a base plate having first and second portions which are pivotally connected to said seatback and said seat cushion respectively through said first pivot shaft and a second pivot shaft, so that said base plate is pivotal about said second pivot shaft together with said seatback; a latch means for latching said base plate to said seat cushion; a first link member secured to said seatback to move therewith; a second link member pivotally connected to said base plate, said second link member having axially opposed first and second end portions, said first end portion being connected to said first link member through a first lost-motion device; a third link member pivotally connected to said base plate, said third link member having first and second wing portions, said first wing portion being connected to said second end portion of the second link member through a second lost-motion device; and a transmission wire having one end fixed to said latch pawl member and the other end which is connected to the second wing portion of the third link member through a third lost-motion device.