Child chair

• US 8,240,765 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2009
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Helen of Troy Limited
• Original Assignee: Helen of Troy Limited
• Inventors: Kennedy, Brook, Cedar, Jonathan, Kelly, Colin, Phipps, Troy, Vernon, Ryan, Oxley, Nicholas, Freitag, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Allred, David E
• Application Number:
  US12/584,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20110062753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: 297/151, 297/153, 297/170, 297/256.11, 297/338, 297/423.38, 297/467
• US Class Current: 297/338
• CPC Class Codes: A47D 1/002 adjustable
• CPC Class Codes: A47D 1/004 in height
• CPC Class Codes: A47D 1/0085 removable
• CPC Class Codes: A47D 1/103 attachable to adult's chairs
• CPC Class Codes: A47D 15/006 in chairs

Abstract

A child'"'"'s chair is disclosed having, in its most basic form, a frame having four legs, a seat having a bottom support and a back support, and a tray. To these basic components, numerous modifications can be made to customize features of the chair for enhancing safety and convenience, and/or adapting to additional possible uses. Each of the disclosed embodiments includes at least one of either an adjustable seat, an adjustable footrest, a center post mounted tray, a multiple position, single-hand adjustable tray, a concealed release button, and any combination of such features.

Claims

1. A highchair comprising:

a seat having a bottom support and a back support, the bottom support including a fixed center post extending there from, wherein the center post includes a retention channel formed on a generally vertical side of the center post, wherein the retention channel includes a plurality of tray position notches;

a tray detachably coupled to the center post of the seat, wherein the tray includes a center post channel;

a tray latching mechanism for connecting the tray to the center post and capable of movement between a first connecting position, a second connecting position and a release position, wherein the tray latching mechanism includes pins adjacent a bottom surface of the tray and a handle adjacent the bottom surface of the tray and linked to the pins such that movement of the handle results in movement of the pins, wherein the pins are positioned in the center post channel and the tray is positioned on the center post by aligning the center post with the center post channel, wherein a respective pin is receivable in a respective tray position notch to prevent movement of the tray with respect to the center post;

a frame supporting the seat at a first position and having a footrest supported at a second position on the frame, wherein the bottom support of the seat and the footrest are independently adjustable between a plurality of fixed seat position channels on the frame and a plurality of fixed footrest position channels on the frame, respectively, wherein the seat position channels extend such that a rear-most end of each seat position channel terminates progressively forward moving top to bottom; and

a harness for securing a child positioned in the seat, the harness being secured to the seat and adjustable for various sizes at a position adjacent a rear surface of the back support, the harness including a harness strap which is attached to the center post.

2. The highchair of claim 1, wherein the tray latching mechanism further comprises a single actuator for moving the tray between the first connecting position, the second connecting position and the release position.

3. The highchair of claim 1, further comprising a seat latching mechanism for retaining the seat at any of a plurality of fixed seat position channels on the frame.

4. The highchair of claim 3, wherein the seat latching mechanism comprises:

a slide bar positioned to intersect each of the fixed seat position channels and capable of movement along an axis between a lock position and a release position, wherein the seat is locked in a respective seat position channel when the slide bar is at the lock position and the seat is removable from the respective seat position channel when the slide bar is at the release position; and

a button attached to an end of the slide bar and which moves along an axis, transverse to the axis of the slide bar, between a first and second position, wherein the slide bar is prevented from movement when the button is in the first position and is slidable between the slide bar lock and release positions when the button is in the second position.

5. A child seat comprising:

a seat having a bottom support and a back support;

a frame having a plurality of fixed seat position channels each configured to retain the bottom support therein, wherein the bottom support of the seat is vertically adjustable relative to the back support via the seat position channels, the frame further including a slide bar channel intersecting the seat position channels; and

a seat latching mechanism for retaining the seat at any of the fixed seat position channels, the seat latching mechanism comprising;

a slide bar positioned in the slide bar channel intersecting each of the fixed seat position channels simultaneously and capable of movement along an axis between a lock position and a release position, wherein the seat is locked in one of the seat position channels when the slide bar is at the lock position and the seat is removable from the seat position channels when the slide bar is at the release position; and

a button attached to an end of the slide bar and which moves along an axis, transverse to the axis of the slide bar, between a first and second position, wherein the slide bar is prevented from movement when the button is in the first position and is slidable between the slide bar lock and release positions when the button is in the second position.

6. The child seat of claim 5, wherein the button is flush with a surface of the frame when in the first position.

7. The child seat of claim 6, wherein the button is extended from the surface of the frame when in the second position.

8. The child seat of claim 5, wherein the slide bar comprises a number of stops corresponding to a number of the plurality of seat position channels and for engaging and retaining the seat in a seat position channel.

9. The child seat of claim 5, further comprising a fixed center post extending from the seat.

10. The child seat of claim 9, further comprising a tray detachably coupled to the center post.

11. The child seat of claim 10, wherein the tray comprises a latching mechanism for connecting the tray to the seat and capable of movement between a first connecting position, a second connecting position and a release position.

12. The child seat of claim 11, wherein the tray latching mechanism comprises a single actuator for moving the tray between the first connecting position, the second connecting position and the release position.

13. The child seat of claim 5, further comprising a footrest supported at a position on the frame, wherein the footrest is adjustable between a plurality of fixed footrest position channels on the frame.

14. The child seat of claim 13, wherein the footrest and seat are independently adjustable.

15. The child seat of claim 9, further comprising a harness for securing a child positioned in the seat, the harness being secured to the center post and the back support and the harness being adjustable for various sizes at a position adjacent a rear surface of the back support.

16. A chair comprising:

a seat having a bottom support and a back support;

a center post extending from the seat, the center post including a tray guide having a retention channel including a plurality of tray position notches;

a frame supporting the seat;

a tray detachably coupled to the center post;

a tray latching mechanism for detachably connecting the tray to the center post, and the latching mechanism being adjustable between an adjust setting where the tray is secured to the center post and capable of sliding movement between a plurality of latching points, a locked setting where the tray is secured at a respective latching point of the plurality of latching points and prevented from movement, and a release setting where the tray is released from attachment,

wherein the tray latching mechanism includes a pin, wherein the pin is located in the retention channel when in the adjust setting and the in is located in one of the plurality of tray position notches when in the locked setting wherein the tray latching mechanism includes pins adjacent a bottom surface of the tray and a single release mechanism comprising a handle adjacent the bottom surface of the tray and linked to the pins such that movement of the handle results in movement of the pins;

wherein the tray includes a center post channel, wherein the pins are positioned in the center post channel and the tray is positioned on the center post by aligning the center post with the center post channel; and

wherein the center post includes a retention channel formed on a generally vertical side of the center post, wherein the retention channel includes a plurality of tray position notches, wherein a respective pin is receivable in a respective tray position notch to prevent movement of the tray with respect to the center post.

17. The chair of claim 16, wherein the tray latching mechanism comprises an actuator for moving the latching mechanism between the settings.

18. The chair of claim 17, wherein the actuator is a single handle attached to the tray.