Patent Publication Number: US-2006006712-A1

Title: Folding seat with improved structural linkage

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority from prior U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/587,277 filed on Jul. 12, 2004. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates generally to automobile seats, and more specifically to a child or infant seat for automobiles and other moving vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to child car seats that are foldable, lightweight and, therefore, easily portable.  
      It is well known in the transportation industry that vehicle seats, such as automobile seats, installed in a vehicle does not provide adequate safety for children, particularly very young infants. These vehicle seats are typically designed to contain adults due to their size and configuration. For example, the overall size of the seat and the location of the safety belts therein are designed for bodies of an adult size. When a child sits in such an adult vehicle seat, the child is not adequately contained and the safety belts are poorly positioned on the child&#39;s body. Thus, the child can easily slip under a belt during an accident thereby risking injury. In summary, a child riding in an adult vehicle seat is extremely unsafe.  
      Numerous devices have been proposed for enhancing the safety for children while driving in automobiles. While seat belts have provided some measure of safety for older children, separate smaller seats have generally been used for young children and infants since these tend to restrain the child from movement in almost every direction. Also, the harness seat belts of these child car seats can be positioned in the proper location about the child.  
      In most instances, these child car seats have been separate seats which can be installed on an adult automobile seat and secured in some fashion thereto by means of, for example, the adult seat belts. In newer automobiles, mounting structures are provided to connect the seat directly to the chassis of the vehicle. These child car seats have been found to be very effective in protecting the child when in a vehicle that has only adult-sized seats installed therein.  
      Child car seats in the prior art are known to be provided in two primary configurations. Most common are non-folding child car seats where the body of the seat is of a unitary construction. The seat is typically made of plastic with a cushioning thereon. The overall shape of the seat is fixed into a general L-shaped configuration. Frequently, certain styles of these fixed, non-folding child car seats can also receive a handle for easier portability. Appropriate structures are provided on the seat to secure it to the adult vehicle seat onto which it is installed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,086, issued to Gunji, is an example of such a construction.  
      Due to the unitary construction, the non-folding fixed child car seats of the prior art are very safe in that they are rigid structures that are not apt to collapse during an accident. This is a serious concern in aftermarket add-on seats within a vehicle. Also, the very unitary non-folding construction is also highly undesirable because it is very bulky during travel without the child or for storage, for example in the trunk of a vehicle when not in use. Therefore, in these non-folding child seats of the prior art, there is a trade off between the safety of the rigid non-folding design with portability and compactness to facilitate transport of the seat.  
      To address the shortcomings of the prior unitary fixed child vehicle seats, there have been attempts in the prior art to provide a folding child car seat. These prior art seats typically include a seat back and a seat bottom that are pivotally connected to each in some way. When in use, the seat back and the seat bottom are located in an open position relative to one another to form the desired seat configuration. When not in use, the seat bottom and seat back are pivoted relative to one another so that the seat can collapse whereby the seat bottom and the seat back are proximal to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,543, issued to Hartmann, is a good example of this known construction.  
      The folding child vehicle seats of the prior art are more compact and portable than the non-folding seat discussed above because they fold. However, the presence of a pivot break point introduces a structural weakness in the construction of the seat. More specifically, the pivot point that hingedly connects the seat back to the seat bottom creates a stress point that is of particular concern from a safety perspective. Thus, the prior art folding seats must provide the appropriate locking mechanism to secure the hinged connection in its open condition during use. It is critical that satisfactory locking is provided to ensure that the seat does not fold up and collapse during an accident.  
      Prior art folding vehicle seats address this problem in a number of different ways. For example, locking mechanisms have been provided in the prior art directly about the pivot point between the seat back and the seat bottom. In this case, retractable pins or tabs have been used to engage with slots on the pivot structure to releasbly lock the seat in a desired open or closed condition. These pivot locks are susceptible to failure because most of the load during an accident is focused on the pivot point of the seat. Also, cross-struts have been used to secure the seat in an open condition, however, these struts are cumbersome and uncomfortable for the child when in operation. Further folding car seat designs have required cantilevered structures that require additional supports to enabled the cantilevered configuration to be successfully carried out.  
