Automobile seat for children with visual indicator of harness tightness and corresponding visual indicator

• US 8,272,689 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2009
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. (Dorel Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cosco Management Incorporated (Dorel Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Biaud, Richard M., Renaudin, Francois
• Primary Examiner(s): CRANMER, LAURIE K
• Application Number:
  US12/627,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20100140997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 2972501-25616, 297/464, 297/468, 297/469, 297/483, 297/484
• US Class Current: 297/250.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2812 for securing the child to the child seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4841 for sensing belt tension
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/105 for children adaptation of children's seats for seat belts B60N2/265, B60N2/2803

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an automobile seat for children. The seat includes a safety harness and a system of tightening the safety harness.

Claims

1. A juvenile vehicle seat comprising

a seat portion including a bottom formed to include a first strap opening and a backrest arranged to extend upwardly from the bottom and formed to include a second strap opening,

a safety harness system configured to restrain a seated child seated on an upwardly facing portion of the bottom to lie against a forwardly facing portion of the backrest, the safety harness system including a shoulder belt adapted to embrace the seated child and arranged to extend through the second strap opening and along an oppositely facing rearwardly facing portion of the backrest away from the seated child supported by the forwardly facing portion of the backrest, a tightening strap coupled to the shoulder belt and arranged to extend under and along a downwardly facing portion of the bottom and away from the seated child supported on the upwardly facing portion of the bottom and through the first strap opening to provide a free end extending away from the bottom and the backrest, and a unidirection jammer arranged to lie under the bottom and configured to releasably grip a portion of the tightening strap to place the shoulder belt in tension while the seated child is seated on the bottom and restrained by the safety harness system,

a tension detector configured to provide means for sensing tension in a portion of the tightening strap located between the unidirection jammer and the first strap opening formed in the bottom to indicate whether the shoulder belt is tensioned in compliance with predetermined tensioning criteria when the shoulder belt embraces the seated child during movement of the tightening strap in an outward direction through the first strap opening in response to application of a pulling force by a user to the free end of the tightening strap, and

wherein the tension detector comprises a strap-tension indicator positioned to lie in a location under the bottom and between the unidirection jammer and the first strap opening formed in the bottom and mounted to contact the portion of the tightening strap located between the unidirection jammer and the first strap opening and to move relative to the bottom during movement of the tightening strap in the outward direction and an indicator-viewer window defined by a third opening formed in the bottom and arranged to cause an information surface included in the strap-tension indicator to be visible through the indicator-viewer window to a user applying the pulling force to the free end of the tightening strap while the seated child is seated on the bottom.

2. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the strap-tension indicator includes an axle establishing a pivot axis and a mobile part mounted on the axle for pivotable movement about the pivot axis and the mobile part includes the information surface and a cam separated from the information surface and arranged to engage the portion of the tightening strap located between the unidirection jammer and the first strap opening formed in the bottom and wherein the information surface includes a first zone configured to provide an untensioned signal visible in the indicator-viewer window only when the mobile part is oriented to lie in an inoperative position relative to the bottom and to extend toward the unidirection jammer and a third zone configured to provide a tensioned signal visible in the indicator-viewer window only when the mobile part is oriented to lie in a correct tightness indication position relative to the bottom and arranged to extend away from the unidirection jammer.

3. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 2, wherein the strap-tension indicator further includes spring means for yieldably urging the mobile part to pivot about the pivot axis in a first direction normally to assume the inoperative position when the tension in the portion of the tightening strap located between the unidirection jammer and the first strap opening and arranged to engage the cam is low such that the shoulder belt is not tensioned in compliance with the predetermined tensioning criteria and for allowing the mobile part to pivot about the pivot axis in an opposite second direction to assume the correct tightness indication position when the tension in the portion of the tightening strap located between the unidirection jammer and the second strap opening and arranged to engage the cam is relatively high owing to application of a relatively high pulling force to the free end of the tightening strap such that the shoulder belt is tensioned in compliance with the predetermined tensioning criteria.

4. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 2, wherein the cam includes a convex surface arranged to face away from the pivot axis and to engage an underside of the portion of the tightening strap.

5. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 2, wherein the cam is arranged to lie a first distance from the pivot axis, the information surface is arranged to lie a second distance from the pivot axis, which second distance is greater than the first distance, and the indicator-viewer window is arranged to lie a third distance from the pivot axis, which third distance is greater than each of the first and second distances.

6. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 1, wherein the third opening formed in the bottom to define the indicator-viewer window is located between the backrest and the first opening formed in the bottom.

7. The juvenile vehicle seat of claim 6, wherein the bottom is formed to include a fourth opening arranged to provide means for allowing a user to access the unidirection jammer to release grip exerted by the unidirection jammer on the portion of the tightening strap and wherein the third opening is located between the first and fourth openings.