GB2411582A

GB2411582A - Seat tidy flexible bag attachment for a child's car seat

Info

Publication number: GB2411582A
Application number: GB0404676A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Colin White; Michael Curtis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-03-02
Filing date: 2004-03-02
Publication date: 2005-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 2024-03-02
Also published as: GB2411582B; GB0404676D0

Abstract

The application describes a bag attachment particularly designed for use with children's car seats. A flexible bag portion 2 is attached to the two rear supports of a child's car seat by ties 14. The bag portion may be made from fabric supported on a collapsible frame of springy metal hoops. A flexible lower wall 12 of the bag lies on the lap of the child sitting in the chair. An upstanding end wall 8 and side walls 7 act to catch or retain objects such as toys which the child is using.

Description

241 1 582

TIDY

The present invention relates generally to tidies and more particularly to car seat tidies.

Increasingly, modern cars have storage space for bottles, maps, mobile phones, etc. typically provided by pockets or compartments moulded into the interior panels of the doors or dashboard.

However, such storage spaces are often unsuitable for large or bulky objects because they are normally formed from rigid plastic. The fixed dimensions of the storage spaces also limits their utility for storing childrens' toys and comforters which may have an irregular shape.

There is often less storage provided for back seat passengers because, unlike front seat passengers, the dashboard cannot be used to provide storage space in front of the passengers and the back support of the front seats is unsuitable for providing moulded storage spaces.

One way of addressing this problem of lack of accessible storage space for rear seat passengers has been to provide car seat tidies that attach to the rear of the back support of the front seats to provide several flexible pockets within reach of the back seat passengers.

These car seat tidies typically take the form of a backing sheet onto which are fixed a plurality of pockets. The backing sheet and pockets are usually made from the same material, for example a flexible synthetic fabric that allows the pockets to be opened and closed to accommodate objects of various sizes. Typically the pockets can be held closed by a velcro closure or press studs, or by providing the pocket with an elasticated opening.

These car seat tidies are held against the front seats by straps that extend around the front of the back support of the front seats. This has the disadvantage that the front seat passenger, when sitting normally, rests against the straps and this may be uncomfortable.

In addition to these drawbacks, the present inventors have found that existing car seat tidies do not address the problem of accessible storage for occupants of child car seats. Young children and babies in child car seats may have difficulty in reaching the pockets in a car tidy attached to the back support of the seat in front of them. Furthermore, when a child stretches to reach the pockets there is a risk that they will drop whatever it is they are holding, or dislodge an object from the pockets, causing it to fall into the footwell.

Since the child will be securely strapped into their child seat it will not be possible for them to recover the fallen object and this is annoying and upsetting for the child and consequently other occupants of the car.

The present invention seeks to address the drawbacks associated with existing seat tidies and in particular the problems described above with respect to occupants of child car seats.

At its most general, the present invention proposes that a seat tidy is attached to the front of a seat occupied by the person using the seat tidy. Furthermore, the present invention proposes that such a seat tidy is attachable at the base of a seat, so that the opening of the seat tidy is within easy reach of the occupant of the seat and that the seat tidy should provide a receptacle in the form of a pouch, sack, bag or other container at the front end of a seat base.

The present invention provides a seat tidy for a seat having a base and a back support extending from a rear portion of the base, the seat tidy being for attachment to a forward portion of the base, the seat tidy including a bag portion having an end wall to prevent objects falling to the floor, side walls connected to said end wall for abutting side portions of the seat base, wherein said end wall and side walls define an opening that faces the back support when attached to the seat; and attachment means for attaching the seat tidy to the seat.

It is preferred that the seat tidy is a car seat tidy, more preferably a child car seat tidy. The present invention will be discussed with respect to preferred embodiments in which the seat tidy is for use with a child car seat, but the preferred features and advantages of the invention also apply to seat tidies for other types of seats.

By providing a seat tidy that can be attached to the base of the seat, there is no need for the seat occupant to stretch or reach to a storage pocket attached to a seat in front of them, or in a door panel to the side of them.

Since the seat tidy of the present invention may be attached to the base of the seat the risk of objects falling to the floor when moving the objects into and out of the seat tidy is decreased considerably.

The bag portion may have a fixed structure, in the sense that the relative positions of the end and side walls are fixed, in which case the bag portion can simply be attached to the base as is. Alternatively, the bag portion may be collapsible, for example the side walls fold flat against the end wall, such that it needs to be unfolded or erected before it is attached to the seat.

Preferably, the bag portion is collapsible.

