AU2006200268A1 - Child's car seat assembly with easy recline feature - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Child's car seat assembly with easy recline feature The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 004764177 2 Child's Car Seat Assembly with Easy Recline Feature Field of the invention oo This invention relates generally to a child's car seat assembly, and is concerned c in particular aspects with respective features of a child's car seat assembly in which the 0 5 seat is adjustable between an upright position and one or more reclined positions.

SBackground to the invention The conventional child's car seat, also often referred to as a safety seat, has a base that rests on the vehicle seat and a seat part contoured to snugly accommodate a younger child. The assembly is typically restrained against forward movement by a tether strap that projects over the backrest of the vehicle seat and is fixed to the vehicle at a suitable secure mounting.

Child's car seats have conventionally provided for both an upright seating position and one or more rearwardly inclined seating positions more suitable when the child falls asleep. Adjustment between the two positions traditionally involves manipulations of the seat assembly that usually disturb a sleeping child, and also usually necessitates adjustment of the tether strap to take up the slack caused by rearward tilting of the upper end of the backrest portion of the seat.

One approach to the former of these disadvantages is disclosed in Australian patent 702416. Here, the seat is movably supported on the base by a pair of rotatable links at the rear and, at the front, by engagement of a crossbar in a pair of off-horizontal guide slots. The seat is latched in a selected position by engagement of a tooth of a pivoted latch element with one of several locking apertures of a horizontal rack on the base. The pivoted latch element is lifted by grasping a handle to draw on a pair of pull rods that lift the pivoted latch element. The handle is accessible at the front of the assembly under the seat portion of the seat. This mechanism is affected by an additional feature that the mechanism is also used to reconfigure the seat to a rearwardly facing capsule-style condition of the kind used for transporting small infants.

004764177 3 The conventional need to adjust the tether strap is addressed, in a particular circumstance, by Australian patent 582458. Here, the backrest portion of the seat is O pivoted for reclining at its mid-point, and the tether strap is passed about this mid-point then around a guide fixed to the base to an end mount at the lower end of the backrest oo 5 portion. The geometry of the arrangement dictates that when the backrest portion is N rotated to cause a change in the length of the tether strap between the upper end of the 0 backrest portion and the vehicle anchor point, this length change is balanced by an

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N opposite movement of the lower end of the tether strap. This configuration is of course Sparticular to the selected geometry and is not readily translated to alternative seat adjustment movements.

Reference herein to any specific document is not to be taken as an admission that the document was common general knowledge on the application date of this application.

It is an object of the invention to provide a child's car seat assembly with a seat reclining feature incorporating improved or alternative arrangements relative to prior seat assemblies.

Summary of the invention The present inventors have reviewed various prior arrangements for reclining the seat part of child's car seat assemblies, and realised that the desirable requirement is that a parent or carer seated in a front seat of the vehicle is able to recline a seat of a child who has fallen asleep with minimum disturbance to the child, and without having to stop the vehicle and leave their seat. This requirement suggests a simple mechanism accessible from in front of the child's seat, minimum physical effort, especially where the child is older and heavier, and automatically responsive adjustment of the tether strap.

Different aspects of this invention address each of these desirable features.

In the first aspect of the invention, it has been appreciated that minimal effort is achieved by careful selection of the centre of rotation of the total mass comprising the seat and the child. In the arrangement of Australian patent 702406, the seat is tilted back around a centre located at quite a high position in front of the top edge of the 004764177 O 4 backrest, and this therefore involves substantial forward translation of the mass of the child. Conventional adjustments involving physical re-positioning of the seat also require 0 significant effort in moving the child's mass. In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, it has been realised that the movement of the seat should include a rotational 00oo 5 component about a centre zone which is coincident with or close to the centre of c combined mass of the seat and a child occupying the seat, and/or is in front of the backrest portion and above the seat position.

The invention accordingly provides, in a first aspect, a child's car seat assembly, including: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; and means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; wherein said coupling means is arranged so that said movement includes at least a rotational component about a centre zone substantially coincident with or close to the centre of combined mass of the seat and a child occupying the seat.

