GB2537422A

GB2537422A - Aviation child safety restraint system

Info

Publication number: GB2537422A
Application number: GB1506571.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: chen Monika
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-04-17
Filing date: 2015-04-17
Publication date: 2016-10-19
Also published as: GB201506571D0

Abstract

An aviation child safety restraint system comprising a removable five point safety harness with anchors attaching directly to an aircraft passenger seat by means of an attachment points system permanently built in or retrofitted into the aircraft passenger seat. The five point harness will preferably comprise of two shoulder straps, two waist straps and a lap strap, all of which connect centrally.

Description

Aviation Child Safety Restraint System Aviation Child Safety Restraint System -Description of invention

Background:

This invention relates to a child safety restraint system designed to restrain a child in an aircraft passenger seat during air travel in order to provide them with a degree of safety comparable to a child car seat. Currently most airlines do not provide adequate child restraints on board of aircrafts. Most commonly used restraint devices are either a regular adult lap belt or, for children below 2 years of age travelling on an adult's lap, a loop belt attaching to the adult's lap belt. Various crash tests have demonstrated that these devices are not safe for children and may cause serious injuries during an emergency situation such as turbulence, emergency landing or crash. It is recommended that young children should instead be secured with a child safety restraint device appropriate for their age, height and weight. Some airlines allow parents to bring and use their own child car seats on board. Such seats are currently the safest method of restraining a child during air travel however they are large and heavy (usually between 7 and 10 kg) and not all car seats are suitable to be used on an aircraft passenger seat due to their size or mode of installation. Few airlines provide specially designed aviation child seats with a S point harness, serving the same purpose as a child car seat, however due to the size and weight of such devices, they tend to pose a logistic problem for an airline such as need of securing enough storage space and usually only a very limited number of such devices can be made available on a given flight which may be insufficient for all child passengers requiring them on a flight. Also both child car seats and aviation child seats require a competent installation and may be unsafe if improperly installed.

Statement of invention:

In order to overcome the above problems the present invention proposes a child safety restraint system featuring a removable 5 point safety harness with anchors and attachment points' system permanently installed at the back and bottom of the aircraft seat. The harness can be attached directly to the aircraft passenger seat by inserting the anchors into slots provided by the attachment point's system. This allows to restrain a child directly in an aircraft passenger seat in a similar manner as in a child car seat or in an aviation child seat.

The invention will now be described solely by means of example and with reference to accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a removable 5 point safety harness composed of two long side belts with anchors, and slide length adjusters, one short crotch belt with anchor and a quick release safety buckle; Figure 2 shows an alternative harness arrangement with a removable 5 point safety harness as per Figure 1 but with the side belts being composed of 2 sections held together with a loop; the longer section of each side belt has a slide length adjuster; Figure 3 shows a further alternative harness belts arrangement with two arm belts, two side belts and one crotch belt. Each of the arm belts and side belts have a slide length adjuster; Figure 4 shows an anchor. The anchors would preferably be made of metal.

Figure 5 shows front and side view of an attachment point's unit composed of one back anchoring panel (Figure 5A) and of one bottom anchoring panel (Figure 5B). The panels would preferably be made of metal. The panels contain recesses with slots; Figure 6 shows installation of the anchoring panels at the back and bottom of the aircraft passenger seat. Figure 6A shows front view and Figure 6B shows view from the top.

Figure 7 shows a front view of an anchoring box (Figure 7A) with an anchor in it and a back view of an anchoring box (Figure 7B). The box features a slot at the bottom and a lid with a clip-lock mechanism. Anchoring boxes would preferably be permanently installed in the recessess of the anchoring panels in order to hold the anchors flat and to provide some cushioning between the anchors and the anchoring panel. The anchoring boxes would preferably be made of plastic.

Figure 8 shows a side view of an anchor postioned in the anchoring panel slot with an anchoring box Figure 9 shows installation of the anchoring panels with anchoring boxes from the side (Figure 9A) and back (Figure 9B) of the passenger seat. Recesess of the anchoring panels would be inserted in holes made in the metal frame of the seat. Open lids of the anchoring boxes at the bottom of the seat can be seen in the Figure 9B.

Figure 10 shows a removable 5 point harness (as per Featre 1,2 or 3) installed in the aircraft passenger seat; Figure 10A shows the view from the front and Figure 10B shows the view from the back; Figure 11 shows additional accessories which would preferably be used with the restraint system: stability mat (Figure 11 A) and head support cushion viewed from the front and from the top (Figure 11 B); Figure 12 shows a child secured in the aircraft passenger seat by means of the proposed invention. Figure 12 A shows a child secured with the removable 5 point harness (as per Figure 1,2 or 3) and Figure 12 B shows a child secured with the removable 5 point harness as above together with the use of the additional stability mat and head support cushion (Figure 11).

