Harness-control panel adjuster for child-restraint seat
First Claim
1. A child-restraint seat comprisinga seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion including a channel formed therein, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell outside the channel for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, and a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, an actuator coupled to the panel-height adjustment mechanism and positioned forward a front surface of the back support portion and operable to permit locking and unlocking from a front side of the child-restraint seat when the seat is facing forward and is coupled to a vehicle seat by the seat anchor, and a locking member of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a rear surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a rear side of the child-restraint seat, the actuator being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a first unlocked position outside the channel formed in the back support portion and a second locked position within the channel of the back support portion.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A child-restraint seat includes a seat shell, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, and a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness. The harness-control panel is mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the seat shell. The child-restraint seat further includes a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell. The panel-height adjustment mechanism is accessible to a user from both a front side and a rear side of the child-restraint seat.
101 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion including a channel formed therein, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell outside the channel for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, and a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, an actuator coupled to the panel-height adjustment mechanism and positioned forward a front surface of the back support portion and operable to permit locking and unlocking from a front side of the child-restraint seat when the seat is facing forward and is coupled to a vehicle seat by the seat anchor, and a locking member of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a rear surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a rear side of the child-restraint seat, the actuator being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a first unlocked position outside the channel formed in the back support portion and a second locked position within the channel of the back support portion.
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8. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, and a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, a portion of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a front surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a front side of the child-restraint seat, and another portion of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a rear surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a rear side of the child-restraint seat, wherein the panel-height adjustment mechanism includes a locking member coupled to the harness-control panel, the locking member being engaged with the seat shell when the panel-height adjustment mechanism is in the locked position and disengaged from the seat shell when the panel-height adjustment mechanism is in the unlocked position, wherein the panel-height adjustment mechanism includes an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, and wherein the actuator is movable relative to the harness-control panel to disengage the locking member from the seat shell to move the panel-height adjustment mechanism to the unlocked position, and wherein the actuator includes a grip, a rod coupled to the grip, and a foot portion coupled to the rod, and wherein the grip extends above the harness-control panel and is accessible by a user from the front side of the child-restraint seat.
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10. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, and a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, a portion of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a front surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a front side of the child-restraint seat, and another portion of the panel-height adjustment mechanism being positioned adjacent a rear surface of the back support portion to be accessible to a user from a rear side of the child-restraint seat, wherein the panel-height adjustment mechanism includes a locking member coupled to the harness-control panel, the locking member being engaged with the seat shell when the panel-height adjustment mechanism is in the locked position and disengaged from the seat shell when the panel-height adjustment mechanism is in the unlocked position, wherein the panel-height adjustment mechanism includes an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, and wherein the actuator is movable relative to the harness-control panel to disengage the locking member from the seat shell to move the panel-height adjustment mechanism to the unlocked position, and wherein the panel-height adjustment mechanism includes another actuator coupled to the harness-control panel, and wherein the actuators are spaced-apart from each other.
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16. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion positioned to lie at an angle to the bottom seat portion, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a locking member coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, the locking member being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a locked position preventing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position allowing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell, an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith and positioned forward a front surface of the back support portion, the actuator being movable relative to the harness-control panel to engage the locking member and move the locking member from the locked position to the unlocked position, and wherein the actuator is adapted to be operated to the locked and unlocked positions when the child is buckled in the child restraint seat with the child'"'"'s back against the seat and the child restraint seat is coupled to a vehicle seat in the forward facing position.
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18. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion positioned to lie at an angle to the bottom seat portion, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a locking member coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, the locking member being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a locked position preventing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position allowing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell, and an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, the actuator being movable relative to the harness-control panel to engage the locking member and move the locking member from the locked position to the unlocked position, wherein a portion of the actuator extends beyond the harness-control panel to be accessible by a user from a front side of the child-restraint seat, and wherein the actuator includes an elongated rod positioned to extend along a back side of the harness-control panel, a grip coupled to a first end of the rod and positioned to lie above the harness-control panel, and a foot portion coupled to a second end of the rod, and wherein the actuator is rotatable relative to the harness-control panel about an axis along the rod to engage the foot portion of the actuator with the locking member.
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19. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion positioned to lie at an angle to the bottom seat portion, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a locking member coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, the locking member being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a locked position preventing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position allowing up and down movement of the harness-control panel relative to the seat shell, and an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith, the actuator being movable relative to the harness-control panel to engage the locking member and move the locking member from the locked position to the unlocked position, wherein a portion of the actuator extends beyond harness-control panel to be accessible by a user from a front side of the child-restraint seat, and further including another actuator coupled to the harness-control mechanism, and wherein the actuators are spaced-apart from each other.
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26. A juvenile vehicle seat comprising
a seat shell, a headrest coupled to the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell and having a shoulder belt portion coupled to the headrest for up and down movement of the shoulder belt portion with the headrest relative to the seat shell, locking means for preventing up and down movement of the headrest relative to the seat shell, unlocking means for allowing up and down movement of the headrest relative to the seat shell, and wherein the locking and unlocking means are operable by a user from a front side of the seat shell with the child seated upright in and against the seat back and the child restraint seat is coupled to a vehicle seat in the forward facing position.
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27. A juvenile vehicle seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a locking mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement with the harness-control panel, the locking mechanism being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, and an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement with the harness-control panel and positioned between the harness-control panel and a front surface of the back support portion of the seat shell, the actuator being rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the harness-control panel between a first position disengaged from the locking mechanism and a second position engaged with the locking mechanism to move the locking mechanism to the unlocked position.
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28. A child-restraint seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat shell, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a panel-height adjustment mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel and movable between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, the panel-height adjustment mechanism including an actuator coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement therewith and positioned forward a front surface of the back support portion and the actuator is adapted to be operated to the locked and unlocked positions when the child is buckled in the child restraint seat with the child'"'"'s back against the seat and the child restraint seat is coupled to a vehicle seat in the forward facing position.
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29. A juvenile vehicle seat comprising
a seat shell including a bottom seat portion and a back support portion, the seat shell being adapted to be coupled to a vehicle seat by a seat anchor coupled to the vehicle, a child-restraint harness coupled to the seat, a harness-control panel including a belt-receiving opening receiving a shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness, the harness-control panel being mounted on the seat shell for up and down movement relative to the seat shell to raise and lower the shoulder belt portion of the child-restraint harness with respect to the bottom seat portion, a locking mechanism coupled to the harness-control panel for up and down movement with the harness-control panel, the locking mechanism being movable relative to the harness-control panel between a locked position to prevent the harness-control panel from moving up and down relative to the seat shell and an unlocked position to allow the harness-control panel to move up and down relative to the seat shell, and an actuator rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the harness-control panel between a first position disengage to move the locking mechanism and a second position engaged with the locking mechanism to move the locking mechanism to the unlocked position.
Specification