GB2475687A

GB2475687A - A seat belt attachment for the neck of an occupant

Info

Publication number: GB2475687A
Application number: GB0920624A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julia Rosemary Newton
Original assignee: REPLITOY Ltd
Current assignee: REPLITOY Ltd
Priority date: 2009-11-25
Filing date: 2009-11-25
Publication date: 2011-06-01
Also published as: GB0920624D0; WO2011064548A1

Abstract

The invention comprises a safety attachment for the seat belt of a vehicle, designed to make the wearing of a seat belt more comfortable for a child and more resistant to the child wriggling partially out of the seat belt in use. The seat belt has a lap portion or span and a shoulder diagonal portion or span 4. The attachment comprises a collar member 1 with a neck portion (1a, figure 1) passing behind the neck of a child user and two side portions (1b) passing to the sides of the neck and lying over the user's shoulders. The seat belt shoulder diagonal span passes through a tubular sleeve member (2) on the underside of one of the side portions to prevent the child from passing the seat belt under its armpit in use. The tubular sleeve member may be provided with a releasable fastening, and the collar may be formed from cushioned fabric material stuffed with a resilient foam The collar member may form part of a jacket or waistcoat.

Description

TITLE

Seat Belt Attachment

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to seat belt attachments to improve the safety and comfort of motor vehicle seat belts particularly when used to restrain children.

Backciround Art Current legislation requires all passengers in a motor vehicle to wear seat belts when the vehicle is in motion on public roads. Young children, aged 4 to 7, must have booster seats to raise them to a more appropriate seat belt height and position. The most common seat belts are inertia reel seat belts which extend from two vertically spaced support points on one side of a passenger to one anchorage on the other side, passing across the passenger's lap, and diagonally over one shoulder. The portion of the seat belt designed to pass over the wearer's lap will be referred to herein as the lap span, and the portion designed to pass diagonally over the shoulder and across the wearer's chest will be referred to herein as the diagonal shoulder span.

It can be difficult to persuade young children to wear such seat belts at all times while the vehicle is in motion. The belt may chafe the neck or cheek of a small child, and it is easy for the child to seek better comfort by slipping an arm under the diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt so that it passes under the armpit. In that position the belt provides a very seriously reduced protection in the event of a rapid braking or a vehicle collision.

The Invention The invention provides a seat belt attachment comprising a collar member designed to pass over the shoulders and behind the neck of a wearer, and a tubular sleeve member on one side of the collar member designed to fasten loosely around a diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt, to be freely slidable along that diagonal shoulder span.

A vehicle seat belt can pass over the left or the right shoulder of a vehicle occupant, depending on whether the occupant is seated on the left or right hand side of the vehicle. The attachment of the invention can thus be made left-or right-handed, with the tubular sleeve member on the left hand side or the right hand side respectively of the collar member. Alternatively it may be provided with identical tubular sleeve members one on each side of the collar member, so that in use one is used and the other is redundant, depending on the vehicle seat with which it is to be used.

The (or each) tubular sleeve member is preferably provided with a rapid releasable fastening means such as two cooperating strips of a hook-and-pile fastener. In use the fastening is opened, the tubular sleeve member passed loosely around the appropriate diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt, and the fastener elements engaged with each other to achieve the loose fastening of the tubular sleeve member around that diagonal shoulder span. Preferably the tubular sleeve member(s) is(are) provided on the underside of the collar member so that in use the diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt passes beneath the collar member before passing across the chest of a wearer. This has a double advantage. It is more comfortable than having the tubular sleeve member on top of the collar member because the collar member, which is preferably made of a cushioned fabric material, prevents the diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt from contacting and chafing the wearer's neck or cheek. It is also more difficult for the wearer to access and unfasten the tubular sleeve member, which means that it is less likely that an active child will be able to unfasten the attachment in order to slip its arm over the diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt. For a parent leaning towards the seated child, whether from a position outside of the vehicle and leaning through an open door or from a position in a front seat of the vehicle and leaning back, it is however just as easy to fasten or unfasten the tubular sleeve member whether it is above or below the collar member.