Most child car seats have a sculpted or contoured base so that the child can be accommodated more comfortably. In particular, lateral supports are often incorporated in to the base to reduce lateral movement of the child and to provide some protection against side impacts. The present inventors have noted that the presence of these lateral supports together with the fact that the front end of the seat base is usually open means that a child's toys or other belongings tend to fall to the floor from the front end of the seat. The seat tidy described herein includes a bag portion that can be attached to the base of a child car seat so that the open front end of the child car seat is blocked off.

Thus, when the seat tidy is used with a child car seat, the seat tidy provides an advantage in that toys and comforts that are inevitably kicked or pushed front the front end of the car seat are retained in the seat tidy and prevented from falling to the floor. In other words, the seat tidy can act as an end stop for the seat, as well as a storage space. This advantage may also be achieved when the seat tidy is used with a normal free standing chair, in particular a chair with side arms.

Furthermore, the bag portion of the seat tidy provides an extended area in which the child can play with their toys.

Preferably, the end wall extends between respective lower edges of the side walls so as to provide a lower wall. Alternatively, a separate lower wall may be provided between the side walls. The lower wall preferably lies on the child's lap during use so that toys and the like are prevented from falling past the child's legs, effectively "sealing" the bag portion.

Suitably, this arrangement advantageously provides a raised surface, rather like a tray, in the lap of the child.

The lower wall is preferably made from a flexible fabric so that it can adapt to the shape of the child's legs and provide a good seal to prevent toys falling from the seat tidy. For ease of manufacture, the lower wall is preferably made from the same material as the rest of the bag portion, described below.

It should be understood that references to different walls are to explain their positions and functions and do not imply that these are necessarily discrete pieces; they may or may not be continuous with one another.

When the seat tidy is attached to the seat, the bag portion provides a receptacle whose opening, or mouth, allows the seat occupant easy access to the interior of the receptacle. Preferably, the mouth of the receptacle is self-supporting in the sense that access to the inside of the receptacle is possible without the need to manually expand the opening. Nevertheless, adjustment of the mouth may be possible in some embodiments, for example to accommodate different sized objects, in particular larger objects.

This is a further advantage over conventional seat tidies which have elasticated pockets that need to be opened by hand before an object is inserted into the pocket.

The self supporting mouth of the bag portion permits the seat tidy to act as a receptacle for toys, comforters and the like at all times, without the need for the child, or supervising adult, to adjust it.

The seat tidy preferably acts as an extension to the seat itself, enclosing the space immediately beyond the front end of the base of the child car seat. This provides a greater area for the child to play in.

Preferably the bag portion includes two side walls which, in use, are located against respective sides of the base of the child car seat to help locate the seat tidy at the front portion of the base.

Where the child car seat base has lateral supports the side walls are suitably placed against the lateral supports to locate the bag portion on the seat base and to provide support to the bag portion. The dimensions of the side walls may be selected to correspond to any particular child car seat but it is preferred that the side walls have a height of about 10 cm to 30 cm so that good overlap with the lateral supports is achieved.

Preferably, the side walls have a length of about 20 cm to 60 cm, again to ensure good overlap with the base of the seat but also to provide an area towards the rear portion of the seat that is bounded by the side walls so as to prevent toys falling from the side of the seat.

Indeed, the present inventors have found that side walls of these dimensions are particularly desirable because they can extend above the lateral supports during use so as to provide a barrier to prevent objects accidentally being knocked from the side of the seat by the child.

The side walls may project beyond (behind) the lower wall, for example by about 10 cm to 50 cm. Additionally or alternatively, the lower wall may only extend between the side walls along less than about half, preferably about one quarter, of the length of the side walls.

The bag portion is preferably constructed from sheets or layers of fabric. The fabric may be a continuous cloth, netting or mesh. The fabric may be made from natural fibres, synthetic materials or both.

Preferably, synthetic materials are used. Examples of preferred fabric are polyester, nylon and viscose.

In preferred embodiments, the fabric may have printed on it patterns and pictures, for example cartoons and other designs that would appeal to children.

At least a part of the bag portion may be made from a plastics material. For example, the bag portion may be made from a moulded plastics material. Suitable plastics include polystyrene, polypropylene and polyurethane, and mixtures thereof.

In embodiments, the plastics material may be reinforced with glass fibres.

Bag portions made from plastics material and in particular glass fibre reinforced plastic material, may have a fixed structure as described above.

