Patent Document

This application claims priority to U.S. App. Ser. No. 60/239,497, filed Oct. 11, 2000, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     The present invention is directed to a car seat for an infant or child, and more particularly, to a car seat having an adjustable harness. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Car seats are designed to be coupled to the seat of an automotive vehicle and are shaped to securely receive a child or infant thereon. A car seat typically includes a seat body having a seat back and a seat pan. A pair of harnesses extend from the seat back, over the shoulders of the occupant, and are releasably coupled to a buckle connected to the seat pan to securely retain the occupant in the car seat. 
     Each shoulder harness has an effective length which can be defined as the length of the harness extending from the buckle or seat pan to the seat back of the car seat. In many existing car seats, the effective length of the harnesses cannot be easily adjusted, which requires an occupant to squeeze into or out of the harness when entering or exiting the car seat. Alternately, the effective length of conventional shoulder harness systems can be adjusted by releasing the overall tension in the harness system. However, this method for increasing the effective length of the harnesses has several drawbacks. Firstly, the tension release mechanism may be awkward to access and operate. Secondly, once the tension of the harnesses is released, the tension must then be reset or re-established when an occupant is again placed into the car seat, and it can be difficult and time consuming to set the harness to the precise desired tension. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a car seat having shoulder harnesses that can be adjusted to allow easy insertion and removal of the occupant without requiring resetting of the tension of the harness. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a car seat having an adjustable harness, wherein the effective size of the harness can be easily adjusted without requiring adjustment of the tension of the harness. In one embodiment, the invention is a car seat for an infant or child including a seat body having a seat back and a seat pan for receiving an occupant thereon and at least one shoulder harness coupled to the seat body and being shaped and located to fit over the occupant and retain the occupant on the seat body. The car seat further includes a bracket coupled to the at least one shoulder harness. The at least one shoulder harness includes a sliding portion extending from a lower portion of the seat body to an upper portion of the seat body and being slidingly received through the bracket, and a bracket portion extending from the upper portion of the seat body to the bracket and being coupled to the bracket. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the car seat of the present invention, illustrating a harness of the present invention in its closed position. 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the car seat of FIG. 1, illustrating the harness in its open position; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the car seat of the present invention, illustrating the harness in its open position; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the car seat of FIG. 3, with the harness in its closed position; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of an alternate embodiment of the car seat of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of another alternate embodiment of the car seat of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a front view of a portion of a belt of the car seat of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in FIGS. 1-6, the present invention is a car seat, generally designated  10 , having a relatively rigid shell or seat body  12  having a seat pan  14  and a seat back  16 . The car seat  10  may include a layer of cushioned material  18  tightly fit around the shell  12  to provide comfort to the occupant. 
     The car seat  10  may include a pair of belts or shoulder harnesses  20 ,  22 , each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  having an upper end  24  and a lower end  26 . The lower end  26  of each harness  20 ,  22  may be passed through one of a pair of openings  30 ,  32  (see FIG. 2) in the seat pan  14  and wrapped around a rotatable spool  34  located below the seat pan  14 . The spool  34  preferably includes a releasable ratchet mechanism such that the spool  34  can be rotated in a direction indicated by the arrow A to tighten the harnesses  20 ,  22 . The spool  34  preferably includes a tension release mechanism (such as a push button, not shown) that can be activated to enable the spool  34  to rotate in a direction to opposite to A loosen the tension in the harnesses  20 ,  22 . However, the spool  34  illustrated herein is only one mechanism for tensioning the harnesses  20 ,  22 , and any of a number of tensioning devices may be used without departing from the scope of the invention. Each harness  20 ,  22  extends from the spool  34  or other tensioning mechanism, through the openings  30 ,  32  in the seat pan  14 , and is slidably and/or fixedly coupled to a bracket  38 ,  40 . 
