A brand new Ford patent submitting detailing an elaborate reconfigurable seating system has surfaced.

Printed by the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on Feb. 13, and initially filed on March 21, 2022, the appliance facilities on seats with fold-out components constructed into their backs. This enables seats to be configured as ahead or backward-facing with out bodily transferring them.

Ford reconfigurable seating patent picture

In a single configuration described within the software, the entrance seats could possibly be moved ahead and fold-out backside sections deployed, permitting front-seat occupants to sit down dealing with these within the second row. In three-row autos, the second row may in flip be configured so occupants sit dealing with towards the again, with the third row transformed right into a desk, one drawing included within the software reveals.

A few of these seating preparations might not be allowed beneath present laws, Ford admits within the software. However the automaker believes that “know-how and the regulatory framework could evolve sooner or later to the place such exercise is protected and permissible.”

Ford reconfigurable seating patent picture

The seating system described right here differs a bit from the Ford patent functions printed by the USPTO in late 2023. These additionally mentioned seats that could possibly be reconfigured to permit front-seat passengers to sit down dealing with backward, however concerned pivoting and sliding the seats to maneuver them into completely different positions. Ford has additionally submitted patent functions for a retracting steering wheel and an in-cab work station, however the latter appears aimed extra at pickup vehicles than the three-row SUV hinted at on this newest software.

Ford plans to launch a brand new electrical pickup truck codenamed T3 and a three-row SUV by-product of that mannequin in 2025. Reconfigurable seating would probably be a superb match for the SUV, which Ford has stated will goal for 350 miles of vary. Ford has additionally trademarked the Lightstream identify, maybe to be used on the T3 pickup or SUV.