Where the bag portion is made from fabric or cloth, it is preferred that the bag portion includes one or more reinforcing members in order to impart stiffness to the receptacle. Examples of reinforcing members include struts, ribs, tubes and rods. A plurality of reinforcing members may form a frame, for example a wire-type frame.

A self supporting bag portion mouth is preferably achieved by incorporating two or more reinforcing members in the bag portion. For example, reinforcing members such as wires, tubes, ribs, strips or ribbons may be used to provide stiffness to the mouth. The cross section of the reinforcing members may be circular, rectangular, square or any other shape that imparts the desired stiffness to the reinforcing member. Alternatively or additionally the bag portion may include a reinforcing member formed from a length of coiled wire to provide a sprung tube-like member.

The reinforcing members are preferably made from metal, for example a steel or stainless steel, but may also be made from a plastics material, preferably an elastomeric plastics material. Suitably, the shape and material of the reinforcing members is such that the members can be elastically deformed to provide a receptacle having resilient end and side walls. In preferred embodiments, the bag portion includes at least one sprung metal hoop. Preferred shapes include circular, oval or elliptical hoops. Preferably, at least part of a sprung metal hoop defines at least part of the bag portion mouth.

As well as advantageously supporting the bag portion mouth, the bag portion preferably includes reinforcing members that provide stiffness to the rest of the bag portion so that the shape of the bag portion is maintained during use. This is useful because it makes the retrieval of toys and the like from the bottom of the bag portion easier for the child and also enables the child to see to the bottom of the bag portion.

A network of reinforcing members may be joined together to form a frame, but preferably for ease of storage the bag portion includes two or more discrete reinforcing members, preferably circular, oval or elliptical hoops. These discrete frame members are preferably held together by the fabric of the bag portion. Typically, the frame members are incorporated into the fabric by sewing or gluing them directly to the fabric or, for example, threading the hoops through pockets sewn into the fabric.

The reinforcing members may be located at respective sides of the bag portion to provide stiffness to the sides of the bag portion in use. Indeed, it is preferred that the bag portion includes two side walls which each include a reinforcing member. Preferably, a reinforcing member is located in the end wall of the bag portion, to provide stiffness and keep the sides spaced apart.

Preferably, the reinforcing members act together to provide sufficient stiffness to the mouth of the bag portion so that it is self-supporting, as discussed above.

A seat tidy including discrete reinforcing members, and in particular a plurality of hoops connected together by the fabric of the bag portion, may advantageously be collapsible or foldable so that it can be stowed easily.

Preferably the bag portion includes three hoops, one located in the end wall of the bag portion and one in each side wall of the bag portion. This arrangement is advantageous because not only do the hoops maintain the bag portion in an open configuration during use, they also allow the seat tidy to be folded for storage.

Suitably, this is achieved by folding one hoop on top of another. Furthermore, the hoops are preferably made from a sprung metal or plastics material so that each hoop can be twisted upon itself to form a smaller hoop. This twisting may be repeated to form an even smaller hoop for easy storage.

Where the hoops are metal hoops it is preferred that they are anodised or coated. Suitably, the hoops are made from flat or round wire, the two ends of the wire being joined by a metal, nylon or plastic crimp.

The size and internal volume of the bag portion may vary between seat tidies because the dimensions of the bag portion may be chosen so that any one seat tidy can be attached to a particular seat. Preferably the seat tidy is for use with a child car seat and so the bag portion typically has a mouth with a width of about 30cm to 60cm and a height of about lOcm to 30cm so that the opening extends across substantially the whole of the front part of the child car seat.

The seat tidy includes attachment means for securing the seat tidy to the seat so that the bag portion can be located at the forward end of the seat base.

The attachment means can include an known means of (Ya.T.MJ attachment including one or more of velaroV press studs, buckles, clips, hooks and eyes, ties, poppers, etc. The attachment means may enable the seat tidy to be connected directly to the seat, either to the base or back support or both. Alternatively or additionally the seat tidy may be secured indirectly to the seat by straps, belts, ties, etc. wherein the straps, belts, ties etc. may be connected together or to the seat by velcro, press studs, clips, hooks and eyes, poppers, etc. Preferably the attachment means are adjustable, so that the seat tidy can be used with seats of different shapes and sizes. In a preferred arrangement, the attachment means include two straps, extending from respective sides of the bag portion. The straps preferably include a clip fastener so that the straps can be passed around the back of the seat back support and clipped together.

