GB2439521A

GB2439521A - A vehicle seat with integrated child restraint module

Info

Publication number: GB2439521A
Application number: GB0612833A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Rogers
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2006-06-29
Filing date: 2006-06-29
Publication date: 2008-01-02
Also published as: GB0612833D0

Abstract

A child seat module 40 integrated to a vehicle seat is disclosed. The seat has a squab 11 and a support frame (13). The support frame includes a folding mechanism which permits the squab 11 to be pivoted around a forward axis to a substantially upright position. The child module 40 has a fold-down seat cushion 41 which is pivotably connected to the back 5 of the squab 11 and serves as a rearward facing child seat when the cushion is folded to a use position. The seat also has shoulder 43 and waist belts 44. Also the arrangement can have a latch means (20) operated by a release lever (31) for latching the squab in a normal use position and in its upright position. The latch means can include a cam (22) with notches (24, 25).

Description

A vehicle seat with integrated child restraint module The present

invention relates to a vehicle seat with integrated child restraint module.

Child restraint modules integrally mounted in a vehicle seat are already known, see for instance US 5106158. However such modules are only usually suitable for children above six years of age. For infants below six years of age but not longer babies, it is most advisable to sit them in a separate rearward facing child seat. Such a child seat can be placed in the front passenger seat or the back passenger seats. One disadvantage of most of these child seats is that their installation may be complex and therefore many users are unable to properly complete the installation with the result that the child seat is not properly secured.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle seat with integrated child restrain system.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle seat arrangement having a squab and a support frame wherein the support frame has a folding mechanism which permits the squab to be pivoted around a frontal axis to a substantially upright position and an integral child module having a fold-down seat cushion is pivotably connected to the back of the squab and serves as a rearward facing child seat when the cushion is folded to a use position.

Such art arrangement provides an efficient and readily usable child seat which is stored as in integral part of an adult vehicle seat.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle bench seat having a seat arrangement according to the first aspect of the invention.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: -Fig.1 is a schematic view of a vehicle seat in accordance with the present invention showing a backrest and a squab in a normal position; and Fig.2 is a similar view of Fig.1 showing the squab in an upright position and a child cushion in a closed position; Fig.3 is a similar view of Fig.2 showing the child cushion in an open or use position; Fig.4 is a perspective scrap view in to the direction of arrow B in Fig.2 to a larger scale; Fig.5 is a perspective scrap view in to the direction of arrow C in Fig2 to a larger scale showing the child cushion in an intermediate position; and Fig.6 is a scrap sectional view in to the direction of arrow D in Fig.5.

With reference to Figs 1 to 3, there is shown a vehicle seat 10, in this example a front passenger seat, having a seat squab 11 and a seat backrest 12. The squab 11 and the backrest 12 are provided in a conventional way with a squab frame (not shown) and a backrest frame (not shown). The seat 10 also has a seat support frame 13 connected, in use, to a vehicle floor (not shown). The support frame 13, in this example, is mounted, in a conventional manner, on a pair of seat tracks 14 fixed to the vehicle floor in order to allow the seat to slide in the fore-and-aft direction. The support frame 13 has a folding mechanism, which permits the squab to be pivoted around a frontal axis 15 to a substantially upright position (Fig.2).

As illustrated in Fig.2 and Fig.4, the seat support frame 13 has two side arms 16, 17 which are respectively connected to one of the pair of seat tracks 14 by a pair of link members 18, 19. The squab 11 is secured to the forward ends of the arms 16, 17 by means of a pivot 9, so that the squab 11 can pivot about a forward axis 15. The pivot 9 is further provided with latch means 20. The latch means 20 includes two latch cams 21 having substantially the form of a disc provided with a central aperture 23. Each latch cam 21 is pivotally attached to one lateral side of the squab 11 and has its central aperture 23 in axial alignment with the frontal axis 15. Each latch cam 21 includes a first notch 24 and a second notch 25 spaced apart from each other which are formed on the periphery of the disc 21. Each latch cam 21 is provided with a cam follower 26 type finger having an abutment member 27 selectably engageable within one of notches 24, 25. Each cam follower 26 is pivotably arranged on each arm 16, 17 by a pivot axis 30. The cam followers 26 are connected to a release lever 31 by means of a cross bar 32 which has its central axis in axial alignment of the pivot axis 30 of each cam follower 26. The lever 31 is positioned on an external side of one arm 17. The latch cams 22, the cam followers 26, the release lever 31 and the pivot 9 form the folding mechanism as will be described in great detail below.

The back of the squab 11 has an integral child seat module 40. The module 40 includes a fold-down seat cushion 41 which is pivotably connected to the back of the squab 11. The cushion 41 can be folded between a storage position (Fig.2), in which it is folded up to the back of the squab 11 and a use position (Fig.3), in which it serves as a child's seat.

