Patent ID: 8182016

Claim:
A seat assembly for a vehicle having a floor extending generally along a horizontal plane, the seat assembly comprising: a seat bottom; a mounting assembly carrying said seat bottom, said mounting assembly having a first portion that releasably attaches to the vehicle floor permitting removal of the entire seat assembly from the vehicle and reinstallation of the entire seat assembly back into the vehicle and a second portion generally overlying said first portion and having an asymmetric relationship with said first portion wherein rotation of said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor is about an axis of rotation extending through said first portion, and said second portion and said seat bottom rotate between a forward-facing position and a rearward-facing position to translate said seat bottom relative to said first portion and the vehicle floor during rotation, wherein the axis of rotation is perpendicular to the floor of the vehicle; and a manipulable locking mechanism operative to releasably lock said seat bottom in either said forward-facing position or said rearward-facing position.