Infant car seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11718207-B2
Application number	US-202016868636-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2020
Priority date	May 13, 2019
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

An infant car seat is adapted for being installed on a seat carrier. The infant car seat includes a seat shell, a latch, a release unit, and a resilient member. The seat shell is formed with a receiving space having an opening. The latch is disposed in the receiving space, and is adapted for engaging with a ledge of the seat carrier. The release unit includes an actuating member operable to drive the latch to move from a rest position, where a portion of the latch protrudes out of the opening for engaging with the ledge of the seat carrier, to a retracted position, where the latch is retracted into the receiving space. The resilient member is connected between the seat shell and the latch for biasing the latch toward the rest position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An infant car seat adapted for being installed on a seat carrier, said infant car seat comprising:
a seat shell formed with a receiving space, and including a wall that has an opening;
a latch disposed in said receiving space, and adapted for engaging with a ledge of the seat carrier;
a release unit including an actuating member movable in a driving direction relative to said latch to move said latch from a rest position, said actuating member being positioned between said latch and said wall, wherein a portion of said latch protrudes out of said opening for engaging with the ledge of the seat carrier, to a retracted position, wherein said latch is retracted into said receiving space, wherein movement of said actuating member in said driving direction drives said latch to move in a transverse direction angularly offset from the driving direction; and
a resilient member that is compressible via operation of said actuating member in a direction away from said wall with said opening, and is connected between said seat shell and said latch, said resilient member being oriented to bias said latch toward said rest position via a biasing force in a direction of said wall with said opening.

2. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
one of said actuating member and said latch has a contact surface being in sliding contact with the other one of said actuating member and said latch and being inclined relative to the driving direction, transverse direction being perpendicular to the driving direction.

3. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said actuating member is wedge-shaped and has said contact surface, a width of said actuating member in the transverse direction decreasing in the driving direction.

4. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said latch has a portion formed with said contact surface and having a wedge-shaped cross-section, a width of said portion of said latch in the transverse direction increasing in the driving direction.

5. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
said seat shell has a side wall formed with said opening;
said actuating member is connected rotatably between said latch and said side wall;
said release unit further includes a connecting member that is connected pivotally to said actuating member, and that is movable in a driving direction to drive said actuating member to rotate about an axis extending in a transverse direction which is perpendicular to the driving direction; and
said actuating member has a contact surface that extends helically about the axis and that is in sliding contact with said latch such that rotation of said actuating member about the axis drives said latch to move from the rest position to the retracted position.

6. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
said seat shell has a side wall formed with said opening;
said actuating member is co-movably connected to said latch and is disposed at a side of said latch opposite to said side wall;
said release unit further includes a connecting member, and a rotating link that is rotatably mounted to said seat shell and that has opposite ends respectively and pivotally connected to said actuating member and said connecting member; and
said connecting member is movable in a driving direction to rotate said rotating link, thereby driving said latch to move, via said actuating member, in a transverse direction which is perpendicular to the driving direction from the rest position to the retracted position.

7. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said release unit further includes:
a connecting member that has an end connected to said actuating member; and
a release handle that is connected to another end of said connecting member opposite to said actuating member and that is operable to move said connecting member in the driving direction.

8. The infant car seat of claim 1 , wherein said opening of said receiving space is disposed substantially center of said seat shell along a front-rear direction, and has a structure symmetrical with respect to an imaginary vertical plane extending along a left-right direction which is perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

9. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said latch has a latching surface that is adapted for coupling with the ledge of the seat carrier when said latch is at the rest position, and that is elongated along a front-rear direction.

10. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
said latch includes
an engaging end portion protruding out of said opening when said latch is at the rest position, and having a latching surface that is adapted for coupling with the ledge of the seat carrier when said latch is at the rest position,
a pivot end portion pivoted to the seat shell, and
a connecting portion interconnecting said engaging end portion and said pivot end portion;
said actuating member is in sliding contact with said connecting portion of said latch; and
said latch pivots relative to said seat shell when moving between the rest position and the retracted position.

11. An infant car seat adapted for being installed on a seat carrier, said infant car seat comprising:
a seat shell formed with a receiving space and including a wall having that has an opening;
a latch disposed in said receiving space, and adapted for engaging with a ledge of the seat carrier;
a release unit including an actuating member that is movable in a driving direction relative to said latch to move said latch from a rest position, wherein a portion of said latch protrudes out of said opening for engaging with the ledge of the seat carrier, to a retracted position, wherein said latch is retracted into said receiving space, wherein movement of said actuating member in said driving direction drives said latch to move in a transverse direction angularly offset from the driving direction; and
a resilient member connected between said seat shell and said latch for biasing said latch toward the rest position,
wherein said latch includes:
an engaging end portion protruding out of said opening when said latch is in the rest position, said engaging end portion having a latching surface that is adapted for coupling with said ledge of the seat carrier when said latch is at said rest position,
a pivot end portion pivoted to said seat shell, and
a connecting portion located between said engaging end portion and said pivot end portion,
wherein said actuating member contacts said connecting portion of said latch at a position between said latch and said wall, and said latch pivots relative to said seat shell when moving between the rest position and the retracted position.

12. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said pivot end defines pivot location, said latch being pivotable about said pivot location.

13. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said pivot end is positioned relatively below said engagement end.

14. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 11 , wherein:
said seat shell has a side wall formed with said opening;
said actuating member is connected between said latch and said side wall; and
one of said actuating member and said latch has a contact surface being in sliding contact with the other one of said actuating member and said latch and being inclined relative to the driving direction,
the transverse direction being perpendicular to the driving direction.

15. The infant car seat as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said latch has a portion formed with said contact surface and having a wedge-shaped cross-se

Assignees

• Wonderland Switzerland Ag

Inventors

• Mason Kyle S
• Eggert-Crowe Colin F

Classifications

• B60N2/2821 Primary

  having a seat and a base part · CPC title

• B60N2/2842

  adapted to carry the child, when dismounted from the vehicle · CPC title

• A47D1/004

  in height · CPC title

• A47D1/006

  dismountable · CPC title

• B60N2/2851

  provided with head-rests · CPC title