Child restraint with energy management system
First Claim
1. A child restraint comprisinga juvenile vehicle seat including a seat bottom and a seat back, the seat back including a backrest arranged to extend upwardly from the seat bottom and a headrest arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the seat bottom to locate portions of the backrest therebetween, and adapted to support a head of a child seated on the seat bottom, andenergy-dissipation means coupled to the headrest for dissipating energy associated with movement of the head of a child seated on the seat bottom relative to the headrest following application of external impact forces to the juvenile vehicle seat, wherein the energy-dissipation means includes a first energy-dissipation finger having a first root end coupled to the headrest and a first tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, a second energy-dissipation finger having a second root end coupled to the headrest and a second tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, a third energy-dissipation finger having a third root end coupled to the headrest and a third tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, and a fourth energy-dissipation finger having a fourth root end coupled to the headrest and a fourth tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, the first and second energy-dissipation fingers are arranged to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom to lie in laterally spaced-apart relation to one another and flex rearwardly away from the seat bottom in response to application of a rearwardly directed force to the first and second energy-dissipation fingers during movement of the head of the child seated on the seat bottom, and the third and fourth energy-dissipation fingers are arranged to extend downwardly toward the seat bottom to lie in laterally spaced-apart relation to one another and flex rearwardly away from the seat bottom in response to application of a rearwardly directed forces to the third and fourth energy-dissipation fingers during movement of the head of the child seated on the seat bottom.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A child restraint includes a juvenile vehicle seat including a seat bottom and a seat back. The child restraint also includes an energy dissipater coupled to the seat back.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile vehicle seat including a seat bottom and a seat back, the seat back including a backrest arranged to extend upwardly from the seat bottom and a headrest arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the seat bottom to locate portions of the backrest therebetween, and adapted to support a head of a child seated on the seat bottom, and energy-dissipation means coupled to the headrest for dissipating energy associated with movement of the head of a child seated on the seat bottom relative to the headrest following application of external impact forces to the juvenile vehicle seat, wherein the energy-dissipation means includes a first energy-dissipation finger having a first root end coupled to the headrest and a first tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, a second energy-dissipation finger having a second root end coupled to the headrest and a second tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, a third energy-dissipation finger having a third root end coupled to the headrest and a third tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, and a fourth energy-dissipation finger having a fourth root end coupled to the headrest and a fourth tip arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the headrest, the first and second energy-dissipation fingers are arranged to extend upwardly away from the seat bottom to lie in laterally spaced-apart relation to one another and flex rearwardly away from the seat bottom in response to application of a rearwardly directed force to the first and second energy-dissipation fingers during movement of the head of the child seated on the seat bottom, and the third and fourth energy-dissipation fingers are arranged to extend downwardly toward the seat bottom to lie in laterally spaced-apart relation to one another and flex rearwardly away from the seat bottom in response to application of a rearwardly directed forces to the third and fourth energy-dissipation fingers during movement of the head of the child seated on the seat bottom.
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12. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile vehicle seat including a seat bottom and a seat back, the seat back including a panel, and an energy-dissipation system including first, second, third, and fourth energy-dissipation fingers coupled to the panel and arranged to flex independently of one another when exposed to an external impact force, the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend upwardly away from the base, the second cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to lie laterally spaced-apart by a vertical slot, in side-by-side relation to the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger, the fourth cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend downwardly toward the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger to form a first horizontal slot therebetween, and the third cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend downwardly toward the second cantilevered energy-dissipation finger to form a second horizontal slot therebetween and to lie in laterally spaced-apart, side-by-side relation to the fourth cantilevered energy-dissipation finger.
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21. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile vehicle seat including a seat bottom and a seat back, the seat back including a panel, and an energy-dissipation system including first, second, third, and fourth energy-dissipation fingers coupled to the panel and arranged to flex independently of one another when exposed to an external impact force, the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend upwardly away from the base, the second cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to lie in laterally spaced-apart, side-by-side relation to the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger, the fourth cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend downwardly toward the first cantilevered energy-dissipation finger to form a first horizontal slot therebetween, and the third cantilevered energy-dissipation finger is arranged to extend downwardly toward the second cantilevered energy-dissipation finger to form a second horizontal slot therebetween and to lie in laterally spaced-apart, side-by-side relation to the fourth cantilevered energy-dissipation finger, wherein the panel comprises a sheet and a honeycomb-shaped sheet-rigidifier strip coupled to a rearwardly facing surface of the sheet to extend away from the seat bottom, each of the first, second, third, and fourth cantilevered energy-dissipation fingers is cantilevered to the sheet, and the panel also includes four partial honeycomb-shaped finger-rigidifier strips each of which is coupled to a rearwardly facing surface of one of the cantilevered energy-dissipation fingers to extend away from the seat bottom.
Specification