Child restraint method and apparatus for aircraft and other vehicles

An apparatus for holding a child on the lap of an adult while traveling in a moving vehicle. The apparatus generally comprises a body-surrounding means, such as a harness, strap, vest, torso band, woven member, fabric belt, or other structure positionable about the body of a child and attachable to some stationarily anchored member or portion of the vehicle. In a preferred embodiment, the body surrounding means is attachable to a standard lap seat belt, such as those provided to adult passengers on commercial airliners.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains generally to vehicular passenger safety 
restraint systems and more particularly to a safety restraint method and 
apparatus for securing children while seated on the lap of an adult 
passenger of an airliner or other vehicle. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Many commercial airlines in the United States presently allow young 
children (e.g. children of less than two years of age) to fly free of 
charge, or for reduced fares, provided that they remain seated on the lap 
of an adult traveling companion during flight. The reasoning which 
underlies such policy is that a child who remains seated on the lap of an 
adult travel companion does not occupy a separate passenger seat and, 
thus, may be afforded a fare reduction or fare waiver without substantial 
monetary loss to the airline. Such policy is believed to encourage air 
travel by young families or individuals having small children who, in many 
cases, would be unable to afford the cost of such travel if it were 
necessary for them to purchase a separate seat for each small child. 
While the above-stated policy may well promote desirable economic and 
business concerns, such policy is highly undesirable from a standpoint of 
child safety. On most, if not all, commercial airliners, a child seated on 
the lap of an adult travel companion is left without any safety restraint. 
As a result, sudden turbulence, movement, rapid positional change, or 
impact of the aircraft may thrust or inertially propel the child from its 
position on the lap of the adult and about the cabin of the aircraft, 
possibly resulting in severe injury and/or death to the child. 
Standard emergency landing/pre-crash procedures adopted by many airlines 
call for the adult travel companion to firmly grasp and hold the child 
upon the adult's lap during a crash or emergency landing. While such 
practice may prevent injury to the child during minor decelerations or 
turbulent conditions, it is believed that such procedure is wholly 
inadequate to safely restrain and hold the child during an actual crash, 
rapid positional change, or rapid deceleration. 
In view of the above-stated shortcomings of the prior art, there exists a 
need for a child restraint apparatus which is operative to securely hold a 
child on the lap of an adult travel companion seated in a moving vehicle, 
such as a commercial airliner. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes some or all of the shortcomings of the 
prior art by providing an apparatus for holding a child on the lap of an 
adult (e.g. adult, teenager, or older child) travel companion in a moving 
vehicle. In general, the method and apparatus of the present invention 
comprises placement, a harness, strap, vest, torso band, woven member, 
fabric belt, or other body surrounding means positionable about the body 
of the child and attachable to some stationarily anchored member or 
portion of the vehicle to hold the child on the lap of the adult travel 
companion and to prevent the child from being carried by inertia or 
otherwise removed from the lap of the adult travel companion in the event 
of sudden deceleration, turbulence, movement, or impact of the vehicle. 
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the invention, the child safety 
apparatus of the invention may comprise a harness, belt, vest, torso band, 
woven member, fabric belt, or any other body surrounding means 
positionable about at least a portion of the body of the child and 
attachable to a standard lap seat belt, shoulder harness, or any other 
type of safety belt commonly employed to safely hold adult passengers in 
their seats while traveling in vehicles, such as aircraft or automobiles. 
Further, in accordance with the invention, the child restraint apparatus 
may comprise a harness-like apparatus comprising at least one shoulder 
strap member positionable over a shoulder of the child, a front strap 
extending generally vertically downward over the abdomen of the child, at 
least one crotch strap or soft pad positionable under the crotch and 
between the legs of the child, and a back strap extending generally 
vertically up the back of the child, each of said straps being 
interconnected to form a substantially unitary harness-like apparatus 
positionable about the body of the child. A buckle or other 
connection/disconnection means may be incorporated into the harness to 
facilitate donning and/or removal of the harness. 
Still further in accordance with the invention the harness may incorporate 
one or more connectors or connecting means whereby the harness may be 
easily attached to an adjacent, stationarily anchored structure, such as 
an adult's lap seat belt, shoulder harness, vehicle armrest, seat, etc. 
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, various adjustment 
means and/or adjustment mechanisms, such as strap shortening/lengthening 
components and the like, may be incorporated into the child restraint 
apparatus in order to facilitate size-adjustment of the apparatus, thereby 
rendering the apparatus usable in connection with various sized children 
(e.g. infancy through two (2) years of age). 
