GB2116837A

GB2116837A - Infants seat for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2116837A
Application number: GB08230736A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Einar Kristian Gundersen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-02-26
Filing date: 1982-10-27
Publication date: 1983-10-05
Also published as: GB2116837B

Abstract

A child's or infant's seat is described for mounting in a motor vehicle. A frame (10) is secured to the rear seat of the vehicle and a bucket seat with footrest (36, 54) is pivotally mounted in a sub-frame (26), which may be movable relative to the fixed frame (10). Pivoting of the bucket seat into a generally horizontal position allows for reclining of the infant. The footrest (54) can be inclined to make sitting more comfortable. Motorised control of the sliding and/or tilting or pivoting may be provided. The seat assembly and sub-frame may be removed from the fixed frame and secured in a wheel carriage to form a push-chair or portable pram. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Infants seat for motor vehicles Field of invention This invention is concerned with seats, particularly a seat for an infant for use in a motor vehicle, such as a motor car.

Background to the invention It is known to provide bucket seats and the like for fitting to the rear seat of a motor car, usually by straps attached to the car body below and/or behind the rear seat. Such seats are normally a fixture in the sense that the rake or inclination of the seat cannot be altered. In addition, it has not normally been possible to provide for the removal of the seat after installation.

Objects of the present invention It is one object of the present invention to provide a seat for an infant which will support the child in either a sitting-up position or in a reclined position.

It is another object of the invention to provide for the removal of such a seat from the car.

Summary of the invention According to one aspect of the present invention, an infants seat for use in a motor vehicle comprises: 1. A frame having a rear leg for fitting between the back of the cushion of a rear vehicle seat.

2. A foot at the lower end of the rear leg for fitting below the lower edge of the back of the vehicle seat.

3. A seat frame having a front leg with a rearwardly directed foot for gripping below the front edge of the vehicle seat.

4. At least the angle of inclination of the front leg and thereby its rearward extent being adjustable to allow for different sizes of seat cushion to be accommodated by appropriate adjustment.

5. A bucket seat fitted with the frame at least a portion of which is tiltable about an axis of pivoting at the junction of the seat and the frame.

6. Locking means for locking the seat in any one of a range of differently inclined positions.

7. A leg rest section forming part of the seat and movable so as to form a tray which extends substantially in line with the base of the seat and, 8. A safety harness for securing an infant in the seat, attached to the seat or frame or vehicle seat or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an infant seat for a motor vehicle comprises: 1. A first frame adapted to be secured to a rear vehicle seat.

2. A seat base on which a baby can sit, which seat base is secured to a second frame which itself is securable to the first frame.

3. Side cheeks on opposite sides of the seat base between which a baby will sit.

4. A tiltable back co-operating with the seat base and the side cheeks to form a bucket seat, when the back is tilted generally upwardly.

5. Side wings on opposite sides of the tiltable back to provide lateral support for the baby's head, both when the back is tilted up and when it is inclined down substantially in line with the seat base to form an extension thereof.

6. A foot rest in the form of a tray hinged to the front of the seat base and tiltable generally downwardly substantially parallel to the back to provide a foot and leg rest for a baby in a sitting position and tiltable or to be substantially in line with the seat base so that when the back seat is also tilted substantially in line with the seat base, the three generally aligned sections form, together with the side cheeks, a carrycot-like structure.

Means may be provided for moving the said portion of the seat or seat back into a tilted or horizontal position, such as manually operable means or motor driven (preferably electrical motor driven) means.

Where electric motor means is provided for moving the seat back or seat portion preferably control means is provided to control the operation of the electric motor means. The control means may be located on the frame or may be remote from the seat and frame and connected to the driving motor means by flexible cable means so as to allow the control means to be located, for example, in conjunction with the driving control of the motor vehicle or in association with the front passenger position in the vehicle.

Preferably seat belt means is provided for retaining an infant in the seat.

Preferably the seat belt means is of the socalled inertia or impact operative type.

According to a particularly preferred feature of the invention, the seat may be removable from its supporting frame and may be adapted to be fitted to a push-chair frame having wheels, to provide for transportation of the infant out of the vehicle.

