AU2013202977B2 - Child safety seat with improved recline base and adjustable headrest - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a child safety seat comprising a seat body having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, and means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, said adjustment means comprising a first actuator 5 therefor, where said first actuator is located forward of or on a front side of the seatback portion, and a second actuator therefor, where said second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion. In one form, this headrest comprises a guide for a pair of shoulder straps of a harness. 2-~ /-

Description

1 CHILD SAFETY SEAT WITH IMPROVED RECLINE BASE AND ADJUSTABLE HEADREST FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to child safety seats or restraints for child passengers in vehicles. In a 5 particular form the invention relates to a child safety seat adjustable to accommodate children of different ages and sizes. PRIORITY This patent application claims priority from: - Australian Provisional Patent Application No 2012901887, titled "CHILD SAFETY 0 SEAT WITH IMPROVED RECLINE BASE AND ADJUSTABLE HEADREST", and filed on 9 May 2012. The entire content of this application is hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND Young children cannot be safely restrained in a vehicle by a standard seat belt, so specialised safety 5 seats or child restraints have been developed to protect a child ranging in age from that of a newborn to that of a toddler, in the event of an accident. A number of child restraints or safety seats have been developed which are designed to accommodate this wide range of ages with a single unit. Typically these seats can be configured in either the prone configuration suitable for a rearward facing installation, or the forward facing upright configuration. In 20 this manner, a single safety seat can be used for both a baby (prone configuration) and a large toddler (forward facing configuration) thereby saving on unnecessary expense. As well as the necessary pivoting and attachment arrangements which support the ability to configure the child restraint in either the prone or upright positions, it is clear that the dimensions of the actual seat which supports the child must be capable of adjustment to also accommodate the growth of the 25 child. To provide this mode of adjustment, a number of arrangements have been developed, these including the use of a removable insert which sits within the seat and provides extra support to an infant, to adjustment mechanisms, whereby the headrest portion of the seat forms a separate section to the seat body and is adjustable vertically to expand or contract the length of the back portion of the seat.

2 Unfortunately, removable inserts as described above can be easily misplaced, and these do not effectively adjust the length of the seat. As for those seats that include adjustment arrangements and the like to adjust the headrest, there are difficulties associated with providing access to an actuator for the headrest adjustment arrangement. This difficulty is worsened where the seat is also a convertible 5 one (i.e. adapted to be configured in either the prone configuration suitable for a rearward facing installation or the forward facing upright configuration). It is against this background that the present invention has been developed. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and 0 example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a harness for restraining a seat occupant in the seat, said harness comprising a pair of shoulder straps, a guide for the shoulder straps depending from the seatback 5 portion, and means for adjusting a position of the guide with respect to the seatback portion, said means comprising a first actuator therefor, where said first actuator is located forward of or on a front side of the seatback portion, and a second actuator therefor, where said second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion. In one aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat body having ,0 a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, the headrest comprising a guide for a pair of shoulder straps, and a means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, said adjustment means comprising first and second spaced apart actuators therefor and a latching means for locking the headrest in a position with respect to the seatback portion, the first actuator comprising a push-button nested into a front side of the 25 headrest and insert portions that extend to a rear side of the seatback portion, wherein the latching means is carried by the insert portions on the rear side of the seatback portion, and the second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion and is disposed upon the latching means, thereby the adjustment means comprising the first and second actuators and the latching means is one assembly, wherein the first and second actuators are operable to engage or disengage the 30 latching means to adjust the position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, and the push button comprises the guide for the shoulder straps to pass through the seatback portion to the front side thereof, thereby the position at which the harness passes through the seatback portion to the front side thereof follows the guide.

