Patent Publication Number: US-2022234480-A1

Title: Safety seat and base thereof

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202110104241.0, filed Jan. 26, 2021, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a safety seat and a bases for the safety seat. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Safety seats, such as child safety seats, are mounted on the vehicle seats for carrying children to improve the safety of children in the vehicles. The safety seat ensures the safety of children in vehicles by reducing physical impact on children and limiting their body movement in the case of an emergency, such as a collision or rapid deceleration. The safety seat can be fixed to the vehicle seat, however, existing safety seats are not adjustable in position on the vehicle seats or are not stable enough when adjusted. In addition, the movement of children may loosen the seat belt that fastens the safety seats, which may cause the safety seats to move, bringing a risk to children in the vehicles. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a base for a safety seat, which includes a base body and a support mechanism mounted with the base body for supporting the seat on a vehicle seat. The support mechanism includes a support member extending out of the base body and movable back and forth with respect to the base body, and an adjustment assembly configured to adjust a position of the support member with respect to the base body. 
     The present disclosure also provides a safety seat, which includes a base and a seat body supported on the base. The base includes a base body and a support mechanism mounted with the base body for supporting the seat on a vehicle seat. The support mechanism includes a support member extending out of the base body and movable back and forth with respect to the base body, and an adjustment assembly configured to adjust a position of the support member with respect to the base body. 
     The details of one or more embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the following drawings and description. Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the description, drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the accompanying drawings for describing the embodiments or the prior art are introduced briefly in the following. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and persons of ordinary skill in the art can derive other drawings from the accompanying drawings without creative efforts. 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a safety seat of an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the safety seat in  FIG. 1  in another state. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the safety seat in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a base of the safety seat of an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a front schematic view of the base in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a front schematic view of the base in  FIG. 4  in another state. 
         FIG. 7  a perspective view of a support member of the safety seat of an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  a perspective view of a support member of the safety seat of another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  a front schematic view of a base of the safety seat of another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  is a front schematic view of the base in  FIG. 9  in another state. 
         FIG. 11  a perspective view of a base of the safety seat of another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the base in  FIG. 11  from another angle. 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the base in  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Implementation of the present disclosure are elaborated below with reference to the accompanying drawings, to enable the objectives, advantages and features of the present disclosure more comprehensible. Specific details are described below to enable persons skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in other manners besides those described herein. Persons skilled in the art can make such improvements without departing from the concept of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited by the embodiments disclosed in the following. 
     In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that terms such as “center”, “longitudinal”, “transverse”, “length”, “width”, thickness”, “front”, “up”, “down”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside”, “clockwise”, “counterclockwise”, “axial”, “radial”, “circumferential” and the like indicate orientation or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are intended only to facilitate and simplify the description of the disclosure, not to indicate or imply that the devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operate in a particular orientation, and therefore are not to be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure. 
     In the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly specified and defined, terms such as “mount”, “connect”, “interconnect”, “secure”, “dispose” and other terms shall be understood in a broad way. For example, unless otherwise expressly defined, “connection” may be a fixed connection, detachable connection, or integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection; it may be direct connection, or indirect connection through an intermedium; and it may be an internal connection of two components or an interaction between two components. For example, when an element is described as “fixed” or “disposed” to another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be an intermedium element. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the context of the present disclosure can be understood on a case-by-case basis. 
     In the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly specified and defined, if a first member is described to be on or under a second member, there may be direct contact between the first and second members, or indirect contact between the first and second members through an intermedium. Besides, if a first member is described to be above a second member, it may mean that the first member is rightly above or diagonally above the second member, or that the first member is horizontally higher above the second member. If a first member is described to be below a second member, it may mean that the first member is right below or diagonally below the second member, or that the first member is horizontally lower than the second member. 
     According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, one aspect of the present disclosure provides a safety seat which includes a seat body and a base for supporting the seat body. The base includes a base body and a support mechanism mounted with the base body for supporting the safety seat on a vehicle seat. The support mechanism includes a support member extending out of the base body and movable back and forth with respect to the base body and an adjustment assembly configured to adjust a position of the support member with respect to the base body. 
     According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, another aspect of the present disclosure provides a base for a safety seat. The base includes a base body and a support mechanism mounted with the base body for supporting the safety seat on a vehicle seat. The support mechanism includes a support member extending out of the base body and movable back and forth with respect to the base body and an adjustment assembly configured to adjust a position of the support member with respect to the base body. 
