AU664576B2

AU664576B2 - Tether strap assembly

Info

Publication number: AU664576B2
Application number: AU29978/92A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Duke
Original assignee: FOLDAWAY IND Ltd
Current assignee: FOLDAWAY INDUSTRIES Ltd
Priority date: 1991-12-09
Filing date: 1992-12-09
Publication date: 1995-11-23
Anticipated expiration: 2012-12-09
Also published as: AU2997892A

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT

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Applicant(s): FOLDAWAY INDUSTRIES LTD Invention Title: TETHER STRAP ASSEMBLY The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: S .II ,i ii 2 i i i o 00 0 0 1 Title Tether Strap Assembly Field of the Invention 20 This invention relates to a tether strap assembly S, and especially a tether strap assembly for use with vehicle child seats and baby capsules.

Child seats and baby capsules are conventionally 0o44 positioned in a vehicle by attachment to the existing seats of the vehicle. The seat belts of the vehicle are nsually strapped around the child seat frame and a separate tether strap is used to secure the frame to a fixed anchorage point on the frame of the vehicle. Some child seat assemblies are designed to operate both as a baby capsule and a child seat. This duplicity of use entails the use of tether straps of differing lengths. In some vehicles such as station wagons, the anchorage point for a tether strap is at the rear of the vehicle entailing the use of a particularly long tether strap. Thus, it is often the case 3 that more than one tether strap is required to allow the seat to fulfil all its potential uses. It is these problems that have brought about the present invention.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention there is provided a tether strap for use with a vehicle child seat or restraint comprising a length of webbing, one end of which is fixedly attached to an adjustment buckle, the other end is fed through the adjustment buckle to form a loop of variable length that terminates in a free end, the loop of webbing supporting an attachment means that is displaceable along the webbing, and means to secure the free end of the webbing in a roll whereby the free end can be pulled through the adjustment buckle and then formed 15 into a roll to shorten the effective length of the tether.

0 o0 0o0 0 Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only in which: Figure 1 is plan view of a tether strap, Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the strap, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a slightly different tether strap, Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are perspective views showing the tether strap in various uses, Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating one o.0 me of attaching the strap to a seat or capsule, and Figure 9 is a partial view of the strap illustrating two types of attachment means.

°o0°o Detailed Description A tether strap 10 for use, particularly with child seats and restraints is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and comprises a length of webbing 10 formed into a closed loop joined by an adjustment buckle 17. One end 12 of the staff/n/keep'lemp/29978.92.1ST 28 L~n I 4 11 webbing is looped into a fixed end 18 of the adjustment buckle 17, folded back on itself and then stitched in the stitching pattern shown as 15 on Figure 1. '72ie underlayer 19 of webbing is looped through the eye or slot 20 in one end of a snap hook 11. The return 21 of the webbing from the snap hook 11 is stitched to the incoming webbing at 22 to then form a loose loop of variable extension closed by cprirg bar the releasablel c'amp 23 of the adjustment buckle 17. The free end or pull tongue 24 of the webbing terminates in a pair of laterally extending VELCRO (Registered Trade Mark) tabs 25 and 26. A location slide 27 engages the free end 24 of the webbing and incoming webbing adjacent the buckle 17 to hold the layers of webbing together.

A floating snap hook 29 is carried by the tether strap with the webbing extending as a loose fit in the eye or slot 30 of the snap hook 29. Each snap hook 11 or 29 has a hooked end 31 which is closed by a spring lever 32 which can be manually depressed to open and release the snap hook.

S 4 4 4 The major feature of the strap is its adjustability through a variety ot lengths. if the strap is to be fully extended then the adjustment buckle 17 is cap q6ar pulled upwardly to release the e4.op 23 to allow the free end 24 of the strap to be pulled back until the free end 24 is adjacent the adjustment buckle 17. In this manner the strap is in its elongate extended position and adopts the configuration of Figures 1 and 2. When extended, the tether 10 can be used as shown in Figures 4, 6 and 7 to embrace a child restraint when positioned in the reverse situation (rearwardly facing) or for attachment between the rear of a child seat in a station wagon where the anchorage point is to the rear of the vehicle. Where there is a desire to use the tether in a much shorter form such as Sthat shown in Figure 5 where the rear of a child seat A is

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il s secured to a bracket P on the rear parcel shelf of the vehicle, the free end 24 of the strap is pulled through the Sadjustment buckle 17 until the strap is pulled taut. The free end 24 of the strap is then rolled into a cylindrical roll 37 and the laterally extending VELCRO tabs 25 and 26 are wrapped around and secured to the cylindrical roll 37 of spare webbing to neatly secure and locate the end of the webbing.

