Abstract:
A vehicle occupant restraint system includes a seat base pivotally connected to a seat mounting point and seat back pivotally connecting to the seat base. The seat base pivot reside proximal to a forward edge of the seat base and the seat back pivot resides proximal to a rearward edge of the seat base. Each pivot includes a toothed rack, and an engaging member for locking the pivot. The teeth define a radius about the pivots. The engaging members are attached to the seat base and are actuated by levers attached to the seat base. A harness is attached to the seat to prevent injury of an occupant in the event of a unanticipated maneuver, crash, rough terrain, or turbulence. The restraint system comprises a robust mechanism to withstand crash loads and offer sufficient adjustment between sitting and standing positions to accommodate an occupant&#39;s duties.

Description:
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/692,196, filed Jun. 17, 2005, which application is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to vehicle occupant restraint and in particular to an adjustable occupant restraint allowing limited occupant movement in a moving vehicle. 
     Numerous vehicles (land, water and air) require that passengers/crew be mobile during vehicle operation. Such mobility may cause problems for the mobile occupant if the vehicle makes a sharp turn, is involved in a crash, or encounters turbulent conditions. For the ambulance community, in particular, the accident/injury rate for occupants is one of the highest for all types of motor vehicles. Current operational procedures include being completely unrestrained to perform duties, or wearing a harness which allows the occupant to move away from the seat while still attached by straps. The issues with such procedures are that the occupant is not restrained to a substantially rigid seat, and thus is exposed to a risk of contact with hard interior components during a crash. The unrestrained occupant would continue in the direction of original vehicle travel until stopped by contact with a vehicle interior object. In the case of a harness, the occupant would swing around on the end of the straps until interior contact. All of these cases subject the occupant to a greater potential for injury than an occupant restrained to a rigid seat structure. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a vehicle occupant restraint system which includes a seat base pivotally connected to a seat mounting point and seat back pivotally connecting to the seat base. The seat base pivot reside proximal to a forward edge of the seat base and the seat back pivot resides proximal to a rearward edge of the seat base. Each pivot includes a toothed rack, and an engaging member for locking the pivot. The teeth define a radius about the pivots. The engaging members are attached to the seat base and are actuated by levers attached to the seat base. A harness is attached to the seat to prevent injury of an occupant in the event of a unanticipated maneuver, crash, rough terrain, or turbulence. The restraint system comprises a robust mechanism to withstand crash loads and offer sufficient adjustment between sitting and standing positions to accommodate an occupant&#39;s duties. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an adjustable vehicle occupant restraint system. The occupant restraint system comprises a seat mounting point, a seat base pivotally mounted to the seat mounting point proximal to a forward edge of the seat base, and a seat back pivotally mounted proximal to a rearward edge of the seat base. A seat base locking mechanism pivotally locks the seat base in one of at least two seat base positions with respect to the seat mounting point and a seat back locking mechanism pivotally locks the seat back into one of at least two seat back positions with respect to the seat base. A harness restrains the occupant with respect to the seat base and/or the seat back. A seat base lever disengages the seat base locking mechanism to permit the seat base to pivot from a first seat base position to a second seat base position, and a seat back lever disengages the seat back locking mechanism to permit the seat back to pivot from a first seat back position to a second seat back position. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an adjustable vehicle occupant restraint system. The adjustable vehicle occupant restraint system includes a seat base pivotally mounted to a seat mounting point by a seat base pivot proximal to a forward edge of the seat base and a seat back pivotally mounted to the seat base by a seat back pivot proximal to a rearward edge of the seat base. A seat base locking mechanism locks the seat base to the seat mounting point using a seat base toothed member having angularly spaced apart first teeth and a seat base engaging member configured to engage at least one of the first teeth to lock the position of the seat base. A seat back locking mechanism locks the seat back to the seat base using a seat back toothed member having angularly spaced apart second teeth and a seat back engaging member configured to engage at least one of the second teeth to lock the position of the seat back. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a crew seat according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  shows a seat base in a first seat base position with a seat base pivot locked. 
         FIG. 2B  shows the seat base in the first seat base position with the seat base pivot unlocked 
         FIG. 2C  shows the seat base in a second seat base position with the seat base pivot locked. 
         FIG. 3  is a detailed view of a seat base lever showing a first slot with a third radius and a fourth radius. 
         FIG. 4A  shows a seat back in a first seat back position with a seat back pivot locked. 