In one embodiment of the invention, the seat is attached to a removable sub-frame, and the sub-frame is securable in a main frame which is attached to the vehicle or at least a rear seat in the vehicle and automatic locking belts are provided between the subframe and the main frame, so that it is only necessary to locate the sub-frame in the correct position within the main frame for the bolts to snap into their home position and lock the sub-frame and seat in position.

Preferably the sub-frame is slidable relative to the main frame.

The invention allows for safe transportation of an infant either in a sleeping mode (with the seat back and foot supporting tray horizontal or generally so) or in a sitting mode (with the back and foot rest tray inclined at approximately 30 to the vertical) or in a reclining mode with the back and foot rest tray inclined at any intermediate angles; and where the seat and/or associated frame is removable and securable to a wheeled frame external to the vehicle, the invention provides a ready push-chair/baby carriage thus obviating the need to carry a collapsing push-chair or the like in the vehicle as well as a safety seat.

Preferably the invention includes a wheeled frame having similar securing means as the main frame secured to the vehicle rear seat so that the removable seat and frame (or subframe) associated therewith can be attached to the wheeled frame to form a push-chair in the same way as it is secured within the main frame in the vehicle.

Preferably the main frame, and, where provided, sub-frame or removable frame is/are formed from aluminium, typically aluminium bar or tube, conventionally square section bar or tube.

The rear leg may be in the form of a frame or may be a metal plate.

Likewise, the front leg may be in the form of a frame or may be a metal plate.

Where motor drive means is provided, the drive to the seat back and/or to the foot rest tray, is preferably through at least one gearbox means or the like. Typically, the latter has a significant reduction ratio.

Where the seat back is driven by a motor drive means, a drive for the front foot rest tray may be independent from the seat back to allow the foot rest to be adjusted independently from the seat back.

Alternatively, the foot rest drive may be derived from the final drive for the seat back.

Conveniently, both the seat back and the foot rest tray include side cheeks so that complete lateral support is provided for an infant whether the seat is in its "upright" mode or is in the form of a "carrycot".

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of an infants seat constructed in accordance with the invention, when fitted onto a rear seat of a motor vehicle, Figure 2 is a front view of the seat shown in Fig. 1, and Figure 3 illustrates how the various moving parts of the seat can be motor driven.

In Fig. 1 a main frame 10 includes a front leg assembly 1 2 and a rear leg assembly 14, each having rearwardly extending feet 1 6 and 1 8 respectively for gripping the underside of the front seat edge 20 and the underside of the back 22 of the rear seat of a motor vehicle (not shown). In this way, laterally separated parallel bearers of which one is designated by reference numeral 24 in Fig. 1 are kept substantially horizontal and provide a platform on which a sub-frame 26 can be secured.The sub-frame is itself similarly comprised of laterally separated parallel bearers, of which one is shown at 28 and four plates are provided of which two are shown at 30 and 32 (the other two being located similarly on the opposite side of the assembly) and spring bolts are provided between the front plates and the sub-frame, one being shown at 34; to hold the sub-frame in place.

Although not shown, slots are provided in the rear plates (of which one is designated 32) which slide on to stop bolts (not shown) on the main frame, block the sub-frame in position.

A bucket seat back 36 having lateral cheeks 38 and 40 (see Fig. 2) is pivotally attached to the main frame 10 by means of an axle 42 (see Fig. 3) and adjusting wheels 44 and 46 (see Fig. 2) are provided at opposite ends of the axle for adjusting the inclination of the seat back 36 relative to a seat portion 48 (see Fig. 2). The latter includes side cheeks 50 and 52 and is fixed on the sub-frame 26.

At the front end of the seat portion 48 is a pivotal tray 54 (shown hinged down at 54 in Fig. 1).

Fig. 3 shows how a rack and pinion (56, 58) can be used to transmit drive to move the seat assembly in a forward and rearward direction (should this be required) relative to the frame 10. Drive is obtained from a motor 60 clamped to a transverse strut 62 which extends between the side members of the frame 26. In this event, the rack 52 forms part of the frame 10.

