Infant carrier and car safety seat with no-rethread harness adjustment

• US 9,162,593 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2013
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kids II Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Kids II Incorporated
• Inventors: Sclare, Jacob, Dotsey, Michael A., Dingler, Noah E., Nolan, Patrick B., Spence, Scott R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, David R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Giacoma, Jody
• Application Number:
  US13/928,818
• Publication Number:
  US 20140008952A1
• Time in Patent Office: 845 Days
• Field of Search: 297/250.1, 297/410, 297/480, 297/484
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/26 for children B60N2/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/265 Adaptations for seat belts
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2812 for securing the child to the child seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2818 characterised by guiding means for children belts
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2821 having a seat and a base part
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2845 having handles
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2851 provided with head-rests
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2875 inclinable, as a whole or partially

Abstract

A vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system allowing height adjustment of a shoulder harness strap without rethreading the harness strap through the seat. A positioning member is normally biased out of engagement with a toothed rail, allowing a harness strap carried by the positioning member to be adjusted up or down to fit the size of a child. As the harness strap is pulled tight, the positioning member is brought into engagement with the toothed rail, fixing the position of the strap relative to the seat.

Claims

1. A child safety seat comprising:

a seat shell comprising a seat base portion and a seatback portion, and having at least one elongate slot through the seatback portion, the at least one elongate slot defining a lengthwise dimension in an axial direction;

a pair of guide rails extending axially along a back face of the seatback portion, each said guide rail defining a guide channel;

a carrier plate translationally mounted to slide within the guide channels;

a positioning member pivotally coupled to the carrier plate, the positioning member defining at least one harness belt slot; and

at least one harness belt extending through the at least one harness belt slot of the positioning member and through the at least one elongate slot through the seatback portion, whereby the at least one harness belt engages the positioning member to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is taut, and whereby translation of the carrier plate relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is not taut provides height adjustment of the harness belt.

2. The child safety seat of claim 1, wherein at least one of the pair of guide rails comprises a plurality of teeth for engagement with the positioning member when the harness belt is taut.

3. The child safety seat of claim 1, further comprising a headrest mounted to the carrier plate by at least one strut extending through the at least one elongate slot through the seatback portion.

4. The child safety seat of claim 1, further comprising a harness adjustment strap connected to the at least one harness belt for tightening the at least one harness belt to bring the positioning member into engagement with the pair of guide rails to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seat shell.

5. The child safety seat of claim 1, further comprising a base portion to which the seat shell releasably mounts.

6. The child safety seat of claim 1, comprising first and second elongate slots through the seatback portion, extending lengthwise and generally parallel to one another.

7. The child safety seat of claim 1, wherein the pair of guide rails each comprise a toothed rack having a plurality of axially spaced teeth projecting opposite the guide channel.

8. The child safety seat of claim 1, wherein the carrier plate comprises first and second guide flanges extending axially along opposite sides thereof sliding translationally within the guide channels.

9. The child safety seat of claim 1, wherein the positioning member is pivotally connected to the carrier plate at a lower portion of the positioning member, and wherein the at least one harness belt slot is positioned at an upper portion of the positioning member.

10. The child safety seat of claim 1, further comprising a spring for biasing the positioning member out of engagement with the guide rails to allow translation of the carrier plate relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is not taut.

11. A vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system comprising:

a carrier seat having a front face and a back face, and defining at least one slot through a seatback portion of the carrier seat;

a pair of guide rails extending along the back face of the carrier seat, each guide rail defining a guide channel and a toothed rack having a plurality of axially spaced teeth projecting therefrom;

a carrier plate slidable along the back face of the carrier seat within the guide channels;

a positioning member pivotally coupled to the carrier plate, and having engagement surfaces at opposite sides thereof for engaging the teeth of the guide rails and at least one harness belt slot generally aligned with the at least one slot through the seatback portion of the carrier seat;

a spring for biasing the positioning member out of engagement with the teeth of the guide rails; and

at least one harness belt extending through the at least one harness belt slot of the positioning member, the at least one harness belt configurable between a taut state wherein tension of the harness belt overcomes the spring and brings the engagement surfaces of the positioning member into engagement with the teeth of the guide rails to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seatback, and a non-taut state wherein the engagement surfaces of the positioning member out of engagement with the teeth of the guide rails allowing repositioning of the carrier plate relative to the seatback to adjust the position of the harness belt.

12. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 11, further comprising a headrest mounted to the carrier plate by at least one strut extending through the at least one slot through the seatback portion.

13. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 11, further comprising a harness adjustment strap connected to the at least one harness belt for tightening the at least one harness belt into its taut state.

14. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 11, further comprising a base portion to which the carrier seat releasably mounts.

15. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 11, comprising first and second elongate slots through the seatback portion, extending lengthwise and generally parallel to one another.

16. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 11, wherein the positioning member is pivotally connected to the carrier plate at a lower portion of the positioning member, and wherein the at least one harness belt slot is positioned at an upper portion of the positioning member.

