Chairs and seats – Supplemental seat – Secured by bottom-back crevice
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-21
2001-08-21
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Supplemental seat
Secured by bottom-back crevice
C297S250100, C024S682100, C248S065000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276754
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates in general to child safety seats for use in passenger vehicles, and in particular to a restraint attachment assembly for use in securing a child safety seat to a passenger seat.
Automotive child safety seats have typically been secured to passenger seats of a vehicle using straps, such as the existing seat belt for adult passengers. The ends of the seat belt are anchored to structural members of the automobile. The seat belt is directed through apertures or slots formed in the child safety seat, thereby securing the child seat relative to the seat belt. It is often laborious and sometimes complicated to fasten the child safety seat by means of the seat belt. Due to the flexible nature of the seat belt, the position of the child seat may also shift during operation of the vehicle.
To overcome these problems associated with securing a child safety seat with the existing seat belt, various regulations have been implemented requiring standardized structures and methods for securing child seats within an automobile. One such regulation was promulgated by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, entitled “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Systems; Child Restraint Anchorage Systems”, (64 FR 10786). The regulation requires that motor vehicle manufacturers provide a new way of installing child seats that are standardized and independent of the vehicle seat belts by use of a new anchorage system. Suitable child safety seats will include restraints or latches for coupling to the anchorage systems.
There is illustrated in
FIGS. 1 through 3
a child safety seat
10
coupled to a vehicle passenger seat
12
by means of a prior art attachment assembly, indicated generally at
14
. The attachment assembly
14
is an example of an anchorage system corresponding to the above mentioned regulation. The attachment assembly
14
includes a pair of spaced apart brackets
16
which are fastened to a cross member
18
. The cross member
18
extends laterally across the seat
12
and is secured relative to the vehicle seat
12
to provide a rigid support for transmitting the load or force from the child seat
10
upon impact or rapid deceleration of the vehicle, as described in detail below. The cross member
18
is formed from a hollow tube having a generally circular continuous cross-sectional shape.
The brackets
16
are identical in structure and function. The brackets
16
are formed from a rod having a continuous circular cross-sectional shape. As best shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the brackets
16
are generally U-shaped having a pair of legs
20
extending from ends of a cross bar
22
. The legs
20
are identical in shape and have elongated parallel straight portions
23
and end portions
24
. The straight portions
23
extend in a rearward direction from the cross bar
22
and curve downward in an arcuate shape following an upper rear contour of the cross member
18
to form the end portions
24
. The end portions
24
of the legs
20
partially wrap around an upper arcuate surface
26
of the cross member
18
. The end portions
24
are welded to the cross member
18
along their entire arcuate length. The arcuate surface
26
extends longitudinally along the length of the cross member
18
. All of the end portions
24
of the legs
20
of both pairs of brackets
16
are secured along the arcuate surface
26
.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, the straight portions
23
and the cross bar
22
of the brackets
16
extend slightly outwardly or protrude from the intersection of a seat bottom
12
a
and seat back
12
b
of the seat
10
. The cross bars
22
function as receiving portions for the coupling of a pair of corresponding latch mechanisms
30
secured to the child seat
10
. The latch mechanisms
30
are located on opposed bottom side corners of the child seat
10
.
The forces imparted from the child seat
10
upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle are transmitted through the latch mechanisms
30
, the brackets
16
, and the cross member
18
. During a forward load, in which the child seat
10
is propelled in a forward direction, as indicated by an arrow
32
in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, all of the legs
20
are substantially in tension. Note that the straight portions
23
can be angled slightly upward, as shown in
FIG. 1
, or can be substantially horizontal, as shown in FIG.
3
.
During a lateral load, in which the child seat
10
is propelled in either lateral direction of the vehicle, as indicated by an arrow
34
in
FIG. 2
(perpendicular to the forward direction
32
) a moment is created about the center of gravity of the child seat
10
such that one of the latch mechanisms
30
pulls on its corresponding bracket
16
, while the other latch mechanisms
30
pushes against its corresponding bracket
16
. This lateral load causes the straight portions of one of the brackets
16
to be in tension, and causes the straight portions
23
of the other bracket
16
to be in compression. The bracket
16
which is substantially in tension generally provides adequate force resistance and generally does not deflect by a substantial undesirable distance in the forward direction
32
. However, for the bracket
16
which is substantially in compression, the elongated straight portions
23
will crumble or tend to fold on themselves under sufficient force, which can cause the latch mechanism
30
and child seat
10
to deflect a substantial undesirable distance in a rearward direction, opposite from the forward direction
32
, and also in the lateral direction
34
. During a lateral load, the forces will generally also impart a bending load at an intermediate portion
36
between the straight portions
23
and the end portions
24
of the legs
20
of the brackets
16
. During a lateral load situation the end portions of the brackets
16
defined by the cross bar
22
can move a substantial undesirable distance in the lateral directions
34
. Generally, the longer the straight portions
23
of the brackets
16
extend from the cross member
18
, the larger the cross bars
22
, and subsequently the child seat
10
, will deflect.
Since the center of gravity of the child seat
10
is located above the attachment assembly
14
, a lateral force imposed from the child seat
10
may impart an upward force on one of the brackets
16
. During an upward load, in which the latch mechanism
30
is propelled in an upward direction, as indicated by an arrow
38
in
FIGS. 1 and 3
, the corresponding bracket
16
will bend in a similar manner as when subjected to a lateral load, i.e., a bending load is imparted at the intermediate portion
36
of the legs
30
, which may also result in a substantial bending distance of the cross bar
22
of the bracket
16
. Of course, the brackets
16
can be subjected to any combination of forward, lateral, upward, and downward forces.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an attachment member for securing a child safety seat to a passenger seat. The attachment assembly includes a cross member which is secured relative to the vehicle seat. The cross member includes first and second mounting surfaces which extend laterally across the seat. The first mounting surface is different from the second mounting surface. The attachment bracket further includes an attachment bracket which is secured to the cross member. The attachment bracket includes a first leg secured to the first mounting surface, and a second leg secured to the second mounting surface. The attachment bracket further includes a latch receiving portion which interconnects the first leg and the second leg. The latch receiving portion is adapted to be releasably engaged with a corresponding latch mechanism on a child safety seat.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the attachment assembly includes first and second attachment brackets attached to the cross member. The first attachment bracket includes a first outboard leg secured to the first mounting surface, a first inboard leg secured to the second mounting surface, and a
Sweeting Doug
Youssef-Agha Wael
Brown Peter R.
Lear Corporation
MacMillan Sobanski & Todd LLC
LandOfFree
Child seat attachment assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Child seat attachment assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Child seat attachment assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2488937