Still further in accordanoe with the invention, the body surrounding means 
(e.g. the child's harness) may incorporate various accessory or additional 
safety features, such as a cervical support/neck collar and/or flotation 
apparatus to cause the child to float in the event of a water landing or 
submersion of the vehicle. 
A principal object of the invention is to prevent children from being 
injured or killed in vehicular accidents, such as aircraft crashes. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a child safety restraint 
method and apparatus which may be connected to a standard lap seat belt or 
other anchoring means so as to safely hold a child on the lap of an adult 
or in an unoccupied vehicle seat. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a child restraint method 
and apparatus Which may be used in vehicles, such as automobiles, as a 
substitute for the commonly used child safety seat, when such child safety 
seat is unavailable. 
A still further object of the invention is to provide a child safety method 
and apparatus of the foregoing character which is sufficiently adjustable 
to be employable with children of varying ages (e.g. from infancy through 
two (2) years of age), lightweight, portable, and not prohibitively 
expensive. 
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to 
those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding of the following 
detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention 
and consideration of the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The following detailed description, and the drawings to which it refers, 
are provided for the purpose of illustrating and describing certain 
embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of 
the invention in any way. 
In general, the present invention comprises a child's safety apparatus 
which is attachable to any stationarily structure, or to a standard lap 
seat belt, shoulder harness, or other safety restraint normally 
positionable around the body of an adult travel companion while the child 
is seated or otherwise positioned on the lap of the adult travel 
companion. One important application of this invention is to firmly attach 
a child to a standard lap seat belt or other restraint means provided to 
an adult passenger of an airliner or other vehicle. Accordingly, the 
invention is described herein with references to such application. It will 
be appreciated, however, that the apparatus of the present invention is 
not limited to uses in connection with standard lap seat belts. In fact, 
the apparatus of this invention may be attachable to any anchoring means 
including but not limited to a separate belt member provided in addition 
to the standard lap seat belt of the adult passenger, or any other 
stationary portions of the vehicle. 
Also, the apparatus of the present invention is usable in applications 
other than those wherein the child is seated on an adult's lap. For 
instance, adults who are flying on commercial aircraft with their small 
children sometimes seek out unoccupied passenger seats to lay or sit their 
small children on during flight. In such situations, the apparatus may be 
directly engaged with or connected to the buckled lap seat belt of the 
unoccupied seat so as to firmly hold and restrain the child while sitting 
or lying in the unoccupied seat. 
A specific embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 1, comprises a 
harness-like apparatus 10 having first 12 and second 14 shoulder straps 
positioned over the shoulders of the child. The front and rear ends of the 
shoulder straps 12, 14 are connected to first and second joining members 
16 and 18, respectively. As shown, when the apparatus 10 is operatively 
disposed upon the body of the child, the first joining member 16 is 
positioned over the center of the anterior thorax while the second joining 
member 18 is positioned over the center of the posterior thorax, generally 
between the shoulder blades of the child. The first joining member 16, 
when operatively positioned over the anterior thorax of the child, 
provides a clearly visible surface upon which an airline logo or the like 
may be displayed, as shown in FIG. 1. 
First and second crotch straps 20, 22 extend under the crotch and between 
the legs of the child. The first and second crotch straps 20, 22 are 
connected frontally to a third joining member 24 and in the rear to a 
fourth joining member 26. When the apparatus 10 is operatively disposed on 
the body of the child, it is preferable that the third joining member 24 
be positioned generally over the lower abdomen (i.e. below the navel yet 
above the genitalia) of the child. The fourth joining member 26 is 
preferably positioned over the lower back, slightly above the coccyx. 
A back strap 28 extends vertically between, and is firmly connected to, the 
second 18 and fourth 26 joining members. Multiple back straps may also be 
employed, however, in the embodiment shown a single back strap 28 is 
employed. 
A front strap 30 extends vertically between the first 16 and third 24 
joining members. Such front strap 30 comprises upper 32 and lower 34 strap 
segments with a buckle 36 positioned therebetween. As shown in FIG. 1, the 
buckle 36 serves to releasably join the upper 32 and lower 34 strap 
segments together to form a generally unitary, vertically disposed front 
strap member 30. Multiple front strap members may also be employed, 
however, in the embodiment shown a single front strap 30 is employed. 
It is preferable that the buckle 36 be of a type that will enable rapid and 
uncomplicated release of the child from the harness. 