As best seen Fig.3 and Fig.5, the cushion 41 is mounted to a pair of side brackets 42 by means of a pivot 43. Each bracket 42 is secured to the frame of the squab. The module is also provided with a safety belt assembly comprising a twin shoulder belt 43 and a waist belt 44. The waist belt 44 is composed of two portions as can best be seen in Fig. 3.

Each portion of the waist belt 44 is fixed at one end to the corresponding bracket 42 and its other end provided with a suitable fastener means 45 so as to fasten the belt assembly.

Each shoulder belt 43 extends through an opening 46 on the back of the squab and its free end has a loop 47 in which the corresponding waist belt portion 44 is engaged.

As illustrated in Fig.5 and Fig.6, the cushion 41 is held in a child use or open position by a retainer means 47. The retainer means 47 includes a hook 48 pivotably mounted on each side of the cushion 41 by means of a pivot 49. Each hook 48 is arranged in such a way that it can be engaged with a corresponding aperture 50 formed in the back of the squab 11 to retain the hook 48 in the engaging position so that the cushion 41 is retained firmly in its child use position. The hooks 48 are interconnected with each other by a cross link 51 which is easily manoeuvrable by a user in order to unlatch the cushion 41 from its child use position. The pivot 43 of the cushion 41 is also provided with a bias-spring (not shown) adapted to push the cushion 41 towards its storage position.

Operation of the seat with integrated child seat module is as follows.

With the squab 11 in its adult use position as shown In Fig.1, each cam follower 26 is latched to the latch cam 22 maintaining the squab 11 in a fixed position.

The squab 11 may be pivoted to a substantially upright position (Fig. 2) by manually lifting the release lever 31, thereby releasing each abutment member 27 from the notch 24 of the corresponding latch cam 22 and then manually pulling upwardly the rear part of the squab 11 so that the squab 11 can pivot around the front axis 15. While the squab 11 is pivoting, each abutment member 27 slides on the periphery of the latch cam 22 until each abutment member 27 can be engaged into the next notch 25, thereby retaining the squab 11 in its open or upright position. Pulling the cushion 41 downwards thereafter permits the cushion 41 to be pivoted to its child use position. This action allows also the retainer means 47 to engage, i.e. the hooks 48 to their respective aperture 50 and thus retaining the cushion 41 in its open or use position, ready for child use.

The squab 11 can easily be returned to a position ready for an adult use by manoeuvring the cross link 51 to permit the hooks 48 to be pivoted and released from their apertures 50 and then folding the cushion 41 up against the back of the squab 11. The latter position is maintained by the bias-spring. By pulling the release lever 31 upwards and controlling the folding mechanism of the squab 11, each abutment member 27 is released from the notch 25, thereby allowing the squab 11 to be pivoted backwards and locked In the horizontal position by engagement of each abutment member 27 into the following notch 24 of each latch cam 22.

Such an integrated child seat module is easily stored in an adult seat and easily deployed to its child use position. Hence, the integrated child seat module can be stored in a front passenger seat or a rear passenger seat or even in an adult bench seat which includes an individual squab providing with a folding mechanism as described herein.

Although the invention has been described by way of example with reference to a specific embodiment of the invention various modifications may be made without departing from the invention. For example, the latch means to lock the squab could use only one cam latch. Also the retainer means to lock the child cushion could take many diflerent forms, for instance using the same cam latch as described for the squab.

Claims

CLAIMS

1. A vehicle seat arrangement having a squab and a support frame wherein the support frame has a folding mechanism which permits the squab to be pivoted around a frontal axis to a substantially upright position and wherein an integral child module having a fold-down seat cushion is pivotably connected to the back of the squab and serves as a rearward facing child seat when the cushion is folded to a use position.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which the folding mechanism includes a latch means for latching the squab both in a normal use position and in its upright position.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2 in which the latch means is operated by a release lever.

4. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the latch means includes at least a latch cam pivotally attached to the squab and a cam follower pivotably arranged on the support frame, the cam follower being adapted to lock the rotation of the latch cam.

5. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 in which the child module has a retainer means for locking the fold-down seat cushion in its use position.

6. An arrangement as claimed in claim 5 in which the retainer means includes at least a hook pivotably attached on the cushion, each hook being arranged in such a way that it can be engaged with a corresponding aperture formed on the back of the squab so as to retain the cushion in its child use position.

7. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 in which the child module has a twin shoulder belt and a waist belt assembly.

8. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 in which the cushion is pivotably attached to the back of the squab by means of a pivot, the pivot being provided with a bias-spring arranged to push the cushion towards a storage position against the squab.

9. A vehicle bench seat having a vehicle seat arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An arrangement vehicle seat substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.