Abstract:
A head rest for a car seat used to transport a child in an automobile is positionally adjustable vertically along the seat back on which the head rest is mounted. A latching mechanism, actuated by a button at the top of the head rest, is located within the frame of the head rest and includes a releasable latch engagable with the channels slidably supporting the support rails of the head rest. A retainer clip is mounted at the top of the channels to prevent the head rest from being separated from the seat back once assembled thereon. The head rest includes a pair of laterally spaced wings that are pivotally connected to the rear support portion of the head rest to be positionally adjustable relative to the child&#39;s head through an angular displacement of approximately 45 degrees. The pivot mechanism is operable to lock the wings in the selected position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/717,331, filed on Sep. 15, 2005, and on U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/760,235, filed on Jan. 19, 2006, the contents of both provisional patent applications being incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to a car seat for use in transporting children in an automobile, and, more particularly, to a head rest for the car seat that can be adjusted in position to support the child&#39;s head comfortably and safely.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Car safety seats for children are commercially available in a many configurations corresponding to differences in the age, weight, and size of the child being transported. Parents can choose a car seat that is not only the correct size, but also suits their tastes, budget, and life style. As children grow in size and maturity level, they need different kinds of car seats. For example, a child may initially use a rearwardly facing infant car seat, then graduate to a forward facing toddler seat with an integrated harness, and finally to a belt positioning booster seat utilizing the vehicle&#39;s lap and shoulder belt system before being able to safely use the vehicle&#39;s seat belts alone.  
         [0004]     There are many car seats on the market that can be used in multiple configurations. For instance, a forward facing car seat with an integral harness appropriate for a 20-40 pound child might accommodate a child weighing 30-100 pounds as a belt positioning booster seat with the removal of the harness and utilizing the vehicle&#39;s lap and shoulder belts. This is convenient for the care giver because it means fewer seats to purchase. Some parents choose to buy a belt positioning booster seat for their older child. Such a booster seat may be configured with a high back, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,143, granted to Davis Amirault on Jan. 27, 2004, or can have no back at all. Older children who don&#39;t want to be seen sitting in a “baby seat” like this option and parents don&#39;t have to manage a big bulky car seat.  
         [0005]     Currently available car seats typically have a monolithic shell, i.e. the back and seat cannot be used separately. Some car seats are designed to have a no back base option, but are configured as a separate seat fastened under the monolithic seat and back, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,999, issued on Jul. 5, 1998, to James Kain. The problem with this configuration is the redundancy of seats; one as part of the monolithic shell, and one as a seat only.  
         [0006]     States review and regulate restraint age limits and weight requirements. With continuing age and weight increases for recommendations in car restraint safety, a variety of restraint sizes are needed to accommodate the increasing span of children needing car seat safety restraints. The shoulder height and proper placement of belt paths are critical to the safety function of car seat restraints. As the child grows the headrest area needs to accommodate their body size and move up as they grow. Some seats are used for more than one child and the head rest area needs to move up and down to fit properly with each child. Purchasing new seats as the child grows is a costly alternative. Some seats on the market have up and down head rest adjustment but they are not always obvious or easy to operate. One example of a car seat having an adjustable head rest can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,074, granted to Ronald Asbach on Sep. 23, 2003, wherein the head rest is vertically movable on the seat back with the harness straps passing through the head rest to be adjustable therewith. Another example can be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0225136, filed by William Horton and published on Oct. 13, 2005, in which the head rest is vertically adjustable relative to the seat back.  
         [0007]     Children frequently fall asleep while in a car seat. The result is their head falls forward and is not adequately supported. The side supports on some child safety seats are either angled out too far to rest the head or positioned correctly but are rigid and immovable, such as is shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,074 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0225136. The side supports need to move in and out to accommodate differing head sizes. The side supports need to be able to move in order to rest the head while sleeping then move back out to give the child comfort and visibility while traveling. Side supports alone are not a solution to prevent the head from falling forward as the child falls asleep. The child may rest his head sideways, but the movement in the vehicle will cause the child&#39;s head to fall forward and bob uncomfortably.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,794, issued to Kenzou Kassai on Nov. 19, 2002, discloses a car seat having a sleeping support position controller with bearings provided on the headrest and shafts provided on the sleeping supports. Concave portions provided on the lower surfaces of the shafts engage with convex portions provided on the lower surfaces of the bearings and the coil springs inserted from above maintain this engaging state with an elastic force, thereby fixing the positions of the sleeping supports. U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,903, granted to Eugene Balensiefer on Jun. 6, 2006, discloses an adjuster for a car seat that includes a dial actuator coupled to the back support for rotational movement relative to the back support, the dial actuator actuating a lock-release mechanism of the height-adjustment mechanism and freeing the headrest for up-and-down movement relative to the seat shell. U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,294 granted on Oct. 15, 2002, to James Kain teaches a car seat having a seat back with a forwardly facing surface adapted to face toward the occupant of the seat and including a recess in the forwardly facing surface. A headrest retainer is located in the head rest recess and is configured to retain the head rest in a selected one of the lowered and raised positions relative to the seat back at the option of a user.  