Any suitable type(s) of buckle(s) or closure mechanism(s) may be employed 
in place of the specific buckle 36 shown. The buckle 36 is shown in an 
enlarged, exploded view in FIG. 4. Such buckle comprises a female portion 
40 and a male portion 42. The male portion 42 of the buckle 36 is 
insertible into the female portion 40. A depressible, spring biased button 
44 is mounted on the frontal surface of the male portion 42 of the buckle 
36. When the male portion 42 of the buckle 36 is inserted into the female 
portion 40 thereof, the button member 44 will spring outwardly into the 
rectangular aperture 46 of the female portion 40 of the buckle, thereby 
frictionally engaging the female 40 portion of the buckle 36 so as to hold 
the buckle 36 in its joined or buckled configuration. The buckle 36, when 
joined or buckled, is sufficiently sturdy to endure any foreseeable 
inertial or strain placed on the buckle 36 during an airline crash, 
vehicular crash, severe turbulence, or other foreseeable incident. 
When it is desired to remove the apparatus 10 from the body of the child 
80, the button 44 of buckle 36 is depressed inwardly and the male portion 
42 of the buckle 36 is extracted or removed from the female portion 40 
thereof. The outward spring bias or tension of the button 44 is preferably 
substantial enough to prevent small children (e.g. less than two years of 
age) from depressing the button 44, thereby ensuring that the child 80 
will not inadvertently disengage the buckle 36 during use. 
On other examples of the many buckle types which may be incorporated and 
used in connection with the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. Such 
alternate buckle type 36a comprises a female member 50 and a tri-prong 
male member 52. The male member 52 is slidably insertible into the female 
member 50. When inserted into the female member 50 the lateral processes 
or lugs 54, 56 formed on the outer prongs of the male member 52 will 
spring or otherwise extend out of side apertures 58 formed in the body of 
the female member 50. When it is desired to unbuckle or disconnect the 
buckle 36a, the lateral processes or lugs 54, 56 of the side members must 
be depressed sufficiently to permit them to clear the remainder of the 
body of the female member 50, thereby permitting the male member 52 to be 
extracted from its position within the female member 50. The tension 
required to so depress the lateral processes 54, 56 of the outer members 
of the male member 52 is preferably such that a small child (e.g. less 
than two years of age) would be unable to effect such action, thereby 
ensuring that the child 80 will not inadvertently disengage the buckle 36a 
during use. 
It will be appreciated that many types of adjustment mechanisms may be 
incorporated into the apparatus 10 to permit adjustment of the size of the 
apparatus to fit various sizes of children. It is preferable that the 
apparatus 10 be rendered sufficiently adjustable to fit children from 
infancy through age two (2). In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, 
the length of the strap members 34 and/or 32 attached to the buckle 36, 
36a may be adjusted by drawing the tail of such strap members through a 
gripping loop member, thereby shortening the overall length of the harness 
10. Other adjustment mechanisms or means may be utilized to effect further 
adjustment (e.g. shortening and/or lengthening) of the apparatus and/or 
its various belt members. 
Indeed, any or all of the individual belt segments which make up the 
harness may be endowed with length-wise adjustability by incorporating 
standard adjustment mechanisms and/or means previously or hereafter known 
in the art. Indeed, the joining members 16, 18, 24, 26 which serve to join 
the individual strap members may themselves comprise slidable adjustment 
members which, when advanced upwardly on the shoulder straps 12, 14 or 
downwardly on the crotch straps 20, 22 will serve to pull such shoulder 
12, 14 or crotch 20, 22 straps closer together so as to snugly and 
appropriately fit the particular child on whom the apparatus 10 is 
disposed. 
Additionally, it is desirable that the shoulder straps 12, 14 be held 
snugly in a desirable position over the shoulders of the child. To wit: 
each shoulder strap 12, 14 should pass over the top of the child's 
shoulder, lateral to the neck yet medial to the acromioclavicular junction 
of the shoulder. Such positioning of the shoulder straps 12, 14 will serve 
to minimize the likelihood of injury to the neck or shoulder joints in the 
event of a sudden impact or crash. In order to achieve such desirable 
positioning of the shoulder straps 12, 14 in various-sized children, one 
or more adjustment member(s) 62 may be provided for altering or adjusting 
the width or distance between the shoulder straps 12, 14 when operatively 
disposed on the body of a child. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 2a, the 
adjustment member 62 comprises a rigid, semi-rigid, or flexible member 
which traverses between the left and right shoulder straps 12, 14. The 
slidable adjustment member 62, shown in FIG. 2a, is attachable at various 
points along the shoulder straps by way of snaps or attachment points 64. 
