GB2137084A

GB2137084A - Child's Safety Seat for Use in a Vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2137084A
Application number: GB08405463A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Rudolph Starkey; David William Burleigh
Original assignee: BRITAX OVERSEAS
Current assignee: BRITAX OVERSEAS
Priority date: 1983-03-18
Filing date: 1984-03-01
Publication date: 1984-10-03
Also published as: GB8405463D0

Abstract

The back part 30 of a child's safety seat for use in a motor vehicle, has rearwardly projecting members 42-48 adapted to protrude through openings in the upholstery of the vehicle seat 10 so as to bring latch formations 50 thereon into releaseable engagement with complementary formations 18-24 on a plate 16 secured to the vehicle seat 10 to inhibit movement of the child's seat away from the vehicle seat 10. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Child's Safety Seat for use in a Vehicle This invention relates to a child's safety seat for use in a motor vehicle and more particularly to a child's safety seat which can readily be detached when not in use.

According to the invention, a system providing a detachable child's seat adapted to be secured to a motor vehicle seat, comprises a child's seat having a back part and a base part, the back part carrying a rearwardly projecting member adapted to protrude through an opening in the upholstery of the vehicle seat so as to bring a latch formation thereon into releaseable engagement with a complementary formation on the vehicle seat to inhibit movement of the child's seat away from the vehicle seat.

The rearwardly projecting member may conveniently take the form of a strip having a hook formation adjacent to the end thereof remote from the back part of the child's seat, and the complementary member may comprise a plate having an opening dimensioned to receive the strip which can be displaced laterally after insertion to bring the hook formation into engagement with the edge of the opening. The hook formation may comprise one wall of a slot formed in the strip.

The strip may be pivotally attached to the seat back so as to fold flat, either about a horizontal axis or about a vertical axis, when the child's seat is not in use.

The back part of the child's seat may be provided with a plurality of rearwardly projecting members, each having a respective latch formation. Alternatively or additionally, more than one latch formation may be provided on the or each rearwardly projecting member.

The back part and base part of the child's seat are preferably hinged to one another so as to fold back for storage. Alternatively, the seat and back part may be formed of flexible sheet material, such as cloth, mounted on a foldable frame.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a seat system in accordance with the invention with part of the vehicle seat broken away; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the child's seat of the system shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the system shown in Figure 1; Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views of the back of a child's seat having an alternative rearwardly projecting attachment member in the deployed and folded positions respectively; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the back of a child's seat having another form of rearwardly projecting member; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the back of a child's seat having yet another form of rearwardly projecting member;; Figure 8 is a perspective view of an alternative form of child's seat for use in accordance with the invention; and Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the geometry of the child's seat shown in Figure 3.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 3, the rear seat of a motor car has a seat back 10 provided with a conventional arm rest 1 2 which can be folded into a recess 14 formed in the seat back 1 0. In accordance with the invention, a plate 1 6 is secured to the seat frame (not shown) at the back of the recess 14. The plate 1 6 has two pairs of vertically aligned slots 18, 20 and 22, 24.

A child's seat has a back part 30 pivotally connected at 32 to a base part 34. The base part 34 can be folded upwardly from the position iliustrated in Figures 2 and 3, in which it extends substantially at right-angles to the back part, to the position illustrated in Figure 1 in which it lies flat against the back part 30. Shoulder straps 36 and 38 and lap straps, one of which can be seen at 40 in Figure 2, are provided to secure a child to the seat.

In order to secure the child's seat to the vehicle, four plates 42, 44, 46 and 48 extend rearwardly from the back part 30, each being aligned with a respective one of the slots 18, 20, 22 and 24 and dimensioned so as to be a clearance fit therein. Each of the plates 42, 44, 46 and 48 has an upwardly extending slot 50 adjacent to its rear end so that, if the seat back is moved rearwardly in the vehicle to bring the strips 42, 44, 46 and 48 into engagement with the corresponding slots 18, 20, 22 and 24 until the slots 50 are aligned with the plate 1 6 and the seat back 30 is then moved downwardly, the slots 50 embrace the plate 1 6 so as to prevent movement of the child's seat out of engagement.