         [0009]     Head rests for automobiles are also vertically adjustable and can be provided with positionable wing members, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,337, granted to Emillio De Fillippo on May 30, 2000, for an automotive head rest that includes a framework and a pair support rods slidably coupled within the framework. Positioning notches cooperate with a pair of arms carried by a slider member movable in the framework of the headrest, in a direction perpendicular to the support rods, between an engaged position and a disengaged position. The head rest found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,933 issued on Sep. 15, 1998, to Leslie Tsui utilizes an elongated arm and a mounting member having an internally toothed portion adapted to engage with a radially toothed exterior portion in the arm. A position adjusting assembly for an automotive head rest having a coupling mechanism, an operating member and a connecting cable is disclosed in European Patent Publication EP 1136313 wherein the cable exerts a force on the coupling mechanism to project a locking pin into notches in the support member.  
         [0010]     Adjustable wings for automotive hear rests are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,668, granted to Matthias Scheffziick on Apr. 24, 2001, in which an activation button is used to release the head rest side wings from the locked position. The pivotal connection of the side wings to the central head rest is formed of a journal having a groove and a bolt arranged within the groove. U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,749, granted on Oct. 23, 2001, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,416, granted on Nov. 18, 2003, both being issued to Richard O&#39;Connor, disclose an automotive head rest in which side wings are mounted by a friction hinge having sufficient friction to maintain any of a plurality of positions under the load of a human head leaning against the wing member, but capable of yielding when a greater load is applied.  
         [0011]     It would be desirable to provide a head rest for a car seat to be utilized in transporting a child in an automobile in which the head rest would be vertically adjustable to accommodate growth in the child and in which the side wings would be positionally adjustable through a substantial range of angular positions to enhance the comfort of the child utilizing the car seat.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     It is an object of this invention to provide a car seat for transporting children in an automobile that is a positionally adjustable head rest.  
         [0013]     It is another object of this invention to provide a head rest for a child&#39;s car seat that is vertically movable and is formed with side wings that are angularly positionable.  
         [0014]     It is a feature of this invention that the side wings are mounted to the central rear support portion of the head rest through a pivot mechanism that establishes the pivoted position of the side wings.  
         [0015]     It is another feature of this invention that the pivot mechanism for the side wings has a locking device to retain the side wings in the selected pivoted position.  
         [0016]     It is an advantage of this invention that the side wings can be selectively positioned to enhance the comfort of the child being transported on the car seat.  
         [0017]     It is another advantage of this invention that the vertically positionable head rest will adjust positionally to the size of the child being transported on the car seat.  
         [0018]     It is still another advantage of this invention that the vertically movable head rest will accommodate the growth of the child without requiring a new car seat to be purchased.  
         [0019]     It is still another feature of this invention that a pillow apparatus can be utilized with the side wings to help support the head of the child, particularly when the child is sleeping.  
         [0020]     It is yet another feature of this invention that the pillow apparatus can be positioned in multiple positions along the side wings.  
         [0021]     It is yet another advantage of this invention that the side wings can be selectively positioned to rest the child&#39;s head while sleeping, then move back out to give the child comfort and visibility while traveling.  
         [0022]     It is a further feature of this invention that the vertical adjustment of the head rest can be effected by a single hand.  
         [0023]     It is still another feature of this invention that the latching mechanism is contained within the frame of the head rest assembly.  
         [0024]     It is yet another feature of this invention that the head rest is restrained from being separated from the seat back, once assembled thereon, by a retainer clip mounted at the top of the channels in the seat back.  