         FIG. 4B  shows the seat back in the first seat back position with the seat back pivot unlocked 
         FIG. 4C  shows the seat back in a second seat back position with the seat back pivot locked. 
         FIG. 5  is a detailed view of a seat back lever showing a second slot with a fifth radius and a sixth radius. 
         FIG. 6A  shows an occupant in the crew seat in a first seat base position and a first seat back position. 
         FIG. 6B  shows the occupant in the crew seat in a second seat base position and the first seat back position. 
         FIG. 6C  shows the occupant in the crew seat in a third seat base position and a second seat back position. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
     An articulating seat  10  shown in  FIG. 1  allows an occupant reasonable freedom of movement while still safely attached to a fixed seat. The seat  10  typically has a four or five point seatbelt system but could also offer some protection with a simple two-point lap belt or three-point shoulder strap lap belt restraint system. The restraint system may have extending/retractable straps that would automatically lock in a crash. Typically, the extending/retractable straps would be for the occupant&#39;s shoulders only, but this is not always the case. 
     The seat  10  comprises a seat base  12  and a seat back  14 . The seat base  12  pivots about a seat base pivot (or hinge)  17  attached to a seat mounting point  42  (see  FIG. 6A-6C ). The seat base  12  is held in position by the cooperation of a seat base engaging member (or locking pawl)  18  and a seat base toothed member  16 . The engaging member  18  is limited to linear motion by a first bracket  19  or the like. The toothed member  16  includes a plurality of angularly spaced apart teeth  16   a  (see  FIG. 2A ) at a common radius r 1  from the pivot  17 . The engaging member  18  fixes the rotational position of the seat base  12  by engaging at least one tooth  16   a  of the toothed member  16 . The engaging member  18  may be advanced to engage the teeth by rotating a seat base lever  20  counterclockwise, wherein the engaging member  18  (see  FIG. 2A ) is moved toward the toothed member  16 . The engaging member  18  may be retracted to disengage from the teeth by rotating the seat base lever  20  clockwise, wherein the engaging member  18  (see  FIG. 2B ) is moved away from the toothed member  16  (see  FIG. 2B ). A first spring  22  biases the engaging member  18  into the engaged (counterclockwise) position. 
     The seat back  14  is pivotally coupled to the seat base  12  in a manner similar to the coupling of the seat base  12  to the seat mounting point  42 . A seat back engaging member (or locking pawl)  26  engages teeth  24   a  (see  FIG. 4A ) of a seat back toothed member  24  attached to the seat back  14 . The seat back  14  pivots about a seat back (or second) pivot (or hinge)  25  attached to the seat base  12 . The toothed member  24  includes a plurality of angularly spaced apart teeth  24   a  at a common radius r 2  from the pivot  25 . The engaging member  26  is limited to linear motion by a second bracket  27  or the like. The seat back engaging member  26  may be advanced to engage the teeth  24   a  by rotating a seat back lever  28  counterclockwise, wherein the engaging member  26  is moved toward the toothed member  24 . The engaging member  26  may be retracted to disengage from the teeth  26   a  by rotating a seat back lever  28  clockwise, wherein the engaging member  26  is moved away from the toothed member  24 . A second spring  30  biases the engaging member  26  into the engaged position. 
     A detailed view of the seat base  12  in a first seat bottom position, and with the engaging member  18  engaging the toothed member  16 , is shown in  FIG. 2A . The lever  20  is in a counterclockwise position as indicated by a first arc  32 . A slot  34  (see  FIG. 3 ) in the lever  20  has a lower slot end  34   a  at a third and greater radius r 3  from a seat base lever pivot point  20   a  and a higher slot end  34   b  at a fourth and lesser radius r 4  from the seat base lever pivot point  20   a . The engaging member  18  is biased along arrow  36  into engagement with the toothed member  16  by the cooperation of the engaging member  18  with the slot  34  in the lever  20 . Thus, when the lever  20  is in the counterclockwise position, the engaging member  18  is pushed to the right, and engages the toothed member  16 . 
     A detailed view of the engaging member  18  disengaged from the toothed member  16  with the seat base  12  remaining in the first seat position is shown in  FIG. 2B . The lever  20  is in a clockwise position as indicated by a second arc  38 . The engaging member  18  is pulled along arrow  40  into disengagement from the toothed member  16  by the cooperation of the engaging member  18  with the slot  34  in the lever  20 . As the lever  20  moves to the clockwise position the slot end of the engaging lever  18  follows the slot to the higher slot end  34   b  and is pulled towards the seat base lever pivot point  20   a  and away from the toothed member  16 . 
