Patent ID: 6923504

Claim:
A vehicle seat back recliner comprising: a stationary member for mounting on a vehicle seat cushion of a vehicle seat with which the recliner is to be used; a pivotal member that is mounted for pivotal movement about a pivotal axis on the stationary member and that is adapted to mount a seat back of the vehicle seat; and a locking mechanism for selectively permitting pivotal adjustment and locking of the pivotal position of the pivotal member on the stationary member to pivotally position the seat back with respect to the seat cushion, the locking mechanism including a toothed locking ring on the pivotal member, a pair of toothed pawls mounted on the stationary member for radial movement with respect to the pivotal axis at diametrically opposite locations between locking positions where the pawls are engaged with the toothed locking ring to prevent pivotal movement of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion and unlocked positions where the pawls are disengaged from the locking ring to permit pivotal movement of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion, a pair of separate cams respectively associated with the pair of pawls and moveable with respect to each other and with respect to the pawls on opposite sides of the pivotal axis to respectively slidingly engage the pair of pawls, an operator including a control lever that is pivoted about the pivotal axis in one direction to move the pair of cams so as to move the pair of pawls to the locking positions, and the control lever being pivoted about the pivotal axis in the other direction to move the cams so as to permit movement of the pawls toward the unlocked positions and also moving the pawls from the locking positions to the unlocked positions to permit movement of the pivotal member about the pivotal axis.