An adjustable headrest is provided having a main body for supporting the head of the user, a ratchet mechanism within the main body, and a frame rotatably supported on a stay member. The ratchet mechanism includes a base plate fixed to the frame, a ratchet plate with a pawl portion, a support pin connecting the reinforcing plate and the ratchet plate, and a lock member fixed to the frame. The base plate has a receiving hole into which the support pin is inserted. A slit having a width smaller than the outside diameter of the support pin is formed in the base plate and extends backward from the receiving hole such that, when the headrest receives an impact in the backward direction, the support pin moves in the slit while widening the width of the slit under pressure. The resulting backward movement of the pin and the deformation of the slit absorbs the impact.

A tilting device having a simple structure, made up of a small number of components and fabricated with few man-hours and a device for moving a headrest forward and backward which is constructed by adding a few components to this tilting device, is provided. The tilting device comprises a stay (10), a ratchet member (20) fixed to a horizontal part (11) of the stay (10), a tilt adjusting member (30) connected axially and rotatably to the horizontal part (11), a first torsion coil spring (40) connected to the horizontal part (11) of the stay (10) so that it may bias the tilt adjusting member (30) in the opposite direction to the rotation, a check member (50) so fitted axially to the tilt regulating member (30) as to engage with the ratchet member and to prevent the reverse rotation of the tilt adjusting member, a second torsion coil spring (60) so provided as to bias the check member and a cover (80) inside which the tilt adjusting member (30) is fixed. The device for forward-backward movement comprises this tilting device and a device (100) for forward-backward movement which is attached to the stay (10) of the tilting device and moves the cover (80) forward and backward.

A one-piece headrest on a motor vehicle seat fits into a recess of the seat backrest so that, in its storage position, it is flush with the contour of the backrest and is swingably mounted on slide rails permitting it to be moved into an operative position.

A multi-position headrest for a chair and a mechanism for the headrest. The headrest can move between a forwardly tilted position and a non-tilted position. The headrest is supported by a multi-position bracket assembly. The bracket assembly includes two bracket members, one of which has an arcuate slot and the other of which has a mounting member adapted to move along the arcuate slot. A catch member is mounted for rotation on the mounting member. The catch member has angled edges at each end. As the mounting member moves along the slot, the catch member is rotated by contact with a shoulder and an alignment stop between orientations in which it engages the shoulder, establishing the forwardly tilted position, and orientations in which it does not engage the shoulder, allowing relative pivotal movement of the bracket assembly to return to the non-tilted position.

A head restraint for a vehicle seat has a holding element which can be inserted into a seat backrest in a manner allowing it to be displaced vertically. A padding support is arranged on the holding element which holds a padded headrest intended for supporting the head. A pivoting device is arranged between the holding element and padding support and is intended for setting the inclination of the padded headrest about a rotational axis orientated transversely to the seat depth. In order to provide a head restraint which is anatomically shaped and can be set in height and inclination in such a manner that in every position it forms a continuation of the contour of the seat occupant's back, the padded headrest has a padded tongue which is pulled out downwards over the padding support for the purpose of supporting the back of the neck. The contour of the front surface of the padded headrest and padded tongue reproduces the profile of the back of the head and back of the neck. The pivoting device is designed so that the rotational axis of the padded headrest lies outside the head-restraint structure and, in all possible vertical settings of the head restraint, always lies on the level backrest surface.