Patent ID: 7070235

Claim:
A headrest that is for a vehicle seat and operates advantageously in the event of a crash, the headrest comprising: at least a four-bar linkage including (a) upper and lower linkages mounted for pivoting relative to a carrier, wherein the upper and lower linkages being mounted for Pivoting relative to the carrier comprises (1) the upper linkage being pivotably connected to the carrier at a position, and (2) the lower linkage being pivotably connected to the carrier at a position that is distant from the position where the upper linkage is pivotably connected to the carrier, and (b) an impact element that is operatively connected to the upper and lower linkages for moving away from the carrier in an at least generally forward direction, from an original position to a crash position, in response to pivoting of the upper and lower linkages relative to the carrier, wherein the impact element being operatively connected to the upper and lower linkages for moving away from the carrier in the at least generally forward direction, from the original position to the crash position, in response to pivoting of the upper and lower linkages relative to the carrier, comprises (1) the impact element being pivotably connected to the upper linkage at a position that is distant from the position where the upper linkage is pivotably connected to the carrier and (2) the impact element being pivotably connected to the lower linkage at a position that is distant from both (i) the position where the lower linkage is pivotably connected to the carrier, and (ii) the position where the impact element is pivotably connected to the upper linkage; an energy storage device for driving the linkage so that the impact element moves from the original position to the crash position in response to the crash; and a crash lock for restricting the impact element from moving from the crash position toward the original position, wherein the upper and lower linkages are unparallel with respect to one another.