3 In one form, the position at which the harness passes through the seatback portion from the rear side to the front side thereof follows the guide. In one form, the guide for the shoulder straps comprises a headrest for the seat occupant. In a further aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat having a 5 seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, where controls for the adjustment means are located both on or forward of a front side, and on or rearward of a rear side of the seatback portion of the seat. In a further aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat having a 0 seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, and means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, said means comprising a first actuator therefor, where said first actuator is located forward of or on a front side of the seatback portion, and a second actuator therefor, where said second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion. 5 In one form, the adjustment means is operative to permit a range of headrest movement extending between an uppermost position and a lowermost position relative to the seatback portion. In one form, the child safety seat comprises means for guiding the headrest through its range of movement, lengthwise along the seatback portion of the seat. In one form, the child safety seat comprises latching means for securing the headrest in predetermined ,0 positions through-out its range of movement, and releasing the headrest for movement within its range of movement. In one form, the latching means comprises biasing means biased to prevent headrest movement, and the biasing means must be overcome in order to permit headrest movement. In one form, the guide means and latching means from part of the adjustment means. 25 In one form, the guide means comprises a pair of parallel vertical slots in the seatback portion, and a pair of operatively associated guide lugs depending from a rear side of headrest. In one form, the latching means comprises a latching bar urged by the biasing means to locate the latching bar in any one of a series of capture positions located on the seat. In one form, the latching bar depends from the headrest so as to move with this.

3a In one form, each of the actuators or controls is so operatively associated with the latching bar as to be operable to free the latching bar from one of the capture positions against the influence of the biasing means. In one form, the child safety seat comprises a harness, and the position at which the harness passes 5 through the seatback portion to the front side thereof follows the adjustable headrest. In a further aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat body having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, and means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, said adjustment means comprising first and second separate and spaced apart actuators therefor. 0 In a further aspect, the invention may be said to reside in a child safety seat comprising a seat having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a harness for restraining a seat occupant in the seat, said harness comprising a pair of shoulder straps, a guide for the shoulder straps depending from the seatback portion, and a means for adjusting a position of the guide with respect to the seatback portion, said means comprising a first actuator therefor, where said first actuator is located forward of 5 or on a front side of the seatback portion, a second actuator therefor, where said second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion and a latching means therefor, where said latching means is operable to lock the guide in a position with respect to the seatback portion, the first actuator comprising a push-button and insert portions that extend to a rear side of the seatback portion, wherein the latching means is carried by the insert portions on the rear side of the seatback portion, ,0 and the second actuator is disposed upon the latching means, thereby the adjustment means comprising the first and second actuators and the latching means is one assembly, wherein the first and second actuators are operable to engage or disengage the latching means to adjust the position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, and the push-button comprises the guide for the pair of shoulder straps to pass through the seatback portion to the front side thereof, thereby the position at 25 which the harness passes through the seatback portion to the front side thereof follows the guide A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention. While the invention is described in connection with such embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to any embodiment. On the contrary, the scope of the invention is limited only 30 by the appended claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and 4 equivalents. For the purpose of example, numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the 5 invention has not been described in detail so that the present invention is not unnecessarily obscured. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of this disclosure it will now be described with respect to an exemplary embodiment which shall be described herein with the assistance of drawings wherein: Figures 1 is a perspective view of a child safety seat configured for use in a rearward facing mode in a 0 vehicle; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the child safety seat of Figure 1 configured for use in a forward facing mode in a vehicle; Figure 3 is a rear view of the seatback portion of the child safety seat of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front view of the child safety seat of Figure 1, where a dress covering for a headrest has 5 been removed to permit visibility thereof; Figures 5 is a side elevation of the child safety seat configured for use in a rearward facing mode in a vehicle, illustrating a range of movement of the headrest; and Figure 6 is a side elevation of the child safety seat configured for use in a rearward facing mode in a vehicle, illustrating the range of movement of the headrest. 20 In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to Figure 1, where there is illustrated a child safety seat 1 for use with a seatbelt equipped vehicle seat. Such child safety seats are typically secured to the vehicle seat by either of the 25 vehicle seat belts and a tether strap, or a specialized latching device, such as an Isofix latch, which is carried on the seating product and which interfaces with a complementary device carried by the vehicle seat. The child safety seat 1 comprises a seat having a body 2, which is a molded polymeric component, and which comprises a seat base portion 4 and a seatback portion 6.

