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US 11,235,687 B2Granted
Multi-functional energy absorber
AssigneeBritax Child Safety, Inc.
InventorsAdam Mark Will, Quentin Walsh, Julien Santini
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A child safety seat may include a base configured to be operably coupled to a vehicle seat, a seat shell configured to receive and secure a child therein, and a multi-functional energy absorber. The seat shell may be operably coupled to the base such that the seat shell is alternately movable between a plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a seat positioner assembly, and lockable in the plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a locking assembly. The multi-functional energy absorber may be disposed between the base and the seat shell. The multi-functional energy absorber may be an integral portion of both the seat positioner assembly and the locking assembly.
Claims18
A child safety seat comprising:
- a base configured to be operably coupled to a vehicle seat;
- a seat shell configured to receive and secure a child therein, the seat shell being operably coupled to the base such that the seat shell is alternately movable between, and lockable in, a plurality of positions relative to the base;
- and
- an energy absorber disposed between the base and the seat shell, the energy absorber including curvilinear shaped web members and a plurality of protrusions,
- wherein the energy absorber is configured to:
- deform via the curvilinear shaped web members such that the energy absorber absorbs impact energy,
- provide a sliding support surface for the seat shell to enable the seat shell to be movable between the plurality of positions relative to the base, and
- enable locking of the seat shell in selected ones of the plurality of positions relative to the base via the plurality of protrusions of the energy absorber,
- wherein the energy absorber is arranged relative to the base and the seat shell such that the energy absorber deforms to absorb impact energy resulting from impacts to the child safety seat in a plurality of directions.
6 more elements
A child safety seat comprising:
- a base configured to be operably coupled to a vehicle seat;
- a seat shell configured to receive and secure a child therein, the seat shell being operably coupled to the base such that the seat shell is alternately movable between a plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a seat positioner assembly, and lockable in the plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a locking assembly;
- and
- an energy absorber disposed between the base and the seat shell, the energy absorber including curvilinear shaped web members, and the energy absorber configured to deform via the curvilinear shaped web members such that the energy absorber absorbs impact energy resulting from impacts to the child safety seat,
- wherein the energy absorber is an integral portion of both the seat positioner assembly and the locking assembly.
2 more elements
A multi-directional energy absorber for a child safety seat, the multi-directional energy absorber comprising:
- a coupling member configured to be affixed to a frame of a seat shell of the child safety seat;
- and
- an arcuate member operably coupled to the coupling member at respective opposing ends thereof, the arcuate member being configured to slidingly engage a support surface of thea base of the child safety seat when the child safety seat is in an unlocked state, wherein the arcuate member includes a plurality of protrusions along a portion of a length of the arcuate member,
- wherein the multi-directional energy absorber is configured to be locked at a selected position of a plurality of discrete positions relative to the base responsive to affixing a portion of the base to a protrusion of the arcuate member in a locked state,
- wherein the multi-directional energy absorber is configured to deform such that the multi-functional energy absorber absorbs impact energy from forces in more than one direction.
2 more elements
A child safety seat comprising:
- a base configured to be operably coupled to a vehicle seat;
- a seat shell configured to receive and secure a child therein, the seat shell being operably coupled to the base such that the seat shell is alternately movable between, and lockable in, a plurality of positions relative to the base;
- and
- an energy absorber disposed between the base and the seat shell,
- wherein the energy absorber is configured to:
- deform such that the energy absorber absorbs impact energy,
- provide a sliding support surface for the seat shell to enable the seat shell to be movable between the plurality of positions relative to the base, and
- enable locking of the seat shell in selected ones of the plurality of positions relative to the base,
- wherein the energy absorber is arranged relative to the base and the seat shell such that the energy absorber deforms to absorb impact energy resulting from impacts to the child safety seat in a plurality of directions,
- wherein the seat shell comprises a seat portion and a back portion that are joined to each other at an apex and extend away from each other in directions substantially perpendicular to each other, wherein a portion of the energy absorber is disposed on each opposing side of the apex,
- wherein the energy absorber comprises curvilinear shaped web members that intersect each other to define energy absorption cells, and
- wherein a size of the energy absorption cells decreases as a distance from the apex increases in a first direction moving away from the apex, and a size of the energy absorption cells increases as a distance from the apex increases in a second direction moving away from the apex, the second direction being opposite the first direction.
9 more elements
A child safety seat comprising:
- a base configured to be operably coupled to a vehicle seat;
- a seat shell configured to receive and secure a child therein, the seat shell being operably coupled to the base such that the seat shell is alternately movable between a plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a seat positioner assembly, and lockable in the plurality of positions relative to the base responsive to operation of a locking assembly;
- and
- an energy absorber disposed between the base and the seat shell, the energy absorber configured to deform such that the energy absorber absorbs impact energy resulting from impacts to the child safety seat, wherein the energy absorber is arranged relative to the base and the seat shell such that the energy absorber absorbs impact energy resulting from an impact to the child safety seat in a first direction and resulting from an impact to the child safety seat in a second direction, the first and second directions being substantially perpendicular to each other,
- wherein the energy absorber is an integral portion of both the seat positioner assembly and the locking assembly,
- wherein the seat shell comprises a seat portion and a back portion that are joined to each other at an apex and extend away from each other in directions substantially perpendicular to each other, wherein a portion of the energy absorber is disposed on each opposing side of the apex,
- wherein the energy absorber comprises curvilinear shaped web members that intersect each other to define energy absorption cells, and
- wherein energy absorption cells on one side of the apex are larger than energy absorption cells on the other side of the apex.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.