In its first aspect, the invention also provides a child's car seat assembly, including: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; and means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; 004764177 wherein said coupling means is arranged so that said movement includes at least a rotational component about a centre zone in front of the backrest O portion and above the seat portion.

oO Typically, the centre zone is in front of the lower half of said backrest portion and c- 5 above the rear half of said seat portion. Said centre zone is preferably above the rearmost one third of the seat portion, as projected normally to the seat portion, and is IND preferably in front of the lowermost 15% of the backrest portion as projected normally to 0 the backrest portion.

The coupling means advantageously comprises, to the rear of the seat, pivotable link means and, to the front of the seat, pin or bar and slot means. The pivotable link means may comprise a pair of links pivotally mounted at a forward position to the base and at a rearward position to the seat, said forward position being generally adjacent the lower end of the backrest portion'and the rear end of the seat portion.

In its second aspect, the invention is concerned with a mechanism for effecting adjustment of the seat inclination. To that end, in its second aspect, the invention provides: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; and means for releasably latching said seat in said respective positions, which latching means comprises a lever means under said seat portion and detent means directly engagable with the lever means in a latch position of the lever means to prevent said movement, said lever means being operable from in front of said seat portion for moving the lever means from 004764177 6

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said latch position to a release position in which said movement may be effected.

In an advantageous arrangement, said detent means comprises a crossbar 0 engagable with respective slotted guides by which the crossbar and slots form part of said coupling means. The bar may be on the base and the slotted guides on the seat or Svice versa.

In one embodiment, the lever means is accessible by hand by having a projecting handle able to be grasped from in front of the seat portion.

In an alternate embodiment, the lever means is a two-part lever comprising a first forward lever that is operable from in front of said seat portion and a second rearward lever that is directly engagable with said detent means, the first and second levers being connected such that operation of the first lever causes said second lever to move from said latch position to a release position in which said movement may be effected.

Advantageously, the first and second levers are connected via a geared connection. In this embodiment the first forward lever is preferably accessible by hand by having a projecting handle able to be grasped from in front of the seat portion.

In another embodiment, the latching means may be releasable remotely by a cable or electrically powered device.

Advantageously, said assembly includes a gas strut configured to assist said movement of the seat from the upright seating position to the reclined seating position and to be reloaded during manual movement of the seat from the reclined seating position to the upright seating position. The gas strut may provide said detent means.

In its third aspect, the invention addresses the requirement for automatic tether strap adjustment. The need for such adjustment can be avoided by rotating the seat about the location at which the tether strap projects rearwardly from the upper end of the backrest portion of the seat, but, for the reasons already discussed, this is not considered ideal. In the preferred movement of the first aspect of the invention, tether strap adjustment becomes necessary.

004764177 7 In its third aspect, the invention provides: 0 a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; Smeans coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; and a tether strap that projects rearwardly from an upper location on the backrest portion for securement to a vehicle anchor component to restrain forward movement of the seat assembly, which tether strap further extends down the backrest portion and under the seat portion, about a guide carried by the seat portion and to a mount fixed with respect to the base, whereby, as the backrest portion of the seat tilts during said movement from the upright seating position to a more reclined seating position, the resultant slack in the tether strap at said upper location is taken up by proportional forward movement of said guide with forward movement of the seat portion, and vice versa.

Preferable, the tether strap has a plurality of runs between said guide and said mount so as to multiply the compensation in said strap relative to said forward movement of the seat.

A preferred embodiment of the invention incorporates two or three of the aspects of the invention. In a particularly convenient arrangement, it is found that the movement of the seat with said coupling means in accordance with the first aspect of the invention can be set so that said forward movement of the guide in the third aspect of the invention is half the slack in the tether strap caused by the movement by the seat, so that each run of the tether strap from the guide acquires half the necessary compensating adjustment of tether strap length.

