Patent ID: 8033607

Claim:
A seat reclining device for a vehicle, comprising: a lock mechanism arranged between a seat cushion frame and a seat back frame, the lock mechanism being selectively shifted between a locked state, in which the inclination of the seat back frame with respect to the seat cushion frame is restricted, and an unlocked state, in which the inclination is permitted, by rotation of a control shaft in accordance with operation of an unlock operation lever, the lock mechanism including a base body, which is secured to the seat cushion frame, and a rotating body, which is secured to the seat back frame and is supported to be freely rotatable with respect to the base body, the control shaft and the rotating body being rotated about the same rotational axis; and a memory mechanism, wherein, when a memory operation lever is operated, the memory mechanism stores an angular position of the seat back frame with respect to the seat cushion frame in the state in which the lock mechanism is in the locked state, and the memory mechanism shifts the lock mechanism to the unlocked state so as to permit the seat back frame to be inclined to a predetermined inclination position, wherein the memory mechanism includes: a plate portion located on the rotating body, the plate portion including an engaging portion, a holding bracket arranged closer to the seat cushion frame than a coupling surface between the seat back frame and the rotating body in a seat widthwise direction, and the holding bracket being freely rotatable about the rotational axis that is the same as that of the control shaft, a memory pawl, which is coupled to the holding bracket to be freely rotatable, the memory pawl being selectively engaged with the engaging portion of the plate portion while receiving a prevention force preventing engagement with the engaging portion; a restricting portion, which restores the holding bracket to a predetermined initial position by restricting the holding bracket from rotating in a reverse direction to the direction in which the seat back frame is inclined to the predetermined inclination position; a lever member, which engages the memory pawl with the plate portion against the prevention force applied to the memory pawl or by cancelling the prevention force, the lever member being rotated in accordance with operation of the memory operation lever such that, as the control shaft is rotated in conjunction with the lever member, the lock mechanism is shifted to the unlocked state and the unlocked state is maintained; and an engagement holding portion, wherein, when the holding bracket is rotated to incline the seat back frame to the predetermined inclination position, the engagement holding portion maintains engagement between the memory pawl and the plate portion, and the engagement holding portion selectively disengages the memory pawl from the plate portion as the holding bracket is restored to the initial position.