      Also, while prior art foldable child car seats do collapse to a smaller overall shape than non-folding seats to facilitate transport, they are still quite bulky even when in a closed condition. This is due to the nature and configuration of how they collapse, such as the location and nature of the pivot hinge. Also, the amount of folding is limited because the thickness of the seat bottom impacts into the thickness of the seat back. Thus, the overall thickness of the folded seat is the thickness of the seat back plus the thickness of the seat bottom. Some child seats have very thin seat backs and seat bottoms to provide a compact overall folded configuration, however, the reduced thickness and padding has a negative impact on the safety of the seat when in use.  
      The child car seats of the prior art suffer from various disadvantages that make them unsafe or cumbersome to use. Therefore, there is a need for a child car seat to be safe and comfortable to use. There is a further need for a child car seat to be compact and transportable while being safe. There is a particular need for compact folding child vehicle seat that safely stays open even during the impact of an accident. There is a further need for a seat with an improved structural linkage to make the frame structure of a seat more compact in configuration yet still being structurally sound. There is also a need to make the structural linkage of a folding seat easier to operate and assemble than prior art assemblies.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art folding seats, such as folding child car seats. In addition, it provides new advantages not found in currently available seats and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available seats.  
      The invention is generally directed to a novel and unique folding child car seat that includes a bottom member with a first free end and a second free end, a first back member having a first free end and a second free end where the first free end of the first back member is pivotally connected about a first pivot axis to the second free end of the bottom member. The assembly also includes a second back member with a first free end and a second free end where the first free end of the second back member is pivotally connected about a second pivot axis to the second free end of the bottom member. A first free end of a cross member is pivotally connected to the second free end of the second back member and the second free end of the cross member is pivotally connected to the second free end of the first back member. As a result, the bottom member is pivotable, relative to the first back member and the second back member, between an open condition and a closed condition.  
      The structural frame linkage of the present invention can be carried out in many different configurations. Preferably, four linkages, as described above, are used, however, more than four can be used depending on the application. Also, as will be described below, linkages are preferably displaceably coupled by a pivot point connection. However, the linkages may be displaceably coupled by sliding action where a pin on one linkage slides within a slot in an adjacent linkage. Also, the linkages may be displaceably connected where adjacent linkages can actually disconnect from one another to permit desired movement of the linkages relative to one another.  
      These members are preferably made of steel, but could be made of other metal and non-metal materials as well that are suitable for load-bearing members.  
      The members of the assembly are preferably vertically oriented plates which can support large loads utilizing less material when positioned in this fashion which is unique to the present invention. Since the load of the seat is borne in the direction of the vertically oriented plate, it is much stronger because it is this greater thickness of the plate that is resisting flexing due to the presence of the load. Thus, the load bearing ability of the frame is greatly improved with less material weight when the plates therein are oriented on their ends in a vertical fashion.  
      The seat bottom member is pivotally connected to a first seat back member and a second seat back member. As the bottom seat member pivots relative to the first seat back member and the second seat back member, the first seat back member and the second seat back member much move relative to each other in view of their interconnection with a cross member or structure for allowing displaceably coupling thereof. Thus, when the first back member and the second back member are secured relative to one another, the bottom seat member will not be permitted to further pivot. For example, a pin may be routed through the first seat back member and the second seat back member for this purpose. Also to permit more complete folding, The side armrests of the seat bottom compactly nest within apertures or recesses in the seat back when the seat is in its folding condition, or the side armrests my compress downward during folding.  
      During folding, the members are allowed to pass through optional slots in the front surface(s) of the seat. This feature means that the members can be designed in a more linear shape for greater strength with less material and in the folded condition of the seat. Also, there can be a closer proximity of the seat back members and seat bottom members to each other, if desired. Further, the overall seat is lighter in weight yet still strongly supported while maintaining a thin folded profile.  
      The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art by providing a compact folding seat that has a unique folding construction coupled with a structure to receive the side arm rests of a seat bottom. A unique multiple linkage configuration permit the structural frame to be very low profile with a less complicated assembly than prior art structures.  
      As a result, the compact folding seat of the present invention is much more secure than prior art folding seats and is less likely to collapse during an accident while being extremely compact and light in weight. In view of the foregoing, the folding seat of the present invention is more safe and more compact than prior art folding seats.  
      It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a folding child car seat.  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a folding child car seat that is safe, secure and will not collapse during an accident.  
      It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved frame assembly for a folding seat that includes a multiple member linkage.  
      It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide a folding child car seat that is extremely compact.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a folding child car seat that is easy to operate.  
      It is a further object of the present invention to provide a child car seat that is lightweight yet safe and secure.  
