WO2010122072A1

WO2010122072A1 - Coupling and restraint device for a child seat

Info

Publication number: WO2010122072A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/055296
Authority: WO
Inventors: Terence Tang; Peter Miller; Michael A. Wiseman
Original assignee: Holmbergs Childsafety Ab
Priority date: 2009-04-21
Filing date: 2010-04-21
Publication date: 2010-10-28

Abstract

A coupling for attachment to an anchor member includes a frame (5) having a distal end defining a notch (8) with a notch mouth (9) configured to receive the anchor member (AM). Further, the coupling has a latch means movably mounted to the frame (5). The latch means has a latching wheel (16) which is rotatably mounted to the frame (5) and has an anchor recess (17) which is configured to engage with a portion of the anchor member (AM)

Description

COUPLING AND RESTRAINT DEVICE FOR A CHILD SEAT

Technical field

The present invention relates to devices for securing infant safety seats or child seats in cars, by means of couplings.

Background

A coupling of this kind can be used together with infant safety seats for use in cars, so called child seats. Child seats are placed in an ordinary car seat in order to provide a seat adapted to the size of a child to securely hold the child during transportation. Originally, child seats made use of a seat belt of the car in order to secure the child seat to the car seat. Such a connection between car and child seat, however, tends to be cumbersome to achieve, often resulting in a too loose connection to hold the child seat in place during rapid accelerations or decelerations, such as during an accident. In order to enable easier and safer securing of child seats in cars, standard attachment anchors are nowadays factory mounted in most cars. ISOFIX is one out of several standards for anchor points for child safety seats in cars. Usually, child seats are secured to an upper anchor and to a pair of fixed lower anchors built into the bight or crack between the seat back and seat cushion. Child seat manufacturers often provide their child seats with special couplings adapted to releasably attach to the standard anchor members provided in most modern cars. An example of such a coupling is disclosed in US-A-6,962,394 which concerns a coupling to attach a device, such as a child seat, to an anchor member. One version of this known coupling includes a frame having a notch with a notch mouth configured to receive the anchor member, and a lever movably mounted to the frame to hold the anchor member inside the notch. The lever has a downwardly projecting finger that blocks the notch mouth in the closed position and allows access to the notch when moved to the open position. The coupling may include a stop member to resist movement from the closed to the open position. Furthermore, the coupling may include a web adjuster or similar connecting device operatively disposed between the coupling and the device. A disadvantage with the above described coupling is that after insertion of the anchor member into the mouth of the frame, the finger of the moveable lever might get stuck and stay open even if the anchor member has been properly inserted to the bottom of the notch where it is supposed to be locked by the finger. This constitutes a potential danger for any child placed in a child seat not properly coupled to the anchor members, since the child seat bearing the child may randomly be thrown around in the car.

EP1083084A2 concerns a system for attaching a child seat of a vehicle to anchor members fixed to the vehicle. The system has a support frame with two anchor parts which are fixed to the child seat by two connectors which are releasable using a central handle. Each connector has a special display disc mechanically controlled to indicate a secured position. A disadvantage with this system is that it has a complicated design.

Hence, an improved coupling solving the above described deficiency, thereby providing a safer attachment would be beneficial.

Summary

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel coupling which is improved oven prior-art couplings of the type discussed above.

A particular object of the invention is to provide an improved coupling for attachment to an anchor member, mitigating the above described deficiencies.

These and other objects, which will appear from the following description, have now been achieved by a coupling according to the present invention. The coupling comprises a frame having a distal end defining a notch with a notch mouth configured to receive the anchor member. Further, a latch means is movably mounted to the frame, the latch means having an open position and a closed position. The coupling also comprises a release control member, a stop biasing member, and a stop member controllable by the release control member. The stop biasing member urges the stop member and the latch means into engagement for counteracting movement of the latch means from the closed position to the open position. Further, the latch means comprises a latching wheel being rotatably mounted to the frame and having an anchor recess which has an anchor mouth on the circumference of the latching wheel, and which is configured to engage with a portion of the anchor member.

Using such a coupling having a rotatable latching wheel ensures that a stop surface always follows the anchor member into the notch to thereby inevitably enable secure locking of the coupling to the anchor member whenever the anchor member has been fully inserted into the notch of the frame. Further, using a rotatable latching wheel keeps the outer periphery of the latch means smooth and thereby minimizes the risk of external objects interfering with the movement of the latch means between the open position and the closed position, effectively increasing the ease of properly securing the coupling to an anchor member.

