AU2008100191A4

AU2008100191A4 - Anchor system for a child safety seat

Info

Publication number: AU2008100191A4
Application number: AU2008100191A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Richard Horsfall
Original assignee: INFA PRODUCTS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: INFA PRODUCTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-02-29
Filing date: 2008-02-29
Publication date: 2008-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-29
Also published as: AU2008100191B4; AU2010100364B4; AU2010100364A4

Description

EDITORIAL NOTE 2008100191 The Description Contains 5 Pages 29/02/2008 15:16 61-3-98901337 PATENT ATTORNEY SERV PAGE 03/11 00 o ANCHOR SYSTEM FOR A CHILD SAFETY SEAT Field of the Invention SThe present application relates to an anchor system for a child safety seat. and in Sparticular, to a device for anchoring a tether arrangement of a child safety seat and a O harness arrangement in a combined manner to a common vehicle anchorage point.

Background of the Invention SDue to their size and body shape, infants and young children travelling in vehicles are typically unable to safely use standard vehicle restraint systems, such as o seat belts and the like. For this reason, child safety seats have been developed to assist 00 10 in the safe transport of infants and children.

O Child safety seats come in a variety of styles and sizes depending on the age and/or size of the child to be transported. Capsule-type safety seats are typically employed to transport infants, whilst more conventional forward facing and upright seats are employed to transport toddlers and young children. In most cases, the safety seat is typically mounted to standard vehicle seating using the standard vehicle seat belt and is further anchored to a dedicated anchor point on the vehicle by way of a tether strap, to provide stability to the safety seat.

Restraints/harnesses are typically employed with existing child safety seats to restrain the child in a seated position within the seat. A variety of different types and styles of restraints have been developed for this purpose, ranging from standard threepoint harnesses to five point harnesses. Typically, such restraints/harnesses are anchored to a shell of the safety seat. One problem with such an arrangement is that, in the event of a vehicle accident, the safety seat and/or the restraint/harness can be subject to significant forces. As such, any imperfections in the shell of the safety seat can result in the restraint/harness failing to perform its function, thereby placing the child in danger of injury.

In some instances, particularly in safety seats suitable for larger children, the safety seats may be configured to utilise the existing seat belt system of the vehicle to restrain the child in position. In such instances, the vehicle seat belt may be incorrectly fitted about the child and may fail to restrain the child in the event of an accident.

Another problem with incorrectly fitted seat belts is that under the forces of an accident the seat belt may apply excessive forces against the child. Should these forces be applied to vital organs, damage to such organs is possible.

To address these and other problems dedicated restraint/harness systems that are anchored directly to the vehicle have been developed. Such anchor systems are c:\documents and settings\administrator\local settingt\temporary internet files\content,ie5\5vaDcl2d\hookmemberinnov.doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29 29/02/2008 15:16 61-3-98901337 PATENT ATTORNEY SERV PAGE 04/11 00

O

O designed to fit children of various ages and sizes in a safe and effective manner and are directly anchored to a dedicated anchor point of the vehicle. In such systems two separate anchor points are typically required to anchor both the tether strap for the Ssafety seat and the harness to the vehicle.

A variety of systems have been proposed to achieve this, including providing additional vehicle bolts and fittings to provide multiple attachment points at a single anchor point of the vehicle. A problem with this proposal is that it requires a number ON of additional parts to be bolted to the vehicle, which requires additional time and Sexpertise to assemble and fit the system to the vehicle. Another proposal has been to add additional connection straps to the safety seat tether strap such that the harness can 00 be indirectly anchored to the vehicle anchor point by way of the tether strap. Whilst Sthis proposal enables a. single vehicle anchorage point to be used to secure both the C' safety seat and the harness, the need to have a separate and dedicated connection strap secured to the tether strap reduces the interchangeability between straps of the system.

Further, the strength of the anchor system is greatly reliant on the integrity of the stitching securing the connection strap to the tether strap, and should the stitching or the strap fail, the integrity of the system is compromised.

As such, there is a need to provide for an anchorage system for attaching a tether strap of a safety seat and a harness of a safety seat to a single attachment point of a vehicle which is both relatively easy to use and is relatively safe and secure.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a connector member for anchoring a child safety seat and a child restraint harness to a vehicle, comprising: a body securable to an anchor element of the vehicle, said body having a recess for receiving a tether strap of the child safety seat and a hook member of the child restrain harness, wherein the recess is configured such that the hook member of the child restraint harness is located in position within the recess.

In one embodiment, the recess comprises a notch formed therein for receiving the hook member of the child restraint harness and retaining the hook member in c:\documents and settings\administratorVocal settinggtemporary intemet files\content.le5\svapc2d\hookmemberinnov.doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29 29/02/2008 15:16 61-3-98901337 PATENT ATTORNEY SERV PAGE 05/11 00 o position. The notch may have a shape that is substantially complementary to the shape C' of the hook member. The notch may receive the hook member such that it is substantially constrained from movement within the recess.

SThe hook member may be received within the recess such that it is located O 5 below the tether strap of the child safety seat. The recess may be configured such that there is sufficient clearance therein to facilitate relative movement of the tether strap with respect to the hook member.

The recess may be a slot formed adjacent a rear edge of the body and the notch may be formed in the rear edge of the slot. The body may comprise a hooked end distal o 10 the rear edge thereof. The hooked end may be securable to the anchor element of the vehicle.

00 O According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of CI anchoring a child safety seat and a child restraint harness to a vehicle, comprising: attaching a tether strap of the child safety seat to a connector member such that the tether strap extends through a recess provided in the connector member; attaching a hook member of the child restraint harness to the recess provided in the connector member such that the hook member is located in position within the recess; and anchoring the connector member to an anchor element of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the connector member is the connector member of the first aspect ofthe invention.

Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

Brief Description of the Drawings By way of example only, the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a hook member according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a top view of the hook member of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the hook member of FIGS. I and 2 in use to secure a safety seat and a safety harness to a vehicle anchorage point.

Detailed Description of an Exemplary Embodiment of the Invention c:\dccuments and settingstadministrator\local settingiMtemporary internet files\content ie5\svacl2d\hookmemberinnov.doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29 29/02/2008 15:16 61-3-98901337 PATENT ATTUIRNEY SERV PAGE 06/11 00 0 O Referring to FIG. 1, a connector or hool member 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. The connector or hook member resembles a conventional hook connector of a child safety seat mounting system and Shas an open hooked end 12 for engaging with a recess or slot 6 of a corresponding 5 mounting element, such as a vehicle anchor member 5 (FIG. A resilient closing arm 14 is pivotally mounted to the main body 16 of the hook member 10 to close the open _booked end 12 to secure the hook member 10 to the anchor member The distal end of the hook member 10, namely the end distal to the hooked end S12, has a recess or eye 18 formed therein. The eye 18 is in the form of an elongated 0 10 slot that extends substantially across the distal end of the main body 16. A notch 19 is 00 formed along a distal edge of the eye 18 and is located in a central region of the eye 18.

SThe notch 19 is in the form of a U-shaped cut-out or recess portion, however, it will be Sappreciated that the size and shape of the notch may vary whilst still falling within the spirit of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the breadth X of eye 18 is sufficient to accommodate a tether strap 17 of a child safety seat in the manner as shown in FIG. 3. Similarly, the breadth Z of the notch 19 is sufficient to accommodate a hooked end of a harness hook associated with a harness restraint system 21. It will be appreciated that, instread of a hook member 20, other means for securing the harness system 21 to the eye 18 may also be employed. The combined width Y of the eye 18 and the notch 19 is sufficient to accommodate both the tether strap 17 of the child safety seat and the hooked end of the harness hook 20, such that there is sufficient clearance to facilitate movement of the tether strap 17 independently of the harness hook This arrangement is shown clearly in FIG. 3. The tether strap 17 of the child safety seat is passed through the hook member 10 in the manner as shown. In this arrangement, in the absence of a child support harness, the hook member 10 can be directly attached to the anchor 5 of the vehicle to secure the child safety seat to the vehicle for use, in a conventional manner.

In applications where a child harness restraint system 21 is also to be used, as shown in FIG. 3, the harness hook 20 is attached to the eye 18 of the hook member The harness hook 20 is attached such that it is behind the tether strap 17 and is located within the notch 19. The provision of notch 19 retains the harness hook 20 in position thereby such that it is located in a substantially fixed position within the eye 18 and is thus prevented from sliding along the eye 18 during use.

Following attachment of the tether strap 17 and the harness hook 20 to the hook member 10, the hook member is attached to the anchor 5 of the vehicle to secure the c:\documents and settings\administratortlocal setting4\temporary internet files\content.ie5\svaDcl2d\hookmemberinnov.doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29 29/02/2008 15:16 61-3-98901337 PATENT ATTORNEY SERV PAGE 07/11 child safety seat and the harness 21 thereto. The tether strap 17 and the harness 21 may be adjusted to the desired lengths to remove any slack that may exist, such that the child safety seat and the harness 21 are securely maintained in position.

It will be appreciated that by providing a hook member 10 as described above, the length between the harness hook 20 and the anchor 5 of the vehicle is reduced.

This is particularly important in some vehicles where the anchor 5 is remotely located in the vehicle. Further, the hook member 10 of the present invention can be readily retro-fitted to existing child safety seat tether straps to enable harness restraint systems 21 to be used with existing child safety seat arrangements.

It will also be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

c:\documents and settings\administrator\local setting\temporary internet files\content.ie5\svapcl2d\hookmembernnov.doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29

Claims

1. A connector member for anchoring a child safety seat and a child restraint harness to a vehicle, compri sing; a body securable to an anchor element of the vehicle, said body having a recess for receiving a tether strap of the child safety seat and a hook member of the child restrain harness, wherein the recess is configured such that the hook member of the child restraint harness is located in a substantially fixed position within the recess.

2. A connector member according to claim 1, wherein the recess comprises a notch 00 formed therein for receiving the hook member of the child restraint harness so as to o retain the hook member in a substantially fixed position. 0

3. A connector member according to claim 2, wherein the recess is a slot formed adjacent a rear edge of the body and the notch is formed in a rear edge of the slot.

4. A connector member according to claim 3, wherein the body comprises a hooked end distal the rear edge thereof, and the hooked end is securable to the anchor element of the vehicle A method of anchoring a child safety seat and a child restraint harness to a vehicle, comprising: attaching a tether strap of the child safety seat to a connector member such that the tether strap extends through a recess provided in the connector member; attaching a hook member of the child restraint harness to the recess provided in the connector member such that the hook member is located in a substantially fixed position within the recess; and anchoring the connector member to an anchor element of the vehicle. c:\documents and settings\administrator\local settingfitemporary internet files\content.ie5\svaDcl2d\hookmemberinnov doc COMS ID No: ARCS-181312 Received by IP Australia: Time 16:17 Date 2008-02-29