Child safety seat

#This invention relates to a child safety seat comprising a seat body having a seat portion, a backrest with an outwardly facing rear surface, and a support mechanism comprising an abutment member and a link having one end connected to the abutment member for relative pivotal movement about a first axis and another end connected to said outwardly facing rear surface for relative pivotal movement about a second pivot axis parallel to the first pivot axis, the abutment member being movable between a stowed position in which the link and the abutment member are parallel to and in close proximity to said outwardly facing rear surface and a deployed position in which at least one edge of the abutment member is held by the link in a position spaced apart from said outwardly facing rear surface.

#A safety seat of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,850.

#It is an object of the invention to provide a safety seat having a simple mechanism that can be mounted on a vehicle seat either in an upright or a reclined position.

#An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a side view of a child safety seat in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, positioned on a vehicle seat with its support mechanism in a deployed position;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear of the backrest of the seat shown in FIG. 1, with the support mechanism in an intermediate position;

#Referring to FIG. 1, a child safety seat 10 has a seat body comprising a seat portion 12, a backrest 14 and a headrest 16. The seat 10 is positioned on the seat cushion 18 of a vehicle seat with the upper part of its backrest 14 abutting against the seat back 20 of the vehicle seat.

#As can most clearly be seen in FIG. 2, the back surface of the backrest 14 contains a rectangular recess 22. An abutment member 24, of thickness slightly less than the depth of the recess 22, has a pivot pin 26 formed integrally with its upper edge. The ends of the pivot pin 26 engage in sliders (not shown), which are received in respective guide tracks 28 in the vertical side edges of the recess 22. A first pivot axle 30 extends along the bottom edge of the abutment member 24 and pivotally connects it to an adjacent edge of a rectangular link 32. The opposite edge of the link 32 is pivotally connected to a third pivot axle not shown, which extends across the recess 22 in close proximity to the bottom edge thereof.

#As shown in FIG. 3, when the pivot pin 26 is positioned at the top of the recess 22, the abutment support member 24 and the link 32 lie flat within the recess 22. The abutment member 24 has an opening 34 to allow such abutment member 24 to be pulled outwardly from this position. When the abutment member 24 is pulled outwardly, the link 32 initially moves to the position shown in FIG. 2, in which it is at an obtuse angle to the abutment member 24. Further outward movement of the abutment member 24 causes the pivot pin 26 to move further down the guide tracks 28 than is shown in FIG. 2.