17. A method of adjusting a height of at least one shoulder harness strap of a vehicle safety seat without rethreading the shoulder harness strap through the vehicle safety seat, said method comprising tightening the shoulder harness strap to provide adjustment of the height of the shoulder harness strap while a positioning member is biased out of engagement with a toothed guiderail when the harness strap is not taut, and bringing the positioning member into engagement with the toothed guiderail when the harness strap is taut, and wherein tightening the harness strap pivots the positioning member to overcome a normal bias out of engagement with the toothed guiderail.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising adjusting the height of a headrest along with the shoulder harness strap.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the height of the at least one shoulder harness strap is automatically brought to the shoulder height of a child seated in the vehicle safety seat by tightening the harness strap.

20. A child safety seat comprising:

a seat shell comprising a seat base portion and a seatback portion, and having at least one elongate slot through the seatback portion, the at least one elongate slot defining a lengthwise dimension in an axial direction;

a pair of guide rails extending axially along a back face of the seatback portion, each said guide rail defining a guide channel;

a carrier plate translationally mounted to slide within the guide channels; and

a positioning member pivotally coupled to the carrier plate, the positioning member defining at least one harness belt slot for receiving and providing height adjustment of a harness belt, wherein the guide rails are clamped between the carrier plate and the positioning member.

21. The child safety seat of claim 20, further comprising a headrest mounted to the carrier plate by at least one strut extending through the at least one elongate slot through the seatback portion.

22. The child safety seat of claim 20, further comprising a base portion to which the seat shell releasably mounts.

23. The child safety seat of claim 20, comprising first and second elongate slots through the seatback portion, extending lengthwise and generally parallel to one another.

24. The child safety seat of claim 20, wherein the pair of guide rails each comprise a toothed rack having a plurality of axially spaced teeth projecting opposite the guide channel.

25. The child safety seat of claim 20, wherein the carrier plate comprises first and second guide flanges extending axially along opposite sides thereof sliding translationally within the guide channels.

26. The child safety seat of claim 20, wherein the harness belt extends through the harness belt slot of the positioning member and through the elongate slot through the seatback portion, whereby the harness belt engages the positioning member to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is taut, and whereby translation of the carrier plate relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is not taut provides height adjustment of the harness belt.

27. The child safety seat of claim 26, wherein at least one of the pair of guide rails comprises a plurality of teeth for engagement with the positioning member when the harness belt is taut.

28. The child safety seat of claim 26, further comprising a harness adjustment strap connected to the harness belt for tightening the harness belt to bring the positioning member into engagement with the pair of guide rails to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seat shell.

29. The child safety seat of claim 26, wherein the positioning member is pivotally connected to the carrier plate at a lower portion of the positioning member, and wherein the at least one harness belt slot is positioned at an upper portion of the positioning member.

30. The child safety seat of claim 26, further comprising a spring for biasing the positioning member out of engagement with the guide rails to allow translation of the carrier plate relative to the seat shell when the harness belt is not taut.

31. A vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system comprising:

a carrier seat having a front face and a back face, and defining at least one slot through a seatback portion of the carrier seat;

a pair of guide rails extending along the back face of the carrier seat, each guide rail defining a guide channel and a toothed rack having a plurality of axially spaced teeth projecting therefrom;

a carrier plate slidable along the back face of the carrier seat within the guide channels;

a positioning member pivotally coupled to the carrier plate, and having engagement surfaces at opposite sides thereof for engaging the teeth of the guide rails and at least one harness belt slot generally aligned with the at least one slot through the seatback portion of the carrier seat, wherein the guide rails are clamped between the carrier plate and the positioning member; and

a spring for biasing the positioning member out of engagement with the teeth of the guide rails.

32. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 31, further comprising a headrest mounted to the carrier plate by at least one strut extending through the at least one slot through the seatback portion.

33. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 31, further comprising a base portion to which the carrier seat releasably mounts.

34. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 31, comprising first and second elongate slots through the seatback portion, extending lengthwise and generally parallel to one another.

35. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 31, further comprising at least one harness belt extending through the at least one harness belt slot of the positioning member, the at least one harness belt configurable between a taut state wherein tension of the harness belt overcomes the spring and brings the engagement surfaces of the positioning member into engagement with the teeth of the guide rails to fix the carrier plate in position relative to the seatback, and a non-taut state wherein the engagement surfaces of the positioning member out of engagement with the teeth of the guide rails allowing repositioning of the carrier plate relative to the seatback to adjust the position of the harness belt.

36. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 35, further comprising a harness adjustment strap connected to the at least one harness belt for tightening the at least one harness belt into its taut state.

37. The vehicle safety seat and infant carrier system of claim 35, wherein the positioning member is pivotally connected to the carrier plate at a lower portion of the positioning member, and wherein the at least one harness belt slot is positioned at an upper portion of the positioning member.