Patent ID: 7828390

Claim:
A vehicle seat armrest assembly comprising: an armrest; a ratchet mechanism for mounting the armrest on a vehicle seat frame, the ratchet mechanism including a vertical track for mounting on the seat frame and a linear ratchet plate mounted for vertical movement on the vertical track, the linear ratchet plate having vertically spaced teeth and a connection to the armrest to support the armrest; a pawl locking assembly mounted by the vertical track and having a locking condition for cooperating with the teeth of the linear ratchet plate to permit vertical adjustment of the armrest from a lowermost position upwardly to successively higher positions until reaching an uppermost position whereupon the pawl locking assembly is moved to a released condition to permit downward movement of the armrest to its lowermost position, and the pawl locking assembly upon movement of the armrest to its lowermost position being moved from its released condition to its locking condition to again permit the upward armrest adjustment; and the pawl locking assembly including a pawl pivotally mounted on the track for movement between locking and released positions with respect to the linear ratchet plate teeth, a spring bias that biases the pawl toward a locking position for contacting the teeth of the linear ratchet plate to support the armrest at a selected vertical location against downward movement while allowing upward movement to a higher location, a catch, a lower camming surface on the linear ratchet plate for camming the pawl against the spring bias from its locking position to a released position out of contact with the linear ratchet plate teeth where the pawl is held by the catch when the armrest is moved to the uppermost position such that the armrest can then be moved to the lowermost position, an upper camming surface on the linear ratchet plate for camming the pawl for release from the catch and movement to its locking position when the armrest is moved to its lowermost position in order to again permit upward adjusting movement of the armrest, and a spring having one leg that embodies the spring bias and another leg that embodies the catch.