Patent ID: 8641148

Claim:
A vehicle head restraint assembly comprising: a first guide member mounted proximate to a vehicle seat back; a second guide member mounted to the first guide member for movement in a fore and aft direction; a head restraint mounted to the second guide member; a locking mechanism comprising a biasing member; wherein one of the first guide member and the second guide member has a series of notches formed therein spaced incrementally in the fore and aft direction, and the locking mechanism is mounted to the other of the first guide member and the second guide member for extending into one of the series of notches for locking the second guide member at an incremental position relative to the first guide member; wherein the biasing member biases the locking mechanism into engagement with the series of notches; a first actuator mounted to one of the first guide member and the second guide member for actuation in a lateral direction from one lateral side of the head restraint, the first actuator cooperating with the locking mechanism such that linear actuation of the first actuator from the one lateral side results in compression of the biasing member to disengage the locking mechanism from the series of notches for permitting adjustment of the fore and aft position of the head restraint relative to the vehicle seat back; a second actuator mounted to the one of the first guide member and the second guide member for actuation in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction, the second actuator cooperating with the first actuator such that linear actuation of the second actuator results in linear actuation of the first actuator; and a rack and pinion assembly mounted to the one of the first guide member and the second member for converting the linear actuation of the second actuator in the direction perpendicular to the lateral direction, to the linear actuation of the first actuator in the lateral direction.