         [0025]     It is a further advantage of this invention that the head rest cannot be removed from the seat back once installed thereon.  
         [0026]     It is a further feature of this invention that the latching mechanism used to cause movement of the head rest vertically relative to the seat back on which it is mounted, and the latching mechanism used to control the pivoted movement of the side wings, are intuitively operable.  
         [0027]     It is yet another advantage of this invention that the vertical positioning of the head rest will coordinate with the utilization of the routing openings in the seat back so that the head rest will uncover the routing openings to be used thus positioning the safety harness with respect to the shoulders of the child using the car seat.  
         [0028]     It is yet another object of this invention to provide a head rest for a car seat which is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, carefree of maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.  
         [0029]     These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a head rest for a car seat used to transport a child in an automobile that is positionally adjustable vertically along the seat back on which the head rest is mounted. A latching mechanism, actuated by a button at the top of the head rest, is located within the frame of the head rest and includes a releasable latch engagable with the channels slidably supporting the support rails of the head rest. A retainer clip is mounted at the top of the channels to prevent the head rest from being separated from the seat back once assembled thereon. The head rest includes a pair of laterally spaced wings that are pivotally connected to the rear support portion of the head rest to be positionally adjustable relative to the child&#39;s head through an angular displacement of approximately 45 degrees. The pivot mechanism is operable to lock the wings in the selected position. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0030]     The advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0031]      FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a car seat incorporating the principles of the instant invention, the harness and conventional fabric liner being deleted for purposes of clarity, the head rest being positioned in a vertically extended orientation corresponding to a large toddler positioned in the car seat;  
         [0032]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken through the center of the car seat along lines  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the car seat depicted in  FIG. 1 , but with the head rest lowered to a position corresponding to a small toddler positioned in the car seat;  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the head rest separated from the seat back;  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the head rest depicted in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0036]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the car seat showing the mounting of the head rest on the seat back and the latching mechanism housed within the frame of the head rest assembly to secured the position of the head rest on the seat back, the head rest being vertically located in the highest position, as depicted in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0037]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the latching mechanism depicted in  FIG. 6 ;  
         [0038]      FIG. 7A  is an enlarged detail view of the retainer catch forming part of the retainer clip depicted in  FIG. 7 , a representative spring being schematically shown;  
         [0039]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the latching mechanism in the head rest similar to that of  FIG. 7 , but depicting the head rest positioned lower on the seat back;  
         [0040]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the latching mechanism similar to that of  FIG. 8 , but showing the head rest in the lowest possible position as depicted in  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0041]      FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the head rest and latching mechanism actuator corresponding to lines  10 - 10  on  FIG. 4 ; removing only a top central portion of the housing for the head rest;  
         [0042]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the latching mechanism shown in  FIG. 10 ;  
         [0043]      FIG. 11A  is an enlarged detail view of a part of the latching mechanism housed inside the frame of the head rest from the top handle to the end of the support tubes;  
         [0044]      FIG. 12  is a top plan view of the head rest with the side wings position at an angle of approximately 25 degrees relative to the plane of the rear support portion;  
         [0045]      FIG. 13  is a top plan view of the head rest with the side wings angled at a position of approximately 45 degrees relative to the plane of the rear support portion;  
         [0046]      FIG. 14  is a top plan view of the head rest with the side wings positioned with an angular deflection of approximately 65 degrees with respect to the plane of the rear support portion;  
         [0047]      FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of the head rest taken through the hinge mechanism supporting the side wings to the rear portion of the head rest, corresponding to lines  15 - 15  of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0048]      FIG. 16  is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the upper part of the hinge mechanism depicted in  FIG. 15  to show the locking apparatus;  
         [0049]      FIG. 16A  is an enlarged partial exploded view of a side wing to show the details of the pivot locking mechanism for the side wing;  
         [0050]      FIG. 17  is a schematic front perspective view of the head rest having optional pillow supports mounted thereon, the pillow supports being depicted in the raised position; and  
         [0051]      FIG. 18  is a schematic front perspective view of the head rest similar to that of  FIG. 17 , but showing the pillow supports being placed in a lowered position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0052]     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-3 , a car seat incorporating the principles of the instant invention can best be seen. The car seat  10  can be configured into a generally conventional L-shaped configuration providing a seat assembly  30  on which the child is supported while being transported in an automobile with an upright seat back  40  supporting the back of the child and a head rest  20  vertically movable on the seat back to support the head of the child positioned in the car seat  10 .  
