US20120299337A1

US20120299337A1 - Easy access child car seat

Info

Publication number: US20120299337A1
Application number: US13/117,915
Authority: US
Inventors: Yvonne Miller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-05-27
Filing date: 2011-05-27
Publication date: 2012-11-29

Abstract

A child car seat has a central seating portion including base cushion and a vertically extending back support, and two side doors capable of opening. The two side doors are rotatably connected to the back support and may lock into the base cushion when in the closed position. The two side doors allow for the safe, comfortable and convenient removal of a child from the child car seat.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a children's car seat that provides multi-directional access to a child in the seat.

BACKGROUND

Traditional child car seats contain side rails to protect and retain the child within the child car seat. With these traditional child car seats, in order to remove the child from, or place the child in, the car seat, one must access the car seat from the front of the child's car seat. This requires a parent/guardian to uncomfortably and dangerously lean over the car seat and remove the child from, or place the child in, the car seat. This motion of placing the child in, or removing the child from, the car seat creates an awkward position for the parent/guardian. It results in being severely inconvenient and uncomfortable for both the parent/guardian and the child. Furthermore, by having a parent/guardian in an uncomfortable, inconvenient, and awkward position, a higher chance of the parent/guardian harming the child is present. Furthermore, in the event of an emergency, where the child needs to be quickly removed from the vehicle, removal of a child from a traditional child car seat can prove to be difficult for parents/guardians or emergency personnel.
Therefore, the need of a more efficient car seat for the removal and placement of a child within the car seat is needed.

SUMMARY

It is to be understood that both the following summary and the detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Neither the summary nor the description that follows is intended to define or limit the scope of the invention to the particular features mentioned in the summary or in the description. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.
In certain embodiments, the disclosed embodiments may include one or more of the features described herein.
In various embodiments, a new apparatus provides for convenient access to a child within a car seat, comfortable access to a child within a car seat, and quick access to, and removal of, a child in a car seat.
A new apparatus in various embodiments has a plurality of elements, including two side doors and a base cushion. The base cushion may be a cushion that supports a user when the user is in a sitting position. The base cushion may have a cushioned interior to promote comfort for the user of the car seat. The base cushion may also contain a padded pillow for extra support and comfort. Furthermore, a tray may be located at the bottom of the base cushion and may be used for storage.
A back support may extend vertically from the rear of the base cushion. The back support provides stability and structure to the back of a user of the child car seat. Extending from the top of the back support may be extra padding to support a user's head and neck. Additionally, the back support may contain an aperture capable of receiving a vehicle seat belt to secure the child car seat to the vehicle.
The two side doors may be rotatably connected to the back support. The two side doors may rotate independently from one other. In the closed position, the two side doors may be flush with the base cushion. The two side doors may contain a latch mechanism that enables the two side doors to lock onto or into the base cushion. Furthermore, the two side doors may contain a cup holder extending from at least one of the two side doors. The two side doors may also contain a cup holder molded into at least one of the two side doors. Moreover, the two side doors may contain openings capable of receiving protuberances for fastening attachable devices, such as a tray or a cup holder.
The child car seat may also contain a safety belt, or restraint belt, for securing the child within the child car seat.
These and further and other objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure, which includes the above and ongoing written specification, with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, further serve to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use these embodiments and others that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The invention will be more particularly described in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a child car seat with opening side doors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A new easy access child car seat will now be disclosed in terms of various exemplary embodiments. This specification discloses one or more embodiments that incorporate features of the invention. The embodiment(s) described, and references in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. When a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, persons skilled in the art may affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
In the several figures, like reference numerals may be used for like elements having like functions even in different drawings. The embodiments described, and their detailed construction and elements, are merely provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Thus, it is apparent that the present invention can be carried out in a variety of ways, and does not require any of the specific features described herein. Also, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention with unnecessary detail.
The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a child car seat 13 with openable two side doors 3. The child car seat 13 contains a central seating portion including a base cushion 1 and a vertically extending back support 2. The back support 2 extends from the rear of the base cushion 1. Rotatably connected to the back support 2 are two side doors 3. One of each of the two side doors 3 is rotatably connected to each side of the back support 2. The two side doors 3 are rotatably connected to the back support 2 in a configuration that, when in the closed position, the two side doors 3 are positioned flush against the side of the base cushion 1.
Located on the sides of the base cushion 1 are cavities 6. These cavities 6 are capable of receiving protrusions 5 located on the side of the two side doors 3. When the protrusions 5 are inserted into the cavities 6, the locking mechanism 4 may be used to lock the two side doors 3 into place. The base cushion 1 additionally houses a tray 7, which can be used as storage in the front of the base cushion 1. Furthermore, extending from the base cushion 1 to the back support 2 are two restraint belts 11. These restraint belts 11 contain an interlocking system 12 that secures a user within the child car seat 13. Back support 2 contains an aperture 9, which is configured to receive the seat belt of a vehicle and used to secure the child car seat 13 to the vehicle. Moreover, an extra padding pillow 8 extends from the top of the back support 2 to provide comfort and support to a users head. Additionally, a cup holder 10 is molded in at least one of the two side doors 3.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the cup holder 10 may extend from the two side doors 3 rather than be molded within the two side doors. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the tray 7 may extend from the two side doors. The extension of the tray 7 and the cup holder 10 from the two side doors 3 may be made possible by openings placed in the two side doors 3 that are configured to receive protuberances from the tray 7 and the cup holder 10. In an additional embodiment of the present invention, the two side doors 3 may be rotatably connected to the base cushion 1 and lock into the back support 2. In that embodiment, the side doors have less of a tendency to swing closed, for example when a vehicle containing the car seat is parked on a slope, however the side door when fully opened in this embodiment has a greater tendency to interfere with insertion or extraction of a car seat user.
The invention is not limited to the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings and described above in detail. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other arrangements could be devised, for example, using a height locking mechanism that utilizes a spring loaded pressure system to position the handrails into place, and using various known restraint and seatbelt/latch securing structures and configurations, as well as various means for locking the side doors and various car seat accessories. The invention encompasses every possible combination of the various features of each embodiment disclosed. While the invention has been described with reference to specific illustrative embodiments, modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a child car seat, comprising:

a central seating portion; and

one or more side doors rotatably connected to said central seating portion;

wherein the side doors are configured to lock to the central seating portion to secure the side doors and prevent rotation.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion comprises a base cushion and a back support vertically extending from the base cushion.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising at least one restraint belt.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising two restraint belts and an interlocking system for securing the two restraint belts together.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion further comprises an aperture configured to receive a seat belt of a vehicle for holding the child car seat in place.

6. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the side doors comprise a latch mechanism for locking into the central seating portion.

7. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising at least one cavity in the central seating portion and at least one protrusion on the side doors, wherein the at least one cavity is configured to receive the at least one protrusion.

8. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the side doors further comprise at least one opening capable of receiving at least one protuberance from an attachable device.

9. The apparatus set forth in claim 8, further comprising a cup holder comprising at least one protuberance, wherein the at least one protuberance is capable of being inserted into the at least one opening of the side doors.

10. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising a cup holder extending from one of the side doors.

11. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising a cup holder molded into one of the side doors.

12. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, further comprising a built in tray extending from at least one of the side doors.

13. The apparatus set forth in claim 8, further comprising a removable tray, wherein the removable tray comprising at least one protuberance, wherein the at least one protuberance is capable of being inserted into the at least one opening of the side doors.

14. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion further comprises a storage container.

15. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion further comprises an extra padding pillow configured to support the head of a user.

16. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion further comprises a cushioned interior.

17. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the central seating portion further comprises a padded pillow.

18. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the one or more side doors comprise two side doors.