In a preferred embodiment, the latching wheel is rotatably mounted to the frame by means of a wheel pin attached to the frame. The latching wheel is journalled on the wheel pin. This brings the advantage that a rotational latching movement of the latching wheel can be accomplished in a distinct manner which promotes a proper and secure engagement between the latching wheel and the anchor member.

In another embodiment, the wheel pin is secured to side walls of the frame at a distance from a longitudinal axis of the coupling extending along an insertion direction for the anchor member into the notch. Thereby, the wheel easily rotates by force from the anchor member being moved into the anchor mouth of the wheel towards its intended locking position in the notch.

According to one embodiment, the latching wheel further comprises a locking slot which is adapted for interaction with the stop member and which comprises a rotation control portion and a locking portion. In this way, the smooth outer periphery of the wheel may be intact whilst still enabling the stop member to interact with the wheel to stop the wheel from rotating from its closed to its open position. In one embodiment, the locking slot is substantially L-shaped, thus keeping the locking button substantially still in its pushed-in position when the locking-pin travels in the rotation control portion of the locking slot. This gives an intuitive linear movement of the release control member when the latching wheel rotates between its open position and its closed position. In another embodiment, the rotation of the latching wheel is limited by the rotation control portion of the locking slot to a movement between two extremes separated about 45±10 degrees, wherein one extreme defines the open position and the other extreme defines the closed position. Thereby the anchor member can be moved in a direction substantially straight through the notch mouth and into the notch in the frame. This means that in order to secure the coupling to the anchor member, the coupling can be moved substantially linearly towards, and onto, the coupling.

In yet another embodiment, the anchor recess has a front surface, and a rear surface. The width of the anchor recess is large enough to allow movement of the anchor member into and out of the anchor recess, and small enough to avoid any play between the anchor member and the front surface and rear surface of the anchor recess not necessary to enable manual insertion of the anchor member into the anchor recess. This brings an advantage in that the degree of rotation needed to rotate the latching wheel enough to bring the rear surface of the anchor recess of the latching wheel into a locking position for keeping the anchor member engaged to the coupling, is minimized, whereby the depth of the notch may be kept to a minimum, thus minimizing the size of the coupling and minimizing the amount of material needed to produce the coupling.

According to an embodiment, the coupling further comprises an anchor aperture for attachment of the coupling to another object. An advantage of this is that it is easy to fasten the coupling to an object, such as a web attached to a child seat or such as a frame of a child seat.

Also, the coupling may comprise a wheel biasing means for biasing the latching wheel from its closed position to its open position. An advantage of this is that the coupling is capable of returning the latching wheel to its open, or unlocked, position after inadvertent rotation of the latching wheel.

In an embodiment, the wheel biasing means comprises a spring having two symmetric side portions positioned astraddle the latching wheel. Each side portion has one or more spring loops circumscribing the wheel pin. Such a wheel biasing means has a very compact and simple design which closely follows the contours of the latching wheel, therefore reducing the risk of having the movement of the biasing means obstructed by foreign objects. Further, the biasing force caused by the biasing means is substantially even throughout the movement, thereby enabling a consistent and controlled ejection of an anchor member connected to the coupling.

Furthermore, a restraint device is provided according to the invention for securing a child seat in a car. The inventive restraint device is equipped with a coupling according to the invention, and a web, or similar means, for connecting the coupling and the child seat. This brings the advantage that the coupling may easily be attached to the anchor member where after the web can be tensioned in order to securely bias the child seat towards the car seat. The adjustability makes it possible to use the coupling for any combination of child seat and car seat in any car compliant with one or more of the above mentioned standards.

The invention also concerns a child seat comprising one or more restraint devices of the invention. Thereby the child seat may be used in any car compliant with one or more of the above mentioned standards.

Further features of the invention and its embodiments are set forth in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

In the following, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to non-limiting examples shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a child seat secured to a car seat using known standardized anchors and one or more couplings according to embodiments of the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a coupling according to an embodiment of the invention next to an anchor member;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the coupling connected to the anchor member;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the coupling next to the anchor member;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a latching wheel included in a coupling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the coupling before connection to an anchor member; Fig. 7 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the coupling after insertion of the anchor member into a notch of the frame and with a release control member in an inner position;

Fig. 8 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the coupling after insertion of the anchor member and with the release control member in an outer position; and

Fig. 9 is a side view of the coupling shown in Fig. 8.