     A detailed view of the seat base  12  in a second seat base position (a raised position) with the engaging member  18  engaging the toothed member  16 , is shown in  FIG. 2C . The lever  20  is in a counterclockwise position as indicated by the arc  32 . The engaging member  18  is pushed along arrow  36  into engagement with the toothed member  16  by the cooperation of the engaging member  18  with the slot  34  in the lever  20 . The seat base  12  may further be locked into one of a multiplicity of intermediate seat base positions by engaging the engaging member  18  with an intermediate tooth of the toothed member  16 . 
     A detailed view of the lever  20  is shown in  FIG. 3 . The slot  34  has a lower end  34   a  at a third radius r 3  from the pivot point  20   a , and the slot  34  has a higher end  34   b  at a fourth radius r 4  from the pivot point  20   a . The radius r 3  is greater than the radius r 4 . The difference between radius r 3  and radius r 4  results in a translation of the engaging member  18  when the lever  34  is rotated about the pivot point  20   a , which translation is sufficient to disengage the engaging member  18  from the toothed member  16 . 
     A detailed view of the seat back  14  in a first seat back position, and with the engaging member  24  engaging the toothed member  24 , is shown in  FIG. 4A . The lever  28  is in a counterclockwise position as indicated by a fourth arc  29 . A slot  35  (see  FIG. 5 ) in the lever  28  has a upper slot end  35   a  at a fifth and greater radius r 5  from a seat back lever pivot  28   a  (which may coincide with the pivot point  20   a ) and a lower slot end  35   b  at a sixth and lesser radius r 6  from the seat back lever pivot point  28   a . The engaging member  26  is biased along arrow  46  into engagement with the toothed member  24  by the cooperation of the engaging member  26  with the slot  35  in the lever  28 . Thus, when the lever  28  is in the counterclockwise position, the engaging member  26  is pushed to the left, and engages the toothed member  24 . 
     A detailed view of the engaging member  26  disengaged from the toothed member  24  with the seat back  14  remaining in the first seat back position is shown in  FIG. 4B . The lever  28  is in a clockwise position as indicated by a second arc  31 . The engaging member  26  is pulled along arrow  48  into disengagement from the toothed member  24  by the cooperation of the engaging member  26  with the slot  35  in the lever  28 . As the lever  28  moves to the clockwise position, the slot end of the engaging lever  26  follows the slot  35  to the lower slot end  35   b  and is pulled towards the lever pivot point  28   a  and away from the toothed member  24 . 
     A detailed view of the seat back  14  in a second seat back position (a straightened position) with the engaging member  26  engaging the toothed member  24 , is shown in  FIG. 4C . The lever  28  is in a counterclockwise position as indicated by the arc  29 . The engaging member  26  is pushed along arrow  46  into engagement with the toothed member  24  by the cooperation of the engaging member  26  with the slot  35  in the lever  28 . 
     A detailed view of the lever  28  is shown in  FIG. 5 . The slot  33  has a lower end  35   b  at a fifth radius r 5  from the pivot point  28   a , and the slot  35  has a lower end  35   b  at a sixth radius r 6  from the pivot point  28   a . The radius r 5  is greater than the radius r 6 . The difference between radius r 5  and radius r 6  results in a translation of the engaging member  26  when the lever  35  is rotated about the pivot point  28   a , which translation is sufficient to disengage the engaging member  26  from the toothed member  24 . 
     A seat occupant  44  is shown in a fully seated position in  FIG. 6A , in a partially seated position in  FIG. 6B , and in a standing position in  FIG. 6C . The seat  10  position in  FIG. 6A  corresponds to the seat base  12  being in the first seat base position and the seat back  14  being in the first seat back position. The partially seated position in  FIG. 6B  corresponds to the seat base  12  being in an intermediate seat position and the seat back  14  remaining in the first seat back position, wherein the seat base  12  has pivoted about a point proximal to a seat base forward edge  12   a . The standing position in  FIG. 6C  corresponds to the seat base being in the second seat base position and the seat back being in a second seat back position, wherein the seat back  14  has pivoted about a point proximal to a seat base rearward edge  12   b.    
     While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.