004764177 S8 Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with c reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: oo Figure 1 is a schematic vertical cross section depicting the principal parts of a

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c 5 child's car seat assembly embodying all three aspects of the invention, shown with the seat in its upright or less inclined seating position;

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SFigure 2 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 but showing the seat in a more reclined seating position; Figure 3 is a schematic vertical cross section depicting an alternate embodiment of the latching mechanism of the seat assembly of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an exploded view corresponding to Figure 3; Figure 5 and 6 are highly diagrammatic views that respectively correspond to Figures 1 and 2 but focus on the tether strap adjustment between the two seating positions; Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of the guide rod for the tether strap; and Figure 8 illustrates reconfiguration of the child's car seat assembly to provide a rearward facing position.

Detailed description of embodiments of the invention The illustrated child's car seat assembly 10 is conventional to the extent that it includes a base 12 (indicated in dashed lines) and, supported on the base, a seat 20 of generally shell structure having a seat portion 22 and a backrest portion 24. In this case, the seat is of a fixed type, ie the seat portion and the backrest portion are not relatively adjustable, and includes side wings 26 to restrain lateral movement by a child occupying the seat.

004764177 S9 In the usual way, the base is arranged to rest on a vehicle seat 8: Figure 1 depicts seat assembly 10 in such a position so that seat 20 is in its upright or less reclined seating position. The assembly further includes a tether strap 30 that projects rearwardly from an upper location on the backrest portion 24, in particular from an upper oo 5 centrally located horizontal slot 32. The strap 30 then passes over the top of the vehicle c seat 8 for securement to an inboard vehicle anchor, to restrain forward movement of the 0 seat assembly in the event of a collision or sudden stop. The tether strap anchor may ID be on the parcel shelf in a sedan or on the floor of a station wagon or similar vehicle.

0 The way in which the tether strap is mounted to seat 20 will be described further hereinafter.

Seat 20 is supported on base 12 by a coupling means 40 that permits movement of the seat 20 between the upright or less reclined seating position illustrated in Figure 1, and a more reclined seating position depicted in Figure 2, in which the frame or shell structure of the backrest portion rests against the backrest of the vehicle seat itself.

In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, this movement of seat includes at least a rotational component about a centre or pivot zone, indicated at substantially coincident with or close to the centre of combined mass of the seat and a child occupying the seat. Centre zone 15 is also located above the seat portion 22 and in front of the backrest portion 24, in this particular case relatively close to their intersection, for example in front of the lower half, typically the lower 15%, of backrest portion 24, and above the rear half, typically the rear third, of seat portion 22. Coupling means 40 consists of two principal components: at the rear, a pair of pivotally mounted links 43, and, at the front, a crossbar 44 slidably engagable in respective slot tracks at each side.

Links 43 are located at the lower end of the backrest portion 24 immediately behind the juncture of the backrest portion and the seat portion 22. The links are pivotally mounted at their front ends to the base at 48, and at the rear ends to the seat at 49. The latter position is about midway between the innermost end of seat portion 22 and the front face of the vehicle seat backrest 9.

004764177 A

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In the form illustrated, crossbar 44 is on the seat 20 and slot tracks 45 are on the base 12. It will be understood that the converse would also be effective.

Crossbar 44 may in some embodiments be used as a pivot connection of the 0 seat assembly latching mechanism as will be described in further detail below with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

It will be seen from inspection of Figures 1 and 2 that, as the seat rotates about 0 centre zone 15 between the upright position and the reclined position, the lower end of the backrest portion descends and the top 23 of the backrest portion 24 rotates rearwardly downwardly onto the top 7 of the vehicle's seat backrest 9, while the front end of seat portion 22 moves forwardly and upwardly as the bar 44 traverses slot tracks Because the centre of the rotation is in the vicinity of the centre of mass of the child in the seat, the effort in manually effecting this rotation, for example by grasping and pulling forward the front of seat portion 22, is not onerous and is thus within the ready capabilities of a person seated in the front seat of the vehicle.

