Automotive vehicle seat for disabled persons

A seat for a disabled driver or passenger at the door of an automotive vehicle, the door moving between closed and open positions at a doorway through which the seat is accessible. The seat comprises a seat cushion including a stationary cushion component remote from the doorway and a transport cushion component adjacent to the doorway, the transport cushion component being constrained for movement in a path between a retracted position and an extended position. The transport cushion component, when in extended position, is located downwardly and outwardly of its retracted position. The transport cushion component is controlled by an operational system that includes a manual actuator for maintaining movement between the retracted position and the extended position when under constant manual control. The actuator is accessible to constant manual control at a handle bar that moves with the transport cushion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to automotive vehicle seats and, more 
particularly, to car and mini-van seats of the type for assisting a 
disabled driver or passenger in accommodating himself or herself to and 
extricating himself or herself from an automotive vehicle front seat. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is well known that many persons with anatomical problems resulting from 
arthritis, rheumatism, bodily injury, surgical trauma, back pain, 
sciatica, etc. experience difficulties when attempting to fit themselves 
into and extricate themselves from seating in an automobile or van. 
Spacial constraints including low headroom, projecting controls, steering 
wheel proximity, and door and window obstructions require bending and 
twisting contortions by the driver or passenger as he or she fits into or 
alights from the seat. 
Confronted with such difficulties, a disabled person may be forced to limit 
or forego automotive travel. Prior constructions designed primarily to 
assist only paraplegics and other severely impaired drivers generally have 
been unwieldy and obtrusive in use, as well as unadapted for concommitant 
use by normal drivers and passengers. The present invention is a response 
to difficulties of the type confronting persons with limited or severe 
impairment. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an automotive 
vehicle seat, primarily either a driver's or front passenger's seat, which 
accommodates all drivers normally, but which also optionally assists 
disabled drivers and passengers to fit themselves into and extricate 
themselves from a front seat of a car or van. For ease of explanation, a 
driver's bucket seat behind the steering wheel in a mini-van is 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification. It is to 
be understood, however, that a passenger's front seat also is contemplated 
and, in design, is essentially a mirror image of the driver's seat 
described in detail. The front seat of a mini-van, for example, often is 
higher than the front seat of a typical car and poses special difficulties 
for the persons with anatomical problems. 
In normal mode, the seat of the present invention presents seat and back 
cushions of conventional appearance and comfort. A normal driver or 
passenger can sit down while facing outwardly through an open door and 
swing his or her legs and torso into a normal driving posture facing the 
windshield. From driving posture, a normal driver or passenger can swing 
his or her legs and torso around to permit reaching the ground through an 
open doorway. 
In assist mode, the car seat cushion preferably divides into two parts, an 
outer movable transport or lift cushion that is adjacent to the vehicle 
door and an inner stationary cushion that is remote from the vehicle door. 
The transport cushion operates electromechanically under the control of a 
disabled driver or passenger between an extended position and a retracted 
position. It provides a seat that gently controls the anatomy of the 
disabled driver or passenger between inner and outer postures at the open 
door. When in retracted position, it permits the disabled driver or 
passenger to swing his or her legs and torso between forward and sideward 
orientations. 
Preferably, the configuration of the seat cushion as a whole is contoured 
to present a seating configuration at the forward edge which tends to 
retain the torso of the driver in forward orientation. The side of the 
transport cushion at the doorway is rounded to enable the driver or 
passenger to glide into successive postures as it extends or retracts. 
Other objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in 
part appear hereinafter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, is a driver's 
seat 20 comprising a seat cushion assemblage 22, a back cushion 24 and a 
head cushion 26. Seat cushion assemblage 22 and back cushion 24 are 
carried by a frame, the base of which is shown at 25 and the back of which 
projects upwardly into back cushion 24. Back cushion 24 and head cushion 
26 are of conventional appearance. Head cushion 26 is carried at the upper 
end of a mounting plate 28 which projects into a guide (not shown) at the 
top of the upright part of the frame within back cushion 24, by which its 
height is adjustable. 
Seat cushion assemblage 22 includes a stationary cushion 30 and a transport 
of lift cushion 32. Transport cushion 32 is constrained for movement 
between a retracted position, as shown in FIGS. 3, 6 and 7, and an 
extended position, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. Between these inner and 
outer extremities, the transport cushion initially moves through a path 
that generally extends outwardly and downwardly. When transport cushion 32 
is retracted, it presents, together with stationary cushion 30, a 
composite cushion assemblage with contours that comfortably seat both 
regular and disabled drivers. The profile across the front of the 
composite cushion assemblage, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, is a slight 
trough, the center of which is somewhat lower than the opposed sides of 
the stationary cushion and the transport cushion. 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the mechanism for carrying the transport 
cushion between its retracted and extended positions is contained in a 
housing 37 at the rear of back cushion 24 and includes a curved slide 38 
which is welded to a bracket 39 at its outer extremity. Housing 37 is 
mounted on frame 25. A horizontal arm 41 extends forwardly from bracket 39 
for supporting the transport cushion. Movement of slide 38 is constrained 
by four rollers 40, 42, 44 and 45. The position of slide 38 in its path is 
determined by a drive pinion 46 which meshes with a rack 48 that is 
attached to and along the inner face of slide 38. Drive pinion 46 meshes 
with a control pinion 50 that is mounted on the shaft of a reversable 
motor 56 within housing 37. Rollers 40, 42, 44 and 45, motor 56 and 
gearing 46, 50 are mounted in housing 37. The path of slide 38 is 
established by rollers 40, 42 which oppose each other, and by rollers 44, 
45 which oppose each other. Preferably, when viewed across the front of 
seat 20, the width of transport cushion 32 is no more than one-half the 
total width of the composite cushion so that it is free to clear the 
doorway. 
Motor 56 is powered by: the car battery 60; an "up" safety switch 62; a 
"down" safety switch 64; an interlock switch 61 which immobilizes the 
circuit when the door is closed; and a pair of limit switches 66, 68 which 
interrupt power when the transport cushion reaches its most extended or 
retracted position. 
Upwardly extending from the bracket 39 is a vertical arm 63, which 
pivotally mounts a handle bar 65 on a hinge 67. Handle bar 65 moves 
between an upright orientation along the side of the seat and a transverse 
orientation along the length of the transport cushion. When handle bar 65 
is upright, a person can move freely to and from the seat. When handle bar 
is across, a seated person is restrained on the transport cushion. 
Switches 62, 64, which are located on handle bar 65, must be controlled 
continuously by the driver in order to continually energize motor 56. 
Thus, any lapse in the driver's capacity or attention, as a safety 
precaution, will interrupt movement of the transport cushion. Switch 64 
causes transport cushion 32 to extend. Switch 62 causes transport cushion 
32 to retract. FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 depict the successive postures of the 
driver as he enters a mini-van through an open door. 
As shown in FIG. 5, the driver is seated on the transport cushion with his 
legs extending through the open door. His hands are resting on the handle 
bar, his right hand being in position to maintain contact with and control 
of the "up" switch to cause the transport cushion to retract. As the 
transport cushion moves inwardly, the driver's grip on the handle bar 
steadies his body as his posture changes. As the transport cushion moves, 
the driver slides gradually and comfortably about its rounded outer edge. 
As shown in FIG. 6, retraction of the transport cushion continues as the 
driver ascends through the open doorway. As shown in FIG. 7 the driver has 
swung his legs under the steering wheel and is in driving position. 
When exiting the mini-van, the handle bar is upright and the driver sits 
against the rounded edge of the extended transport cushion. Thereafter the 
driver pivots the handle bar downwardly and maintains manual contact with 
and continued control of the "down" switch as he proceeds through a 
sequence of steps that are opposite to the steps described above in 
reference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. The transport cushion mechanism prevents 
the door from closing unless the transport cushion is entirely within the 
car and clear of the doorway. However, the car can be locked completely 
with the transport least partly extended so as to be ready for a returning 
disabled driver. Alternatively, the car can be locked with the transport 
cushion retracted so as to be ready for use by a normal driver or ready to 
be extended for use by a disabled driver. 
OPERATION 
In operation, the driver's or passenger's seat of the present invention is 
adapted for comfortable use by either a normal driver or passenger, or a 
disabled driver or passenger. When transport cushion 32 is retracted and 
handle bar 65 is upright, this automotive seat is characterized by the 
appearance and comfort of an ordinary mini-van seat. However, without any 
appreciable interference with such normal use, this car seat is adapted 
for use by a disabled driver or passenger who may steady himself behind 
the handle bar at an open door as he or she presses the "up" or "down" 
switch for help in entering or leaving the mini-van.