      Another object of present invention is to provide a child car seat that is comfortable for a child to use.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a child car seat that can fold quickly and easily.  
      Yet another object of the present 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The novel features which are characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention&#39;s preferred embodiments, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the folding child vehicle seat of the present invention in an open condition;  
       FIG. 2  is a left perspective view of the folding frame structure of the present invention when in an open condition;  
       FIG. 3  is a right perspective view of the folding frame structure of the present invention when in an open condition;  
       FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the folding seat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a rear elevational view of the folding seat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the seat of the present invention in a closed condition;  
       FIG. 7  is a front elevational view of the seat of the present invention in a closed condition;  
       FIG. 8  is a left perspective view of the frame construction of seat of the present invention in a closed condition;  
       FIG. 9  is a right perspective view of the frame construction of seat of the present invention in a closed condition;  
       FIG. 10  is left side elevational view of the frame construction of the seat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 11  is right side elevational view of the frame construction of the seat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional view through the line  12 - 12  of  FIG. 7 ;  
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the frame structure of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 14  is a front perspective view of the folding car seat of the present invention full padding and cushioning thereon.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a partial cut-away perspective view of the folding child vehicle seat  10  of the present invention is shown. The seat  10  includes a seat back  12  and a seat bottom  14  pivotally connected thereto. This enables the seat bottom  14  to fold up to the seat back  12 , as indicated by the arrow.  
      In general, the seat of the present invention includes a multiple linkage frame structure, as will be described below, and housing  12   a  installed thereon to give the seat  10   a  desired ergonomic seat. The housing  12   a  for the seat back  12  is in the form of a seat cover while the seat bottom  14  also includes a similar housing or cover  14   a  thereon. The covers  12   a  and  14   a  can be made out of any material but are preferably made of injection molded plastic. These covers  12   a  and  14   a  are shown in a given ergonomic shape but any desired shape and size can be employed and still be within the scope of the present invention. It is preferred to employ well known child vehicle seat configurations which are generally accepted to meet government standards. For example, side arm rests  16  on the seat bottom  14  and side panels  18  on the seat back  12  are preferably included. However, these structures are optional. Also, various sizes of the seat  10  of the present invention can be provided to accommodate children of different sizes and ages.  
      Additional padding, as seen in  FIG. 13  below, is preferably added on top of the outer housings  12   a  and  14   a  to provide additional cushioning for a child sitting therein.  
      For ease of illustration, the folding child vehicle seat  10  is shown without the cushioning  20  of  FIG. 2 . but it should be understood that any desired cushioning  20 , in the form of foam rubber, fabric and the like and combinations thereof, may be employed to provide an interface between the seat  10  and the child sitting therein. The seat  10  also includes a locking mechanism  22 , as best seen in  FIG. 2 , which will be described in detail below. Also, as seen in  FIG. 1 , pass through apertures  26  in the housing  12   a  of the seat back  12  permit a seat belt  28  to be routed therethrough to secure it to a standard seat in a vehicle (not shown) when the car seat  10  is facing forward. This type of interconnection is one of many ways to secure the child seat  10  of the present invention to a vehicle seat.  
      Turning now to  FIGS. 2-5 , details of the novel and unique multiple linkage frame  30  of the seat  10  of the present invention is shown in detail. For example, in  FIG. 2 , two frames  30  are shown, however, one or more than two frames  30  can be used as the substrate support for the seat. For ease of discussion, one of the frames  30  will be discussed in detail. The other frames  30  are identical thereto and need not be discussed herein.  
       FIG. 2  shows a left side perspective view the frame structure  30  with all of the cover housing  12   a  and  14   a  removed for ease of illustration and discussion.  FIG. 3  shows a right side perspective view of the frame  30 . It can be seen that the frame  30  is of a foldable construction where a seat back frame structure includes linkages  32   a ,  32   b  and  32   c  and a seat bottom frame  34  is provided. The seat bottom frame  34  is pivotally connected to members  32   a  and  32   b    32  respectively by pivot members  36   a  and  36   b . If more than two frame members  30  are used, a pivot rod  36  may also be provided, which runs through pivots points  36   a  of each frame.  
      A cross member  36  is pivotally connected to the opposing free ends of frame members  32   a  and  32   b  by pivot member  36   c  connected to frame member  32   b  and pivot member  36   d  connected to frame member  32   a . A result, a multiple linkage frame  30  is provided that is low-profile in configuration yet very strong.  