It is to be appreciated, however, that the adjustment member 62 may be 
attached or fixed at desired points on the straps 12, 14 by many other 
types of affixation or strap gripping mechanisms, presently or hereafter 
known in the art, including clamps, clips, jaws, snaps, buttons, gripping 
members, etc. One advantage to using clasps or gripping members as opposed 
to the snaps 64 shown in FIG. 1 is that such clamps or strap gripping 
members are attachable at virtually any point on the strap members 12, 14 
so as to allow fine adjustment of the straps. The use of snaps 64 or 
buttons, on the other hand, permits attachment of the adjustment member 62 
only at predetermined discrete locations whereat the snaps 64 or buttons 
have been located. 
As the adjustment member 62 is advanced upwardly (arrow A) along the 
shoulder straps 12, 14, the member 62 will cause the shoulder straps 12, 
14 to be drawn more closely together (i.e. medially, toward the mid-line 
of the wearer's body). Conversely, when the member 62 is retracted 
downwardly (arrow B), it will allow the shoulder straps to spread further 
apart (i.e. laterally toward the shoulders of the child). Such will enable 
and/or assist in adjusting the positioning of the shoulder straps 12, 40 
on the wearer's shoulders and will aid in adjusting the apparatus 10 to a 
desired position. Although the drawing (FIG. 1) shows only one (1) such 
adjustment member 62 deployed on the back portions of the shoulder straps 
12, 14, it will be appreciated that additional and/or alternative 
adjustment members 62 may be deployed on the front portions of the 
shoulder straps 12, 14 and/or the front and/or rear portions of the crotch 
straps 20, 22 to achieve further and/or alternative adjustability of the 
harness 10. 
Optional shoulder pads 66, 68 are positioned on portions of the shoulder 
straps 12, 14 so as to provide comfort during normal wear and to provide 
additional cushioning and injury prevention in the event of a sudden 
impact or undue turbulence. 
An optional crotch pad 70 made of netting, fabric, flexible plastic, or 
other material may be used in place of the dual crotch straps 20, 22. This 
optional crotch pad 70 is particularly useful when the apparatus 10 is 
being used with older children who no longer wear diapers. In such 
children, it is desirable that one avoid unnecessary irritation of or 
possible injury to the genitalia and, thus, the use of a flexible and/or 
contoured crotch pad 70 may be a desirable option in such older children. 
It will be appreciated that the flexible and/or contoured crotch pad 70 
may be form fitted, pouched, or otherwise shaped for maximum comfort of 
the child during wearing of the apparatus 10. With younger children who 
routinely wear diapers, it is believed that the use of the dual crotch 
straps 20, 22, as shown in FIG. 1, will be satisfactory and will not cause 
undue irritation or injury to the genitalia in the event of a sudden 
impact. 
Another optional accessory which may be added to the basic apparatus 10 of 
the present invention is a slidable or non-slidable connecting member 72 
to facilitate connection of the apparatus 10 to a lap seat belt, shoulder 
harness, or other safety restraint means of the type commonly provided to 
adult passengers in aircraft, automobiles, and other vehicles. 
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a slidable member 72 or body may 
be disposed on the back strap 28 portion of the apparatus 10 so as to be 
slidably movable between at least a first position and a second position. 
Loop members 74 form a part of and extend rearwardly from the slidable 
member 72. Such loop members 74 are sized and configured to permit passage 
of the seat belt, restraint harness, or other means therethrough. 
Specifically, in the embodiments shown, the loop members 74 are spaced 
sufficiently far apart to permit the buckle portion of a standard lap seat 
belt to comfortably reside therebetween. FIG. 6 shows the slidable member 
72 positioned in a first position such that, when the seat belt 84 is 
inserted therein and buckled, the child 80 will be held in a comfortable 
seated position on the lap of a an adult passenger, as shown in FIG. 8. 
FIG. 7 shows the slidable member 72 disposed in a second position, 
consistent with a "crash-ready" posture. When in such second position, the 
seat belt 84 of the adult is once again inserted through the loop portions 
84 of the slidable member 72 and securely buckled. With the seat belt so 
disposed, the child 80 is held securely in a supine or dorsally recumbent 
position on the lap of the adult, as shown in FIG. 9. 
It will be appreciated that the provision of a non-slidable or slidable 
attachment member 72 is not necessary to the functioning of the apparatus 
10. A standard lap seat belt or other belt means may easily be passed 
between the back strap 28 of the apparatus and the body of the child so as 
to firmly connect and hold the body of the child on the lap of the adult 
in either the seated or "crash-ready" positions, shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. 
Other optional accessories, such as cervical/neck supports for small 
children and/or flotation devices, may also be attached and/or 
incorporated into the apparatus 10. 