Detailed description

A coupling 1 according to the invention is primarily intended for use with a child seat CS for use in a vehicle, such as a car, but other uses are feasible. Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a child seat CS equipped with one or more couplings 1 for attachment to anchor members AM provided in a vehicle.

Such an anchor member AM is typically shaped, sized and positioned in a car according to one or more international standards, such as ISOFIX (SS-ISO 13216-1) or LATCH, and typically comprises a U-shaped metal rod which has its ends welded to, or otherwise attached to, a chassis of a car or to a base plate attached to the chassis of the car by, for example, welding or screwing.

As can be seen in Fig. 1 , the one or more couplings 1 may be connected to the child seat CS using one or more adjustable restraint assemblies RA comprising one or more webs W, thereby allowing fastening of the child seat CS on vehicle seats VS of varying geometries.

Apart from specifying the shape, size and position of anchor members AM in cars, the above mentioned standards propose additional features of the couplings for attachment to the anchor members AM. Such a feature is that a coupling should give away a clear 'click' -sound when the coupling has been properly attached to an anchor member. Another proposed feature is that a coupling should show a change in color of one or more parts of the coupling, from, for example red, to, for example green, when the coupling has been properly attached to an anchor member. It should be understood that the coupling 1 shown in Fig. 1 is an improvement over other types of couplings, such as the coupling known from US-A-6,962,394 mentioned in the background section above.

With reference to Fig. 2, a coupling 1 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown next to an anchor member AM and in a position ready for attachment to the same. The coupling 1 includes a cover 2 nesting a release control member 3 with a push-button 4 which here is shown in an inner, pushed- in, position. The cover 2 protects most parts of the coupling 1 from outer access in order to reduce the risk of outer objects interfering with the coupling 1 and thereby to reduce the risk of faulty and hazardous operation of the coupling 1. In Fig. 3, the coupling 1 is shown connected to a portion P of the anchor member AM with the push-button 4 in an outer position. The coupling 1 is pivotally connected to the anchor member AM so that the anchor member AM can be directed towards any attachment point AP on a child seat CS to thereby enable use of the coupling 1 for almost any kind of child seat CS in almost any type of car compliant with the above mentioned standards. With reference to Fig. 4, the coupling 1 is shown in an exploded view. All parts of the coupling 1 are directly or indirectly attached to a U-shaped metal frame 5 having a first and a second substantially parallel side wall 6, 7. The frame 5 has a distal end defining a notch 8 with a notch mouth 9 configured to receive the anchor member AM. The frame 5 also has a proximal end comprising an anchor aperture 10 provided for attaching the coupling 1 to another object, such as a child seat CS, by means of a web W, or other attachment means (see Figs. 1-2). The web may be of a type normally used for seat belts in cars.

As previously mentioned, the coupling 1 has a release control member 3 with a push-button 4. The release control member 3 is slidably positioned in the frame 5 and biased by a stop biasing member 11 in the form of a coil spring, acting between the release control member 3 and a biasing surface 12 provided on the frame 5 for pushing the release control member 3 from an inner position towards an outer position. The sliding movement of the release control member 3 may be limited by a movement control protrusion 13 provided on the release control member 3 for movement in a movement control slot 14 provided in the bottom of the U-shape of the frame 5. The release control member 3 controls the movement of a stop member in the form of a stop pin 15 having an axis perpendicular to a longitudinal axis L of the coupling 1 extending along an insertion direction for the anchor member AM into the notch 8 (see Fig. 6).

With reference to Fig. 5, a latch means in the shape of a latching wheel 16 is mounted to the frame 5. The latching wheel 16 has an anchor recess 17 with a front surface 18, a rear surface 19, and an anchor mouth 20 on the circumference of the latching wheel 16. The width of the anchor recess 17 is large enough to allow movement of the anchor member AM into and out of the anchor recess 17, and small enough to avoid unnecessary play between the anchor member AM and the front surface 18 and rear surface 19 of the anchor recess 17.