     Each harness  20 ,  22  is looped about a loop  42  located in or adjacent to the seat back  16  (see FIGS. 3-5 and  7 ). The loop  42  is coupled to a strap of material  43  which is in turn coupled to an anchor plate  45  located on the back side of the seat back  16 . Instead of the loop  42 , strap  43  and anchor plate  45 , each harness  20 ,  22  may instead be fixedly coupled to a carriage  49  that is mounted to the seat  10  and vertically slidable to accommodate growth of the occupant in a manner well known in the art. In this case each harness  20 ,  22  may be looped through an opening of the carriage similar to the illustrated embodiments. 
     Furthermore, instead each harness  20 ,  22  passing through the openings  30 ,  32  in the seat pan  14 , the lower end of each harness  20 ,  22  may instead be fixedly coupled to the seat pan  14 , as shown in FIG.  6 . In this case the upper end of each harness  20 ,  22  may be looped through a loop  42 , and each loop  42  may be coupled to a rear belt  71 . Each rear belt  71  may extend along the seat back  16  to a splitter plate  88 . The splitter plate  88  is coupled to each rear belt  71  and to a lower belt  90 . The lower belt  90  extends through an opening in the seat base  92  and includes a handle  94 . The seat base  92  includes a A-lock and release mechanism  96  that can be used to releasably grip the lower belt  90 . In this manner, the user can adjust the tension in the harnesses  20 ,  22  by moving the lower belt  90  in the direction of arrow C. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, each bracket  38 ,  40  includes a tongue  39  having an opening  41 . The seat  10  includes a buckle  50  which includes a base  46  coupled to the seat pan  14  by a base belt  48 . The base  46  has a pair of slots or openings  52 ,  54  formed therein. Each tongue  39  is shaped to be passed through one of the slots  52 ,  54  of the base  46  and securely received in the base  46 . When each tongue  39  is received in the base  46 , the buckle  50  is in its latched condition. The base  46  may include one or more spring biased latches (not shown) and each tongue opening  41  can receive a latch therein when the buckle  50  is in its latched condition to retain the tongues  39  therein. The base  46  may include a button  47  that is actuable to move the spring loaded latch or latches out of engagement with each tongue  39  to enable each bracket  38 ,  40  to be removed from the base  46 , as in a standard buckle for a car seat or seat belt. 
     As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  includes a rearward portion or sliding portion  68  that extends from a lower portion or seat pan  14  of the seat shell  12  to an upper portion or seat back  16  of the seat shell  12 . Each sliding portion  68  is slidingly passed through an associated bracket  38 ,  40 . Each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  further includes a forward portion or bracket portion  70  that extends from the loop  42  or from an upper portion or seat back  16  of the seat shell  12  to the associated tongue or bracket  38 ,  40 . The lower end of each bracket portion  70  is fixedly secured to the associated bracket  38 ,  40 . In other words, the rearward portion  68  of each harness  20 ,  22  extends from the seat pan  14  to the loop  42 , and the forward portion  70  extends from the loop  42  to a bracket  38 ,  40 . Each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  is looped about itself such that the forward  70  and rearward  68  portions are generally parallel. 
     Each harness  20 ,  22  forms a gap or loop  74  between the harness  20 ,  22  and the seat back  16 . The gap or loop  74  is a gap between the associated harness  20 ,  22  and the seat back  16 , and is the space through which the arm of the occupant can be passed when an occupant is placed in the car seat  10 . The effective length of each harness  20 ,  22  is the length of the rearward portion  68  of each harness. Thus, the larger the effective length of each harness  20 ,  22 , the larger the gap  74  can be made. 
     The looped nature of the harnesses  20 ,  22  of the present invention enable a user to vary the size of the gaps  74  of the harnesses  20 ,  22  (or the effective length of the harnesses) to allow easy insertion and removal of an occupant from the seat  10 . For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, when the bracket  38  is secured in the base  46 , the shoulder harness  20  is sized and positioned to be located closely about the shoulders of the occupant (not shown). When it is desired to remove the occupant from the car seat  10 , the buckle  50  is released and the bracket  38  removed from the base  46 . Next, the bracket  38  is slid towards the upper portion of the seat back  16  by sliding the bracket  38  along the sliding portion  68  of the shoulder harness  20 . 