      The plate-like frame members  32   a  and  32   b  and bottom frame member  34  are oriented on their respective edges, namely, in a vertical orientation to achieve a scissoring type folding action, as will be described below. While two frame members  32   a  and  32   b  with cross member  32   c  for each frame  30 , it is possible to employ only one, or more than two, vertically oriented frame member(s) for each of the seat back frame  30  and the seat bottom frame  34 , and still be within the scope of the present invention. These plates  32   a ,  32   b ,  32   c  and  34  are preferably made of steel but could be made of other metal and non-metal materials that are suitable as frame members for bearing loads.  
      There are many ways to lock the frame members relative to one another to secure the seat in a either an open or closed condition. For example, a pin  22  may be routed through an aperture  23  in frame member  32   a  and aperture  25  in frame member  32   b , as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . With pin  22  in place, the frame members  32   a  and  32   b  will be unable to move relative to one another because they are both secured to bottom frame member  34 . Thus, cross member  32   c  will be is unable to permit movement of the frame members  32   a  and  32   b  relative to one another. As a result, the frame  30  is secured into an open condition. A similar pin and aperture arrangement can be used for when the frame members  32   a  and  32   b  are reoriented when the seat is in a closed condition. Alternatively, for example, the same pin  22  may be used but different apertures through frames  32   a  and  32   b  can be used. Other different types of locking can be used and still be within the scope of the present invention.  
      In particular, control of the counter-clockwise pivoting or rotation of the seat bottom frame  34  relative to the seat back frame members  32   a  and  32   b  is important because of the concern that a folding child car seat  10  may collapse due to the impact of an accident. More specifically, when an accident occurs, such a front impact, there is a tendency for the seat  10  to be thrown forward. This causes the seat back  12  to be urged forward with high force thereby placing downward force on the seat bottom  14 . In the environment of a folding seat, forward and downward force into the seat bottom  14  causes significant stress on the pivot point of a folding seat. Therefore, a locking mechanism  22  may be employed to ensure that the folding seat does not collapse, that is the seat bottom  14  rotating in a counter-clockwise direction, in the event of an accident.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a front elevational view of the seat  10  of the present invention is shown. As discussed above, the seat bottom member  34  is preferably a vertically oriented plates. Not only are the vertically oriented plates  32   a ,  32   b  and  34  preferred to provide an internal framework for the seat  10 , the vertical positioning of the frame members  32   a ,  32   b  and  34 , particularly those of the bottom frame member  34 , can effectively scissor relative to the back frame members  32   a  and  32   b  to provide a unique compact folding structure.  
      As will be described in further detail in connection with  FIG. 4 , the pivoting the bottom frame member  34  can optionally pass through slots  72  in the housing  12   a  of the seat back member  12  in a scissor-like fashion whereby the bottom frame member  34  pass through a plane defined by the front surface of the seat back member  12 . As will be made clear below, this unique folding mechanism allows the seat bottom  14  to fold up and nest fully within the seat back member  12 .  
      In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , further details of the construction of the housing  12   a  of the seat back  12  and the interaction with the side arm rests  16  of the seat bottom  14  are shown in detail. The seat back  12  includes an outer housing  12   a  that has a pair of recesses  104 , which could be full pass-through apertures, that permit the side armrests  16  emanating upwardly from the housing  14   a  of the seat bottom  14  member to compactly nest therein. The recesses  104  are of a shape and configuration that are complementary to the shape and configuration of the side arm rests  16  so that when the seat bottom  14  is folded up it closely mates with the seat back member  12 .  
      As can be seen in  FIGS. 6-13 , details of the compact folding of the seat bottom  14  toward the seat back  12  is shown in further detail. In  FIG. 8 , a left perspective view of the folding seat  10  of the present invention is shown in a fully folded condition.  FIG. 9  shows a right side perspective view. Thus, the overall thickness of the seat, as folded, shown as T in  FIG. 6 , is significantly reduced compared to prior art folding seats. This is due to the aforesaid nesting of the side arm rests  16  within the housing  12   a  of the seat back member  12 .  
      Preferably, pass-through apertures  106 , as seen in  FIGS. 1 and 5 , are provided with each recess  104  to further reduced the overall weight of the folding seat  10  of the present invention. Alternatively, it is possible to provide the recesses  104  without corresponding apertures  106  and still be within the scope of the present invention.  
