Vehicular child safety seat

• US 6,196,629 B1
• Filed: 01/08/1998
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aprica Children's Products Inc.
• Original Assignee: Aprica Kassai Kabushikikaisha
• Inventors: Imamichi, Toshiyuki, Onishi, Ichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): BARFIELD, ANTHONY DERRELL
• Application Number:
  US09/004,699
• Time in Patent Office: 1,153 Days
• Field of Search: 297/256.12, 297/256.13, 297/250.1, 297/354.13, 297/184.13
• US Class Current: 297/256.12
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2806 for securing the child seat to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2812 for securing the child to the child seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2821 having a seat and a base part
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2857 characterised by the peculiar orientation of the child B60N2/2869 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/286 forward facing B60N2/2866 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2863 backward facing
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2869 rotatable about a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2878 the back-rest being inclinable

Abstract

A vehicular child safety seat includes a seat main body (1A) attached to a base body (1C) in a rotatable manner. The seat main body includes a seat portion (16), a backrest (11) reclinably hinged to the seat portion, a head guard (10) tiltably hinged to the upper edge of the backrest, side guards (12, 13) protruding perpendicularly from lateral edges of the backrest, and armrests (14, 15) protruding upwardly along side edges of the seat portion. When the backrest is in its most reclined position, and the seat main body is rotated on the base body to be transverse to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the seat portion and backrest are substantially coplanar and horizontal to form a baby bed. When the backrest is in a more upright position, and the seat main body is rotated to face forward or rearward in the vehicle, the safety seat is suitable for an infant, toddler or older child sitting upright. Thus, a vehicular child safety seat can be provided that can be used constantly throughout the entire childhood for a baby, an infant, and a child of school age.

Claims

1. A vehicular child safety seat adapted to be secured to a seat of a vehicle and adapted to accommodate a child ranging from a newborn baby to a school age child therein, comprising a seat device including:

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;

a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;

a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child; and

a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest away from said seat bottom, so that said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface so as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;

wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;

in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby; and

in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon;

and said vehicular child safety seat further comprising;

a support device including a connection plate and a pair of armrests, wherein said armrests are respectively arranged inwardly adjacent and in close proximity to said side guards, said armrests are respectively mounted on said connection plate at lower ends of said armrests, and said armrests are respectively pivotably connected directly to said side guards at a substantially horizontal support axis passing transversely through said armrests to enable said side guards to pivot relative to said armrests about said support axis; and

a base including a base member and a holding mechanism rotatably holding said support device relative to said base member so as to allow said support device to rotate relative to said base member about a substantially vertical rotation axis.

2. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, further comprising removable support bolts by which said armrests are removably pivotably connected to said side guards, so that said seat device is removable from said support device, and wherein said holding mechanism detachably holds said support device so that said seat device and said support device are removable from said base.

3. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein said base member includes a circular convex protrusion concentric relative to said rotation axis, said connection plate of said support device has an opening that is concentric with and receives said circular convex protrusion of said base member therein, and said holding mechanism comprises a support plate that is arranged to hold said connection plate between said support plate and said base member and that is fixed to said convex protrusion of said base so as to allow said connection plate to rotate on said convex protrusion received in said opening.

4. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, further comprising a first stop member that is provided on said backrest and a second stop member that is provided on said base and adapted to cooperate with said first stop member by allowing relative motion of said stop members so as to allow said backrest to recline to said reclined position when said seat device is rotated about said rotation axis into a transverse position that is transverse relative to a front-to-back direction of said base, and by respectively blocking relative motion of said stop members so as to prevent said backrest from being reclined from said upright position into said reclined position when said seat device is rotated about said rotation axis into a non-transverse position rotationally displaced from said transverse position.

5. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 4, wherein said first stop member comprises an engagement projection protruding from a back surface of said backrest opposite said backrest surface at a lower end of said backrest, and wherein said second stop member comprises a concave groove and an abutment face provided on said holding mechanism, with said concave groove extending transversely relative to said front-to-back direction and being dimensioned and arranged so as to receive said engagement projection sliding in said groove when said backrest is reclined when said seat device is in said transverse position, and with said abutment face positioned to abut against and block movement of said engagement projection to prevent reclining of said backrest when said seat device is in said non-transverse position rotationally displaced from said transverse position.

6. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 5, wherein said engagement projection received in said concave groove prevents rotation of said seat device relative to said base when said backrest is in said reclined position.

7. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein respective portions of said armrests respectively overlap said side guards, and wherein said support axis passes through said portions of said armrests overlapping said side guards.

8. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein said seat bottom is slidingly connected to and supported by said armrests and hingedly connected to a bottom portion of said backrest so that said seat bottom slides back relative to said armrests together with said bottom portion of said backrest as said backrest is tilted from said reclined position to said upright position.

9. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 8, further comprising a crotch belt secured to said connection plate and extending upwardly through an elongated hole provided in said seat bottom, wherein said elongated hole is elongated in a front-to-back direction of said seat bottom parallel to said sliding of said seat bottom.

10. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 9, further comprising a pair of shoulder belts and a pair of lumbar belts coupleable with said crotch belt to form a five point seat belt system.

11. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein said base further includes seat fixing means for selectively fixing a rotation position of said seat device relative to said base about said rotation axis.

12. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, further including a linkage that links said head guard to at least one of said armrests, and that is so arranged as to tiltingly move said head guard relative to said backrest as said backrest is reclined relative to said armrests such that said head guard is in a most tilted position protruding substantially perpendicularly relative to said backrest surface when said backrest is in said most reclined position.

13. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 12, wherein said at least one armrest has an elongated guide aperture therein, wherein said linkage includes a connection rod having a first end pivotably connected to said head guard proximate a lower end of said head guard and a second end received slidably and pivotably in said elongated guide aperture, and wherein said elongated guide aperture includes a first elongated aperture portion configured to gradually approach said support axis so that said second end of said connection rod is guidingly received in said first elongated aperture portion so as to move said head guard into said most tilted position when said backrest is moved into said most reclined position, and a second elongated aperture portion that continuously adjoins said first elongated aperture portion and that is elongated along a circular arc concentric about said support axis so that said second end of said connection rod is guidingly received in said second elongated aperture portion so as to gradually move said head guard into a least tilted position substantially coplanar with said backrest when said backrest is moved into said upright position.

14. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein said seat device further comprises a reclining mechanism for selectively altering a recline angle of said backrest relative to said seat bottom between said most reclined position when said safety seat is in said bed configuration and said upright position, which is a most upright position, when said safety seat is in said seat configuration.

15. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein said head guard is connected by a hinge to an upper edge of said backrest along said upper free end of said backrest, wherein said hinge forms a substantially horizontal tilting axis about which said head guard is tiltable relative to said backrest.

16. The vehicular child safety seat according to claim 1, being adapted to accommodate a child having a body weight throughout a range from under 10 kg to 25 kg.

17. A combination of a vehicular child safety seat as claimed in claim 1 and a vehicle, wherein a safety seat is secured to a seat of said vehicle, wherein said safety seat is arranged in said vehicle with a longitudinal direction of said bed surface oriented transverse relative to a longitudinal axis of said vehicle when said safety seat is configured in said bed configuration, and wherein said safety seat is arranged in said vehicle with said backrest surface facing substantially forward or backward along said longitudinal axis of said vehicle when said safety seat is configured in said seat configuration.

18. A vehicular child safety seat adapted to be secured to a seat of a vehicle and adapted to accommodate a child ranging from a newborn baby to a school age child therein, comprising a seat device including:

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;

a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;

a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child; and

a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest away from said seat bottom, so that said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;

wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;

in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby; and

in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon;

wherein said seat device further comprises a reclining mechanism for selectively altering a recline angle of said backrest relative to said seat bottom between said most reclined position when said safety seat is in said bed configuration and said upright position, which is a most upright position, when said safety seat is in said seat configuration;

wherein said child safety seat further comprises at least one armrest respectively arranged adjacent to a respective one of said side guards,

wherein said reclining mechanism includes at least two engagement holes in said armrest, an engagement pin arranged on an inner side of at least one of said side guards and adapted to be selectively insertable into said engagement holes, a resilient member connected to said engagement pin so as to bias said engagement pin to be inserted into a selected one of said engagement holes, and a release handle arranged on a back side of said backrest opposite said backrest surface and connected to said engagement pin so that said release handle can selectively counteract said bias of said resilient member and release said engagement pin from said engagement holes.

19. A combination including a vehicle comprising a vehicle body, a vehicle seat, and a seat belt, and a vehicular child safety seat secured to said vehicle seat in said vehicle by said seat belt, said safety seat being adapted to accommodate a child ranging from a newborn baby to a school age child therein, and comprising a seat device including:

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;

a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;

a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child; and

a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest directed away from said seat bottom, wherein said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface so as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;

wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;

in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby, while the backrest extends along a transverse direction perpendicular to a travelling axis of said vehicle; and

in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon, while said backrest surface faces forward or backward along said travelling axis of said vehicle;

wherein said seat device further comprises a reclining mechanism for selectively altering a recline angle of said backrest relative to said seat bottom between said most reclined position when said safety seat is in said bed configuration and said upright position, which is a most upright position, when said safety seat is in said seat configuration;

further comprising at least one armrest respectively arranged adjacent a respective one of said side guards;

wherein said reclining mechanism includes at least two engagement holes in said armrest, an engagement pin arranged on an inner side of at least one of said side guards and adapted to be selectively insertable into said engagement holes, a resilient member connected to said engagement pin so as to bias said engagement pin to be inserted into a selected one of said engagement holes, and a release handle arranged on a back side of said backrest opposite said backrest surface and connected to said engagement pin so that said release handle can selectively counteract said bias of said resilient member and release said engagement pin from said engagement holes.