The removable 5 points harness (Figure 1,2 or 3) attach directly to the aircraft's passenger seat at the level of child's arms, pelvis and crotch by inserting the anchors of the harness (Figure 4 and 8) into attachment points permanently located at the back and bottom of the aircraft seat (Figure 6, 9, 10 and 12). Once the removable 5 point harness is attached to the seat, the length of the belts can be manually adjusted using slide length adjusters (Figure 1, 2 or 3).

The attachment points (Figure 8) holding the anchors of the harness (Figure 1,2,3) are incorporated into the aircraft seat by means of attachment points' unit (Figure 5, 6 and 9) permanently installed into the aircraft seat preferably by means of screwing or welding. The attachment point's unit would preferably consist of two anchoring panels featuring recesses with slots, one installed at the back of the seat (Figure 5A and 6A) and one installed at the bottom of the seat (Figure 5B and 6B). The attachment points' unit can be directly incorporated into the design of a new aircraft seat or retrofitted into an existing aircraft seat. In the scenario of attachment point's unit being retrofitted in an existing seat a number of holes would need to be created in the metal frame of the aircraft seat in order to allow the recesses of the anchring panels to be positioned in them.

The recesses of the anchoring panels would preferably contain anchoring boxes (Figure 7) permanently installed in them in order to provide some cushioning between the panels and the anchors and to hold the anchors flat. This would form attachment points in which the anchors of the harness could be inserted (Figure 8). Once the anchors have been positioned in the attachment points, the lids of the anchoring boxes (Figure 7 and 8) can be closed in order to keep the anchors flat in the boxes at all times and to prevent the belts from twisting. The lids of the anchoring boxes would preferably have a click-lock mechanism making a "click" sound which would signal that the anchor has been securely locked. The anchoring boxes would also provide cushioning between the anchors and the anchoring panels in order to prevent "rattling" of the anchors against the panels and to reduce friction between the anchors and the anchoring panels.

For additional safety and comfort the system can preferably be supplemented with shoulder pads, a removable stability mat (Figure 11 A) and a removable head support cushion (Figure 11 B). The removable stability mat (Figure 11A) would preferably consist of a foldable mat with a base made of a rubber-type material in order to prevent it from sliding on the aircraft seat. It would also feature padding on the sides and in the crotch area which would help to stabilise child's back and bottom and help the child to retain a comfortable position. Furthermore, a removable head suport cushion (Figure 11B) could be used to support child's head.

Advantages: The proposed invention allows to secure a child directly in a passenger seat in the similar manner as in a child car seat equipped with a 5 point harness (Figure 12) i.e. at the arms' and pelvis level rather than across the abdominal area like a loop belt or a lap belt. This would provide a degree of security comparable to a child car seat or to an aviation child seat.

For younger children the system could preferably be used together with stability mat (Figure 11A) and head support cushion (Figure 11B) which would provide additional safety and comfort to the child helping them to retain a comfortable position especially when asleep (Figure 12B).

When not required the removable harness (Figure 1,2 or 3), the stability mat (Figure 11A) and the head support cushion (Figure 11B) can be removed and stored and the aircraft seat can be used by adult passengers in a normal way.

The installation of the harness in the passenger seat can be adjusted to suit child's height by using anchoring points situated at different levels at the back of the aircraft's seat.

The length of the harness' belts (with the exception of the crotch belt) can be manually adjusted with slide length adjusters.

The proposed invention will be considerably lighter than a car seat or an aviation child seat (with maximum estimated weight not exceeding 1.5 -2kg).

The system will require very little storage space. An airline can easily carry on board as many of such devices as may be needed.

The system is much simpler to install and to use than a child car seat or an aviation child seat, no special skills or training would be needed to install it correctly.

The proposed invention requires little or no maintenance and, unlike car seats, has a very low potential of accidental damage or of incorrect installation.

The invention can be used with forward-facing or rear-facing aircraft passenger seats with a rear-facing configuration being potentially even safer.

The proposed restraint system is suitable for children from approximately 1 to 7 years of age although the design could be easily adapted to suit older passengers (for example passengers with special needs).

The invention could potentially also be used on other modes of transport such as trains or coaches using passenger seats similar to aircraft seats, on which the use of child car seats approved for road traffic is not compulsory.