Motorised pivoting of the chair is conveniently achieved using a cord such as 62 attached to the rear of the seat 36 which after passing around a pulley 64 is taken up on a winding drum (not shown) driven from the motor 60. A spring (not shown) may be used to cause the seat to revert to its upright position or the cord 62 may pass from the winding down to a point on the seat below the axle 42 so that reversing the winding down will reverse the pivoting action.

Claims

1. An infants seat for use in a motor vehicle comprising a frame adapted to be secured in the motor vehicle, a sub-frame removable from the first mentioned frame, a seat attached to the sub-frame and a safety harness for restraining a child within the seat and for restraining the seat within the vehicle.

2. An infants seat as claimed in Claim 1 comprising: (1) A frame having a rear leg for fitting between the back of the cushion of a rear vehicle seat.

(2) A foot at lower end of the rear leg for fitting below the lower edge of the back of the vehicle seat.

(3) The said frame having a front leg with a rearwardly directed foot for gripping below the front edge of the vehicle seat.

(4) At least the angle of inclination of the front leg and thereby its rearward extent being adjustable to allow for different sizes of seat cushion to be accommodated by appropriate adjustment.

(5) A bucket seat fitted within the frame at least a portion of which is tiltable about an axis of pivoting at the junction of the seat and frame.

(6) Locking means for locking the seat in any one of a range of differently inclined positions.

(7) A leg rest section forming part of the seat and movable so as to form a tray which extends substantially in line with the base of the seat, and, (8) A safety harness for securing an infant in the seat, attached to the seat or frame or vehicle seat or any combination thereof.

3. An infants seat for a vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 comprising: (1) A first frame adapted to be secured to a rear vehicle seat, (2) A seat base on which a baby can sit which seat base is secured to a second frame which itself is securable to the first frame, (3) Side cheeks on opposite sides of the seat base between which a baby will sit, (4) A tiltable back co-operating with the seat base and the side cheeks to form a bucket seat when the back is tilted generally upwardly, (5) Side wings on opposite sides of the tiltable back to provide lateral support for the baby's head, both when the back is tilted up and when it is inclined down substantially in line with the seat base, to form an extension thereof, (6) A foot rest in the form of a tray hinged to the front of the seat base and tiltable generally downwardly so as to be substantially parallel to the back to provide a foot and leg rest for a baby in a sitting position and tiltable so as to be substantially in line with the seat base so that when the back rest is also tilted substantially in line with the seat base, the three generally aligned sections form, together with the side cheeks, a carrycot-like structure.

4. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims further comprising means for moving the said portion of the seat or seat back into a tiltable or horizontal position.

5. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim in which the means for moving comprises manually operable means or motor driven (preferably electrical motor driven) means.

6. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim where in the means for moving comprises electric motor means and control means is provided to control the operation of the electric motor means.

7. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim in which the control means is provided for controlling the electric motor.

8. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim in which the control means is mounted on the frame adjacent to the seat.

9. An infants seat as claimed in Claim 18 wherein the control means is remote from the seat and is connect to the motor means by flexible cable.

1 0. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims further comprising seat belt means for retaining an infant in the seat.

11. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim wherein the seat belt means is of the so-called inertia or impact or operative type.

1 2. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the seat is removable from its supporting frame and is adapted to be fitted to a pushchair frame having wheels to provide for transportation of an infant out of the vehicle.

1 3. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim wherein the seat is attached to a removable sub-frame and the sub-frame is securable in the main frame which is attached to the vehicle or at least a rear seat in the vehicle and automatic locking bolts are provided between the sub-frame and the main frame for securing the the frames together.

14. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the sub-frame is slidable relative to the main frame.

1 5. An infants seat as claimed in the preceding claim wherein drive means is provided for sliding the sub-frame relative to the main frame to move the whole of the seat in a generally forward or backward direction.

1 6. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims in combination with a wheeled frame having securing means thereon similar to the main frame secured within the vehicle, so that the removable seat and/or frame associated therewith can be attached to wheeled frame to form a push-chair.

1 7. An infants seat as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the main frame and where provided the sub-frame is/are formed from aluminium, typically aluminium bar or tube.

1 8. An infants seat as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the rear leg is in the form of a frame or in the form of a metal plate.

1 9. An infants seat constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.