Advantageously the collar member may be a padded neck support yoke which provides the user with some support to restrict the head from rolling from side to side if perhaps the user should fall asleep. It may be stuffed with a cushioning material such as a resilient foam to impart a degree of rigidity sufficient to provide the appropriate degree of support while maintaining a soft and comfortable feel'. If desired, it may be provided with a releasable fastening at the front, so that after passing behind the neck and over the shoulders of a wearer its shoulder portions may be fastened together across the wearer's chest. That front fastening may be a button, press stud or hook-and-pile fastening. Indeed the attachment may be made as a complete jacket or waistcoat, with the collar member (padded or unpadded) an integral part of the garment.

Drawincis Figure 1 is a back view of an attachment according to the invention in the form of a cushioned neck support; Figure 2 is a view of a child strapped into a vehicle seat and wearing a seat belt incorporating the attachment of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 but of a child strapped into a seat on the other side of the vehicle.

The attachment illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 comprises a collar member in the form of a yoke-shaped neck support cushion I of the general shape adopted for travel cushions. It consists of a back-of-neck support portion la and two shoulder portions lb. The back-of-neck support portion la in use passes behind the neck of a wearer as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the shoulder portions lb pass to the sides of the neck and lie on the user's shoulders. On the underside of each shoulder portion lb is a tubular sleeve member 2. Each can be opened up as shown at the right-hand side of Figure 1 or closed into a flat tube as shown at the left-hand side of the Figure. The fastening is preferably a rapid release fastening such as a hook-and-pile fastening. One popular form of hook-and-pile fastening is that sold under the Registered Trade Mark VELCRO. Alternative fastenings include buttons, buckles and a type of widely used clip in which the sides of the male component are squeezed to release it from the female component.

It is preferable for the separation of the component parts of the fastening to be achieved by a pushing action in a direction away from the neck of the wearer, in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1, rather than by a pulling action towards the neck. That makes unfastening more difficult for a child wearing the collar member, but no more difficult for an adult facing the child. When the sleeve member 2 is formed by a flap as shown in Figure 1, the fixed end of the flap may conveniently be integrated into a seam 5 that runs around the periphery of the cushion.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the attachment in use. The collar member fits behind the neck of a child sitting on a booster car seat 3 in the vehicle, with the shoulder portions lb lying over the child's shoulders. A diagonal shoulder span 4 of a vehicle seat belt passes under the appropriate one of the shoulder portions lb and through the respective tubular sleeve member 2. The child cannot easily slip his/her arm over the diagonal shoulder portion 4 of the seat belt so as to cause it to pass beneath the armpit as opposed to over the shoulder, as to do so would require the collar member first to be pushed back and down to free the other shoulder. Also, the compulsion for the child to move the seat belt 4 to beneath the armpit is removed, because the collar member is cushioned, is therefore comfortable to wear, and holds the seat belt diagonal shoulder portion 1 b away from the neck and cheek of the child user as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. Furthermore, the sleeve member 2 is difficult for the child to release because it is hidden under the shoulder portion lb, out of sight of the child.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A seat belt attachment comprising a collar member designed to pass over the shoulders and behind the neck of a wearer, and a tubular sleeve member on one side of the collar member designed to fasten loosely around a diagonal shoulder span of the seat belt, to be freely slidable along that diagonal shoulder span.
2. An attachment according to claim 1, wherein identical tubular sleeve members are provided on each side of the collar member, designed to fasten loosely one around a diagonal shoulder span of a seat belt provided on one side of a vehicle or the other around a diagonal shoulder span of a seat belt provided on the other side of the vehicle.
3. An attachment according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the or each tubular sleeve member is provided with a rapid release fastening means permitting it to be opened to pass around the seat belt and then closed to fasten it loosely around the seat belt.
4. An attachment according to claim 3, wherein the rapid release fastening is a hook-and-pile fastening.
5. An attachment according to claim 4, wherein the hook-and-pile fastening comprises one component affixed to an openable end of the tubular sleeve member and another component affixed to a shoulder portion of the collar member, and the opening action involves pushing the openable end of the tubular sleeve member in a direction away from the neck of a wearer.
6. An attachment according to any preceding claim, wherein the collar member is made from a cushioned fabric material.
7. An attachment according to claim 6, wherein the collar member is stuffed with a resilient foam material to impart a degree of rigidity sufficient to provide some neck support while maintaining a soft and comfortable feel.
8. An attachment according to any preceding claim, comprising fastening means for releasably fastening together the two sides of the collar member across the chest of a user.
9. An attachment according to claim 1, in the form of a jacket or waistcoat of which the collar member of the attachment forms the collar and shoulders of the jacket or waistcoat.