5 The child safety seat 1 further comprises a seat belt harness 20 comprising a pair of shoulder straps 22 which converge into a single strap 24, where the end of this single strap 24 is adapted to be secured to an anchor point 26 toward the front and centre of the seat base portion 4 of the seat 1. There is a guide 8 for the shoulder straps 22 depending from the seatback portion 6, and the child 5 safety seat 1 further comprises means for adjusting a position of the guide 8 with respect to the seatback portion 6, where said means is operative to permit a range of guide 8 movement (as is best illustrated in Figures 5 and 6) extending between an uppermost position and a lowermost position relative to the seatback portion 6. In this embodiment, the guide 8 also provides support for a head of the seat occupant, although the 0 guide 8 need not do so. However, in this embodiment the guide is also a headrest, so hereinafter in this specification the terms will be used interchangeably, and both will be referred to with the reference number 8. A pair of vertically oriented parallel slots 25 (not visible) extend through and seatback portion 6. The headrest 8 comprises a generally planar, molded polymeric body, which extends up a front side of 5 the seatback portion 6, and further comprises a pair of hollow, box shaped guide lugs 30 depending from a rear side thereof, where one each of these guide lugs 30 locates in one of the parallel slots 25 in the seatback portion 6 with a sliding fit. Together the slots 25 and guide lugs 30 form guide means for the headrest 8. This guide means form part of the adjustment means, and it guides the headrest 8 through its range of movement, lengthwise along the seatback portion 6 of the seat 1. 0 The adjustment means further comprises latching means for securing the headrest 8 in predetermined positions throughout its range of movement, and releasing the headrest 8 for movement within its range of movement. Referring now to Figure 3, where it can be seen how this latching means comprises a transversely extending steel latching bar 60, which is adapted to be located in any one of a series of aligned capture 25 positions 54 notched into a trio of spaced apart tracks located on and extending up the back side of the seatback portion 6 of the seat body 2. This latching bar 60 is biased into engagement in one of the capture positions 54 by a biasing element such as a spring or elastic band (not shown). Release of this latching means (so as to permit movement of the headrest 8) is affected by one of two actuators. 30 Referring now to Figure 4, a first actuator 40 for the adjustment means comprises a push-button nested with a sliding fit in a horizontal slot 42 formed into a front side of the headrest 8. This push-button 40 6 comprises a generally u-shaped body having a front face and a pair of parallel but spaced apart, hollow insert portions 44 which extend rearward and locate with a sliding fit in the headrest guide lugs 30. Opposing ends of latching bar 60 are carried by the two insert portions 44 so that the steel latching bar 60 extends between these insert portion 44 on the rear side of the seatback portion 6. 5 This push-button actuator 40 is biased forward by the biasing means so that the front face of this is flush with a surrounding front face of the headrest 8. Pushing against the front face of the push-button actuator 40 drives this against the effort of the biasing means and causes the latching bar 60 to be forced (pushed) out of its engagement with one of the capture positions 54, so that the headrest 8 can be moved up or down as required using a handle 0 provided by slot 42. When the headrest 8 has been located in the desired position, the pressure applied against the front face of the push-button 40 can be released, where upon the biasing element forces the second guide bar 60 into the nearest capture position 54. Referring once more to Figure 3, a second actuator 70 for the adjustment means comprises a pull tab disposed upon the latching bar 60, via which the latching bar 60 can be forced (pulled) out of its 5 engagement with one of the capture positions 54 against the effort of the biasing means, and moved up or down as required. When the headrest 8 has been located in the desired position, the pull tab 70 can be released, where upon the biasing element forces the second guide bar 60 into the nearest capture position 54. Referring once more to the seat belt harness 20, the path travelled thereby extends from the anchor 0 point 26, along the underside of the seat base portion 4, up a rear side of the seatback portion 6 of the seat body 2 to a first guide 50, from the first 50 guide to a second guide in the form of latching bar 60. From latching bar 60, each of the shoulder straps 22 is routed through an insert portion 44 of the push button 40, and so one of the slots 25 in the seatback portion 6 in turn, so as to emerge on a front side of the headrest 8 and seatback portion 6 at a position A. Each of the shoulder straps 22 then extends on to 25 a seat belt tongue 28 before terminating at spaced apart anchor points on the body 2 of the seat 1. The second guide, latching bar 60, travels with the headrest 8, so that as the headrest 8 is moved up and down, so too does the position A move, so that this position A will remain about the height of the seat occupant's shoulders. In this exemplary embodiment the first guide 50 is also a steel bar extending across and secured to the 30 rear side of the back portion 6 of the body 2 of the seat 1, so that this steel bar also reinforces the seatback portion 6. This first guide bar 50 is located at or about (usually slightly above) the level of the position A when the headrest 8 is at its uppermost extent.

