GB2423244A

GB2423244A - Seat for a motor vehicle that can be converted into a child seat

Info

Publication number: GB2423244A
Application number: GB0503655A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Per-Olof Svensson
Original assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Current assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Priority date: 2005-02-22
Filing date: 2005-02-22
Publication date: 2006-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2025-02-22
Also published as: GB2423244B; GB0503655D0

Abstract

A vehicle seat 1 is disclosed which may be manipulated so as to adopt a configuration in which it provides a child-seat. The vehicle seat has a squab 2 and back-rest 3, the squab being pivotally mounted so as to be moveable to a substantially upright position in which the underside of the squab will form the back-rest for the child safety-seat. A child-seat squab-unit 20 is also provided which is initially mounted beneath the main squab 2 of the seat, and which becomes revealed upon movement of the squab of the seat from its normal position to its raised, substantially upright position. The child-seat squab-unit 20 is removably mounted in position and can be positioned on top of the squab 2 of the vehicle seat, when the squab of the vehicle seat adopts a conventional position, to constitute a booster cushion. Preferably the lower portion of back rest of the vehicle seat is moveable and can be pivoted to rest against the upper portion of the back rest increasing the amount of leg room for the child 6/9. Preferably moveably mounted wings are provided on either side of the child seat 21 (and 28 fig 4) and the child seat squab is vertically (height) adjustable (fig 7-9).

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A SAFETY SEAT" THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a safety seat, and more particularly relates to a safety seat intended for use by a child travelling in a vehicle.

It has been proposed previously to provide a safety seat for a child travelling in a vehicle, with the child safety seat being integrally formed with an adult seat, so that the seat may be used by an adult with the components of the seat in one configuration and so that the seat may be used by a child with the components of the seat in an alternate configuration. Various designs of seat of this general type have been proposed previously, but it is perceived that there is a need for a safety seat which can be used by children of different ages.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved child safety seat.

According to the present invention, there is provided a safety seat, the safety seat being incorporated into a vehicle seat for adult occupation, said vehicle seat having a squab and a back-rest, said squab being pivotally mounted for movement from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially upright position in which the underside of the squab forms the back-rest for a child safety seat, the seat further incorporating a child-seat squab-unit initially mounted beneath the squab of the seat, to be revealed on said pivotal movement of the squab of the seat, the child-seat squab-unit being removably mounted in position and being positionable on the squab of the seat to constitute a booster cushion.

Preferably, at least the lower part of the back-rest of the seat is mounted for pivotal movement, to be folded forwardly and upwardly to lie adjacent the front part of an upper part of the back-rest.

Advantageously, the squab of the seat is provided with laterally positioned wings which extend from the under-part of the squab to constitute lateral protective wings when the squab adopts said substantially upright position and forms the back-rest of a child seat.

Conveniently, the said wings are moveably mounted in position.

Preferably, the child-seat squab-unit is of adjustable height.

Advantageously, the child-seat squab-unit is constituted by an upper padded element and a lower support element, one element having a plurality of projections and the other element having a plurality of recesses to receive the projections in one particular orientation, the arrangement being such that the other element will not receive the projections when rotated 1800.

Conveniently, a linkage is provided to retain the squab of the seat in the substantially upright position, the linkage comprising two pivotally interconnected link elements, one link element being pivotally connected to part of the vehicle, and the other link element having a connection received within a slot formed in part of the squab of the seat and being lockable in position within the slot.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side view with parts shown in phantom of a vehicle seat with the components of the seat positioned so that the seat may be used by an adult, FIGURE 2 is a view corresponding generally to that of Figure 1, but showing some of the components of the seat of Figure 1 oriented to form a seat usable by a child, FIGURE 3 is a view showing the components of the seat in a further orientation in which the seat may be used by a child of greater age, FIGURE 4 is a view of part of the squab of the seat in a first condition, FIGURE 5 is a view of the part of the squab of the seat in a second condition, FIGURE 6 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 showing the part of the squab of the seat illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic side view of the child seat squab unit in a first condition, FIGURE 8 is a view of the child seat squab unit in a second condition, and FIGURE 9 is a top plan view of the child seat squab unit.

Referring initially to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, a vehicle seat 1 is provided with a squab 2, and a back-rest 3, the back-rest carrying a head-rest 4. The seat, as thus far described, may be used by an adult travelling in the vehicle.

Various parts of the seat illustrated in Figure 1 may be repositioned, so that the seat may accommodate a rear-facing child.

The back-rest 3 is divided into an upper part 5 and a lower part 6, the lower part 6 being pivotally connected 7 to the upper part 5 to enable the lower part 6 to be swung upwardly, as indicated by the arrow 8, to an elevated and inverted position as shown in Figure 2. It is to be noted that it is only the central padded part of the back-rest that will effect this movement, as the side frame members (one of which, 9, is shown in Figure 2) support the back-rest 3 for pivotal movement about the pivot axis 10 to enable the inclination of the back-rest to be adjusted.

The major part of the seat squab 2 is pivotally connected to a pivot axis 11 on a pivotal support 12 provided at the front of the squab, to enable the squab 2 to be moved with the pivotal action as indicated by the arrow 13 to a substantially upright position as illustrated in Figure 2. A foldable linkage 14 retains the squab 2 in the substantially upright position. The linkage 14 consists of two link elements 15, 16, the first link element 15 being pivotally connected by a pivot 17 to the structure of the vehicle at a position beneath the initial location of the squab 2 of the seat, and the second link element 16 being connected by a connection 18 to a slot 19 formed in a side part of the squab 2. The connection 18 is initially slideable along the slot 19, but can be locked in position, when the squab 2 is in the substantially vertical position, to secure the arrangement. The two link elements 15, 16 are pivotally interconnected.

