Patent ID: 6439636
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: B60N

Abstract:
Vehicle electrically actuated reclining seats for replacing stationary seats achieving seating comfort and to permit sleeping within a van comprising:a pair of side walls attached to a van interior, with each side wall having a horizontal slot therein, a bench frame having a plurality of rollers extending therefrom, with the rollers disposed within each horizontal slot such that the frame may horizontally glide on the rollers through the slots, a first electric motor drive attached to both the bench frame and the side walls for moving the bench frame forward and rearward within the van, a pair of seats having a front and a back with each seat front hingeably attached to said bench frame, a pair of reclining back rests each having a top and a bottom with each bottom arcuately attached to the frame, a pair of second electric motor drives each interconnected with a seat back and also the bottom of its corresponding back rest such that when each back rest is substantially upright the back of each seat is lower than its front and when each back rest is pivoted flat by the second electric motor drive the corresponding seat is simultaneously raised to a horizontal position parallel with its back rest, a pair of extendible foot rests each connected to the frame adjacent to the front of each seat, and a pair of third electric motor drives each jointly attached to the frame and each extendible foot rest for extending individual footrests when each corresponding back rest is reclined to a fully horizontal position and the back of its seat is horizontal, forming a bed within a van permitting a person to sleep thereon.