Patent ID: 9522616
Filing Date: 2016-12-20
CPC Classification: B60N

Claim Text:
1. An automotive folding seat device comprising: a first seat support platform that is mounted on a floor of an automobile body, the first seat support platform comprising at least one short support member comprising a first base wall fixed to the floor and a short support wall integrally formed with the first base wall and rising upwardly therefrom, the short support wall having a first height; a second seat support platform that is mounted on the floor of the automobile body, the second seat support platform comprising at least one tall support member comprising a second base wall fixed to the floor and a tall support wall integrally formed with the second base wall and rising upwardly therefrom, where the tall support wall has a second height which is taller than the first height of the short support wall; a seat cushion that is operatively supported on the first and second seat support platforms; a cushion storage mechanism that is provided between each of the first and second seat support platforms and the seat cushion and is capable of moving the seat cushion from an in-use position to a storage position which is lower than the in-use position; a seat back that is operatively supported on the first and second seat support platforms so as to be pivotable between a raised position at which the seat back rises above the seat cushion and a dropped-down position at which the seat back is superimposed on the seat cushion; a reclining mechanism that is provided between one of the first and second seat support platforms and the seat back and is capable of selectively holding the seat back at either the raised position or the dropped-down position; and a coupling mechanism that provides a link between the reclining mechanism and the cushion storage mechanism so as to move the seat cushion from the in-use position to the storage position in association with pivoting of the seat back from the raised position to the dropped-down position, wherein: the floor has formed thereon a wheel house, an elevated surface and a low surface which is lower than the elevated surface, wherein the elevated surface is separate and distinct from the wheel house, the first seat support platform is mounted on the elevated surface, the second seat support platform is mounted on the low surface, the seat cushion is disposed higher than the low surface, the cushion storage mechanism is arranged so as to be capable of moving the seat cushion from the in-use position, which is higher than the elevated surface, to the storage position, which is closer to the low surface than the in-use position, and the first and second seat support platforms are distanced from each other in a widthwise direction of the seat cushion and the seat back.