AU4458699A

AU4458699A - Adapter for children's car seat hood

Info

Publication number: AU4458699A
Application number: AU44586/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Not Given Name
Original assignee: Britax Teutonia Kinderwagenfabrik GmbH
Current assignee: Britax Teutonia Kinderwagenfabrik GmbH
Priority date: 1998-08-21
Filing date: 1999-08-20
Publication date: 2000-03-09
Also published as: EP0982181A3; DE29814969U1; EP0982181A2

Description

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Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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Name of Applicant: BRITAX TEUTONIA KINDERWAGENFABRIK GMBH Address for Service: MADDERNS, 1st Floor, 64 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: "ADAPTER FOR CHILDREN'S CAR SEAT HOOD" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

l~Tr 111 i--i l( -ITi -ICI_ i ni- l l~ l~ I1C C lli 1 11 1 ADAPTER FOR A CHILD'S CAR SEAT This invention relates to an adapter for a child's child's car seat for optional use of the child's car seat outside a motor vehicle, particularly for use with a pushchair or a buggy.

Baby carriages are usually fitted with a seat or recliner insert which is fixed removably to the chassis.

The seat or recliner insert is separated from the chassis when the chassis is to be folded up and taken along on a car journey, for example. However, the law stipulates that a child must only travel in a car in a suitable child's car seat. At the end of the journey, it is then necessary to *set up the baby carriage chassis and place the seat or S. recliner insert on the chassis. However, the baby carriage 15 chassis takes up relatively little space when folded up, while the seat and recliner insert is quite bulky. However, the law does not allow a child to be taken on a car journey in the seat and recliner insert unless special designs or accessories are used. Accordingly, the child's car seat S 20 and the seat and recliner insert are necessary on a journey. On many occasions, however, when going for a walk ."after the car journey, the child could remain in the child's car seat. However, it would then be necessary to carry the child's car seat, and this would be an unwanted 25 burden.

To avoid having to take the seat and recliner insert along, one solution is to place the child's car seat on the chassis of a baby carriage. However, type-dependent adapters are necessary for this purpose to allow a specific child's car seat to be placed on a particular baby carriage chassis. Since the user chooses both child's car seats and baby carriages according to very specific criteria, it is often not possible to connect a child's car seat to a baby carriage chassis. Provision of this facility would require a large number of different types of adapter.

An object of the invention is to provide an adapter of the type described above in such a way that it can be used for a variety of combinations of baby carriage chassis and child's car seats. This object is achieved by support elements adapter for the child's car seat on the adapter and by securing elements for pressing the child's car seat against the supporting elements.

The adapter is configured in such a way that it can hold a large number of child's car seats. This is made possible, in particular, by the supporting elements, on which the underside of the child's car seat is supported in such a way that it is also secured against tilting. The securing elements press the child's car seat against the supporting elements with a relatively large force and it is thus adequately secured during the use of the baby **"carriage. Suitable baby carriages are, in particular, 15 pushchairs or buggies. Supporting elements can be of various different configurations. However, it is particularly advantageous, however, if, for this purpose, the adapter comprises two side parts and at least two crossbars connecting the latter. The crossbars act in a 0 20 manner similar to a two-point support. It is particularly expedient if the side parts have arc-shaped recesses on the *upper side and if the securing elements are rapid-action fasteners. Additional safety for the child's car seat placed on top is achieved by means of the arc-shaped S 25 configuration. Thanks to the use of rapid-action fasteners as securing elements, the child's car seat can be mounted and removed in a very short time without tools.

The securing elements can be designed in various different ways. However, they must be designed in such a way that they cannot come loose, for example when driving through a pothole or due to the child's movements. The adapter is simple to produce and is equipped in such a way that it can be fixed to the normal locking strips of a baby carriage chassis, allowing the normal baby carriage top section to be mounted on the baby carriage chassis once the adapter has been removed. In the case of a baby carriage chassis for one child, the chassis is fitted with an I SMadapter. In the case of a baby carriage chassis for two children riding side by side or one behind the other, for example, the baby carriage chassis is fitted with a corresponding number of adapters. If the children are riding side by side, two adapters can be arranged adjacent to one another or a combined component can be formed.