Another aspect relates to methods of making a seat tidy described herein.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a child car seat tidy, being a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the child's car seat tidy of Fig. 1; Eig. 3 shows the child's car seat tidy of Fig. 1 applied to a child car seat; Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the car seat tidy and child car seat of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a side wall of a child car seat tidy, being a second embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 6 shows a plan view of the child seat tidy of Fig. 1 in a part folded configuration.

Child car seat tidy 1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a bag portion 2 which when attached to a child car seat provides a receptacle for a child's toys, comforts and other belongings. The bag portion 2 has side walls 4 each including a sprung metal hoop 6 sewn into fabric 7. The side walls 4 are connected to end wall 8, also made from a sprung metal hoop incorporated into a sheet of fabric, by panels 10, made from the same fabric as the side walls 4 and end wall 8. Indeed, in preferred embodiments, a single piece of fabric is used to form side walls 4, panels 10 and end wall 8.

The bag portion includes a lower wall 12, made from the same material as the side walls 9, end wall 8 and panels 10. In use, the lower wall 12 rests on the child's lap, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In use, the upper edge of end wall 8, panels lO and side walls 4 together with the lower wall 12 define the opening of the bag portion 2. The opening is self supporting because of the sprung metal hoops in the side walls 4 and end wall 8 which keep the bag portion open.

This makes it easy for a child to gain access to the interior of the bag portion 2 and also enables the child to see to the bottom of the bag portion 2. The seat tidy 1 also includes two straps 14, one extending from each side wall 4.

The straps 14 terminate in a clip comprising male 6 and female 18 parts on respective straps. In preferred embodiments the effective length of the straps, i.e. the distance between the bag portion 2 and the clip parts 16,18 may be varied.

In use, the straps 14 are passed behind the back support of a child's car seat and clipped together, to hold the bag portion 2 against the front portion of the seat base.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the child's car seat tidy described above attached to a child's car seat 50. The child's car seat 50 has a base 52 including lateral supports 53 and a back support 54. In use, the seat tidy 1 is attached to car seat 50 by straps 14 which extend behind the back support 54, where they are connected together, or to the seat, as discussed above.

The bag portion 2 is located at the front end of the base 52 such that lower panel 12 extends above the child's legs during use to block off the whole of the front end of the seat base and keep toys within easy reach of the child. Side walls 4 are held against the outer sides of lateral supports 53 and extend back along a substantial part of the length at the lateral supports.

The end wall 8 is preferably held slightly above the plane of the base 50 so that the bag portion 2 slopes upwards from the base 50 to the end wall 8.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, the side wall 30 is made from a sprung metal hoop 32 and netting 34. Side wall 30 is attached to end wall 36 via panel 38 which is made from a continuous fabric having cartoons printed thereon.

Netting material 34 is very robust and enables the contents of bag portion 2 to be seen from the outside.

preferably the netting material is elasticated so that the bag portion can accommodate larger toys and the like.

Fig. 6 shows the embodiment described above with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 in a partly folded configuration. Looking from above, it can be seen that flexible panels 10 and lower panel 12 allows side walls 4A, 4B to be folded flat against end wall 8, for easy storage.

These preferred embodiments have been described by way of example and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alterations can be made that are still within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A seat tidy comprising a bag portion with a mouth and

attachment means for securing the bag portion in relation to a seat at the front of a sitting area of the seat, with the mouth thereof directed upwardly and rearwardly, the bag portion having a lower wall, and upstanding end wall and side walls providing a receptacle to catch or hold objects for a person sitting on the seat.
2. A seat tidy according to claim 1 in which the lower .

wall and attachment means are dimensioned so that the .

lower wall extends back onto the sitting area to overlie...

the legs of a person sitting on the seat. A
3. A seat tidy according to claim 2 in which the lower..

wall is of flexible fabric.
4. A seat tidy according to any one of the preceding claims in which the mouth of the bag portion is self supporting in an open position.
5. A seat tidy according to any one of the preceding claims in which attachment means extend from rear extremities of the respective side walls.
6. A seat tidy according to claim 5 in which the attachment means comprise one or more flexible ties or straps.
7. A seat tidy according to any one of the preceding claims in which the bag portion is made of flexible fabric material supported on a frame.
8. A seat tidy according to claim 6 in which the frame is collapsible.
9. A seat tidy according to claim 7 or 8 in which the .

frame comprises one or more resiliently deformable hoop .

elements. ...
10. An auxiliary car seat for a child, comprising or in....

conjunction with a seat tidy according to any one of..

claims 1 to 9.
11. A seat tidy substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.