Child restraint for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10099580-B2
Application number	US-201715711448-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2017
Priority date	Sep 26, 2016
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

A child restraint includes a base adapted to set on a passenger eat and to support a juvenile seat. The juvenile seat is either an infant carrier or a seat suitable for older children.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A child restraint comprising
a vehicle seat,
a juvenile holder including a seat-support base arranged to set in a stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat and to support a juvenile seat in a stationary orientation relative to the vehicle passenger seat, the seat-support base including a rotatable foundation and a seat mount adapted to anchor the juvenile seat in a stationary position relative to the rotatable foundation and coupled to the rotatable foundation to move therewith about a horizontal rotation axis and relative to the underlying vehicle passenger seat, the rotatable foundation having a downwardly and rearwardly facing convex curved bottom wall comprising a curved lower exterior section adapted to mate with an upwardly facing portion of a seat bottom of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat and a curved upper exterior section adapted to mate with a forwardly facing portion of a seat back of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat.

2. The child restraint of claim 1 , wherein the convex curved bottom wall has a semi-cylindrical shape.

3. The child restraint of claim 1 , wherein the seat-support base further includes a seat-mount guide coupled to the rotatable foundation and to the seat mount and configured to guide the seat mount to move along an arcuate path relative to the rotatable foundation about an axis of rotation during movement of the seat mount induced by a caregiver.

4. The child restraint of claim 3 , wherein the seat-support base further includes a seat-mount retainer configured to be activated by a caregiver to block rotation of the seat mount relative to the rotatable foundation along the arcuate path.

5. The child restraint of claim 1 , wherein the seat-support base further includes level-indicator means for indicating rotational orientation of a juvenile seat anchored in a stationary position on the seat mount in response to rotation of the rotatable foundation of seat-support base about a horizontal axis of rotation relative to an underlying vehicle passenger seat before the curved lower exterior section of the convex curved bottom wall is mated with an upwardly facing portion of a seat bottom of the vehicle passenger seat and the curved upper exterior section of the convex curved bottom wall is mated with a forwardly facing portion of a seat back of the vehicle passenger seat to establish the stationary position of the seat-support base on the vehicle passenger seat so that a predetermined orientation of a juvenile seat supported on the seat-support base is achieved before seat-support base is retained in the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat using a vehicle seat belt associated with the vehicle passenger seat.

6. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the convex curved bottom wall has a semi-cylindrical shape.

7. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the convex curved bottom wall subtends an angle of about 140°.

8. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the seat-support base further includes a seat-mount guide coupled to the rotatable foundation and configured to guide the seat mount to move along an arcuate path relative to the rotatable foundation about the horizontal axis of rotation.

9. The child restraint of claim 8 , wherein the seat-support base further includes a seat-mount retainer configured to be activated by a caregiver to block rotation of the seat mount relative to the rotatable foundation along the arcuate path.

10. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile holder including a seat-support base adapted to set in a stationary position on a vehicle passenger seat and adapted to support a juvenile seat in a stationary orientation relative to the vehicle passenger seat, the seat-support base including a rotatable foundation and a seat mount adapted to anchor the juvenile seat in a stationary position relative to the rotatable foundation and coupled to the rotatable foundation to move therewith, the rotatable foundation having a downwardly and rearwardly facing convex curved bottom wall comprising a curved lower exterior section adapted to mate with an upwardly facing portion of a seat bottom of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat and a curved upper exterior section adapted to mate with a forwardly facing portion of a seat back of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat,
wherein the curved lower and upper exterior sections of the convex curved bottom wall share a common center of curvature.

11. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile holder including a seat-support base adapted to set in a stationary position on a vehicle passenger seat and adapted to support a juvenile seat in a stationary orientation relative to the vehicle passenger seat, the seat-support base including a rotatable foundation and a seat mount adapted to anchor the juvenile seat in a stationary position relative to the rotatable foundation and coupled to the rotatable foundation to move therewith, the rotatable foundation having a downwardly and rearwardly facing convex curved bottom wall comprising a curved lower exterior section adapted to mate with an upwardly facing portion of a seat bottom of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat and a curved upper exterior section adapted to mate with a forwardly facing portion of a seat back of the vehicle passenger seat when the seat-support base occupies the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat,
wherein the seat-support base further includes level-indicator means for indicating rotational orientation of a juvenile seat anchored in a stationary position on the seat mount in response to rotation of the rotatable foundation of seat-support base about a horizontal axis of rotation relative to an underlying vehicle passenger seat before the curved lower exterior section of the convex curved bottom wall is mated with an upwardly facing portion of a seat bottom of the vehicle passenger seat and the curved upper exterior section of the convex curved bottom wall is mated with a forwardly facing portion of a seat back of the vehicle passenger seat to establish the stationary position of the seat-support base on the vehicle passenger seat so that a predetermined orientation of a juvenile seat supported on the seat-support base is achieved before seat-support base is retained in the stationary position on the vehicle passenger seat using a vehicle seat belt associated with the vehicle passenger seat,
wherein the curved lower and upper exterior sections of the convex curved bottom wall share a common center of curvature.

12. A process for installing a juvenile holder on a vehicle passenger seat, the process compromising the steps of
arranging a juvenile holder including a seat-support base adapted to engage and support a juvenile seat in a temporary position on a vehicle passenger seat including a seat bottom and a seat base extending upwardly away from the seat bottom,
rotating the seat-support base about a horizontal axis of rotation while the seat-support base overlies the seat bottom until a level indicator associated with the juvenile holder indicates that a predetermined orientation of the juvenile holder relative to the vehicle passenger seat has been achieved,
engaging a convex curved bottom wall of the seat-support base with an upwardly facing portion of the seat bottom and a forwardly faci

Assignees

• Dorel Juvenile Group Inc

Inventors

• Anderson Robert S
• Lehman David A
• Lin Mei-Hui

Classifications

• B60N2/2845

  having handles · CPC title

• A47D13/102

  with curved rocking members resting on the ground · CPC title

• B60N2/2875

  inclinable, as a whole or partially · CPC title

• B60N2/2821 Primary

  having a seat and a base part · CPC title

• B60N2/2806 Primary

  for securing the child seat to the vehicle · CPC title