US 6,196,629 B1Granted

Vehicular child safety seat

AssigneeAprica Kassai Kabushikikaisha

InventorsIchiro Onishi, Toshiyuki Imamichi

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Abstract

A vehicular child safety seat includes a seat main body (1A) attached to a base body (1C) in a rotatable manner. The seat main body includes a seat portion (16), a backrest (11) reclinably hinged to the seat portion, a head guard (10) tiltably hinged to the upper edge of the backrest, side guards (12, 13) protruding perpendicularly from lateral edges of the backrest, and armrests (14, 15) protruding upwardly along side edges of the seat portion. When the backrest is in its most reclined position, and the seat main body is rotated on the base body to be transverse to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the seat portion and backrest are substantially coplanar and horizontal to form a baby bed. When the backrest is in a more upright position, and the seat main body is rotated to face forward or rearward in the vehicle, the safety seat is suitable for an infant, toddler or older child sitting upright. Thus, a vehicular child safety seat can be provided that can be used constantly throughout the entire childhood for a baby, an infant, and a child of school age.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A vehicular child safety seat adapted to be secured to a seat of a vehicle and adapted to accommodate a child ranging from a newborn baby to a school age child therein, comprising a seat device including:

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;
a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;
a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child;
and
a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest away from said seat bottom, so that said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface so as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;
wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;
in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby;
and
in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon;
and said vehicular child safety seat further comprising:
a support device including a connection plate and a pair of armrests, wherein said armrests are respectively arranged inwardly adjacent and in close proximity to said side guards, said armrests are respectively mounted on said connection plate at lower ends of said armrests, and said armrests are respectively pivotably connected directly to said side guards at a substantially horizontal support axis passing transversely through said armrests to enable said side guards to pivot relative to said armrests about said support axis;
and
a base including a base member and a holding mechanism rotatably holding said support device relative to said base member so as to allow said support device to rotate relative to said base member about a substantially vertical rotation axis.

10 more elements

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;
a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;
a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child;
and
a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest away from said seat bottom, so that said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;
wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;
in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby;
and
in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon;
wherein said seat device further comprises a reclining mechanism for selectively altering a recline angle of said backrest relative to said seat bottom between said most reclined position when said safety seat is in said bed configuration and said upright position, which is a most upright position, when said safety seat is in said seat configuration;
wherein said child safety seat further comprises at least one armrest respectively arranged adjacent to a respective one of said side guards,
wherein said reclining mechanism includes at least two engagement holes in said armrest, an engagement pin arranged on an inner side of at least one of said side guards and adapted to be selectively insertable into said engagement holes, a resilient member connected to said engagement pin so as to bias said engagement pin to be inserted into a selected one of said engagement holes, and a release handle arranged on a back side of said backrest opposite said backrest surface and connected to said engagement pin so that said release handle can selectively counteract said bias of said resilient member and release said engagement pin from said engagement holes.

9 more elements

A combination including a vehicle comprising a vehicle body, a vehicle seat, and a seat belt, and a vehicular child safety seat secured to said vehicle seat in said vehicle by said seat belt, said safety seat being adapted to accommodate a child ranging from a newborn baby to a school age child therein, and comprising a seat device including:

a seat bottom having a seat surface adapted to support the buttocks of the child thereon;
a backrest arranged to be variably reclinable relative to said seat bottom, and having a backrest surface adapted to support the back of the child thereon;
a pair of side guards extending from two opposite lateral edges of said backrest substantially perpendicularly to said backrest surface and being adapted to support or guard the sides of the child;
and
a head guard tiltably connected at an upper free end of said backrest directed away from said seat bottom, wherein said head guard is tiltable at a variable angle relative to said backrest surface so as to selectively guard the top of the head of the child;
wherein said safety seat is adapted to be selectively configured into a bed configuration and a seat configuration;
in said bed configuration, said backrest is in a most reclined position so that said seat surface and said backrest surface together form a bed surface suitable for supporting the newborn baby lying thereon, said head guard is in a tilted position protruding from said backrest surface and is adapted to guard the top of the head of the newborn baby, and said side guards are adapted to support or guard the sides of the newborn baby, while the backrest extends along a transverse direction perpendicular to a travelling axis of said vehicle;
and
in said seat configuration, said backrest is in an upright position more upright than said most reclined position, and said backrest surface and said seat surface together form a sitting surface suitable for supporting the school age child sitting thereon, while said backrest surface faces forward or backward along said travelling axis of said vehicle;
wherein said seat device further comprises a reclining mechanism for selectively altering a recline angle of said backrest relative to said seat bottom between said most reclined position when said safety seat is in said bed configuration and said upright position, which is a most upright position, when said safety seat is in said seat configuration;
further comprising at least one armrest respectively arranged adjacent a respective one of said side guards;
wherein said reclining mechanism includes at least two engagement holes in said armrest, an engagement pin arranged on an inner side of at least one of said side guards and adapted to be selectively insertable into said engagement holes, a resilient member connected to said engagement pin so as to bias said engagement pin to be inserted into a selected one of said engagement holes, and a release handle arranged on a back side of said backrest opposite said backrest surface and connected to said engagement pin so that said release handle can selectively counteract said bias of said resilient member and release said engagement pin from said engagement holes.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.