OPERATION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred mode of operation of the child's safety apparatus 10 of the 
present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in FIG. 8, 
under normal traveling conditions the child 80 is seated on the lap of an 
adult traveling companion 82. The apparatus 10 of the present invention is 
operatively disposed about the body of the child. The lap seat belt 84, 
shoulder harness, or other restraint means of the adult traveling 
companion 82 or other stationary or anchored restraint means is connected 
to the apparatus 10 so as to securely hold the child 80 in a seated 
position on the lap of the adult traveling companion 82. With the child in 
such normally seated position (depicted in FIG. 8), the adult companion's 
lap seat belt 84 engages the apparatus 10 and thereby serves to restrain 
the child and prevent the child from being projected or inertially moved 
from the lap of the travel companion 82 in the event of severe turbulence, 
rapid positional change, or unexpected impact. 
In the event of an impending impact or crash landing, it is standard 
practice for the adult traveling companion 82 to place the child 80 in a 
"crash-ready" position on the lap of the adult travel companion 82. 
Accordingly, should it become necessary to assume such "crash-ready" 
position, the apparatus 10 of the present invention is easily deployable 
to an alternate crash-ready disposition, as depicted in FIG. 9. 
Specifically, the child 80 is positioned in a generally supine or dorsally 
recumbent position on the lap of the adult travel companion 82. The legs 
of the child may extend on either side of the body of the adult travel 
companion 82. It is preferable that the adult travel companion 82 cradle 
the child's head in his/her hands while bending over the child in a 
protective fashion, as illustrated in FIG. 9. If possible, the travel 
companion 82 may bend fully over the child so that his/her head is 
immediately adjacent the head of the child. The lap seat belt 84 of the 
adult travel companion is firmly connected to the apparatus 10 adjacent 
the buttocks or lower back of the child 80 so as to firmly hold or 
restrain the child 80 on the lap of the adult travel companion 82 and to 
prevent the child from being propelled forward in the event of an impact 
or sudden stop. 
The buckle 36 may be quickly unbuckled or detached to release the child 
from the apparatus 10 even as the apparatus 10 remains engaged with or 
connected to the adult's seat belt 84. Alternatively, the buckle of the 
adult's seat belt 84 may be unbuckled or detached to free the child from 
restraint, while the buckle 36 of the apparatus 10 remaining closed or 
buckled such that the apparatus 10 remains deployed in its operative 
position on the child's body. 
If the child's safety apparatus 10 of the present invention is provided 
with an optional attachment member 72 (FIGS. 6 and 7), the lap seat belt 
84 of the adult travel companion may be passed into and connected to such 
attachment member 72. If the child's safety apparatus 10 is not provided 
with such optional attachment member 72, the lap seat belt 84 may simply 
be passed between the body of the child and one or more of the strap 
members or other portion(s) of the apparatus 10. As such, the adult's seat 
belt 84 will effectively engage the apparatus 10 so as to hold the child 
securely on the lap of the adult traveling companion 82. 
When not in use, the apparatus 10 is sufficiently lightweight and portable 
to be easily stored and carried in a coat pocket or carry-on bag. If a 
commercial airline were to maintain a supply of such apparatus 10 on board 
each airliner, the apparatus 10 could easily be stored in a drawer, 
cabinet, or overhead luggage rack and dispensed or loaned to passengers on 
an as-needed basis. 
The foregoing description and illustrations of the preferred embodiments 
are intended only to aid in understanding and description of the 
invention. Numerous modifications and changes to the depicted embodiments 
will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, instead of a 
harness-like apparatus 10 it may be desirable to employ an alternative 
embodiment, such as a vest, jacket, torso band, singular belt member, 
strap, plurality of straps, lightweight netting, or other 
materials/configurations capable of achieving the desired function of the 
invention. Additionally, the child restraint apparatus 10 of the present 
invention need not be specifically connectable to a lap seat belt, or 
other safety restraint of the adult travel companion, as shown in the 
above-described preferred embodiment. Indeed, a separate anchoring belt, 
strap, or any other attachment member may be employed for attaching the 
child restraining apparatus 10 of the invention to any anchoring structure 
or surface of the vehicle (e.g. the seat, armrests, floor, etc.). Also, 
the child need not be seated on the lap of an adult for the apparatus 10 
of the invention to be usable. Indeed, the apparatus 10 may be attachable 
to a buckled seat belt or other anchoring means when the child is lying or 
seated in an unoccupied passenger seat, not on the lap of an adult. 
It is intended that all of the above-mentioned modifications and 
alternatives, and others, be included within the scope of the following 
claims and the equivalents thereof.