Lying beneath the squab 2 of the seat is a child-seat squab-unit 20 which becomes revealed as the main seat squab 2 is moved to the substantially vertical position illustrated in Figure 2. The under-surface of the seat squab 2 is upholstered, so that when the seat squab 2 is in the substantially vertical position of Figure 2, its undersurface forms a back-rest for a child safety seat that incorporates the child-seat squabunit 20.

It is to be observed that the main squab 2 is provided with two wings 21 which are located at the uppermost part of the squab 2 and which extend forwardly when the squab adopts the substantially vertical position of Figure 2, to provide protection for the head of a child sitting on the child seat.

It is to be observed that because the lower-most part 6 of the back- rest 3 has been folded upwardly, there is ample space in the region 22 for the feet and legs of a child occupying the child safety seat defined by the squab- unit 20 and the undersurface of the raised main squab 2.

The child-seat squab-unit 20 is removably mounted in position. The childseat squab-unit 20 may thus be removed from the initial illustrated position, beneath the main squab 2 of the seat, and the remaining components of the seat may then be returned to their initial position, such that the child-seat squab-unit can then be placed on top of the squab 2 of the adult seat to act as a booster cushion, to provide seating for a child having a size that cannot comfortably be accommodated within the child-safety-seat created when the arrangement adopts the configuration shown in Figure 2, but not being sufficiently grown to be restrained safely by a seat-belt intended for adult use and provided in conjunction with the vehicle seat 1.

Turning now to Figures 4 to 6, in a modified embodiment of the invention, the squab 2 of the adult seat, which forms the back-rest of the child safety seat, is provided with moveable wings corresponding to the wings 21 described above, to provide protection for the head of a child occupying the child safety seat.

Figure 4 illustrates a side frame member 23 of the squab 2 of the seat.

The slot 19 described above is visible, and also the pivot axis 11. Two pins 24, 25, project laterally from the frame member 23, and the pins 24, 25 are received within respective slots 26, 27 formed in a wing supporting plate 28.

The plate 28 supports padding to form a projecting wing. In an initial condition, the plate 28 is co-aligned with the frame member 23. However, the plate 28 may be moved forwardly, by sliding the plate 28 relative to the frame member 23, with the pins 24, 25 thus effectively moving along the slots 26, 27, so that the plate 28 projects beyond the side edge of the frame member 23 as shown in Figure 5. The plate 28, and the associated padding, consequently forms a forwardly extending wing which will provide protection for the head of a child occupying the child seat.

As can be seen from Figure 6, when the seat squab 2 is returned to the initial position in which it provides a squab for an adult, the wings will be retracted and the wing support plate 28 will be returned to the initial position, relative to the frame member 23, as shown in Figure 4, as a consequence of the wings engaging the floor pan of the vehicle as the seat squab 2 is returned to the initial substantially horizontal position.

The child-seat squab-unit 20 may be a unit of adjustable height, to enable the child seat as shown in Figure 2 to accommodate children of different ages, and also to enable the seating arrangement of Figure 3, in which the child-seat squab-unit forms a booster cushion, also to accommodate children of different ages.

In a preferred embodiment, therefore, as illustrated in Figures 7 to 9, the child-seat squab-unit 20 is formed from an upper padded squab element 30 and a lower support element 31. The lower support element 31 is provided with a plurality of upwardly extending projections 32, 33, 34 which, as can be seen from Figure 9, are irregularly positioned. The padded element 30 is provided with corresponding recesses 35, 36, 37 and, with the padded element in a first orientation, the padded element may be positioned over the support element 31 with the projections of the support element 31 being received within the corresponding recesses of the padded element 30.

However, by lifting up the padded element 30, and then rotating the support element 31 by 1800, and then replacing the padded element 30, the projections of the support element are no longer co-aligned with the recesses of the padded element, and the padded element is then supported at a greater height than when the projections of the support element were received within the recesses of the padded element.

It is thus to be appreciated that by appropriately locating the support relative to the padded unit, the effective height of the child seat squab can be adjusted when the child seat is in the condition shown in Figure 2, and also the effective height of the booster cushion constituted by the child seat squab unit 20 can be adjusted when the seat is in the condition illustrated in Figure 3.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A safety seat, the safety seat being incorporated into a

vehicle seat for adult occupation, said vehicle seat having a squab and a back-rest, said squab being pivotally mounted for movement from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially upright position in which the underside of the squab forms the back-rest for a child safety seat, the seat further incorporating a child-seat squab-unit initially mounted beneath the squab of the seat, to be revealed on said pivotal movement of the squab of the seat, the child-seat squab-unit being removably mounted in position and being positionable on the squab of the seat to constitute a booster cushion.
2. A safety seat according to Claim I where at least the lower part of the back-rest of the seat is mounted for pivotal movement, to be folded forwardly and upwardly to lie adjacent the front part of an upper part of the back-rest.
3. A seat according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the squab of the seat is provided with laterally positioned wings which extend from the under-part of the squab to constitute lateral protective wings when the squab adopts said substantially upright position and forms the backrest of a child seat.
4. A seat according to Claim 3 wherein the said wings are moveably mounted in position.
5. A seat according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the childseat squab-unit is of adjustable height.
6. A seat according to Claim 5 wherein the child-seat squab-unit is constituted by an upper padded element and a lower support element, one element having a plurality of projections and the other element having a plurality of recesses to receive the projections in one particular orientation, the arrangement being such that the other element will not receive the projections when rotated 1800.
7. A seat according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein a linkage is provided to retain the squab of the seat in the substantially upright position, the linkage comprising two pivotally interconnected link elements, one link element being pivotally connected to part of the vehicle, and the other link element having a connection received within a slot formed in part of the squab of the seat and being lockable in position within the slot.
8. A vehicle seat substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
9. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.