Seat assembly 10 includes a releasable latching mechanism 50 by which the seat 20 might be latched in the upright or fully reclined positions, and also at two intermediate reclined positions. This mechanism 50 comprises a lock lever 52 which extends forwardly from a pivot 54 at its rear end, by which it is secured to the seat Lever 52 is in the broad shape of a flat S and lies under the seat portion 22 midway between the sides of the base, extending forwardly to a handle 56 at its front end which may be grasped by hand by a person in front of the seat. At an intermediate position, the lower edge of lever 52 has a series of downwardly open notches 58 dimensioned to snugly receive a crossbar 59 fixed to base 12. Lever 52 is normally gravitationally biased to engage one of the notches 58 with the crossbar 59, thereby latching the corresponding rotational seat position, but may be readily grasped at handle 56 to raise the lever and release engagement with crossbar 59.

It will of course be appreciated that, in an alternative configuration, crossbars or pins may be provided on lever 52 and complementary teeth or notches on the base, in an alternative configuration.

004764177 S11 Such an alternate preferred configuration is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

Referring to Figure 3, the releasable latching mechanism 60 comprises a lever 61 which Sextends forwardly from a pivot 62 by which it is secured to seat 20. Pivot 62 is located proximate the front end of seat 20. Lever 61 lies under the seat portion 22 midway oo 5 between the sides of the base, extending forwardly to a handle 56 at its front end which c may be grasped by a hand of a person in front of the seat IDExtending rearwardly of pivot 62 is a second lever or latch 64. Latch 64 is 0 pivotally secured to seat 20 at crossbar 44 and is driven by lever 61 via a geared connection 66. Latch 64 is substantially flat (as best seen in Figure 4) and includes at its rear end a downwardly depending lug or engaging member 68 that serves to engage complementary notches 70 provided on or within base 12.

Latching mechanism 60 further includes a return spring 72 preferably formed integrally with lever 61. Return spring 72 acts to bias the lug 68 to engage a notch 70 of the base 12 and assists in ensuring that the latch 64 is not inadvertently disengaged during sudden deceleration. Geared connection 66 enables the manual lifting motion and spring return motion of lever 61 to be transferred to latch 64 to respectively disengage and engage notches It will already have been noted from Figures 1 and 2 that when the backrest portion 24 moves from the upright position of Figure 1 to the rearmost reclined position of Figure 2, the length of tether strap 30 between slot 32 and its vehicle anchor point will have shortened. The tether strap is mounted to the seat and base in a manner which allows this slack to be taken up and the tether strap maintained taut. Tether strap passes through slot 32 down the front face of backrest portion 24, through a second slot 34 and down behind the shell of the back rest portion, around under the rearward end of the seat portion 22. The strap then passes round a loose guide rod 36 with offset end portions 37 (Figure 7) retained in moulded eyes 38. Finally, tether strap 30 passes rearwardly to fixed tether anchor bar 39 built into base 12. It may be recognised that guide rod 36 is at the conventional location for fixing the anchor bar at the inner end of the tether strap.

004764177 D 12 The geometry of the configuration is such that as the seat rotates about centre zone 15 and simultaneously moves forward in slots 35, guide rod 36 is displaced O forwardly with seat portion 22 proportionally to the slack introduced in the tether strap by the rearward movement of slot 32. As tether strap 30 slides about guide rod 36, o0 5 this displacement is taken up by extension of the tether strap and accordingly the slack c introduced in the tether strap 30 by the rearward movement of the upper end of back O rest portion 24 is automatically and substantially fully compensated for.

cIN SIf necessary, in a modification the tether strap does not terminate at anchor bar 39 but passes around bar 39 and returns to a terminal fixing at guide 36. This arrangement introduces two runs of the tether strap between anchor bar 39 and guide 36, so as to multiply the compensation in strap 30 relative to the forward movement of the seat.

As an optional feature, a fluid-power strut such as a gas strut may be introduced to provide a form of powered assistance to the rearward inclining of the seat and/or to substitute for the notch and crossbar latching arrangement. In the latter case, the gas strut would be loaded by movement of the seat from the reclined position to the upright position. On release of the latched strut, gas pressure in the strut would release and tilt the seat back to the reclined position. In this case, latching may be released, as with the illustrated embodiment, by grasping a handle at the front of the seat portion 22.

Alternatively, a remote release, eg via a cable mechanism or by an electrically activated mechanism, may be utilised.

