A shaft locking mechanism includes a rack disposed on a translating shaft and a toothed locking lever disposed on a corresponding translation post. The toothed locking lever engages the rack in a locked orientation to prevent the shaft translating within the translation post. The toothed locking lever is disengaged during translation and the shaft may be translated and locked in place with very granular adjustability. A control rod release mechanism may be biased to maintain the toothed locking lever in the locked orientation. A cam feature on the toothed locking lever engages the body of the control rod which defines a recessed portion that coincides with the cam while in an unlocked orientation.

An assembly includes a vehicle seat. The assembly includes an armrest supported by the vehicle seat. The armrest includes an upright portion elongated along an axis and an arm support portion supported by the upright portion. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the arm support portion of the armrest. The airbag inflatable to an inflated position. The airbag includes an upper portion extending upwardly from the arm support portion when the airbag is in the inflated position and a lower portion extending downwardly from the arm support portion when the airbag is in the inflated position. The upper portion is vehicle-inboard of the axis and the lower portion being vehicle-outboard of the axis.

An armrest assembly for a passenger seat may include an armrest and an attendant step assembly. The armrest may include a top side and a bottom side, and the attendant step assembly may be connected to the bottom of the armrest. The attendant step assembly is movable between a stowed position and a deployed position relative to the bottom side of the armrest.

Airbag modules coupled with vehicle seat structural elements, such as armrests. In some embodiments, an airbag module may comprise an airbag cover configured to be positioned within a vehicle seat and comprising an opening. The opening may be configured to receive a structural element of the vehicle seat therethrough, such as an armrest mount. The module may further comprise an airbag cushion positioned within the airbag cover and configured to deploy from the airbag cover such that forces from deployment of the airbag cushion are directed applied to the structural element, in some cases directing these forces to the seat frame.

A vehicle seating assembly includes a seat and a seatback. The seatback includes a frame that has opposing first and second frame members and first and second displaceable panels that are pivotably coupled to the first and second frame members. The first and second displaceable panels are movable between stored positions and deployed positions in response to a force exerted on the seatback.

User input systems and vehicles having a user input system having a deformable material are disclosed. In one embodiment, a user input system includes a base, a deformable material, wherein at least the base and the deformable material define an enclosure, a sensor layer disposed on or within the deformable material, at least one actuator coupled to the base and disposed within the enclosure, and an input device coupled to the at least one actuator. The at least one actuator is configured to raise the input device to deform the deformable material at a location of a hand on the deformable material based at least in part on a signal provided by the sensor layer.

Provided are a rotatable armrest and a console assembly provided with the rotatable armrest. The rotatable armrest includes a case, a knob system, and a hinge system, in which the knob system and the hinge system are mounted in the case. The hinge system includes a counterbalance shaft, and the rotatable armrest may be rotatable about the counterbalance shaft and fixed in a first position, a second position, and a third position. In the first position, the rotatable armrest is positioned in a folded down position, in the second position, the rotatable armrest is positioned in a horizontally forward-facing position, and in the third position, the rotatable armrest is positioned in a horizontally backward-facing position.

Provided is an apparatus for adjusting a position of an armrest having a control panel for a vehicle, the apparatus in which an armrest assembly having a control panel is mounted on a side member of a seat cushion in a manner that is enabled to ascend and descend and in which the control panel is mounted on an armrest assembly in such a manner that a position in the backward-forward direction and a slope of the control panel are adjustable. With the apparatus, an armrest, a controller, and the like can be easily adjusted to desired positions and heights thereof according to an occupant's physical condition.

A method and apparatus include attaching a lighted cup holder to a seating arrangement. The lighted cup holder includes a cup holder body and a light-producing light source, with the cup holder body being attached to the seating arrangement and having a cup receptacle therein, the light-producing source being disposed within the cup receptacle for illuminating the receptacle. A light-sensitive element operatively connected to the light source selectively controls production of light by the light source in such a manner that illumination of the cup holder is provided only under conditions where visibility is reduced to the point that it becomes difficult to locate the cup holder. The light-sensitive element is mounted on a master lighted cup holder and controls illumination of the master lighted cup holder and one or more slave lighted cup holders operatively connected to the master lighted cup holder.

An occupant protection device for a vehicle includes: a collision predictor configured to predict a collision of the vehicle; a main airbag configured to deploy toward an occupant from a front of the vehicle when the collision predictor predicts a collision of the vehicle; an occupant center-of-gravity detecting device configured to detect a position of a center of gravity of the occupant; an armrest moving device configured to move an armrest; and a deployment controller configured to cause, when the collision predictor predicts a collision of the vehicle, the armrest moving device to move the armrest upward to guide the center of gravity of the occupant into a proper range on the basis of the position of the center of gravity of the occupant detected by the occupant center-of-gravity detecting device, subsequently cause the armrest moving device to remove the armrest, and thereafter, cause the main airbag to deploy.