Patent ID: 7413232

Claim:
A vehicle seat lifting unit comprising: a lower support structure configured to be pivotally mounted on a floor defining a vehicle occupant compartment of a vehicle; a slider coupled to the lower support structure to move along a predetermined path relative to the lower support structure; a seat; a seat holder coupled to the seat; a lift arm assembly including a first arm and a second arm that cooperate with the slider and the seat holder to form a linkage mechanism in which each of the first and second arms includes a base end portion pivotally coupled to the slider and a tip portion pivotally coupled to the seat holder with the lift arm assembly being located behind the seat; and a drive unit configured to move the slider along the predetermined path between an advance position and a retreat position and to cause the first and second arms of the lift arm assembly to selectively swing from backwardly tilted positions to forwardly tilted positions, which in turn selectively shifts the seat between an initial position inside the vehicle occupant compartment and a displaced position outside the vehicle occupant compartment that is lower than the initial position.