     This motion of the bracket  38  enables an additional length of the harness  20  to be slid through the carriage or loop  42 , thereby increasing the size sliding portion  68 , the size of the gap  74 , and the effective length of the harness  20  as shown in FIGS. 2,  3  and  6 . The increased size of the sliding portion  68  and the gap  74  enables the arms and shoulders of an occupant to be easily placed and removed from under the shoulder harness  20 . The same procedure can be carried out with the bracket  40  and shoulder harness  22  to increase the effective size of the shoulder harness  22 . 
     In order to secure an occupant in the car seat  10 , the occupant is located onto the seat pan  14 , and his or her arms are passed through the gaps  74  of each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  when the car seat is in its condition as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The shoulder harnesses  20 ,  22  are then “tightened down” by moving the brackets  38 ,  40  toward the base  46  shown by the arrow B of FIG.  4 . As the rearward portion  68  of the harnesses  20 ,  22  slides through the brackets  38 ,  40  the size of the rearward portion  68 , gaps  74  and the effective length of the harnesses  20 ,  22  are reduced. Furthermore, once the brackets  38 ,  40  are latched in the base  46 , the gaps  74  are automatically sized to the desired size (i.e., the size of the harnesses of  20 ,  22  before the effective size of the harnesses  20 ,  22  was adjusted) and the shoulder harnesses  20 ,  22  are automatically tightened down to the desired tension. Next, if necessary, the spool  34  or other tension adjust mechanism (i.e. lock and release mechanism  96 ) may be rotated to tighten the harnesses  20 ,  22  to their desired position and tension over the occupant. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate embodiment 10′ of the car seat of the present invention. In this embodiment the “rearward portion” or sliding portion  68  is located above the “forward portion” or bracket portion  70  of the harness  20 . The remaining features of the car seat  10 ′ are the same as that described above; that is, the sliding portion  68  is slidingly received through the bracket  38  and the lower end of the bracket portion  70  is secured to the bracket  38 . The size of the gap  74  can be adjusted by sliding the bracket  38  along the sliding portion  68 . 
     This looped nature of the shoulder harnesses  20 ,  22  enables the size of the gaps  74  and effective length of each shoulder harness  20 ,  22  to be increased or decreased by sliding the brackets  38 ,  40  along the length of the shoulder harnesses. This feature provides a significant advantage over conventional shoulder harness systems. In a conventional shoulder harness system, the size of the gaps and effective length of the shoulder harnesses are typically not adjustable when removing an occupant from the seat. This requires an occupant to “squeeze” into or out of the harness. In contrast, looped nature of the shoulder harnesses  20 ,  22  of the present invention enables the size of the gaps  74  and effective lengths to be significantly increased or decreased, which provides much greater space for an occupant to fit under the harnesses. 
     Alternately, when using a conventional car seat, the size of the gaps and effective length of the shoulder harnesses can be adjusted by releasing the overall tension in the harness system (i.e., in the illustrated embodiment, by unspooling the harnesses  20 ,  22  off of the spool  34 ). However, this method for increasing the size of the gaps has several drawbacks. Firstly, the tension release mechanism (i.e., the spool) may be located at an inconvenient location. Furthermore, if the tension of the harnesses is released to remove an occupant from the car seat, the tension must then be reset or re-established when an occupant is again placed into the car seat. It can be difficult and time consuming to adjust the harness to the precise, desired tension. Accordingly, the present invention enables the gaps of the harnesses to be adjusted to allow easy insertion and removal of the occupant, but does not require resetting of the tension of the harness. In this manner, the tension of the harnesses of the car seat of the present invention can remain at a desired set value, and needs to be adjusted only infrequently (i.e. upon sufficient growth of the occupant, use of bulky clothing by the occupant, use with a differently sized occupant, etc.). 
     Having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.

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