Although the tether strap described above has a fixed snap hook 11 attached to one end of the strap and secured in that position through stitching 22 with a snap hook mounted in a floating relationship to the tether strap at the other end, it is understood that other forms of seat restraint fasteners may be used with the tether strap. For example, instead of securing the tether strap to a closed ring C that is secured to the rear of a seat D through webbing E such as shown in Figure 4, it is understood that the tether strap can itself carry a ring B as shown in Figure 9. The ring B would then be fixedly secured to the rear of the seat. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate rearward and forwardly facing seats D and A located by the tether strap In Figure 4, the strap is in its elongate extended form whilst in Figure 5, the strap has been shortened. It is also envisaged that the tether strap 10 can be secured to a rearwardly facing seat L by slip-in brackets F that are illustrated in Figure 8. Each bracket F carries a slot G that is slightly wider than the webbing of the strap, the slot has a small cut-out H which allows the strap 10 to be fed into the slot at an angle.

Figure 3 illustrates a different form of tether strap 10 in which the fixed snap hook 11 has been replaced by a fixed location flange 112 with a key shaped aperture 113. The floating snap hook has been replaced a captive ring 111 which would in turn be attached to an additional I- -1r -~i 6 piece of webbing 115 that is secured to the rear of the seat.

Although the tether strap is illustrated supporting child seats, it is understood that the tether strap is equally applicable to the support and restraint of baby capsules.

The tether strap described above has been designed for ease of fitting, versatility of use coupled with a neat and effective configuration regardless of the selected use.

The tether strap of the subject application has the versatility that it can be used as the single strap in a variety of applications and does away with the necessity of purchasing or carrying extension straps or a variety of tether straps of differing lengths.

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Claims

7- The Claims Defining The Invention Are As Follows: i. A tether strap for use with a vehicle child seat or restraint comprising a length of webbing, one end of which is fixedly attached to an adjustment buckle, the other end is fed through the adjustment buckle to form a loop of variable length that terminates in a free end, the loop of webbing supporting an attachment means that is displaceable along the webbing, and means to secure the free end of the webbing in a roll whereby the free end can be pulled through the adjustment buckle to shorten the effective length of the tether and the free end can then be formed into a roll. 2. The tether rtrap according to Claim 1 wherein a second attachment means is fixedly attached to the loop of webbing. 3. The tether strap according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the attachment means comprises a snap hook having a hook portion with a spring loaded release flap. 4. The tether strap according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the free end of the webbing supports hook and eye fasteners whereby the free end can be formed into a roll and the fasteners placed in abutting engagement to hold the roll against the end of the webbing. The tether strap according to Claim 2 wherein stitching is used to secure overlapping lengths of webbing together to hold and fixedly locate the second attachment meeZIS. S6. The tether strap according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the adjustment buckle includes a clamping bar over which the webbing passes whereby when the 4 clamping bar is in one inclination relative to the webbing, movement of the webbing relative to the clamping bar is prevented and when the clamping bar is in another inclination relative to the webbing, the webbing is free to be longitudinally displaced relative to the bar. sltalf/amaeep/29978,92 6,9 L 8 7. The combination of a vehicle child seat or restraint and a tether strap according to claim 1 wherein the webbing is located within spaced slots formed in a part of the seat or restraint, the slots being adapted to accommodate the webbing and restrain the webbing from lateral displacement relative to the seat or restraint.
8. A tether strap substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED this 6th day of September 1995 FOLDAWAY INDUSTRIES LTD. By Its Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK CO Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia 1 1 0 0 o( u 0 t ItW I- stafllama/keep/29978.02 6.9 S Abstract A tether strap for use with a vehicle child seat or restraint comprising a loop of webbing fixedly secured at one position to a first attachment means, the webbing supporting a second attachment means that is displaceable along the length of the webbing, and the webbing being arranged to extend through an adjustment buckle to terminate in a free end, means to secure the free end of the webbing as a roll whereby the free end can be pulled through the adjustment buckle to shorten the effective length of the strap so that the effective length of the tether can be adjusted. ,4ta e 04 e 4 0 0 4 I L I