         [0053]     The car seat  10  is intended for use with a child larger than an infant, which is typically placed into a rearwardly facing infant car seat until the child is large enough and old enough to be positioned in a forwardly facing car seat  10 , which is typically about the first birthday of the child. The car seat  10 , however, can be configured in multiple orientations to correspond to the growth of the child until the child is old enough and large enough to safely sit on the car seat using the seat belts of the automobile without benefit of any booster apparatus.  
         [0054]     Typically, toddlers and young children are placed into the conventional L-shaped configuration of the car seat  10 , such as is depicted in  FIG. 3 , with the head rest  20  lowered onto the upper portion of the seat back  40  to provide proper support for the child&#39;s head. The car seat  10  can be re-configured through a movement of the head rest  20  through multiple positions to allow the car seat  10  to be adapted to the growth of the child.  FIG. 1  depicts the maximum height of the head rest  20  for use with larger children before moving onto a booster seat.  
         [0055]     As can be seen in  FIGS. 1-7 , the head rest  20  includes a pair of support rails  22  that are received within channels  42  formed at the top of the seat back  40 . A latching mechanism  50  is located within the head rest  20  to secure the position of the head rest  20  on the seat back  40 . Preferably, the head rest  20  is formed with a back support portion  23  and a pair of wings  24  projecting forwardly of the back support portion  23  and at an angle corresponding to the orientation of the side wings  44  of the seat back  40  so that the head rest  20  will nest properly along the upper portion of the seat back  40 , as is depicted in  FIG. 3 , when the head rest  40  is in a lowered position. Preferably, the wings  24  are pivotally positionable to aid in the comfort of the child being transported on the car seat  10 , as will be described in greater detail below. Accordingly, the wings  24  are connected to the back portion  23  by a pivot mechanism  60  that permits the selective positioning of the wings  24 .  
         [0056]     The seat back  40  has a rear support portion  43  from which the side wings  44  extend in a fixed monolithic structure. The upper part of the rear support portion  43  includes a harness routing apparatus  45  including a plurality of pairs of routing openings  46  spaced vertically between the channels  42 . The harness routing apparatus  45  allows the passage of the harness (not shown) through the seat back  40  to establish a proper fit on the child&#39;s shoulders positioned in the car seat  10 . The harness will pass through a selected pair of routing openings  46  to traverse from the front of the seat back  40  to the rear of the seat back  40 , establishing a support point on the seat back  40  for the harness being routed through the seat back  40 . The harness straps then extend upwardly from the selected routing openings  46  on the rearward side of the seat back  40  to a hanger (not shown) positioned at the top of the rear support portion  43 . The harness straps then turn over top of the hanger and extend downwardly to the bottom of the rear support portion  43  where the harness straps extend forwardly to the conventional harness tightening apparatus  48  at the front part of the seat assembly  30 .  
         [0057]     Referring now to  FIGS. 6-11A , the latching mechanism  50  securing the selected vertical position of the head rest  20  relative to the seat back  40  can best been seen. The latching mechanism  50  includes an actuation button  52  mounted in the upper part of the housing  21  for the head rest  20 , which forms a handle  29  with which the head rest can be grasped. The actuation button  52 , as best seen in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , depresses into the housing  21  to cause movement of opposing cam members  53  supported within the housing  21  proximate to the actuation button  52 . The cam members  53  are connected to respective flexible links  56 , best seen in  FIG. 11A , which, in turn, connect to drivers  55  located near the bottom of the hollow support rails  22 . The actuation button  52  is biased for movement toward a home position outwardly against the housing  21  by engagement with the cam members  53 , which are spring-loaded so as to return to their home position when retracted with the actuation button  52 .  
         [0058]     When the actuation button  52  and the cam members  53  are in the home position, the respective drivers  55  are positioned adjacent to corresponding latch members  57  having an outwardly projecting latch keeper  58  that are formed in a cantilevered manner of resilient material so that the movement of the driver  55  away from the latch member  57 , the latch keeper  58  springs back inside the hollow support rail  22 , as is depicted in phantom in  FIG. 8 . The drivers  55  are forced to drop below the latch members  57  by the flexible members  56  when the actuation button  52  is depressed and the cam members  53  are moved in concert therewith. The spring forces associated with the cam members  53  drive the drive blocks  55  upwardly into engagement with the latch members  57 , a camming edge on the drive blocks helping to start movement of the latch members  57  to push the latch keepers  58  outwardly through a holes  45  formed in the channels in the seat back  40  for engagement with the latch keepers  58 .  