The rapid-action fasteners are preferably straps provided with a generally known tension lock. To ensure that the tensioning elements do not remain on the chassis of the baby carriage chassis when the adapter is removed, it is envisaged that they should be fixed to the adapter.

To protect the child, another configuration provides for the adapter to be equipped with holders for a folding hood, a parasol or a wind guard or the like. These 15 holders are preferably arranged on the side parts of the adapter. A hood or the like can be inserted and secured in these holders.

The adapter does not have to be used to hold a child's car seat on a baby carriage chassis but could, for 20 example, also be used to mount the child's car seat on a shopping trolley, the luggage rack of a bicycle, a bicycle trailer or other suitable vehicles. The applications are 2"therefore very numerous.

The invention will be explained in greater detail S 25 with reference to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a side view of one embodiment of a baby carriage chassis for holding an adapter and a child's car seat; Figure 2 shows the adapter in perspective representation in a preferred embodiment and Figure 3 shows the location of the child's car seat by the adapter in a purely diagrammatic form.

Figure 1 shows a pushchair chassis 10 which essentially comprises a folding underframe 11, on which the front wheels 12 and the rear wheels 13 are mounted. The underframe 11 comprises two lateral scissor elements, each of which is formed by two spars. In the embodiment example shown, a U-shaped push bar 14 interconnects the upper ends of one spar of each scissors element. Instead of the Ushaped push bar, the baby carriage chassis 10 could also be fitted with two handles arranged on extended spars of the underframe. Mounted on the underframe 11 of the chassis are two side frames 15 each of which includes a support rail 22 having a pair of slots B extending downwardly from its upper edge and then horizontally.

Figure 2 shows an adapter 16 in accordance with the invention, which essentially comprises two side parts 17 and two crossbars 18, 19. The side parts 17 are of plate-shaped design. On the upper sides, which face away from the axes of the wheels, each side part 17 is provided .with arc-shaped recesses 20, 21 which form a holder for a 15 child's car seat 23. This child's car seat has a U-shaped carrying handle 24, which has a corresponding rounded portion at the lower end. Straps 26 provided with tension locks 25 are fixed to the side parts 17. These straps are tightened around a peg on the child's car seat 24 to secure it in a positive manner. The two crossbars 18, 19.prevent the child's car seat from rotating or tilting since it is supported on them. The outer sides of adaptor 16 are provided with stirrups A which engage in the slots B in the support rails 22. Thus the adapter 16 is fixed to the support rails 22 in a manner which is conventional for fixing a pram body to a chassis.

The adapter 16 is provided with pockets or other holders (not shown) for a folding hood, a parasol or a wind guard. The adapter should be as light as possible. For this reason, the side parts 17 are manufactured, for example, from plastic or a lightweight metal such as aluminium. The straps 26 could also be replaced by other securing elements. However, they should include so-called rapid-action fasteners. One example of such a rapid-action fastener is a spring-loaded hook which is placed over a projection on the child's car seat. It would also be possible for a hook of this kind to be secured by a springloaded locking bar.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment example shown. The essential point is that it should be possible to fix a child's car seat of unspecified design quickly and reliably to the underframe 11 of the baby carriage chassis *o a

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Claims

1. An adapter for permitting use of a child's car seat outside a motor vehicle, comprising support elements for the child's car seat on the adapter and by securing elements for pressing the child's car seat against the supporting elements.

2. An adapter according to claim 1, wherein the adapter comprises two side parts and at least two crossbars, which connect the side parts and form the supporting elements.

3. An adapter according to claim 2, wherein the side parts are provided on the upper side with arc-shaped recesses. *see

4. An adapter according to claim 3, wherein the 15 securing elements are rapid-action fasteners.

5. An adapter according to claim 4, wherein the rapid-action fasteners are straps with tension locks.

6. An adapter according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the securing elements are fixed to the side 20 parts of the adapter.

7. An adapter according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the side parts of the adapter are equipped with holders for a folding hood, parasol, wind guard or the like. 25

8. An adapter according to claim 7, wherein the holders are arranged on the outsides of the side parts of the adapter (16)

9. An adapter according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the side parts of the adaptor have stirrups on their outer sides which engage in slots in the support rails. An adapter for permitting use of a child's car seat outside a motor vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 20th day of August, 1999 BRITAX TEUTONIA KINDERWAGENFABRIK GMBH by its Patent Attorneys MADDERNS