Chairs and seats – Body or occupant restraint or confinement – Having crotch strap or post
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-18
2001-07-17
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Body or occupant restraint or confinement
Having crotch strap or post
C297S250100, C297S484000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260925
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a modular system to install various crotch belt assemblies and/or shoulder belt retractor assemblies into a given type of child seat. More particularly this invention relates to a universal mounting pan to which various crotch belt assemblies and/or shoulder belt retractor assemblies are attached, which can then be mounted in a given child seat that has been adapted to receive the mounting pan.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In currently available child seats, the restraint system is comprised of three subassemblies: the shoulder belt assembly, the crotch belt assembly, and the shoulder belt adjuster assembly. These three subassemblies are shipped to and installed by the child seat manufacturer independently from one another, and the child seat manufacturer must make provisions for the attachment of each assembly to the child seat. As various restraint component options are considered, the child seat manufacturer must make changes to these attachment provisions to insure that new component configurations are compatible with the child seat. As the number of component options increases, the ability to mate all variations with a single child seat reaches a practical limit.
What is needed is a modular system, which allows the child seat manufacturer to combine the installation of several of these subassemblies without the need for changes to the child seat. This invention is one answer to that need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, this invention is a module for use with a child seat that has a shoulder harness, an interengageable combination of a tongue and seat belt buckle, and has a seat portion that has been adapted to receive the module. The module, itself, has a pan that is mountable within the seat portion of the child seat, a belt retractor fixedly attached to the bottom of the pan, and a crotch assembly that may be attached to either the buckle or the tongue of the seat belt harness.
In another aspect, this invention is a child seat harness for installation in an automobile. The child seat harness includes a child seat that is adapted to receive a module in its seat area, a harness mounted to the child seat, which is extendable over the child to secure the child within the child seat, an interlocking tongue and seat belt buckle mounted to said child seat, which is interlockable with the harness, and a universal module. The universal module includes a pan that is mountable within the seat of the child seat, a belt retractor that is attached to the pan; and a crotch assembly that is attached to either the tongue or the buckle of the harness.
An advantage of this invention is that it simplifies the installation of a restraint into a child seat.
Another advantage of this invention is that it allows child seat manufacturers to make a single provision in all models of its child seats for installation of the restraining harness, regardless of the configuration of the particular components, i.e. the crotch belt assembly or the belt retractor assembly or the means for controlling the belt retractor assembly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4826246 (1989-05-01), Meeker
patent: 4858997 (1989-08-01), Shubin
patent: 5286090 (1994-02-01), Templin et al.
patent: 5538322 (1996-07-01), Cone et al.
patent: 5779319 (1998-07-01), Merrick
patent: 5873635 (1999-02-01), Merrick
patent: 5899534 (1999-05-01), Gray
Cuomo Peter M.
Indiana Mills & Manufacturing Inc.
Vu Stephen
Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty & McNett
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