         [0059]     Accordingly, the adjustment of the vertical position of the head rest  20  is accomplished by depressing the actuation button  52 , which through engagement with the cam members  53  allows the latch keepers  58  to back out of the openings  45 . Once the head rest  20  has been repositioned as desired, the actuation button  52  is released, causing the drivers  55  to rise back into engagement with the latch members  53  and drive the latch keepers  58  back out through a corresponding opening  45 . In the event, the latch keeper  58  is not properly aligned with an opening  45 , the spring-loaded cam members  53  will maintain a force on the drivers  55  until the head rest  20  is moved vertically until the latch keeper  58  aligns with an opening  45 , whereupon the latch keeper  58  pops into the opening  45  as the driver  55  moves upwardly adjacent the latch keeper  58  to hold it in place.  
         [0060]     The channels  42  are formed with a plurality of vertically spaced openings  45  to establish a corresponding number of predefined positions at which the head rest  20  can be located. In  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the head rest  20  is located at the highest available position, which corresponds to the position shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In  FIG. 8 , the head rest  20  has been moved down two notches, as can be seen by the placement of the openings  45  shown in the drawing. In  FIG. 9 , the lowest available position for the head rest  20  is depicted, which corresponds to the position of the head rest shown in  FIG. 3 . The plurality of openings  45  formed in the back of the channel  42  can be seen in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0061]     Referring now to  FIGS. 12-16A , the pivotal movement of the side wings  24  can best be seen. The opposing side wings  24  are pivotally connected to the rear support portion  23  by the pivot mechanism  60 , best seen in cross-section in  FIGS. 15 and 16 , and in the exploded view of  FIG. 16A , having a lower portion  61  and an upper portion  62 . The lower portion  61  is simply a hinge apparatus pivotally connecting a mounting member of the wing  24  to a corresponding mounting member on the rear support portion  23 . The upper portion  62 , however, includes a locking mechanism  65  that secures the side wing  24  in the desired angularly rotated position.  
         [0062]     The locking mechanism  65  is operably disposed between the upper mounting member  63  on the rear support portion  23  and the lower mounting member  64  on the side wing  24  and includes an release button  66 , a gear  67  interposed between the two mounting members  63 ,  64 , and a spring  69  biasing the gear  68  into engagement with both the mounting members  63 ,  64 . The release button  66  is captured by a housing built into the upper mounting member  63  by perpendicular feet formed at the end of the actuation legs  67  extending through openings in the upper mounting member to engage the gear  68 , but is linearly movable within the housing.  
         [0063]     The gear  68  is biased by the coil spring  69  underlying the gear  68  in an upward direction so as to be engagable with teeth formed on both the upper and lower mounting members  63 ,  64  simultaneously, as is best seen in  FIG. 16 . When the release button  66  is depressed into the housing the actuation legs  67  pass through openings in the housing to engage the gear  68  and cause the gear to depress against the biasing force exerted by the spring  69 . When full depressed, the gear  68  only engages the lower mounting member  64  allowing the lower mounting member  64  and the side wing  24  attached thereto to rotate relative to the upper mounting member  63  and the rear support portion  23  of the head rest  20 . The side wing  24  can be rotated to the desired position until the teeth of the upper and lower members  63 ,  64  align whereupon the spring  69  will urge the gear upwardly into engagement with the upper mounting member  64 , as well as the lower mounting member  63 , locking the side wing  24  into the desired pivoted location.  
         [0064]     The head rest  20  may be packaged with the remainder of the car seat  10  disassembled from the seat back, thus requiring some assembly to complete the car seat  10 . As is best seen in  FIGS. 7 and 7 A, the top of the channels  42  in the seat back  40  are widened rearwardly to accommodate the receipt of the support rails  22  of the head rest  20  with the latch keeper  58  protruding therefrom. The top of the seat back  40  has a retainer clip  25  mounted thereon to control the upward movement of the head rest  20  once assembled onto the seat back  40 . The retainer clip  25  has a base member  26  affixed to the seat back  40  and a spring-loaded retainer catch  27  protruding therefrom over top of the widened portion of the channel  42 . While a representative spring  28  is schematically shown as providing the biasing force for the retainer catch  27 , the retainer catch  27  is preferably formed with curved fingers that compress and push against the base member  26  when the retainer catch  27  is retracted to provide a spring load on the retainer catch.  
