Patent ID: 8038209

Claim:
A child restraint comprising a juvenile vehicle seat and an energy-dissipation system coupled to the juvenile vehicle seat, the energy-dissipation system comprising a ride-down pad including an inner shell coupled to the juvenile vehicle seat, an outer shell arranged for movement in a telescopic manner relative to the inner shell and to cooperate with the inner shell to define an interior region therebetween sized to vary in volume in response to movement of the outer shell toward the inner shell, and a support frame interposed between and mated with the inner and outer shells and made of an air-permeable material, wherein the inner and outer shells cooperate to define means for causing air extant in an air chamber included in the interior region to pass through a portion of the support frame as the air is discharged from the interior region to the surrounding region during movement of the outer shell toward the inner shell in response to an external impact force so that the ride-down pad absorbs external energy associated with the external impact force to minimize g-loads experienced by a child seated on the juvenile vehicle seat.