Chairs and seats – Supplemental seat – Detachably mounted to a support base
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-04
2003-12-30
Cranmer, Laurie K. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Supplemental seat
Detachably mounted to a support base
C297S216110, C297S472000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06669288
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates a child seat device to be installed on a seat of a car, and more preferably, to a child seat device including a base fixed to a car-side member and a child seat body mounted on the base.
While conventional child seats are held so as to be fastened on a seat cushion of a car by a webbing of an adult seat belt device, they are inconvenient such that, for example, it is difficult to know how to pass the webbing.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-280800 proposes a child seat device in which car-side members only for fixing the child seat device are placed on right and left rear sides of a seat, a base is connected to the car-side members, and a child seat body is mounted on the base.
FIG. 9
is a perspective view showing a configuration of the child seat device.
The child seat device comprises a child seat body
12
including a seat portion
30
, a back portion
32
and arm portions
34
, and a base
18
to which the child seat body
12
is fixed detachably. A connecting bottom plate
14
is combined with the child seat body
12
. The base
18
is fixedly placed on a seat cushion of a seat of a car.
The bottom plate
14
comprises a rectangular main plate portion
40
, a flange
42
extending from a rear side of the main plate portion
40
, an opening
44
formed at the front of the main plate portion
40
, and a bar
46
extending parallel to a front side of the main plate portion
40
so as to cross the opening
44
.
The base
18
comprises a base body
50
shaped like a rectangular plate, a pair of arms
52
extending rearwardly from right and left rear ends of the base body
50
, grip portions
54
formed at leading ends of the arms
52
, a hook
56
formed at the front of the base body
50
, a bar-engaging member
58
, an operating piece
60
for disengaging the hook
56
, a swing stopper
62
formed on an upper rear surface of the base body
50
and serving as a swing-preventing member, a lever
64
for releasing the swing stopper
62
, a flange-pressing member
66
to be engaged with the flange
42
, an operating piece
68
for unclamping the grip portions
54
, windows
70
for indicating the gripping condition by the grip portions
54
, and the like.
The arm
52
has, at the rear end, the grip portion
54
for gripping one of clamp bars
74
formed on the right and left rear sides of the car seat. The clamp bar
74
extends in the widthwise direction of the car. Each grip portion
54
receives the clamp bar
74
in a recess
76
formed at the rear end of the arm
52
, and latches the clamp bar
74
by a hook (not shown) formed inside the recess
76
, thereby gripping the clamp bar
74
.
In order to unlatch the bar
74
from the hook, the operating piece
68
and the hook are connected via sliding plates
92
and hook-operating rods
94
.
The operating piece
68
is movable to the front and rear sides of the base
18
inside an opening
96
formed on the upper surface of the base
18
. The sliding plate
92
formed integrally with the operating piece
68
extends rightward and leftward, and is connected to front ends of the hook-operating rods
94
. Rear ends of the hook-operating rods
94
are drivingly connected to ends of the hooks. When the rods
94
are moved to the right in
FIG. 9
, the hooks and the clamp bars
74
are disengaged from each other.
When the right and left arms
52
are connected to the corresponding clamp bars
74
, the base
18
can not move to the front, rear, right, and left sides of the car, but the leading end thereof can swing up and down. In order to prevent the leading end of the base
18
from swinging, the swing stopper
62
is provided as a swing-preventing member.
The swing stopper
62
is formed of an inverse-U-shaped pipe. Bottom ends of the swing stopper
62
are connected to and combined with a shaft
100
by pins (not shown). The shaft
100
extends in the right and left directions of the base
18
, and is rotatably supported on right and left wall portions
102
of the flange-pressing member
66
.
In a normal state, the swing stopper
62
is prevented by a lock mechanism (not shown) from pivoting forward, and is allowed to pivot only rearward. By pushing the lever
64
down, the lock mechanism is released, and the swing stopper
62
is allowed to pivot forward. Therefore, by pressing the swing stopper
62
rearwardly against a seat back of the car seat after the base
18
is placed on the seat and the arms
52
of the base
18
are connected to the clamp bars
74
, the base
18
is fixed so that it can not move forward, rearward, rightward, leftward, upward, and downward. The base
18
can be detached from the seat by pivoting the swing stopper
62
forward while pressing the lever
64
, and pulling the operating piece
68
forward to release the clamp bars
74
from the grip portions
54
.
In order to mount the child seat body
12
on the base
18
fixed on the seat of the car, the flange
42
of the connecting bottom plate
14
is inserted beneath the flange-pressing member
66
, the front side of the child seat body
12
is pushed down, and the bar
46
is pushed into the bar-engaging member
58
and is retained by the hook
56
, whereby the child seat body
12
is connected to the base
18
.
When the bar
46
of the connecting bottom plate
14
is pressed against the hook
56
from above, the hook
56
retracts, and the bar
46
enters a groove of the bar-engaging member
58
. When the bar
46
has been completely placed in the groove, the hook
56
advances and covers the bar
46
, so that the connecting bottom plate
14
and the child seat body
12
combined therewith are fixed onto the base
18
.
In order to release the fixing condition, the hook
56
is retracted by pressing the operating piece
60
, and the child seat body
12
can be pulled up.
In this way, the child seat body
12
and the base
18
are separated in the child seat device, and therefore, they can be separately carried into the car and can be separately installed. When fixing the base
18
, since the child seat body
12
is separated therefrom, the grip portions
54
of the arms
52
and the clamp bars
74
can be connected easily.
In order to fix the base
18
, it is only necessary to engage the arms
52
and the clamp bars
74
and then to tilt the swing stopper
62
rearwardly. This is quite easy, and the fixing strength of the base
18
is remarkably high. In order to fix the child seat body
12
to the base
18
, it is also only necessary to insert the flange
42
beneath the flange-pressing member
66
and to then push the front side of the child seat body
12
downwardly. This is quite easy. Moreover, the child seat body
12
and the base
18
are connected quite firmly.
When the car is involved in a head-on collision (including offset collision, this is also applied to the following) during driving, and an impact large enough to stop the car is applied thereto, a quite large forward force acts on the child seat device installed on the seat cushion of the car.
In this case, when the rear bottom of the child seat device is connected to the car-side member and the child seat device is restrained from moving forward, a pivoting force on the car-side member on the rear side is formed in the base. When the pivoting force is quite large, the base pivots on the car-side member, and the front of the base sinks into the seat cushion. With this, a force is applied to the child seat body fixed on the base so that the front thereof sinks.
An object of the present invention is to provide a child seat device which reduces such downward movement of the front of a child seat body caused in the case of a head-on collision of the car.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first aspect of the invention provides a child seat device having a base placed on a seat cushion and connected at the rear thereof to a car-side member, and a child seat body placed on the base. The child seat device includes a guide member extending forward and upward from the front of the base, and an
Nakagawa Osamu
Yoshida Jun-ichi
Cranmer Laurie K.
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Takata Corporation
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