7 The headrest 8 slides against the front side of the back portion 6 so as to blank off substantial portions of the parallel vertical slots 25 in the back portion 6, with the exception of a pair of horizontal slots defined by the push-button actuator 40, through which one each of the shoulder straps 22 pass. In this way the headrest 8 precisely controls the position A at which the shoulder straps 22 pass through the 5 back portion 6 of the body 2 to the front side thereof. It is apparent then the above described arrangement advantageously facilitates a headrest 8 having adjustment means for which there is an accessible actuator or control regardless of the configuration and orientation of the child safety seat 1 in the vehicle. While the invention relates broadly to juvenile seating products, it is further described and illustrated 0 in this application with reference to a child safety seat of the type generally described above, it being understood that the invention is not so limited. It will be further appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, 5 therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. 0 All publications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or elsewhere 25 before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Claims (8)

1. A child safety seat comprising a seat body having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a headrest depending from the seatback portion, the headrest comprising a guide for a pair of shoulder straps, and a means for adjusting a position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, said adjustment means comprising a latching means for locking the headrest in a position with respect to the seatback portion, and first and second spaced apart actuators therefor, the first actuator comprising a push-button nested into a front side of the headrest and insert portions that extend to a rear side of the seatback portion, wherein the latching means is carried by the insert portions on the rear side of the seatback portion, and the second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion and is disposed upon the latching means, so that the adjustment means comprising the first and second actuators and the latching means is one assembly, wherein the first and second actuators are operable to engage or disengage the latching means to adjust the position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, and the push-button comprises the guide for the shoulder straps to pass through the seatback portion to the front side thereof, thereby the position at which the harness passes through the seatback portion to the front side thereof follows the guide.

2. The child safety seat as in claim 1, wherein the adjustment means is operative to permit a range of headrest movement extending between an uppermost position and a lowermost position relative to the seatback portion.

3. The child safety seat as in either of the preceding claims, further comprising a means for guiding the headrest through its range of movement, lengthwise along the seatback portion of the seat.

4. The child safety seat as in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the latching means is operable to secure the headrest in predetermined positions through-out its range of movement, and releasing the headrest for movement within its range of movement.

5. The child safety seat as in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pair of shoulder straps are part of a harness.

6. A child safety seat comprising a seat having a seat base portion and a seatback portion, a harness for restraining a seat occupant in the seat, said harness comprising a pair of shoulder straps, a guide for the shoulder straps depending from the seatback portion, and a means for adjusting a position of the guide with respect to the seatback portion, said means comprising a first actuator therefor, where said first actuator is located forward of or on a front side of the seatback portion, a second actuator therefor, where said second actuator is located rearward of or on a rear side of the seatback portion and a latching means therefor, where said latching means is operable to lock the 9 guide in a position with respect to the seatback portion, the first actuator comprising a push-button and insert portions that extend to a rear side of the seatback portion, wherein the latching means is carried by the insert portions on the rear side of the seatback portion, and the second actuator is disposed upon the latching means, thereby the adjustment means comprising the first and second actuators and the latching means is one assembly, wherein the first and second actuators are operable to engage or disengage the latching means to adjust the position of the headrest with respect to the seatback portion, and the push-button comprises the guide for the pair of shoulder straps to pass through the seatback portion to the front side thereof, thereby the position at which the harness passes through the seatback portion to the front side thereof follows the guide.

7. The child safety seat as in claim 6, wherein the guide for the shoulder straps is nested into a headrest for the seat occupant.

8. A child safety seat of claim 1 or 6 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrations