Abstract:
A seating arrangement provides a relatively flat surface in the seating area of passenger vehicles to rest. The present invention allows the passenger to remain in the seat and be able to rest on a fully inclined seat providing a flat horizontal surface. In one embodiment, the back seat cushion(s) can be removable and thus the front seat backs rest upon the same platform support as the back seat cushions. In a second embodiment, the rear seat cushions have removable rear seat cushion sections to allow the front backs to fully recline into a horizontal position in the open voids formed after the headrest is removed. In a third embodiment applicable to the first two embodiments, the rear seat backs can be removed to extend the resting area into the trunk. In a fourth embodiment second row seats are fully reclinable onto the third row seats.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     REFERENCE TO FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     REFERENCE TO JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENTS 
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     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to passenger vehicles, and, particularly, relates to front seating in the passenger vehicles, and, in greater particularly, relates to a system and method for allowing persons to fully recline the front seats to allow for rest in smaller passenger vehicles classified as subcompact or compact, in particular. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     The modern passenger vehicle has decreased in length considerably over the last 30 years. The main reason for this action has been the demand by the US government to meet higher fuel standards. Unfortunately, one of the prices paid is the lack of space within the interior seating area. Although the front seats have adjustable slides, insufficient space exists behind the seats to allow the seat backs to fully recline to provide a sleeping area or rest area. This is especially true in subcompact and compact vehicles. In these vehicles the front seat back may recline, but it is blocked from fully reclining by the back seat cushions. 
     An exception to this is the Honda Element® EX (out of production in 2012) and the Kia Soul®. In particular, the front seat is moved forward greatly to allow the front seat back to fold back without hitting the rear cushion when the headrest is removed. In this position, ample leg room does not exist so one would have to be laying on this flat area with the legs up on the flat area, but this vehicle is not a subcompact or compact vehicle as such, but a variant to provide a vehicle like a small station wagon. In much older vehicles, the amount of space between the front seat and the back seat allowed the front seat back to be folded back and down and such a car seat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,451. 
     Other US Patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,398 disclose a car seating arrangement where the back seat cushion folds down into the rear foot well. Then the front seat back is folded down flat on top of the stored back seat cushion. The front seat back is also folded down onto the back seat cushion for support. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,420 discloses a mechanism to allow the front seat back to fold down to provide a flat surface. U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,949 discloses a vehicle seating design where both the front and back seat back fold forward to provide a flat surface. U.S. Patent Application 2009/0026824 discloses another mechanism for allowing the front seat back to fold backwards to form a full-flat surface. U.S. Patent Application 2012/0139316 discloses another mechanism for allowing the front seat back to fold backwards. All of the above patents, patent applications and items included herein and in the Information Disclosure Statement are incorporated by reference. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for allowing seats in a passenger vehicle to be positioned as a flat surface for resting. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Being able to rest in a car is a desirable feature when you are on a long trip or have children, but with today&#39;s cars, limited space makes this very difficult. 
     The present invention provides a relatively flat horizontal surface in the seating area for passengers to relax and/or rest. Today&#39;s cars have been downsized very significantly as compared to vehicles in the 70s and 80s. Today&#39;s cars range in class size from subcompact, compact, mid-size, and full size. The present invention allows the passenger to remain in the seat and optionally be able to relax and/or rest on an inclined seat and/or on a flat surface. Due to the reduced size of cars, typical front seat backs only recline to a degree because the front seat back hits the rear seat cushion. The present invention allows the front seat backs to fully recline to a flat position. In one embodiment, a removable back seat cushion can be easily removable and thus the front seat backs rest upon the same support frame as the back seat cushions. In a second embodiment, the rear seat cushions have removable rear seat cushion sections to allow the front backs to fully recline into the open/void sections after the headrests are removed. In a third embodiment applicable to the first two embodiments, the rear seat backs can also be removed to extend the resting area into the trunk area. Therefore to implement this invention, front seat backs must be able to fully recline to a flat position without moving the seat forward greatly and the rear seat cushion must be easily removable or have removable sections. These may be storable in the rear foot well. 
     The present invention can be further used in passenger vehicles having two rows of back seats such as in a SUV/van/mini-van where the larger seat backs, for seating two or more persons, can fully recline and be positioned in a void formed by a removable seat cushion. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a rest area in a vehicle where the rest area is essentially flat. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement where the hinge in the front seat requires no further strengthening since the back seat when fully reclined rests upon the rear seat frame. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement where the back seat cushions are quickly and easily removed. 
     It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement where the rear seat cushion has removable rear seat cushion sections for accepting the top back of the front seat into the void so formed. 
     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement where the back seats backs can be removed to increase the area for resting. 
     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement for resting especially for subcompact and/or compact vehicles. 
     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a seating arrangement for resting in vehicles having 2 or more rows of seats such as in a SUV, van or mini-van where the seats of one row may be separately reclineable, or joined together to recline onto seat cushions behind. 
     These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a partial side view schematic of the seating arrangement of a compact vehicle; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view schematic of a seating arrangement as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view schematic of the seating arrangement of  FIG. 2  with the passenger front seat back fully reclined onto the rear cushion; 
         FIG. 4  is a top view schematic of the seating arrangement with the rear seat cushions having removable sections of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view schematic of the seating arrangement of  FIG. 4  with the rear seat cushions having the removable sections removed with the front seat backs fully reclined into the voids left by the removable sections of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the back seating arrangement with the rear seat cushions having the removable sections removed and with the tops of the front seat backs therein with and the rear seat backs also removed to extend the resting space into the trunk of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  illustrate a rear seat with a removable section where the front seat is located at its most rearward position; 
         FIGS. 8A and 8B  illustrate a removable rear seat cushion section, top view and a side view; and 
         FIG. 9  illustrates the present invention being used on a SUV/van/mini-van seating arrangement having a second row bench type seats and a third row bench type seats. 
     
    
    
     Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Having a relatively flat resting area in today&#39;s vehicles is almost impossible unless there is a special design of the vehicle to accept fully reclining seats. Being able to rest in a car is a desirable feature when you are on a long trip or have children who like to lay down, but with today&#39;s passenger vehicles, limited space makes this very difficult. 
     The traditional large family station wagon of the 50s, 60s, and 70s has gone the way of the dinosaur, and has been replaced by the van and/or mini-van where the back seats have front reclining seat backs. The front seat backs do not fully recline into a horizontal position. Although you have a resting area in the rear area, the price of these vehicles ranges from mid-30s to 50 thousand dollars thus limiting its availability. Manufacturers have attempted to address this issue by developing special vehicles like the Honda Element® (now out of production) where the front seat has a much longer sliding rail so that when the seat back is fully reclined backwards it does not touch the rear seat. The problem with this arrangement is that the seat back is not resting on the rear seat area, but over the foot well so the hinging arrangement must be heavy duty so that the seat back can support bodily weight without sagging or breaking. The other issue with this arrangement is that there is little room in front of the front seats for legs. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a side view schematic of a typical seating arrangement/system  10  is shown. The outlined items indicate positions of the front seat cushion  12  and front seat back  16  (upright and reclined). The dotted lines indicate lengths of items thereat. When the front seat  20  is slide forward to its most forward position, a top edge/top  22  of the front back seat  16  hits the front edge  25  of the back seat cushion  14 , but in this position, when the front seat back  16  is fully reclined, there is essentially no room for legs in front of the seat cushions in the front. Further, standard back seat cushions  14  are difficult to remove quickly and due to its length from door to door, difficult to store in the car or even in the trunk. The measurements shown are approximate and can vary from make and model. The front seat cushion  12  is approximately 22 inches long and can move about 10 inches on a slide rail, not shown. The front seat back  16  is about 24 inches high with a headrest  24  being about 10 inches in height. The headrests  24  are mounted to a pair of rods, not shown, that allow for quick removal of the headrests  24  from the seat back  16 . The front seat back  16  is hinged to the front seat cushion  12  along the back portion and is inclined by use of a lever, not shown. The back seat cushion  14  is about 20 inches in length and the back seat back  18  is about 24 inches in height. These figures represent distances in a compact vehicle such as a Honda Civic. 
     It is asserted that this invention may be used on standard four seat vehicles of different sizes from subcompact to full size. 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of the seating arrangement as shown in  FIG. 1 . The front seats are items  42  and the rear seats are items  44 . The rear seats  44  are separated and can be individually removed. Normally, a clip on the cushion support frame holds a rod attached to the front of the seat cushion (not shown). To remove, you push backwards on the bottom of the rear seat cushion and that removes the rod from clip. This normally takes considerable force and skill and would be difficult for a woman and/or child. The present invention in one embodiment requires that the seat cushion be easily removed and thus multiple hook and loop devices may be used instead or other appropriate devices as is well known to one skilled in the art. 
       FIG. 3  being prior art illustrates the front passenger seat  42  where the seat back  16  is reclined to the maximum degree so that the top  22  of the seat back  16  touches the front edge  25  of the rear seat cushion  14 . This position occurs when the front seat  42  is slide, approximately 10 inches, forward to the maximum distance away from the rear seat  44 . A distance of approximately 20 inches occurs between the back edge of the front seat and the front edge of the rear seat. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates one embodiment of the present invention; a back seat cushion  46  has a removable rear seat cushion section  48  removably attached thereto. This removable section  48  has a back wall  50  with removable attachment means such as hook and loop devices that connect to a front wall  52  of the back seat cushion  46 . Straps and other devices known in the art may further assist in holding the removable section  48  in place. When removed, the removable section  48  may be placed in the foot well near the back seats as well as with the headrests  24 . The hook and loop devices in this embodiment are attached to the walls of the removable section cushion because the removable section has a minimum length, front to back. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates the seating arrangement/system  10  in the present invention of a second embodiment wherein the removable rear seat cushion section  48  is similarly shaped as the top  22  of the front seat back  16  so that when the front seat back  16  is fully and horizontally reclined, the front seat top  22  fits within a void formed when the removable rear seat cushion section  48  is removed. The top  22  of the front seat back  16  then rests upon a rear cushion support frame  56  (not shown),  FIG. 5 . See  FIG. 7B . 
     In a first embodiment, the full back seat cushion  14  can be removed and thus the top  22  of the front seat back  16  rests upon the rear cushion support frame  56 , not shown. This embodiment is applicable where the front seat back  16  can be horizontally reclined. In this first embodiment, the headrest  24  may be removed. In the second embodiment, the headrest  24  must be removed. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , one or more removable back seat backs  18  are removable and are attached to a back seat frame  58  where the back seat frame  58  has one or more openings  60  therein for allowing increased resting space into a trunk  62 . 
     As noted above,  FIG. 4  illustrates the removable section  48  wherein the front seat  22  is positioned in its most forward position away from the back seat area. As seen therein, the width of the removable section  48  is greater than its length, front to back. 
     In a still different embodiment, as illustrated in  FIGS. 7A and 7B , a rear seat  70 , only one shown, has a larger removable rear seat cushion section  72  where its width is about the same as the length because the front seat  20  is located at its most rearward position, closest to the rear seat  70 , and thus the front seat back  16  overlaps the rear seat cushion  74  more. As seen in  FIG. 7B , the removable section  72  has been removed leaving a void  76  in the rear seat cushion  74 . This void  76  has a shape similar to the removable section  72 , length, width, wall height, etc. As seen therein, a plurality of hook and loop devices  78  are attached to the cushion support frame  80 . This allows for easy removal and replacement of the removable section  72 . Other conventional attachment devices are possible such as straps. This embodiment allows for maximum legroom in the area in front of the front seat  20 . The manufacturer may offer different embodiments to the consumer. Little leg room but a maximum of sleeping 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  illustrate the removable rear seat cushion section  72 , top view in  FIG. 8A  and a side view in  FIG. 8B . 
     The present invention thus envisions a method of using a seating system for allowing passenger seats in a passenger vehicle to form a relatively flat area for resting. To accomplish this goal, one provides one or more front seats, a front seat back being fully reclining to a substantially horizontal position; one also provides one or more back seats, a back seat cushion being quickly removable by hand, and a removable front seat back support when removed exposes the back seat cushion support so that when the front seat back is fully reclined, it partially rests upon said back seat cushion support. 
     To increase the amount of resting space, one also provides one or more removable back seat backs where the back seat backs are removably attached to a back seat frame, and the back seat frame has one or more openings therein for allowing increased resting space into the trunk area. 
     The present invention can be easily further used in passenger vehicles having two rows of back seats,  90  and  92 , see  FIG. 9 , such as in a SUV/van/mini-van where the larger seat backs  82  and  88 , having a top  84 , for seating two or more persons, can fully recline and be positioned in a void formed by a removable seat cushion  86 , the seat cushion may be for separately reclining seat backs or seat backs that are joined into one back. The application to larger vehicles having such seating is shown by an extension of the teachings in  FIG. 5 . Seat backs  16 , two shown, can be jointed to form one larger seat back as would exist in the second row seats in a mini-van. The seats  12 ,  FIG. 2 , can also be jointed to form one longer seat for two people as would exist in mini-vans, for example in the second row. The third row seats in a conventional mini-van such as a Chrysler Town and Country (2001 et seq.) are composed of a large bench type seat and a larger seat back hinged thereto. If the front seat(s) can be fully reclined, then the back seat(s) must be matched thereto. 
     Since many modifications, variations, and changes in detail can be made to the described embodiments of the invention, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.