Chairs and seats – Crash seat – Force-absorbing means incorporated into child seat
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-13
2001-10-23
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Crash seat
Force-absorbing means incorporated into child seat
C297S195130, C297S216160
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305744
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an ejectable safety seat structure and particularly to a passenger safety seat for use on recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, etc. and wherein the occupant and an inner shell of the seat is automatically disconnected and released from the vehicle when subjected to a predetermined force upon impact of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
Many serious accidents take place every year when operating recreational vehicles, such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, etc. because such vehicles do not provide any structural protection for their occupants. Accordingly, when an accident occurs, the occupant will be projected by the impact force or remain on the vehicle if strapped thereon. For this reason, often infants do not occupy such vehicles due to the risk of injury. This disadvantage somewhat restricts the use of such vehicles by the parents. In an attempt to overcome such problem, various attempts have been made to develop safety restraints for children passengers. An example of such devices is exemplified by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,097 which discloses a safety harness for securing a child passenger to the driver of a motorcycle. The safety harness is comprised of a vest which is worn by the child and which is strapped to the driver. Because the driver of such vehicles is the one that is most often subjected to the most critical injuries, then the child strapped to the driver will also be subjected to the same hazards and may additionally be injured by the weight of the driver. Accordingly, this solution is not satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,879 also discloses an infant or child restraining seat for a snowmobile vehicle. However, although the seat provides lateral protection to an infant, it is rigidly secured to the snowmobile vehicle and if the vehicle is involved in a collision, the child will not free itself form the vehicle and be subjected to injury as the child is restrained by a harness which is anchored to the seat structure for holding the child firmly in the seat.
The present invention contemplates an ejectable or automatically disconnectable safety seat structure which has an inner shell which is secured to an outer shell which is attached to a vehicle and wherein the inner shell is secured by impact force detachable means which releases the inner shell automatically when the detachable means is subjected to a predetermined force upon impact of the vehicle. It is known to provide combination seats wherein a seat to which an infant is strapped can be connected and disconnected from a shell. However, these combination seats are used to facilitate the transport of the infant to and from a vehicle and the child remains strapped in the seat which is utilized as a carrier and multipurpose seat. The seat to which the child is strapped is detachably connected to a frame which is attached to a vehicle seat. The seat containing the infant is not automatically detachable therefrom but rigidly secured and may only be detached by the parent by actuating a connecting mechanism. Examples of these are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,909, 4,750,783 and 4,915,446. These seats are not to be construed as automatically disconnectable safety seats, which is the object of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an ejectable safety seat structure wherein an inner protective shell is connected to an outer shell by impact force detachable means wherein the inner shell automatically disconnects when the attachable means is subjected to a predetermined force upon impact of a vehicle to which the outer shell is secured.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an ejectable safety seat structure, as above described, and wherein the impact force detachable means is constituted by VELCRO connections which are easy to install and secure.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an ejectable safety seat structure, as above described, and wherein the impact force detachable means may be adapted to different groups of occupant weights.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an ejectable safety seat structure for use on recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, etc. and wherein the occupant and a protective shell to which the occupant is strapped, is automatically disconnected from the vehicle when the vehicle is subjected to a predetermined impact force.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an ejectable safety seat structure and particularly for use by infants, and wherein the seat is easy to install on a vehicle and easy to adjust to receive different infant sizes.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides an ejectable safety seat structure which comprises an outer rigid shell for securement to a vehicle. An inner protective shell is connected to the outer shell by impact force detachable means which is removably securable to the inner shell. A harness is secured to the inner shell for detachably securing an occupant therein. The impact force detachable means automatically disconnects from the inner shell when the detachable means is subjected to a predetermined force upon impact of the vehicle.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5468046 (1995-11-01), Weber et al.
patent: 5542587 (1996-08-01), Broz et al.
patent: 5553915 (1996-09-01), Stamatakis
patent: 5639144 (1997-06-01), Naujokas
Brown Peter R.
Houle Guy J.
Swabey Ogilvy Renault
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