The latching wheel 16 is rotatably mounted to the frame 5 for rotation between an open position in which the anchor member AM may be inserted into the anchor recess 17, and a closed position in which the anchor member AM may be held captive in the notch 8 between the front and rear surfaces 18, 19 of the anchor recess 17. The latching wheel 16 is mounted to the frame 5 journalled on a wheel pin 21 supported by the side walls 6, 7 of the frame 5. The latching wheel 16 is journalled on the wheel pin 21 in a close, but not tight, fit for promoting a precise and secure operation of the latching wheel 16 relatively the other parts of the coupling 1. The wheel pin 21 is secured to the side walls 6, 7 of the frame 5 at a distance D from the longitudinal axis L of the coupling 1 (see Fig. 6).

Further, the latching wheel 16 has a substantially L-shaped locking slot 22 adapted for interaction with the stop pin 15. The stop pin 15 is controlled by the release control member 3 to move back and forth relatively the latching wheel 16 within the boundaries of the locking slot 22. The locking slot 22 has about the same width as the diameter of the stop pin 15 so that the stop pin 15 may move easily within the locking slot 22. Preferably, the locking slot 22 has a rotation control portion 23 and locking control portion 24. The rotation control portion 23 substantially follows an arc around a rotational axis R of the latching wheel 16, thereby enabling rotation of the latching wheel 16 when the release control member 3 has been moved to its inner position so that the stop pin 15 is positioned in the rotation control portion 23. The ends of the rotation control portion 23 define two end positions past which the latching wheel 16 cannot rotate. These end positions each correspond to the open and closed position of the latching wheel 16 respectively and are preferably separated by an angle α of about 45±10 degrees relatively the rotational axis R of the latching wheel. The separation angle is selected large enough to enable the wheel 16 to be rotated enough for the anchor member AM to be easily insertable into the anchor recess 17 when the wheel 16 is in its opened position, whilst still being selected small enough not to give the wheel 16 unnecessary freedom of rotation. Thus, the angle α varies depending of the diameter of the latching wheel 16, and depending on the diameter of the anchor member AM.

The locking portion 24 is provided at an angle to the rotation control portion 23, the angle being about 90° or at least selected so that one or more surfaces defining the locking portion 24 will engage with the stop pin 15, when the latching wheel 16 is in its closed position. When the latching wheel 16 is in its closed position, the stop pin 15 is free to be pushed into the locking portion 24 by the stop biasing spring 11 acting on the release control member 3 so that it locks the latching wheel 16 and thereby keeps the anchor member AM from being released from the coupling 1.

Further, a wheel biasing means 25, such as a spring, is provided for biasing the latching wheel 16 from its closed position to its open position. The wheel biasing spring 25 has two symmetric side portions positioned astraddle the latching wheel 16, each side having one or more spring loops 26 circumscribing the wheel pin 21 for holding the wheel biasing spring 25 correctly positioned. Each portion also has a first leg 27 and a second leg 28 extending at an angle from each other. The first legs 27 of the two symmetric portions of the wheel biasing spring 25 each extend along each side portion of the latching wheel 16 to merge into each other in a first wheel biasing recess 29 at the periphery of the latching wheel 16. Each second leg 28 of each portion of the wheel biasing spring 25, respectively, extends along each side of the U-shaped frame 5 into a second 30 and a third 31 wheel biasing recess provided in each side wall 6, 7 of the frame 5 respectively. The angle between the first 27 and second 28 legs of the wheel biasing spring 25 is selected so that the wheel biasing spring 25 biases the latching wheel 16 from its closed position towards its open position when the wheel biasing spring 25 is correctly positioned in the coupling 1.

The wheel biasing spring 25 makes it easier to eject the anchor member AM from the notch 8 during detachment of the coupling 1 from the anchor member AM. It also ensures that the latching wheel 16 is in its open position whenever it is not locked by the stop pin 15.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the coupling 1 before attachment to the anchor member AM. Here, the latching wheel 16 is in its open position, ready to receive the anchor member AM. It should be noted that the wheel biasing spring 25 biases the latching wheel 16 in a direction towards its open position. The stop pin 15 is positioned in the rotation control portion 23 locking slot 22, thereby defining how much the wheel biasing spring 25 may rotate the latching wheel 16.

In Fig. 7 it is shown that the anchor member AM has been moved into the anchor recess 17 and pushed into the notch 8 of the frame 5 to rotate the latching wheel 16 against the biasing force of the wheel biasing spring 25 so that the latching wheel 16 is in its closed position and the anchor member AM is in its intended locking position.