     The position of the safety seat on the vehicle seat may need to be adjusted during use. For example, when the inclination angle of the seat body of the safety seat is adjusted, the base of the safety seat may need to be moved accordingly on the vehicle seat. Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an adjustable support member. In the event that the position of the base of the safety seat changes, the support member is adjusted correspondingly to abut against a backrest of the vehicle seat to better support the safety seat on the vehicle seat. 
     The safety seat of each embodiment of the present disclosure and the base of the safety seat are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure. 
     According to the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , the safety seat  10  includes a seat body  20  and a base  30  for supporting the seat body  20 . The base  30  further includes a base body  40  and a support mechanism  50  mounted with the base body  40 . The support mechanism  50  stably supports the safety seat  10  on the vehicle seat. The support mechanism  50  includes a support member  51  and an adjustment assembly  52 . The support member  51  extends out of the base body  40 , and the adjustment assembly  52  is configured to adjust and secure the position of the support member  51  with respect to the base body  40 . 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the seat body  20  is configured such that an inclination angle thereof with respect to the base  30  is adjustable. When the inclination angle of the seat body  20  is adjusted, the position of the base body  40  on the vehicle seat needs to be adjusted correspondingly. Accordingly, the relative position of the support member  51  with respect to the base body  40  can be adjusted simultaneously, i.e., the length of the support member  51  that extends out of the base body  40  can be adjusted so that the support member  51  can keep abutting against the seat backrest, thereby supporting and securing the safety seat  10  on the vehicle seat in a stable manner.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show the support member  51  in a first position and in a second position, respectively. In the second position, the support member  51  extends a relatively longer length out of the base body  40 . 
     It should be noted that the above or following description as to the support member being configured to abut against the backrest of the vehicle seat back does not mean that the support member, in normal, is necessarily in contact with backrest of the vehicle seat. Rather, it includes the situation in which the two are separated by a small distance and abutment may occur only under certain circumstances. For example, when the safety seat moves a small distance, the support member abuts against the backrest of the vehicle seat to limit the movement of the safety seat. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4-6 , the base body  40  includes an upper housing and a lower housing  41  which are assembled together (to show out the structure of the support mechanism  50 , the upper housing is omitted in  FIGS. 4-6 ). It should be understood that in other embodiments, the base body  40  may be of a one-piece structure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the support member  51  has a tubular and rod-shaped structure, and includes a support portion  510  and two connecting portions  511  respectively located on opposite sides of the support portion  510  and connected to the same. The support portion  510  is configured to abut against the backrest of the vehicle seat. In some embodiments, the support portion  510  together with the connecting portions  511  may be supported on a seat surface of the vehicle seat. Further, a bending portion  512  may be provided between the connecting portion  511  and the support portion  510 , and configured such that the length L of the support portion  510  is greater than the distance D between the ends E 1 , E 2  of the connecting portion  511 . A longer support portion  510  provides a better support. Understandably, in the embodiment as shown in  FIG. 8 , the connecting portions  511  may extend directly from the support portion  510  without a bending portion, and in this case, the length of the support portion  510  is equal to the distance between the two connecting portions  511 . The connecting portions  511  are provided with a plurality of positioning holes  513  arranged along a front-back direction of the safety seat  10 , respectively, and the positioning holes  513  cooperate with the adjustment assembly  52  to adjust and secure the position of the support member  51  with respect to the base body  40 . The larger the number of positioning holes  513  is and the closer they are arranged, the greater the range of adjustment of the support member  51  is and the higher the accuracy of adjustment is. 
     In other embodiments, each connecting portion  511  may be connected to a separate support portion, i.e., each side of the base  30  is provided with one support member, so that the two support members can be adjusted independently of each other. 