A catch mechanism (not shown) may be provided to inhibit inadvertent upward movement of the plates 42, 44, 46 and 48 which could result in inadvertent detachment of the slots 50 from the plate 16.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the base portion 34 of the child's seat is located so as to be just above the arm rest 12 when the latter is in its folded down position, the set back 30 having a cut-away portion 50 in its bottom edge through which the arm rest 1 2 projects. When the seat is not in use, the strips 42, 44, 46 and 48 can be folded about respective vertical axes into recesses 52 in the seat back 30. Since the base part of the seat 34 can also fold, as already described, the child's seat forms a relatively flat, easily stowable unit.

Turning now to Figures 4 and 5, each pair of plates 42, 44, and 46, 48 may be replaced by single plates 60 and 62 each of which has upper and lower hook-like formations 64 and 66 to engage in the slots 18, 22 and 20, 24 respectively. As shown in Figure 5, the two plates 60 and 62 lie on top of one another when folded.

Figure 6 illustrates an alternative arrangement in which the plates 60 and 64 of Figure 4 are replaced by two channel-section members 70 and 72, disposed one above the other, and each having a pair of slots 74 and 76. The slots 74 engage in the slots 18 and 20 while the slots 76 engage in the slots 22 and 24 of the plate 16 on the vehicle seat back 1 0. The two channel members 70 and 72 are each pivotally attached to the seat back 30 so as to be capable of being folded downwards about respective horizontal axes.

Figure 7 illustrates yet another arrangement in which the two members 70 and 72 are replaced by a one-piece non-folding member 80 having two rearwardly projecting portions 82 and 84, each of which carries a pair of slots 86 and 88, corresponding to the slots 74 and 76 of Figure 6.

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate an alternative form of child's seat, the basic structural member of which is a tray-like member 90 which may be a metal pressing or a plastics moulding and which can be secured to the back 10 of the vehicle seat by any of the means described above. A U-shaped frame member 92 has the free ends of its side limbs 94 bent inwardly to engage in respective slots 96 in the side walls 98 and 1 00 of the tray-like member 90. A webbing strap 102 extends upwardly from one side of the central part of the U-shaped member 92, through a slot 104 adjacent to the top of the side member 98, then through a corresponding slot 106 in the other side member 100 and back down to the other side of the central portion of the U-shaped member 92.

Stops 108 and 110 prevent the ends of the strap 102 from slipping round on to the side arms of the U-shaped member 92. A soft fabric seat 112 is suspended from the webbing strap 102 and has its bottom edge secured to the central portion of the U-shaped member 92. The fabric seat 112 has slots therein through which the shoulder straps 36 and 38, the lap straps 40 and a crotch strap 114 project. When the seat is occupied, the various are, of course, interconnect by a buckle (not shown).

The ends of the side limbs 94 can be positioned either at the top or at the bottom of the slots 96 so as to provide two alternative recline positions for the seat.

Claims

1. A system providing a detachable child's seat adapted to be secured to a motor vehicle seat, the system comprising a child's seat having a back part and a base part, the back part carrying a rearwardly projecting member adapted to protrude through an opening in the upholstery of the vehicle seat so as to bring a latch formation thereon into releaseabie engagement with a complementary formation on the vehicle seat to inhibit movement of the child's seat away from the vehicle seat.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the rearwardly projecting member comprises a strip having a hook formation adjacent to the end thereof remote from the back part of the child's seat, and the complementary member comprises a plate having an opening dimensioned to receive the strip which is displaceable laterally after insertion to bring the hook formation into engagement with the edge of the opening.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein the hook formation comprises one wall of a slot formed in the strip.

4. A system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the strip is pivotally attached to the seat back so as to fold flat when the child's seat is not in use.

5. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the back part of the child's seat is provided with a plurality of rearwardly projecting members, each having a respective latch formation.

6. A system according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein more than one latch formation may be provided on the or each rearwardly projecting member.

7. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the back part and base part of the child's seat are hinged to one another so as to fold back for storage.

8. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the seat and back part may be formed of flexible sheet material.

9. A system providing a detachable child's seat adapted to be secured to a motor vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.