Patent ID: 7325876

Claim:
A seat assembly for a motor vehicle comprising: a seat cushion; a riser mechanism secured to the seat cushion and pivotally coupled at one end to a floor of the vehicle and releasably secured to the floor at an opposite end; a seat back operatively coupled to the seat cushion for pivotal movement between an upright seating position and a forwardly folded position overlying the seat cushion; a recliner mechanism coupled between the seat cushion and seat back for pivotally adjusting the seat back relative to the seat cushion; an input shaft coupled to the recliner mechanism for actuating the recliner mechanism between a locked state and an unlocked state allowing pivotal movement of the seat back between the upright seating position and the forwardly folded position in response to rotation of the input shaft; and a lockout mechanism for controlling actuation of the recliner mechanism between the locked and unlocked states, the lockout mechanism including a lock plate fixedly secured to the input shaft for rotation therewith and a lock arm operatively coupled to the riser mechanism for movement between a retracted position allowing rotation of the input shaft and actuation of the recliner mechanism when the riser mechanism is latched to the floor, and an extended position wherein the lock plate abuts the lock arm thereby preventing rotation of the input shaft and actuation of the recliner mechanism when the seat back is in the forwardly folded position and the riser mechanism is unlatched from the floor.