     Continuing to refer to  FIGS. 4-6 , the connecting portions  511  of the support member  51  are inserted into the base body  40 . Corresponding to the connection part  511 , the base body  40  is provided with guide rails  42  on both sides. In an embodiment, the guide rails  42  are provided on both sides of the lower housing  41 . The connecting portions  511  are accommodated and slide in the guide rails  42  during the adjustment of the support member  51 , respectively. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4-6 , the adjustment assembly  52  includes an operative member  520 , a drive member  521  connected to the operative member  520 , and at least one securing member  522  connected to the drive member  521 . The securing member  522  has a rod-shaped structure. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , the adjustment assembly  52  has a pair of securing members  522  disposed on two sides of the drive member  521  respectively. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the adjustment assembly may include one or more than two securing members. The securing members  522  may be inserted into the positioning holes  513  of the support member  51  to secure the position of the support member  51  with respect to the base body  40 . The drive member  521  and the operative member  520  are located in the same operating plane (not labeled). When the operative member  520  is moved from a first position to a second position along the operating plane, it drives the drive member  521  to rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction and disengages the securing members  522  from the positioning holes  513 , and when the operative member  520  is moved from the second position to the first position, it drives the drive member  521  to rotate reversely in the opposite direction and inserts the securing members  522  into the positioning holes  513 . In this embodiment, the operative member  520  is moved along a front-back direction of the operating plane between the first position and the second position. According to the structure shown in the illustrated embodiment, one end of the drive member  521  is pivotally connected to the operative member  520  and the other end of the drive member  521  is pivotally connected to the securing members  522 . The drive member  521  is pivotally provided on the base body  40  by being pivoted to the lower housing  41  through a pivot point. The pivot point thus divides the drive member  521  into two segments that are connected to the operative member  520  and the securing member  522 , respectively, thereby enabling the operative member  520  to control the reciprocal movement of the securing members  522  by means of leverage. The operative member  520  shown in  FIG. 5  is located at the first position where the securing members  522  are inserted in the positioning holes  513  and the position of the support member  51  is secured at this moment. The operative member  520  shown in  FIG. 6  is at the second position where the securing members  522  are disengaged from the positioning holes  513 , and at this moment, the support member  51  can be freely adjusted to desired positions. When the operative member  520  is moved, for example, by the user&#39;s operation, from the first position to the second position along the front-back direction of the operating plane, the operative member  520  rotates the drive member  521  and disengages the securing members  522  from the positioning holes  513 . When the operative member  520  is moved from the second position to the first position, the drive member  521  rotates reversely in the opposite direction, which inserts the securing members  522  into the positioning holes  513 . 
     The adjustment assembly  52  may also include a resilient member, such as a spring  523 . The spring  523  abuts against the operative member  520  to provide a resilient force to the operative member  520 . When the operative member  520  is released from the second position, the spring  523  may restore the operative member  520  to the first position. In addition, a limiting member  43  is provided on the base body  40  to limit the rotation amount of the drive member  521 . In an embodiment, the limiting member  43  is provided on the lower housing  41 . The drive member  521 , when rotates, will interfere with the limiting member  43  to limit the rotation amount. 
     The base body  40  is provided with positioning slots  44  through which the securing members  522  pass. The securing member  522  are slidable within the positioning slot  44  in a transverse direction, but immovable in the front-back direction as being restricting by the positioning slot  44 . In an embodiment, the positioning slot  44  is provided on the lower housing  41 . In addition, in order to further stabilize the connecting portions  511  of the support member  51  in the guide rails  42  and prevent the connecting portion  511  from detaching from the guide rail  42 , the base body  40  further includes stoppers  45  mounted above the guide rails  42  to restrict the connecting portions  511  of the support member  51 . In an embodiment, the stoppers  45  can be fixed above the guide rail  42  by screws. 
       FIGS. 9-10  show another embodiment of the present disclosure, which has a different structure of adjustment assembly than the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4-6 . Specifically, the adjustment assembly  62  includes an operative member  620 , a drive member  621  connected to the operative member  620 , and securing members  622  connected to the drive member  621 . The operative member  620  shown in  FIG. 9  is in a first position where the securing members  622  is inserted in the positioning holes  513  so that the position of the support member  51  is secured. The operative member  620  shown in  FIG. 10  is in a second position where the securing members  622  are disengaged from the positioning holes  513 , and thus the support member  51  can be freely adjusted to desired positions at this moment. The drive member  621  is provided with guide slots  624 , and one end of the securing member  622  is movably constrained in the guide slot  624 . The guide slot  624  is configured to disengage the securing member  622  from the positioning hole  513  when the operative member  620  is moved from the first position to the second position along the front-back direction of the safety seat  10 , and insert the securing member  622  into the positioning hole  513  when the operative member  620  is moved from the second position to the first position along the front-back direction of the safety seat  10 . In a more specific embodiment, an angle of inclination between the extension direction of the guide slot  624  and the front-back direction of the safety seat  10  is provided, which converts the movement of the operation member  620  in the front-back direction to the movement of the securing member  622  in the transverse direction perpendicular to the front-back direction. 
     The adjustment assembly  62  may include a resilient member, such as a spring  623 , which abuts against the drive member  621  to provide a resilient force to the drive member  621  and the operative member  620 . The spring  623  may restore the operative member  620  to the first position when the operative member  620  is released from the second position. 
     In the two embodiments of the adjustment assemblies  52 ,  62  described above, the operative members  520 ,  620  are located at the front of the base body  40  and are exposed outside of the base body  40  so that the user can easily and directly operate the operative members  520 ,  620  to adjust the support member  51  without having to remove the safety seat  10  from the vehicle seat. 
