Infant safety seat for motor vehicles

Abstract: An infant safety seat for use in a motor vehicle, having a rigid seat back (12), is adapted to be mounted in a vehicle so that a seated occupant faces rearwardly. The side of the seat back (12) facing away from the occupant has a guide (30) for receiving a shoulder portion (24) of an adult seat belt and a clamp (28, 32) for inhibiting movement of the shoulder portion (24) of the adult seat belt relative to the seat back (12). A cover (40) is arranged, when in a closed position, to enclose the guide (30, 32) and to cause engagement of the clamp (26 28).

Description: This invention relates to an infant safety seat for use in a motor vehicle of the type comprising a rigid seat back, a seat portion adapted to be mounted in a vehicle so that a seated occupant faces rearwardly, guide means on the side of the seat back facing away from the occupant for receiving a shoulder portion of an adult seat belt, first and second relatively movable clamping elements mounted on the seat back, a cover arranged, when in a closed position to enclose the guide means and carrying camming means for moving the first clamping element into a clamping position relative to the second clamping element to cause engagement of the clamping means so as to inhibit movement of the shoulder portion of the adult seat belt relative to the seat back. A safety seat of this type is disclosed in EP-A-0609890 which was published after the priority date of this patent. DE-U-8911875 discloses a safety seat intended for rearward facing use, having a guide clip on the side of the seat back facing away from the occupant forming a sinuous path for a shoulder portion of an adult seat belt. According to the invention, in a safety seat of the type described above, the first and second clamping elements have a plurality of mutually parallel ribs arranged to provide a sinuous path for the shoulder portion so as to increase the friction resisting movement of the shoulder portion relative to the seat back. Embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a safety seat in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention mounted a vehicle seat, with the cover closed; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front view of the safety seat shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in Figure 3, with the vehicle seat belt not shown; and Figure 5 is a side view similar to Figure 1 but with the cover open. The drawings show an infant seat 10 having a seat back 12 and a seat portion 14, together with a base 16 which rests on a vehicle seat 18. The seat 10 is secured in place by an adult seat belt, the lap portion 20 of which engages in guides 22 on the sides of the seat portion 14. The shoulder portion 24 of the adult seat belt engages with a guide comprising a pair of mutually parallel ribs 26 and 28, interconnected by a top stop 30, integrally moulded with the seat back 12, together with a clamp member 32 which fits between the ribs 26 and 28 and has its bottom end coupled thereto by a pivot pin 34 (see Figures 2, 5 and 6). A cover 40 has its bottom edge pivotally attached to the seat back 12 by hinges 42 and 44. A flange 46 extends round the side and upper edges of the cover 40. A pair of ribs 48 and 50 are formed on the inner surface of the cover 40 in alignment with the clamp member 32. When the cover 40 is closed, these ribs 48 and 50 serve as camming means to press the clamp member 32 towards the seat back 12. A sliding catch 52 is mounted on the opposite end of the cover 40 to the hinges 42 and 44. As can be seen from Figure 4, the catch 52 has flanges 54 and 56 at its outer and inner ends (relative to the axis of the hinges 42 and 44) which are slidable received in respective guideways 58 and 60 in the cover 40. A compression spring 62 in the lower guideway 60 biases the sliding catch 52 away from the hinges 42 and 44 so that a push-button surface 64 thereon abuts against the adjacent end of the outer guideway 60. The sliding catch 52 carries a hook formation 66 which is engageable with a complementary formation 68 on the seat back 14 to hold the cover 40 in its closed position. The hook formation 66 has a ramp surface 70 on its outer end which engages with the complementary formation 68 as the cover 40 is pushed into its closed position to displace the hook formation 66 round the edge of the complementary formation 68 until it can snap into its engaged position. During installation, the seat 10 is first positioned on the vehicle seat 18 with its cover 40 open. Next the adult seat belt fastened, with the shoulder portion 24 thereof positioned so as to lie across the ribs 26 and 28, between the top stop 30 and the clamp member 32, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The cover 40 is then closed and its catch 52 fastened. The ribs 48 and 50 on the inside of the cover 40 press the clamp member 32 between the ribs 26 and 28 on the seat back 12, clamping the shoulder portion 24 therebetween, as shown in Figure 2.

Claims: An infant safety seat for use in a motor vehicle, comprising a rigid seat back (12), a seat portion (14) adapted to be mounted in a vehicle so that a seated occupant faces rearwardly, guide means (30, 32) on the side of the seat back (12) facing away from the occupant for receiving a shoulder portion (24) of an adult seat belt, first and second relatively movable clamping elements (26, 28, 32) mounted on the seat back (12), a cover (40) arranged, when in a closed position to enclose the guide means (30, 32) and carrying camming means (48, 50) for moving the first clamping element (32) into a clamping position relative to the second clamping element (26, 28) to cause engagement of the clamping means (26 28, 32) so as to inhibit movement of the shoulder portion (24) of the adult seat belt relative to the seat back (12), whereby the first and second clamping elements have a plurality of mutually parallel ribs (26, 28, 32) arranged to provide a sinuous path for the shoulder portion (24) so as to increase the friction resisting movement of the shoulder portion (24) relative to the seat back (12).

Inventors: BURLEIGH DAVID WILLIAM, CZERNAKOWSKI WALDEMAR, WETTER HERMANN, BURLEIGH, DAVID WILLIAM, CZERNAKOWSKI, WALDEMAR, WETTER, HERMANN
Applicants: BRITAX EXCELSIOR, BRITAX ROEMER KINDERSICHERHEIT, BRITAX EXCELSIOR LIMITED, BRITAX ROEMER KINDERSICHERHEIT GMBH
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B60N2
IPC codes: B60N2