         [0065]     The retainer catch  27  is formed with a sloped upper surface  27   a  to define a cam surface that can be engaged by the support rail  22  and the protruding latch keeper  58  to force a retraction of the retainer catch  27  against the spring  28  into the base member  26 , thus allowing the support rail  22  to enter into the channel  42  and the protruding latch keeper  58  to pass by the retainer clip  25 , as is depicted in  FIG. 7 . Once the latch keeper  58  has passed the retainer clip  58 , the retainer catch  27  springs back over the channel  42  against the latch members  57 , which are detachably connected to the support rail  22  and define a ledge  22   a  over which the retainer catch  27  will lie to retain the support rail  22  within the channel  42 , thus preventing the head rest  20  from being removed from the seat back.  
         [0066]     In operation, the car seat  10  is preferably shipped to the consumer with the head rest  20  disassembled from the seat back  40 . The head rest  20  can be mounted onto the seat back  40  by sliding the support rails  22  into the receiver channels  42  at the top portion of the seat back  40 , forcing the retainer catch  27  into the base member  26  until the latch keeper  58  has passed the retainer clip  25 . After the head rest  20  is assembled, the latching mechanism  50  will have to be retracted by depressing the actuator button  52  until the head rest  20  is positioned on the seat back  40  at the desired height relative to the seat assembly  30 . The latching mechanism  50  extends the latch keeper  58  into an opening  45  in the back of the channel  42  to secure the head rest  20  in the desired vertical position.  
         [0067]     Once properly secured to the automobile seat, the car seat  10  is ready for use. As the child grows in size, the car seat  10  can be reconfigured to accommodate the growth. The head rest  20  can be repositioned vertically to match the size of the child. Eventually, the child will grow to the stage where the harness is not necessary, as the automotive seat belts can provide a secure environment for the transportation of the child, though the child is not yet large enough for the automotive seat belts to fit the child properly. In this situation, the seat back  40  can be moved to the highest allowable position, as depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and the car seat  10  used as a high back booster seat. The shoulder strap part of the automotive seat belt (not shown) can be passed through the should belt guide member  19  attached to the head rest  20  through the slot formed therein to position the shoulder strap appropriately according to the location of the head rest  20 , which in turn should correspond to the height of the child using the seat.  
         [0068]     Referring now to  FIGS. 17 and 18 , an optional pillow  70  can be mounted to the head rest  20  to aid in the comfort of the child being transported in the car seat  10 . Preferably, the pillow  70  is generally cylindrically shaped to best conform to the shape of the side wings  24 . The pillow  70  is supported in an attachment member  71  that is connected to the corresponding side wing  24  along an angularly disposed axis. The outboard end of the pillow  70  includes a connector  72  that is attached to the pillow  70  and extendable therefrom to be engagable with the side wing  24  on which the pillow  70  is mounted. The angular mounting axis of the attachment member  71  allows the pillow  70  to be oriented between a generally vertical position, as is depicted in  FIG. 17  and a generally horizontal position, as is depicted in  FIG. 18 . Once positioned as desired, the connector  72  can be attached to the side wing  24  to secure the outboard end of the pillow from movement.  
         [0069]     The connector  72  can be of any conventional device, such as hook and loop fasteners or snaps, so long as the connector can be repositioned as needed. The placement of the pillow  70  in the generally vertical position allows the head of the child in the car seat  10  to be framed by the pillows  70 . When in the horizontal position, the child can use the pillow to rest his head and keep the head from bobbing around with the motion of the automobile. Preferably the attachment member  71  is constructed of a fabric material which can be sewed to the covering on the head rest  10 , or detachably connected by such convention devices as hook and loop fasteners or snaps.  
         [0070]     It will be understood that changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangements of parts which have been described and illustrated to explain the nature of the invention will occur to and may be made by those skilled in the art upon a reading of this disclosure within the principles and scope of the invention. The foregoing description illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention; however, concepts, as based upon the description, may be employed in other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.