A method of controlling a seating arrangement of a vehicle, the seating arrangement comprising a rear seat including a deployable calf rest, the method comprising: receiving a signal indicative of a state of a component of a front seat positioned ahead of the rear seat; and controlling movement of the calf rest in dependence on the signal indicative of the state of the front seat component.

Provided is a vehicle seat in which entry of foreign matter from an opening part formed in a cover member is suppressed when stored. The vehicle seat of the present invention includes a seat cushion 11 on which an occupant sits, a leg member 20 that supports the seat cushion 11 and includes a locking device 22 at a lower end, a cover member 30 that covers a front side of the leg member 20, wherein an opening part is formed at a position of the cover member that overlaps with the locking device 22, and an elastically deformable lip part 40 that is attached to the cover member 30 and that covers the opening part. Since the opening part is covered by the lip part, the entry of foreign matter is suppressed.

A utility vehicle includes a cargo box and a seat device located on the front side of the cargo box. The seat device includes a seat bottom and a seat back that includes a first lateral swinging shaft that extends in a lateral direction, a seat back frame that swings about the first lateral swinging shaft between an upright position and a horizontal position at which the seat back frame overlaps with the seat bottom, and a seat back main body that is attached to the seat back frame. The seat back frame in the horizontal position defines an expansion floor by which the floor of the cargo box is expanded in a forward direction. The seat back main body swings to a hanging orientation with respect to the seat back frame in the horizontal position and is located in front of the seat bottom.

A cargo area partition system for a vehicle includes a rear seat positioned within a cabin area of the vehicle and adjacent a cargo area in the vehicle. The rear seat includes a rear seat back that is pivotally positionable between an upright position and a substantially horizontal position. The system further includes a seat striker adapted to engage and to releasably fix the rear seat back in an upright position, and a partition panel configured to releasably engage the seat striker and define a partition in the cargo area when the rear seat back is positioned in the substantially horizontal position.

A protective assembly for a vehicle seat includes a support member, a hinge portion, and a base. The base may be connected to the support member via the hinge portion. The support member may be configured to rotate about the hinge portion between a first position and a second position. The support member may be substantially parallel to the base when the support member is in the first position. The support member may be disposed at an oblique or right angle relative to the base when the support member is in the second position. The support member may be configured to rotate about the hinge portion. The hinge portion may be connected to a biasing member. The biasing member may be configured to bias the support member toward the second position. The base may be fixed to a seat back of said vehicle seat.

A rear seat includes a support plate and a planar carpet laid between a lower part of a back lining of a seatback and a deck board located behind the seatback. The support plate is configured to support the carpet from underneath when the seatback is collapsed forward. The support plate includes a fixing plate part and a movable plate part. The fixing plate part is fixed on a back lining surface of the seatback and abuts the rear side of the carpet when the seatback is collapsed forward. The movable plate part is aligned with the fixing plate part, in the seat width direction, and is joined to the rear surface of the carpet. The movable plate part covers the seat side shield. The movable plate part abuts the seat side shield from behind, and shifts away from the fixing plate part when the seatback is reclined reward.

A vehicle seat carpet backer assembly includes a carpet piece and resin/fiber material joined and molded to form a resin/fiber backer panel of a defined shape. A flexible toe-kick portion is provided a seamless transition between the upper carpet portion of the resin/fiber, upper carpet, panel portion and the lower carpet portion of the flexible toe-kick portion. A method includes providing a carpet piece cut to a size and shape and a sized resin/fiber panel material. The resin/fiber panel material is heated and placed with a top section of the carpet in a molding press to fuse them together. A shaped assembly is then formed with flanges which are inserted in channels of a seat. A polypropylene reinforcement sheet is attached to a lower section of the carpet that was not subjected to the molding press. Elastic bands are sewn to the lower edge of the backer assembly.

A seat mounted on a slide slidable on a track. The track has comfort and entry zones. Pitch linkage mounts on the slide and supports a seat back. The linkage pivotally connects a seat back to the slide between recline and forward positions. A track latch fixes the slide to the track in a plurality of positions in the comfort zone. The entry zone is used to enter the vehicle. A forward stop blocks the slide from moving from the comfort to the entry zone. The forward stop moves between stop and release positions. The stop position blocks the slide from moving from the comfort to the entry zone. The release position does not block the slide from moving. A forward stop mechanism moves the forward stop into the stop position when the pitch linkage is in the recline position and the slide is in said comfort zone.

A rear seat gap closure panel for a vehicle is presented. The rear seat gap closure panel has a first panel with top and bottom edges. The bottom edges are attached to a leaf spring and a second panel with a top and bottom edge also attached to a leaf spring. The first and second panels with the first and second leaf springs are positioned end-to-end and connected with a single elongated leaf spring pin passing through both the first and second leaf springs, allowing the first and second panels to fold separately about the connected first and second leaf springs. The rear seat gap closure panel also has a plurality of fastening brackets attached to the leaf springs, where the fastening brackets are constructed to permanently mount the seat gap closure panel in the vehicle closing gaps between rear seats when the rear seats are folded.

A vehicle seating assembly having a seat including a support frame. A seatback is pivotally coupled with the seat and is adjustable between a passenger support position configured to support the weight of a passenger and a cargo position. The seatback is folded forward to a substantially horizontal position. A seat cushion includes a dynamic forward portion and a generally static rearward portion. An articulation feature is disposed below the forward portion of the seat cushion. The articulation feature is operable between a deployed and a non-deployed position. Movement to the deployed position results in the dynamic forward portion of the seat cushion being adjusted to a raised position. Movement to the non-deployed position results in the dynamic forward portion of the seat cushion being adjusted to a lowered position that allows the seatback to fold forward to the cargo position.