Child restraint system for juvenile vehicle seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10457246-B2
Application number	US-201815951624-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 12, 2018
Priority date	Apr 12, 2017
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A child restraint, in accordance with the present disclosure, includes a juvenile seat and a child-restraint harness. The child-restraint harness may be configured to move to make it easier for a caregiver to seat and unseat a child.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A child restraint comprising
a juvenile seat including a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom to provide a child-seating space,
a child-restraint harness coupled to the juvenile seat, the child-restraint harness including a crotch belt and first and second side belts configured to mate with the crotch belt in a closed child-restraining mode to restrain a child seated in the child-seating space of the juvenile seat, and
side-belt mover means for automatically raising shoulder-gripping portions of the first and second side belts located above the seat bottom to open the child-seating space to receive a child to be seated on the seat bottom so that an opened child-seating-and releasing mode of the child-restraint harness is established and for lowering the shoulder-gripping portions of the first and second side belts automatically to engage shoulders of a child seated in the child-seating space in response to movement of the crotch belt relative to the seat bottom and toward mating engagement with the first and second side belts so that the closed child-restraining mode of the child-restraint harness is established.

2. The child restraint of claim 1 , wherein the side-belt mover includes a base arranged to underlie a child seated on the seat bottom, a first side-belt position changer coupled to the base and linked to the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt, a second side-belt position changer coupled to the base and linked to the shoulder-gripping portion of the second side belt, and an actuator strap having a forward end coupled to the crotch belt and a rearward end coupled to the first and second side-belt position changers.

3. The child restraint of claim 2 , wherein the actuator strap is arranged to lie between the base and the seat bottom.

4. The child restraint of claim 2 , wherein a portion of the first side-belt changer and a portion of the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt pass through a passageway formed in a tubular shoulder pad included in the child-restraint harness to link the first side-belt position changer to the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt.

5. The child restraint of claim 2 , wherein the first side-belt position changer includes an upper portion coupled to the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt and a lower portion coupled to the rearward end of the actuator strap.

6. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the second side-belt position changer includes an upper portion coupled to the shoulder-gripping portion of the second side belt and a lower portion coupled to the rearward end of the actuator strap.

7. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the upper portion of the first side-belt position changer includes a first elastic strip coupled to the base, an upper section of a first webbing arranged to extend along the first elastic strip, and retainer clips coupling the upper section of the first webbing to the first elastic strip to allow movement of the upper section of the first webbing relative to the first elastic strip during change of the child-restraint harness between the closed child-restraining mode and the opened child-seating-and-releasing mode and wherein the lower portion of the first side-belt position changer includes a lower section of the first webbing arranged to interconnect the rearward end of the actuator strap and the upper section of the first webbing.

8. The child restraint of claim 7 , wherein the lower section of the first webbing is arranged to lie between the base and the seat bottom.

9. The child restraint of claim 7 , wherein the first elastic strip is arranged to lie between the first webbing and the first side belt.

10. The child restraint of claim 7 , wherein the child-restraint harness further includes a first tubular pad formed to include a passageway extending therethrough and each of the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt, the first elastic strip, and the upper section of the first webbing extend through the passageway of the first tubular pad to couple the upper portion of first side-belt position changer to the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt.

11. The child restraint of claim 5 , wherein the upper portion of the second side-belt position changer includes a second elastic strip coupled to the base, an upper section of a second webbing arranged to extend along the second elastic strip, and retainer clips coupling the upper section of the second webbing to the second elastic strip to allow movement of the upper section of the second webbing relative to the second elastic strip during change of the child-restraint harness between the closed child-restraining mode and the opened child-seating-and-releasing mode and wherein the lower portion of the second side-belt position changer includes a lower section of the second webbing arranged to interconnect the rearward end of the actuator strap and the upper section of the second webbing.

12. The child restraint of claim 7 , wherein the child-restraint harness further includes a second tubular pad formed to include a passageway extending therethrough and each of the shoulder-gripping portion of the second side belt, the second elastic strip, and the upper section of the second webbing extend through the passageway of the second tubular pad to couple the upper portion of second side-belt position changer to the shoulder-gripping portion of the second side belt.

13. The child restraint of claim 11 , wherein the base is formed to include separate first and second upper apertures along an upper portion of the base that is coupled to the first and second elastic strips, the base is also formed to include a lower aperture along an opposite lower portion of the base, the first webbing is arranged to extend through the first upper aperture to locate the lower section of the first webbing between the base and the juvenile seat and the first elastic strip between the upper section of the first webbing and the juvenile seat, and the second webbing is arranged to extend through the second upper aperture to locate the lower section of the second webbing between the base and the juvenile seat and the second elastic strip between the upper section of the second webbing and the juvenile seat, and the crotch belt extends through the lower aperture.

14. The child restraint of claim 11 , wherein the base and the first and second elastic strips cooperate to form a monolithic component made of an elastic material and each of the first and second elastic strips is cantilevered to the base to cause the first and second elastic strips to lie in laterally spaced-apart relation to one another.

15. The child restraint of claim 2 , wherein a first elastic strip is included in the first side-belt position changer and a second elastic strip is included in the second side-belt position chamber, and the first elastic strip is arranged to apply a lifting force to the shoulder-gripping portion of the first side belt and the second elastic strip is arranged to apply a lifting force to the shoulder-gripping portion of the second side belts to hold the shoulder-gripping portions normally in raised positions above the seat bottom, and wherein the first side-belt position changer further includes a first webbing having a lower end coupled to the rearward end of the actuator strip and an upper end coupled to a distal tip of the first elastic strip included in the first side-belt position changer and retainer clips linking the first webbing to the first elastic strip to allow relative movement therebetween, and the second side-belt positio

Assignees

• Dorel Juvenile Group Inc

Inventors

• Coakley Devin J
• Mason Grant M
• Lin Mei-Hui

Classifications

• B60R22/024 Primary

  Adaptations for use by small passengers, e.g. children (B60R22/20 takes precedence; using belt anti-slip devices B60R22/30) · CPC title

• B60R2022/266

  Rear seats, e.g. benches · CPC title

• B60R22/26

  secured to the seat · CPC title

• B60N2/265

  Adaptations for seat belts · CPC title

• B60R22/105 Primary

  for children (adaptation of children's seats for seat belts B60N2/265, B60N2/2803) · CPC title