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A swiveling assembly comprising a swivel, the swivel comprising a swivel bottom element and a swivel top element rotatable relative thereto; a gear provided with gear teeth along at least a portion thereof, the gear being mounted to the swivel top element; an actuator operatively coupled to the gear

A swiveling assembly comprising a swivel, the swivel comprising a swivel bottom element and a swivel top element rotatable relative thereto; a gear provided with gear teeth along at least a portion thereof, the gear being mounted to the swivel top element; an actuator operatively coupled to the gear teeth for selectively rotating the gear relative to the swivel bottom element; at least one spacer element mounted to the gear and extending away therefrom; and a seat support mounted to the at least one spacer element so as to be spaced apart from the gear, a vehicle seat being mountable to the seat support. The at least one spacer element raises the seat support so that the vehicle seat is above a doorstep when the swiveling assembly is operatively mounted to a vehicle floor and the vehicle seat is operatively mounted to the swiveling assembly.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A swiveling assembly for supporting a vehicle seat in a vehicle, the vehicle defining a vehicle floor and a doorstep at a predetermined level above the vehicle floor, said swiveling assembly comprising: a swivel, said swivel comprising a swivel bottom element and a swivel top element mounted to s

1. A swiveling assembly for supporting a vehicle seat in a vehicle, the vehicle defining a vehicle floor and a doorstep at a predetermined level above the vehicle floor, said swiveling assembly comprising: a swivel, said swivel comprising a swivel bottom element and a swivel top element mounted to said swivel bottom element so as to be rotatable relative thereto about a swivel axis, said swivel bottom element being mountable to the vehicle floor;a swiveling assembly gear defining opposed gear top and bottom surfaces and a gear peripheral surface extending therebetween, said swiveling assembly gear also defining a gear axis substantially perpendicular to said gear top surface, said swiveling assembly gear being mounted to said swivel top element with said gear axis and said swivel axis substantially collinear with each other and said gear bottom surface facing said swivel top element;an actuator operatively coupled to said swiveling assembly gear for selectively rotating said swiveling assembly gear relative to said swivel bottom element;at least one spacer element mounted to said swiveling assembly gear and extending away from said gear top surface; anda seat support mounted to said at least one spacer element so as to be spaced apart from said swiveling assembly gear, the vehicle seat being mountable to said seat support;whereby said at least one spacer element raises said seat support so that the vehicle seat is above the doorstep when said swiveling assembly is operatively mounted to the vehicle floor and the vehicle seat is operatively mounted to said swiveling assembly;said swiveling assembly further comprising alternative spacer elements differing in heights from said at least one spacer element, whereby replacing said at least one spacer element with one of said alternative spacer elements adapts said swiveling assembly to vehicles having different dimensions and configurations. 2. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one spacer element is selectively removable from said seat support and swiveling assembly gear to allow replacement of said at least one spacer element with said one of said alternative spacer elements. 3. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, further comprising an anchor for anchoring said seat support to the vehicle, said anchor including a first anchor element mountable so as to be fixed relative to the vehicle floor and a second anchor element mounted to said seat support, said first and second anchor elements being configured and sized so that when said first anchor element is operatively mounted to the vehicle and said seat support is in a position such that the vehicle seat faces frontwardly, said first and second anchor elements are engaged to each other so as to prevent movements of said second anchor element vertically away from the vehicle floor while allowing rotational movements of said seat support about said swivel axis. 4. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said first and second anchor elements are engaged to each other with a dove-tail joint when engaged to each other. 5. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the vehicle seat is mounted to said seat support with a pair of telescopic rails, said rails being substantially parallel to each other and each including a substantially elongated rail first member mounted to said seat support and a substantially elongated rail second member mounted to the vehicle seat, said rail first and second members being selectively longitudinally movable relative to each other. 6. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 5, wherein each of said rails includes a substantially elongated rail third member provided between said rail first and second members and slidably mounted thereto so as to be slidable relative thereto. 7. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one spacer element includes at least two spacer elements each extending between said swiveling assembly gear and said seat support. 8. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein said at least two spacer elements all have substantially similar configurations and dimensions. 9. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said at least one spacer element includes 4 spacer elements arranged in a substantially square configuration. 10. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said actuator includes an electrical motor, a motor gear and a controller movable between neutral, first direction and second direction configurations, said motor gear engaging said swiveling assembly gear so as to rotate said swiveling assembly gear when rotating, said electrical motor, motor gear and controller being operatively coupled to each other so that when electrical power is provided to said actuator when said controller is in said neutral configuration, said motor gear is unpowered;when said controller is in said first direction configuration, said motor gear is rotated in a first rotational direction by said electrical motor; andwhen said controller is in said second direction configuration, said motor gear is rotated in a second rotational direction opposite said first rotational direction by said electrical motor. 11. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 10, wherein said actuator is configured so that said motor gear is mechanically locked when said electrical motor is unpowered. 12. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 10, wherein said actuator is provided with a rotation limiting element limiting movements of said swiveling assembly gear between first and second predetermined positions. 13. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said seat support is a substantially plate shaped. 14. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said swivel axis is substantially vertical when said swiveling assembly is operatively mounted to the vehicle floor. 15. A swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said swiveling assembly gear is a spur gear. 16. A swiveling vehicle seat assembly, said swiveling vehicle seat assembly comprising: a swiveling assembly as defined in claim 1; anda vehicle seat mounted to said seat support. 17. A swiveling vehicle seat assembly as defined in claim 16, wherein said vehicle seat is a power operated vehicle seat having a sitting surface and a seat anchoring base, said seat anchoring base being mounted to said seat support so that said sitting surface is movable frontwardly and rearwardly relative to said swiveling assembly. 18. A swiveling assembly for supporting a vehicle seat in a vehicle, the vehicle defining a vehicle floor and a doorstep at a predetermined level above the vehicle floor, said swiveling assembly comprising: a swivel, said swivel comprising a swivel bottom element and a swivel top element mounted to said swivel bottom element so as to be rotatable relative thereto about a swivel axis, said swivel bottom element being mountable to the vehicle floor;a swiveling assembly gear defining opposed gear top and bottom surfaces and a gear peripheral surface extending therebetween, said swiveling assembly gear also defining a gear axis substantially perpendicular to said gear top surface, said swiveling assembly gear being mounted to said swivel top element with said gear axis and said swivel axis substantially collinear with each other and said gear bottom surface facing said swivel top element;an actuator operatively coupled to said swiveling assembly gear teeth for selectively rotating said swiveling assembly gear relative to said swivel bottom element;at least one spacer element mounted to said swiveling assembly gear and extending away from said gear top surface; anda seat support mounted to said at least one spacer element so as to be spaced apart from said swiveling assembly gear, the vehicle seat being mountable to said seat support;an anchor for anchoring said seat support to the vehicle, said anchor including a first anchor element mountable so as to be fixed relative to the vehicle floor and a second anchor element mounted to said seat support, said first and second anchor elements being configured and sized so that when said first anchor element is operatively mounted to the vehicle and said seat support is in a position such that the vehicle seat faces frontwardly, said first and second anchor elements are engaged to each other so as to prevent movements of said second anchor element vertically away from the vehicle floor while allowing rotational movements of said seat support about said swivel axis, said first and second anchor elements being engaged to each other with a dove-tail joint when engaged to each other;whereby said at least one spacer element raises said seat support so that the vehicle seat is above the doorstep when said swiveling assembly is operatively mounted to the vehicle floor and the vehicle seat is operatively mounted to said swiveling assembly.