In certain minivan and sport utility vehicles, it is common to provide second and third row seating. In order to provide better access to the third row seating or cargo area behind the second row seating, the second row seating has a releasable seat back locking mechanism which is capable of being manually actuated to move the seat back forwardly to an access position. Optionally, the seat assembly may be tumbled forward to provide additional room for ingress and egress.
It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,216, to provide a seat assembly that has a seat cushion that pivots forward from a generally horizontal seating position to a vertical or stand-up position and a seat back that moves from a first vertical position for supporting an occupant, to a second vertical position forward and upward of the first vertical position to provide greater access to the third row. The seat cushion moves independently of the seat back requiring a two step process for operation. Further, the seat assembly is mounted to the vehicle floor allowing only a fixed location of the seat assembly, without any fore and aft adjustability.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a seat assembly having the seat back operatively coupled to the seat cushion such that the seat back moves from the first vertical position to the second vertical position as the seat cushion moves from the seating position to the stand-up position. It would also be desirable for the seat back to self-lock in the first vertical position when the seat cushion is returned to the seating position. Further, it would be desirable to provide fore and aft adjustability of the seat assembly.