      Referring now to  FIGS. 6-8 , details of the seat bottom frame  34  folded up to the seat back frame members  32   a ,  32   b  and  32   c  is shown. In  FIG. 8 , a perspective view of the folding seat  10  of the present invention with the seat back housing  12   a  and the seat bottom housing  14   a  removed for illustration purposes and ease of discussion. The seat bottom frame  34  is pivotally mounted about the pivot rod  36  so it can pivot to an upward, closed condition, as seen in  FIG. 8 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 8-11 , details of the unique folding action of the frame  30  is shown in detail. Linkage member  34  is preferably of an L-shaped configuration with an edge  34   a  for supporting the bottom housing  14   a , as described above. The opposing end of the linkage member  34  is pivotally interconnected to free ends of linkage members  32   a  and  32   b  using pivot members  36   a - d  and cross member  32   c . Comparing the multiple linkage frame  30  of  FIG. 8  (closed condition) to  FIG. 2  (open condition), the unique folding action of the present invention can be readily seen.  
      More specifically, as in  FIG. 2 , the bottom member  34  is pivotally connected to members  32   a  and  32   b  where frame member  32   a  is positioned closest to the free end  34   b  of the bottom frame member  34 . Also, in the open condition, the cross member linkage  32   c  is substantially aligned with linkage members  32   a  and  32   b . When the bottom linkage  34  is pivoted upwardly, pivot connection  36   b  is moved rearwardly and cross linkage  32   c  pivots to permit relative movement of the linkages  32   a ,  32   b  and  34  relative to one another. In accordance with the present invention, the pivoting of the bottom linkage  34  can be carried out where the depth of linkages  32   a - c  can be constrained to a thickness of about Y, as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 8 , in both the open and closed conditions. This is unique and an advance over the prior art. Such controlled pivoting in a short depth Y allows for strong, controlled and lockable pivoting action over prior art simple single pivot point systems in much less space.  
       FIG. 10  illustrates a left side elevational view of the folded frame  30  while  FIG. 11  illustrates a right side elevational view of the folded frame  30 . Also,  FIG. 12  further illustrates a cross-sectional view through the line  12 - 12  of  FIG. 7  to illustrate the positioning of the seat bottom frame  34  within the seat bottom  14  when it is in a folded condition and fully nested with the seat back housing  12   a.    
      The linkage frame members  32   a ,  32   b , and  34  and linkage  32   c  of the present invention are the preferred frame construction for the child car seat  10  of the present invention. As described above, the orienting plate-like members on end in a vertical fashion enables a much larger load to be supported with the same or lesser amount of frame material. The use of internal vertically oriented plates  32   a ,  32   b ,  34  and linkage  32   c  are unique in a child vehicle seat  10 , whether that seat is of the folding type or of the non-folding type.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 13 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is show where notches  14   b  (other notch  14   b  not visible in  FIG. 13 ) are provided in the seat housing  14   a  to receive linkage members  32   a  and  32   b  when the seat is folded up to a closed condition. Depending on the configuration of the seat, such notches  14   b  may be preferred over notches  72  in the seat back  12  to receive the bottom member  14  therein.  
      Referring to  FIG. 14 , a view of the a finished folding child vehicle seat  10  of the present invention is shown with full padding and cushioning  20  and appropriate safety belts  140  in place. Such safety belts  140  are known in the art which include a pair of shoulder belts  140   a ,  140   b  that terminate to a central connection point  142  between the child&#39;s legs (not shown). A buckle  144  is provided for releasable connection thereof. Appropriate flaps  146   a ,  146   b ,  146   c  are provided in the outer padding  20  of the seat  10  to permit access to all of the components discussed in detail above. For example, a flap  146   c  on the seat bottom  14  permits access to the strap plate  86  shown in  FIG. 12 . Also, flaps  146   a ,  146   b  in the padding  20  in the seat back  12  permit the side arm rests  16  to compactly nest therein, as described above. Thus, the padding  20  provides an additional cushioning between the passenger and the seat bottom  14  and the seat back  12 .  
      In view of the foregoing, a new and novel child car seat  10 ,  200  is provided that can be either folding or non-folding in configuration. A unique multiple linkage structure with members  32   a ,  32   b ,  32   c  and  34  is provided with members oriented vertically on their respective ends for added strength.  
      It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims.