HK1102326B - An infant seat for motorcars - Google Patents

Description

Infant seat for a motor vehicle

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an infant seat for an automobile.

Background

There are several types of infant seats which, in order to fasten the child firmly to the seat, comprise strapping strips (straps) formed by two adjustable straps connected to a crotch strap (crotch strap) by buckles, said straps being connected to each other at the rear part of the backrest so as to form a part passing through the tensioning means and extending beyond the front part of the seat.

These seats are typically mounted on the rear seat of the motor vehicle for the safety of young children.

Some of these infant seats comprise a backrest provided with a headrest and are designed, for example, for relatively small children between 1 and 5 years of age.

In some of the seats, the headrest is formed as a separate part fitted to the backrest in an upwardly movable arrangement so as to be adaptable to the height of the child, two straps of the strapping being fitted to the headrest.

These seats have the drawback that the straps will adapt gradually to the height of the child according to the extent to which the child grows, but the crotch strap (which is firmly fixed to the seat) cannot adapt gradually, so that as the child grows, the discomfort of the child in the seat becomes more and more severe, due to the increasingly greater compression exerted by the above-mentioned crotch strap on the child's crotch.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to eliminate said drawbacks by improving such a seat in such a way that, when adjusting the length of the straps constituting the strapping, a corresponding adjustment of the space provided by the crotch strap is also achieved, so that the length and the space provided increase jointly.

The infant seat for an automobile of the present invention includes: a body forming the actual seat and backrest and provided with a harness for a child, said harness being fitted to a crotch strap. In order to obtain the above-mentioned benefits, a particular feature is that the straps are fitted to the headrest which is fitted to the backrest in a vertically movable arrangement and is integrally provided with a mechanism from which extends a transmission element connected to the lower end of a crotch strap which is also fitted in a slidable arrangement, so that the raising and lowering movement of the headrest causes the space provided by the straps and the crotch strap to increase or decrease jointly.

The headrest comprises means arranged for locking the headrest in its different positions, said means comprising elastically biased corner elements (angular elements) fitted to oscillate about their corner points, one of the branches (branch) of said corner elements being arranged to be manually actuatable, while the other branch is fitted with a transverse element intended to fit into a recess provided along the rear portion of the backrest.

The transmission mechanism arranged for moving the crotch strap comprises a plate in which an inclined slot is provided, in which the head of a horizontal slide is slidingly engaged, to which slide a flexible rod or cord is connected, which constitutes the transmission element, which is fitted to the lower end of the crotch strap by means of a small frame fitted to move in a window in the seat bottom, so that the frame is removably held in different positions along the window.

These and other features will be most apparent from the following detailed description, which is to be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which show practical embodiments that are cited by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Drawings

In the drawings:

figures 1 and 2 show, in front and rear perspective views respectively, an infant seat which is the object of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows in perspective a detail of a mechanism arranged to transmit the movement of the headrest to the crotch strap;

figures 4 and 5 each show in perspective a detail of the frame fitted with the crotch strap, in bottom and top views respectively; and

figure 6 shows in a schematic sectional front view a device arranged for locking different positions of a headrest.

Detailed Description

According to the figures, an infant seat for a car comprises a body 1 forming the actual seat 2 and backrest 3 and provided with two safety belts 4 and 5 for a child, which are fitted at the front to a buckle 6 to which a crotch strap 7 is connected.

The straps 4 and 5 are fitted to a headrest 8 which is fitted to the backrest 3 in a vertically movable arrangement and is integrally provided with a mechanism 9 from which extends a transmission element 10 connected to the lower end 7' of the crotch strap 7 which is also fitted in a slidable arrangement. The transmission mechanism 9 comprises a vertical plate 11 having an inclined slot 12 (figure 3) in which a head 13 of a slide 14 is slidingly engaged, which is slidingly guided transversely along a guide 15 provided in a small cover 16 fitted to the rear part of the backrest 3 provided with a transverse slot 17, to which a flexible rod or cord is connected, which constitutes the transmission element 10 fitted to move along the inside of a fixed sheath 18.

The headrest 8 comprises means 19 (figure 6) arranged for locking the headrest in its different positions, said means comprising an arrangement of corner elements which are fitted to swing about their corner points 20, a helical spring 21 being fitted on the swinging pin of said corner elements, thereby biasing said corner elements into locking retention in their selected positions. Which is fitted to be actuated by its horizontal branch 22, to which a strap 23 has been attached, which is provided to be pulled upwards to unlock the device by thus releasing a transverse element 24 fitted to be selectively fitted at its ends into recesses 25 provided in two opposite aligned arrangements along the rear part of the backrest 3, said transverse element 24 being fitted to a further branch 26 of the corner element, which is arranged in a vertical configuration. Reference numeral 27 denotes a spring which additionally assists the headrest locking means in returning to the stable position.

The transmission element 10 is fitted to the lower end 7' of the crotch strap by the intermediary action (inter) of a small frame 28 having a central transverse portion 29 fitted at this length with said ends, fitted to move in a window 30 of the bottom of the seat 2 (figure 4) removably retained in respective recesses 31 provided at two opposite sides of said window 30, said transverse portion 29 projecting from the plane formed by the frame 28, fitted to be selectively fitted in said recesses (figure 5), said transverse portion being in such a position as to be removably retained by a plurality of elastic carriages (skid)32 connected to the lateral ends of the frame and slidingly resting (rest) on guides 33 provided along a cover 34 fitted to the bottom of the seat 2.

The upper ends 4 'and 5' of the straps are fitted to a cross member 35 which is fixedly fitted to the upper part of the front surface of the backrest (fig. 1).

In the case described here, the lower ends of the straps 4 and 5 extend through the seat through the lateral openings 37 and are connected together 38 after having passed through the slots 36 of the buckle 6, so as to form a strap 39 which extends through the tensioning means 40 and thus projects out at the end 41 at the front part of the seat 2.

Before being joined together, the lower ends of the belts 4 and 5 extend through a unit 42 of guide elements, formed by a U-shaped support part 43, which is firmly fixed to the bottom of the seat 2 and has two branches of it, each provided with a respective roller 44, crossing each other as it extends from their point of starting of bending.

Reference numeral 45 denotes a padding (paddingpiece) covering the seat 1 before the arrangement of the upholstery, said padding being shown in a partially cut-away view, so as to provide a better view of some parts of the seat.

In order to achieve a change in the length of the belts 4 and 5 and the space provided at the crotch area 7, the following operations may be performed: pulling the strap 23 upwards according to arrow F in fig. 6 causes the corner elements to swing according to arrow F' and thus unlocks the strap lock, whereby the headrest 8 can move together with the plate 11 acting on the slide 14, thereby moving the frame 28 and therewith the crotch strap 7. Once the desired change of space provided for the belt and at the crotch area has been achieved, the strap 23 is released, so that the selected position is re-locked when the transverse element 24 is fitted again into the recess 25.

The invention is capable of practical implementation in other ways than the embodiments shown here by way of example only, within the substantial scope thereof, which differs in detail only from the embodiments shown here by way of example and which also fall within the scope of protection sought at this time. The infant seat can therefore be manufactured in any shape or size with the most suitable means and materials, and the constituent elements can be replaced with other technically equivalent elements, as they are all included within the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1. An infant seat for a car, comprising a body (1) forming the actual seat (2) and backrest (3) and provided with a harness (4, 5) for a child, said harness being fitted to a crotch strap (7); said straps (4, 5) being fitted to a headrest (8) fitted to said backrest (3) in a vertically movable arrangement and comprising means (19) arranged for locking the headrest in its different positions, so that the raising and lowering movement of said headrest (8) causes the space provided by said straps (4, 5) and said crotch strap (7) to increase or decrease jointly, said infant seat being characterized in that: said headrest (8) is integrally provided with a mechanism (9) from which extends a transmission element (10) connected to the lower end (7') of said crotch strap (7) which is also assembled in a slidable arrangement, said transmission mechanism (9) comprising a plate (11) in which is provided an inclined slot (12) in which is slidingly engaged a head (13) of a horizontal slider (14) to which is connected a flexible rod or cord which constitutes said transmission element (10) which is provided for transmitting said movement to said crotch strap (7).

2. Infant seat for cars according to claim 1, characterized in that said transmission element (10) is fitted to the lower end (7 ') of said crotch strap (7) by the intermediary of a small frame (28) to which said end (7') of said crotch strap (7) is fitted, said small frame being fitted to move in a window (30) of the bottom of said seat (2).

3. Infant seat for cars according to claim 2, characterized in that said frame (28) is fitted to be removably retained in different positions (31) along said window (30).

4. Infant seat for cars according to claim 1, characterized in that said means (19) arranged for locking the headrest (8) in its different positions comprise an arrangement of elastically biased corner elements (21) fitted to oscillate about their corner points (20), one of the branches (22) of which is arranged to be manually actuatable, while the other branch (26) is fitted with a transverse element (24) intended to fit into a recess (25) provided along the rear portion of the backrest (3).

5. Infant seat for cars according to claim 3, characterized in that said frame (28), in order to be in a position to be retained at different positions along said window, is provided with a projecting transverse portion (29) in the transverse direction, fitted to fit into recesses (31) provided at two opposite sides of said window (30), in which window said frame (28) is removably retained by an elastic carriage (32) connected to said frame (28) and slidingly resting on guides (33) provided along a cover (34) fitted to the bottom of said seat (2).