Chairs and seats – Supplemental seat
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-26
2001-01-09
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Supplemental seat
C248S421000, C248S116000, C116S215000, C297S256130, C297S344150
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170911
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a child seat and, more particularly, to an improvement of its structure.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In recent years safety measures have emerged as a critical factor for vehicles, and various vehicular child safety seats have been developed as a device for ensuring the safety of a new-born baby, an infant, a toddler and a child of school age (referred generally as “child” hereinafter) riding in a vehicle.
A schematic structure of a vehicular child safety seat is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-289733 filed on Oct. 22, 1997 and laid-open on Sep. 22, 1998 under Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-250426, by the same applicant as the present application. Japanese Patent Application 9-289733 corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/004,699, filed on Jan. 8, 1998, which will be described herein with reference to present FIG.
8
.
The vehicular child safety seat (hereinafter referred to as vehicular child safety seat)
100
includes a base
1
fixed by a seat belt (not shown) installed in the vehicle, and a seat apparatus
2
rotatably supported with respect to the base.
The seat apparatus
2
includes a seat portion
3
for supporting an infant, a back rest
4
coupled in a reclinable manner to the seat portion
3
, and a head guard
5
for protecting the head of the child when the back rest is fully reclined backward.
A pair of arm rests
6
and
7
are provided on opposing sides of the seat portion
3
, and a pair of side guards
8
and
9
are provided on opposing sides of the back rest
4
. Further, support guards
10
and
11
for keeping or supporting the sides of the child's head are provided inside the pair of side guards
8
and
9
.
The vehicular child safety seat
100
having the above described structure allows change in shape as the child grows. When the seat apparatus
2
is positioned laterally with respect to the direction of travel of the vehicle with the back rest
4
fully reclined backward, the child seat is so shaped as to provide a bed on which an infant can rest.
When the back rest
4
is raised, the seat apparatus
2
provides a sitting portion, and the vehicular child seat
100
can be used by a new-born baby, infant, toddler, to a child of a school age, with the seat apparatus
2
fixed on the base
1
facing forward or rearward.
As described above, with the vehicular child seat disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-289733 it is possible to provide a bed by rotating the seat apparatus
2
laterally with respect to the base
1
and by fully reclining the back rest
4
. As a result, the child supporting surface formed by the seat
3
and the fully reclined back rest
4
extend lengthwise of a passenger car seat and crosswise to the car length.
Referring to present
FIG. 9
, when the vehicular child seat
100
is used as a bed and fixed on the seat
120
of a vehicle, the vehicular child seat
100
is inclined backward, as the seat
120
of the vehicle is generally inclined backward for the comfort of a seated passenger. However, a child resting in the vehicular child seat
100
used as a bed is also inclined laterally, and the child is forced to be in an unnatural posture in the vehicular child seat
100
because there is a tendency to roll into the corner formed by the child support surface and the backrest of the passenger seat
120
.
The vehicular child seat
100
is fixed by a seat belt installed in the vehicle. When the base
1
of the vehicular child seat
100
is to be fixed by the seat belt, it is difficult to secure the vehicular child seat
100
on the seat of the vehicle unless the seat belt is exactly adjusted. Even then the problem of rolling into the above mentioned corner is not solved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a child seat capable of holding a child in an almost horizontal state even when the child seat is used as a bed when the spinal axis of the child extends in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the passenger seat to which the child seat is attached.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a child seat allowing secure fixing of itself on a seat of a vehicle.
According to the present invention a child seat is provided including: a support surface supporting the child; a bottom surface which is in contact with a placing surface below the support surface wherein an angle of inclination of the support surface is adjustable relative to the bottom surface by an inclination angle changing apparatus which is effective for the inclination angle adjustment in any rotated position of the support surface relative to the bottom surface.
By this structure, it becomes possible when the child seat is placed on an inclined placing surface such as a car seat, to adjust the support surface for supporting the child, at any desired angle, by appropriately adjusting the inclination angle changing apparatus, whereby the child support surface is in a horizontal position regardless of any angle of the placing surface formed by the car seat relative to the horizontal.
When the child seat is fixed on the seat of a vehicle by the seat belt installed in the vehicle, it is possible to adjust a distance between the support surface and the bottom surface by adjusting the angle of inclination between the support surface and the bottom surface by the inclination angle changing apparatus. As a result, it becomes possible to adjust the tension of the seat belt installed in the vehicle. This enables a secure fixing of the child seat on the seat of the vehicle.
Preferably, in the child seat, one end of the bottom surface is journaled rotatably with respect to the support surface, and the inclination angle changing apparatus is so arranged as to be capable of adjusting the distance between the other end of the bottom surface and the support surface away from the journal.
Accordingly, the support surface can be inclined with one end of the bottom surface being the center. Therefore, it is possible to change the angle of inclination between the support surface and the bottom surface.
Preferably, the support surface is switchable between a child car chair and a child car bed. In the car chair the back rest is in a substantially upright position. In the car bed, the back rest is in a substantially horizontal position. Therefore, even when the child seat is used as a car bed, it is possible to maintain the support surface horizontal, regardless of the angle of inclination of the placing surface which is the surface of a passenger seat. Therefore, even when an infant is put on the support surface, he or she can be held securely and comfortably, not forcing the infant to take an unnatural posture in a corner between the backrest of the passenger seat and the child support surface of the child car bed.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a child seat including a seat having a child support surface, and a base supporting the seat from below, the base having an upper surface rotatably fixed to the seat, a bottom surface with an angle of inclination that is variable with respect to the upper surface, and an inclination angle changing apparatus for changing the angle of inclination of the bottom surface of the base relative to the support surface.
By the above described structure, it is possible when the child seat is placed on a placing surface such as a passenger seat surface, to adjust the support surface supporting the child to a desired angle, by the adjustment of the inclination angle changing apparatus, regardless of the angle of the placing surface relative to the horizontal.
Further, when the child seat is fixed to the passenger seat of a vehicle by the seat belt installed in the vehicle, it is possible to adjust the distance between the support surface and the bottom surface by adjusting the angle of inclination between the support surface and the bottom surface by using the inclination angle changing apparatus. As a result, it is possible to adjust the tension of the seat belt installed in the vehicle. T
Kassai Kenzou
Yamamoto Hiroyasu
Yoneda Yoshifumi
Aprica Kassai Kabushikikaisha
Cuomo Peter M.
Fasse W. F.
Fasse W. G.
Vu Stephen
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