Figure 8 illustrates a further optional desirable feature of the illustrated child's car seat assembly, ie configuration of the assembly so that it may be reversed and reconfigured as a rearwardly facing capsule-style seat for small infants. This is a known facility with other child's car seats and may be offered in the seat assembly of the invention.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features 004764177 S13

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mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

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Claims (20)

1. A child's car seat assembly, including: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; (0 Sa seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; and IND 0 5 means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an N upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; wherein said coupling means is arranged so that said movement includes at least a rotational component about a centre zone substantially coincident with or close to the centre of combined mass of the seat and a child occupying the seat.

2. A child's car seat assembly, including: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; and means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; wherein said coupling means is arranged so that said movement includes at least a rotational component about 'a centre zone in front of the backrest portion and above the seat portion.

3. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the centre zone is in front of the lower half of said backrest portion and above the rear half of said seat portion. 004764177

4. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 3, wherein said centre zone is above the rearmost one third of the seat portion, as projected normally to the seat Sportion. oo

5. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said centre zone is 5 in front of the lowermost 15% of the backrest portion as projected normally to the 0 backrest portion.

6. A child's car seat assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the coupling means comprises, to the rear of the seat, pivotable link means and, to the front of the seat, pin or bar and slot means.

7. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 6, wherein the pivotable link means comprises.a pair of links pivotally mounted at a forward position to the base and at a rearward position to the seat, said forward position being generally adjacent the lower end of the backrest portion and the rear end of the seat portion.

8. A child's car seat assembly, including: a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; and means for releasably latching said seat in said respective positions, which latching means comprises lever means under said seat portion and detent means directly engagable with the lever means in a latch position of the lever means to prevent said movement, said lever means from said latch position to a release position in which said movement may be effected. 004764177 16 O

9. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 8, wherein said detent means comprises a crossbar engagable with respective slotted guides by which the crossbar Oand slots form part of said coupling means. 0

10. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 9, wherein the bar is on the base and the slotted guides on the seat or vice versa.

11. A child's car seat assembly according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the lever means is accessible by hand by having a projecting handle able to be grasped from in front of the seat portion.

12. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 8, wherein the lever means is a two-part lever comprising a first forward lever that is operable from in front of said seat portion and a second rearward lever that is directly engagable with said detent means, the first and second levers being connected such that operation of the first lever causes said second lever to move from said latch position to a release position in which said movement may be effected.

13. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 12, wherein the first and second levers are connected via a geared connection.

14. A child's car seat assembly according claim 12 or 13, wherein the first forward lever is accessible by hand by having a projecting handle able to be grasped from in front of the seat portion.

15. A child's car seat assembly according to any one of claims 8 to 14, wherein the latching means is releasable remotely by a cable or electrically powered device.

16. A child's car seat assembly according to any one of claims 8 to 15, wherein said assembly includes a gas strut configured to assist said movement of the seat from the upright seating position to the reclined seating position and to be reloaded during manual movement of the seat from the reclined seating position to the upright seating position. 004764177 S17

17. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 15, wherein the gas strut provides said detent means.

18. A child's car seat assembly, including: oo 00 I, a base arranged to rest on a vehicle seat; a seat including a seat portion and a backrest portion; means coupling the seat portion to the base for relative movement between an upright or less reclined seating position and at least one more reclined seating position; and a tether strap that projects rearwardly from an upper location on the backrest portion for securement to a vehicle anchor component to restrain forward movement of the seat assembly, which tether strap further extends down the backrest portion and under the seat portion, about a guide carried by the seat portion and to a mount fixed with respect to the base, whereby, as the backrest portion of the seat tilts during said movement from the upright seating position to a more reclined seating position, the resultant slack in the tether strap at said upper location is taken up by proportional forward movement of said guide with forward movement of the seat portion, and vice versa.

19. A child's car seat assembly according to claim 17, wherein the tether strap has a plurality of runs between said guide and said mount so as to multiply the compensation in said strap relative to said forward movement of the seat. Dated:

20 January 2006 Freehills Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: IGC (Australia) Pty Ltd