As can also be seen, the stop pin 15 is still positioned in the arc-shaped leg of the locking slot 22, thereby defining the closed position of the latching wheel 16. Here, it should be noted that the stop pin 15 has not yet had time to be moved into the locking portion 24 of the locking slot 22.

As shown in Fig. 8, the stop pin 15 has now had time to be moved into the locking portion 24 by the force of the stop biasing spring 11 acting on the release control member 3, so that the stop pin 15 now stops the latching wheel 16 from any rotational movement. For better understanding, Fig. 9 is a side view of the coupling 1 shown in Fig. 8. Here it can be seen how wing-like protrusions 32 on the release control member 3 keeps the release control member 3 correctly positioned relatively the frame 5. During assembly of the release control member 3 into the frame 5, the wing-like protrusions 32 and the movement control protrusion 13 together define a snap fit between the release control member 3 and the frame 5 for keeping the release control member 3 from being accidentally removed from the frame 5.

It should be understood that the rear surface 19 of the anchor recess 17 of the above disclosed latching wheel 16 closely follows the anchor member AM when the anchor member AM is moved into the notch 8 of the frame 5. Thereby it is made impossible to move the anchor member AM to its intended locking position without having a rear locking surface 19 correctly positioned for stopping movement of the anchor member AM out of said locking position. Further, it should be understood that the rounded outer periphery of the latching wheel 16 ensures that no objects can grip the latching wheel 16 to interfere with the rotation of the latching wheel 16.

It should be mentioned that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein, and several modifications are feasible within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the stop member 15 could have the shape of a protrusion integrated with the release control member 3.

Claims

1. A coupling for attachment to an anchor member (AM), the coupling comprising: a frame (5) having a distal end defining a notch (8) with a notch mouth (9) configured to receive the anchor member (AM); a latch means movably mounted to the frame (5), the latch means having an open position and a closed position; a release control member (3); a stop member (15) controllable by the release control member (3); and a stop biasing member (11) urging the stop member (15) and the latch means into engagement for counteracting movement of the latch means from the closed position to the open position, characterized in that the latch means comprises a latching wheel (16) being rotatably mounted to the frame (5) and having an anchor recess (17) which has an anchor mouth (20) on the circumference of the latching wheel (16), and which is configured to engage with a portion (P) of the anchor member (AM).

2. A coupling according to claim 1 , wherein the latching wheel (16) is rotatably mounted to the frame (5) by means of a wheel pin (21) attached to the frame (5), the latching wheel (16) being journalled on the wheel pin (21).

3. A coupling according to claim 2, wherein the wheel pin (21) is secured to side walls (6, 7) of the frame (5) at a distance (D) from a longitudinal axis (L) of the coupling (1) extending along an insertion direction for the anchor member (AM) into the notch (8).

4. A coupling according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the latching wheel (16) further comprises a locking slot (22) adapted for interaction with the stop member (15), said locking slot (22) comprising a rotation control portion (23) and a locking portion (24).

5. A coupling according to claim 4, wherein the locking slot (22) is substantially L-shaped.

6. A coupling according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the rotation of the latching wheel (16) is limited by said rotation control portion (23) of the locking slot (22) to a movement between two extremes separated about 45±10 degrees, wherein one extreme defines the open position and the other extreme defines the closed position.

7. A coupling according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the anchor recess (17) has a front surface (18), and a rear surface (19), and wherein the width of the anchor recess (17) is large enough to allow movement of the anchor member (AM) into and out of the anchor recess (17), and small enough to avoid any play between the anchor member (AM) and the front surface (18) and rear surface (19) of the anchor recess (17) not necessary to enable manual insertion of the anchor member (AM) into the anchor recess (17).

8. A coupling according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an anchor aperture (10) for attachment of the coupling to another object, preferably a web.

9. A coupling according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a wheel biasing means (25) for biasing the latching wheel (16) from its closed position to its open position.

10. A coupling device according to claims 2 and 9, wherein the wheel biasing means (25) comprises a spring having two symmetric side portions positioned astraddle the latching wheel (16), each side portion having one or more spring loops (26) circumscribing the wheel pin (21).

1 1. A restraint device for securing a child seat in a car, comprising a coupling as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, and a web, or similar means, connecting the coupling and the child seat.

12. A child seat comprising one or more restraint devices as claimed in claim 9.