AU644724B2 - Harness - Google Patents

Description

644 724 1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

0* *9 0 00*0 Name of Applicant: BRITAX--EXCELSIOR LIMITED Actual Inventor: David William BURLEIGH Address for Service: R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES, 345 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: HARNESS The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

HARNESS

This invention relates to a harness arrangement for use in a motor vehicle of the type which includes a pair of lap straps projecting between the seat portion and the backrest portion of a vehicle seat. It is particularly applicable to a harness which also has a pair of shoulder straps, for example, as described in GB-A-1184181.

It has been found that when a harness arrangement of the above type is used by a child, there is a risk that, under accident conditions, the soft cushions of the car seat may allow the buttocks of the child to move downwards o •to a sufficient extent to permit the child to slip forwards under the lap straps. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "submarining". The present invention aims to 15 overcome this problem.

According to the invention, a harness arrangement of the type described above further comprises a rigid or semi-rigid panel arranged to be positioned on a vehicle seat under a user, the panel being secured to the vehicle by straps which project from rear attachment locations on the panel and extend between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the vehicle seat to anchorages on the vehicle, and the lap straps project from front attachment locations on the panel positioned in front of the rear attachment locations.

In one form of the invention, each lap strap extends from its front attachment location on the panel to a corresponding rear attachment location and then between the seat portion and the backrest portion of the .hicle seat so as to serve to secure the panel to the vehicle seat.

In another form of the invention, the anchorage straps are separate from the lap straps.

Three embodiments of the inventions will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a harness arrangement in iccordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view, similar to Figure 1I, of a harness arrangement in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 3 is a perspective view, similar to Figure 1, of a harness arrangement in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, a motor vehicle seat, having a seat portion 10 and a backrest portion 12, is equipped with two lower seat belt anchorages 14 and 16 located below the backrest portion 12 and behind the seat portion 10. The seat is also equipped with two upper 15 anchorages 18 and 20 behind the top edge of the backrest portion 12. A first seat-back restraining strap 22 extends between the lower anchorage 14 and the upper anchorage 18.

A similar seat-back restraining strap 24 extends between the lower anchorage 16 and the upper anchorage 20. A 20 tether strap 26 limits separation of the two seat belt restraining straps 22 and 24 in the vicinity of the upper edge of the seat back 12.

A pair of shoulder straps 28 and 30 are connected by sliders 32 and 34 to the seat back restraining straps 22 25 and 24 respectively. A buckle 36 connects the ciids of the shoulder straps 28 and 30 to each other and to a pair of lap straps 38 and In accordance with the invention, a panel 42 is located on the seat portion 10 of the vehicle seat. The lap strap 38 projects down through a front attachment slot 44 near the front edge of the panel 42, up through a rear attachment slot 46 near the rear edge of the panel 42, and thence to the bottom anchorage 14. The other lap strap projects through similar slots 48 and 50 on the other side of the panel 42 and is connected to the other bottom anchorage 16.

A user of the harness sits on the panel 42 and the buckle 36 is then fastened in the usual way. If, during an accident, the cushion of the seat portion 10 is compressed, the panel 42 moves downwards with the body of the user.

Consequently, the front attachment slts 44 and 48 remain in substantially the same position in relation to the thighs of the user and the effective lengths of the lap straps 38 and 40 does not increase.

Most of the harness arrangement of Figure 2 is the same as that of Figure 1 and corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again in detail. However, the panel 42 is replaced by a panel 60 having front attachment slots 62 and ee •64 and rear attachment slots 66 and 68 the latter being parallel to the side edges of the panel 60 rather than at 15 an acute angle as in FigLre 1. The two lap straps 38 and 40 of Figure 1 are replaced by a single strap 70 which extends down through one of the front attachment slots 62, across the front of the panel and up through the other front attachment slots 64, both ends of the strap 70 being 20 connected to respective parts of the buckle 36. The panel is held in position on the seat portion 10 by a separate r'.'.ancihorage strap 72 which has one end connected to the bottom anchorage 14 and which projects through one of the o rear attachment slots 66, across the back of the panel 25 and down through the other rear attachment slot 70 to the *other rear anchorage 16.

Figure 3 illustrates an alternative arrangement which is readily detachable from the vehicle. The panel 42 is identical with that of Figure 1 and most of the harness arrangement is the same as that of Figure 2 and corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again in detail.

However, the anchorage strap 70 of Figure 2 is replaced by two separate anchorage straps 80 and 82, each of which is attached to a respective bottom anchorage 14, 16 and each of which has a respective hook (such as the hook 84) on its free end for detachable engagement in the rear attachment slots 48, 50. The sliders 32 and 34 (of Figures 1 and 2) on the seat back restraining straps 22 and 24 are replaced by sliders 88 and 90, each of which has a slot 92, 94 for reception of a respective hook 96, 98 on the corresponding shoulder strap 28, o a 4 e a*

Claims (4)

1. A harness arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, the harness arrangement comprising a rigid or semi-rigid panel arranged to be positioned on a vehicle seat under a user, a pair of lap straps secured to front attachment locations on the panel, and a pair of attachment straps secured to rear attachment locations on the panel positioned behind the front attachment locations.

2. A harness arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each lap strap is integral with the corresponding attachment strap.

3. A harness arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the two lap straps are integral with each other and the two anoheaei kstraps are integral with each other. 15

4. A harness arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 9th day of March, 1992 BRITAX-EXCELSIOR LIMITED By its Patent Attorneys R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES Ptf z ABSTRACT HARNESS A harness arrangement, for use in a motor vehicle, comprises a rigid or semi-rigid panel 42 arranged to be positioned on a vehicle seat 10 under a user. A pair of lap straps 70 are secured to front attachment locations 44, 48 on the panel 42. A pair of attachment straps 80, 82 are secured to rear attachment locations 46, 50 on the panel 42 positioned behind the front attachment locations 44, 48. The attachment straps 80, 82 extend between the seat "portion and the backrest portion of the vehicle seat to h Gooe anchorages on the vehicle. (Figure 3). 0 5* 0 9 S S