Adjustable headrest for juvenile vehicle seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11325508-B2
Application number	US-201816335144-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2018
Priority date	Sep 26, 2017
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

A child restraint includes a seat bottom and a seat back. The seat back includes a backrest and an adjustable headrest that is mounted for up-and-down movement on the backrest by a caregiver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A child restraint comprising:
a seat bottom,
a seat back including a backrest arranged to extend upwardly from the seat bottom and an adjustable headrest mounted for up-and-down movement on the backrest between a lowered position located at a first distance from the seat bottom and a raised position located at a relatively higher second distance from the seat bottom to accommodate and seat children of different sizes, and
a headrest-height controller mounted on the adjustable headrest for up-and-down movement with the adjustable headrest relative to the backrest, the headrest-height controller includes a headrest lock arranged to move relative to the seat bottom to engage and disengage the backrest to control up-and-down movement of the adjustable headrest between the lowered and raised positions, a mover activator including an activation handle mounted on the adjustable headrest for up-and-down movement relative to the adjustable headrest and the backrest, and a headrest-lock mover arranged to move the headrest lock relative to the backrest to disengage the backrest to free the adjustable headrest to move up and down relative to the backrest in response to upward movement of the activation handle relative to the backrest and away from the seat bottom and to engage the backrest to retain the headrest in a selected one of the lowered and raised positions in response to downward movement of the adjustable headrest relative to the backrest and toward the seat bottom upon arrival of the adjustable headrest at such a selected one of the lowered and raised positions and during downward movement of the activation handle relative to the backrest,
wherein the headrest-lock mover includes a first driver-engagement rack coupled to the activation handle and a rotary driver mounted for rotation relative to the backrest about an axis of rotation that extends in a rearward direction through the backrest to convert motion of the activation handle relative to the backrest into motion of the headrest lock relative to the backrest owing to meshing engagement of teeth in the rotary driver with the first driver-engagement rack to cause outward and inward movement-inducing forces to be applied to the headrest lock in response to movement of the activation handle relative to the backrest.

2. The child restraint of claim 1 , wherein the backrest is formed to include a lower set of opposing first and second blocker-receiver sockets located at a first height above the seat bottom to align with the lowered position of the adjustable headrest and an upper set of first and second opposing blocker-receiver sockets located at a relatively higher second height above the seat bottom to align with the raised position of the adjustable headrest; and
wherein the headrest lock includes a first headrest-motion blocker that is constrained to move laterally relative to the adjustable headrest to extend into the first blocker-receiver socket of the lower set to engage the backrest in response to application of an outward movement-inducing force applied to the first headrest-motion blocker by the headrest-lock mover when the adjustable headrest is located in the lower position and the activation handle is moved downwardly relative to the backrest and toward the seat bottom and to withdraw from the first blocker-receiver socket of the lower set to disengage the backrest in response to application of an inward movement-inducing force applied to the first headrest-motion blocker by the headrest-lock mover when the adjustable headrest is located in the lower position and the activation handle is moved upwardly relative to the backrest and away from the seat bottom to establish a headrest-unlocking mode of the headrest-height controller.

3. The child restraint of claim 2 , wherein the headrest-lock mover further includes a second driver-engagement rack coupled to the first headrest-motion blocker, and wherein the rotary driver is configured to convert motion of the activation handle relative to the backrest into motion of the first headrest-motion blocker relative to the backrest owing to meshing engagement of teeth in the rotary driver with the first and second driver-engagement racks to cause the outward and inward movement-inducing forces to be applied to the first headrest-motion blocker in response to movement of the activation handle relative to the backrest.

4. The child restraint of claim 3 , wherein the second driver-engagement rack coupled to the first headrest-motion blocker is a main first-gear rack that includes an outer blocker-extending surface and a companion inner blocker-retracting surface which cooperate to define therebetween a main gear-tooth receiver channel in the first headrest-motion blocker and the rotary driver includes a first motion-transfer gear comprising a single main gear tooth arranged to extend into the main gear-tooth receiver channel and to move outwardly to engage the blocker-extending surface to apply a movement-inducing force to the main first-gear rack to cause the first headrest-motion blocker to move relative to the backrest to extend into the first blocker-receiver socket during rotation of the rotary driver in a first direction relative to the backrest to establish a headrest-locking mode of the headrest-height controller and to move inwardly to engage the blocker-retracting surface of the main first-gear rack coupled to the first headrest-motion blocker to apply a movement-inducing force to the main first-gear rack to cause the first headrest-motion blocker to move relative to the backrest to withdraw from the first blocker-receiver socket during rotation of the rotary driver in an opposite second direction relative to the backrest to establish a headrest-unlocking mode of the headrest-height controller.

5. The child restraint of claim 4 , wherein the headrest lock further includes a second headrest-motion blocker that is constrained to move laterally relative to the adjustable headrest and laterally away from the first headrest-motion blocker to extend into the second blocker-receiver socket of the lower set to engage the backrest in response to application of an outward movement-inducing force applied to the second headrest-motion blocker by the headrest-lock mover when the adjustable headrest is located in the lower position and the activation handle is moved downwardly relative to the backrest and toward the seat bottom to establish a headrest-locking mode of the headrest-height controller and to withdraw from the second blocker-receiver socket of the lower set to disengage the backrest in response to application of an inward movement-inducing force applied to the second headrest-motion blocker by the headrest-lock mover when the adjustable headrest is located in the lower position and the activation handle is moved upwardly relative to the backrest and away from the seat bottom to establish a headrest-unlocking mode of the headrest-height controller; and
wherein the headrest-lock mover further includes an auxiliary first-gear rack coupled to the second headrest-motion blocker includes an outer blocker-extending surface and a companion blocker-retracting surface which cooperate to define therebetween an auxiliary gear-tooth receiver channel in the second headrest-motion blocker, and
wherein the first motion-transfer gear of the rotary driver further includes a single auxiliary gear tooth arranged to extend into the auxiliary gear-tooth receiver channel and to move outwardly to engage the outer blocker-extending surface of the auxiliary first-gear rack coupled to the second headrest-motion blocker to apply a movement-inducing force to the first driver-engagement rack to cause the second headrest-motion blocker to move relative to the backrest to extend into the second blocker-receiver socket during rotation of th

Assignees

• Dorel Juvenile Group Inc

Inventors

• Johnson Jason H
• Lin Mei-Hui
• Coakley Devin J
• Mason Grant M

Classifications

• B60N2/812

  characterised by their locking devices · CPC title

• B60N2/2851 Primary

  provided with head-rests · CPC title

• B60N2/815

  Release mechanisms, e.g. buttons · CPC title

• B60N2/829

  characterised by their adjusting mechanisms, e.g. electric motors · CPC title