     In the above described embodiment, the support member  51  can be manually operated by the user to adjust the length of the support member  51  extending out of the base body  40  when the adjustment assembly  52 ,  62  unlocks it. In addition, in a modified embodiment, the support mechanism  50  further includes a resilient assembly (not shown) that cooperates with the support member  51  to provide a continuous resilient thrust to the support member  51  such that the support member  51  can extend out of the base body  40  automatically to a desired position when it is unlocked. For example, when the safety seat  10  is moved forward on the vehicle, which thus requires elongation of the support member  51 , the support member  51 , if unlocked, extends backward automatically until it abuts against the backrest of the vehicle seat. 
       FIGS. 11-13  show another embodiment of the present disclosure, in which an adjustment assembly  72  includes an operative member  720  and a securing member  722 . The securing member  722  is fixed to the support member  51 . The operative member  720  is provided with a plurality of positioning grooves  725  arranged along the front-back direction of the safety seat  10 . The larger the number of positioning grooves  725  is and the closer they are arranged, the greater the range of adjustment of the support member  51  is and the higher the accuracy of adjustment is. The operative member  720  is configured to move between a first position and a second position in a height direction of the safety seat  10 .  FIG. 13  shows the operative member  720  in a first position where the securing member  722  is inserted in the positioning groove  725  to secure the position of the support member  51 . When the operative member  720  is in the second position, the securing member  722  is disengaged from the positioning groove  725  and the support member  51  can be freely adjusted to desired positions at this moment. For example, when the operative member  720  is pulled downward by the user to move from the first position to the second position, the positioning groove  725  of the operative member  720  releases the securing member  722 , i.e., releases the support member  51 , and the support member  51  can be freely adjusted at this moment. 
     The adjustment assembly  72  may also include a resilient member, such as a spring  723  that abuts against the operative member  720  to provide a resilient force to the operative member  720 . The spring  723  may drive the operative member  720  to move back to the first position when the operative member  720  is released from the second position. 
     In contrast to the embodiments described previously, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 11-13 , only a single positioning hole  513  for each connecting portion is provided to secure the securing member  722  to the support member  51 . 
     In other embodiments, the adjustment assembly may include a linear actuator (not shown) that drives the support member  51 . For example, the linear actuator may include an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a ball screw, etc. The linear actuator may actuate the support member  51  based on operating instructions. For example, the actuator directly actuates the connecting portions  511  of the support member  51  to move in a front-back direction to achieve position adjustment of the support member  51  with respect to the base body  40 , thereby ensuring that the support member  51  abuts against the backrest of vehicle seat, in the event that the position of the safety seat  10  needs to be adjusted to ensure stability of the safety seat  10 . The linear actuator may further lock the support member  51  in the adjusted position. Compared with the previous embodiment, the use of an actuator eliminates the need for manual pushing and pulling of the support member, or provides a more effortless means of operation, thereby facilitating the user&#39;s operation. 
     It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in addition to the various structural forms of the adjustment assembly described above, other adjustment assemblies of the prior art may be used, provided that the adjustment assembly is capable of adjusting or locking the position of the support member in the front-back direction. The specific structure and mechanism of these other adjustment components are known to those skilled in the art, so they are not described in detail here. 
     According to the safety seat and the base of the safety seat provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure, when the position of the safety seat on the vehicle seat needs to be adjusted, for example, when the base of the safety seat needs to be moved forward away from the backrest of the vehicle seat, the length of the support member of the support mechanism extending out of the base body can be increased to ensure that the support member keeps abutting against or close to the backrest of the vehicle seat, so that the safety seat can be better stabilized on the vehicle seat. When the seat base needs to be moved back closer to the backrest of the vehicle seat, it is only necessary to shorten the length of the support member extending out of the seat body. In another situation, when the seat belt is loosened due to a child&#39;s action, the support member can be adjusted to keep abutting against the backrest of vehicle seat and keep the seat belt in a tight state, so as to ensure the safety of children in the vehicle. 
     The technical features of the above described embodiments can be combined in any way according to the actual situations. For simplification purpose, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above described embodiments are described. however, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to fall with the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Only several embodiments of the present disclosure are described with more specific and detailed descriptions, but they are not intended to be a limitation of the scope of the patent invention. It should be noted that for a person of ordinary skill in the art, a number of modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the conception of the present invention, which all belong to the patent scope of the present invention. Therefore, the patent scope of the present invention shall be subject to the attached claims.