CAR SEAT ADAPTOR

Abstract

Car seat adaptor (1), in particular for mounting a portable car seat in a cargo bike. The adaptor comprises a support frame (2) with two parallel supports (3), and a pair of couplers (5), both supports being provided with one of the couplers and with a spring suspension (6) between the coupler and the respective support.

Claims

1. A car seat adaptor comprising a support frame with two parallel supports, and a pair of couplers, both supports being provided with one of the couplers and with a spring suspension between the coupler and the respective support.

2. The car seat adaptor according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the spring suspensions comprises: a core slidably received in a tubular part of the respective support, the core being mounted to the coupler provided with the respective support; and a spring with one end connected to the core and an opposite end fixed relative to the support associated with the spring.

3. The car seat adaptor according to claim 2, wherein the spring is a tension spring that can be tensioned in a tension direction, and the coupler, the core and the tubular part of the respective support form a sliding guide that allows sliding movement of the coupler relative to the respective support only in said tension direction.

4. The car seat adaptor according to claim 3, wherein the tension spring has a spring rate or stiffness of about 1 N/mm to about 2 N/mm.

5. The car seat adaptor according to claim 4, wherein the spring is pretensioned.

6. The car seat adaptor according to claim 2, further comprising a stop limiting sliding movement of the coupler relative to the respective support.

7. The car seat adaptor according to claim 2, wherein the core has a hollow cross section at least partly enclosing the spring.

8. The car seat adaptor according to claim 7, wherein the core has a slot, the support comprises a shaft, extending through the slot, and the spring is suspended to the shaft.

9. The car seat according to claim 8, wherein the shaft crosses the support and has an outer end forming a stop for limiting sliding movement of the coupler, the stop being slidably encased in a chamber of the coupler.

10. The car seat adaptor according to claim 9, wherein the shaft is a bolt and the stop is a nut.

11. The car seat adaptor according to claim 2, wherein both couplers have a lower end receiving and guiding the associated support, and a top end comprising connection elements functionally matching with connecting elements of a car seat.

12. The car seat adaptor according to claim 11, wherein the couplers comprise two sections jointly fitting around the top end of the associated support.

13. The car seat adaptor according to claim 12, wherein one of the sections of the coupler has an annular part slidably receiving a top end of the tubular part of the respective support.

14. The car seat adaptor according to claim 1, wherein the support frame is an integral or bolted part of a vehicle.

15. The car seat adaptor according to claim 14, wherein the support frame is an integral or bolted part of an inner wall of a cargo box of a cargo bike.

16. The car seat adaptor according to claim 14, wherein the support frame is bolted by means of fasteners, each fastener having a head with a lower edge received in a matching recess of a washer.

17. The car seat adaptor according to claim 16, wherein the washer is a saddle washer.

18. The car seat adaptor according to claim 7, wherein the hollow cross-section is a C-shaped cross section.

19. A cargo bike with a cargo box provided with a car seat adaptor according to claim 1.

20. A cargo bike with a cargo box provided with a car seat adaptor according to claim 15.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] The invention will now be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, showing an exemplary embodiment of a car seat adaptor.

[0034] FIG. 1: shows a car seat adaptor according to the invention in perspective view;

[0035] FIG. 2: shows one of the couplers of the car seat adaptor in exploded view;

[0036] FIG. 3: shows a spring suspension of the coupler of FIG. 2;

[0037] FIG. 4: shows the spring suspension of FIG. 3 from another viewing angle;

[0038] FIG. 5: shows the coupler with one section broken away;

[0039] FIG. 6: shows in detail the connection to a vehicle;

[0040] FIG. 7: shows a cargo bike comprising the car seat adaptor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a car seat adaptor 1 comprising a tubular support frame 2 with two parallel and symmetrically arranged upstanding tubular supports 3. The tubular supports 3 have lower ends bridged by a transversal tube 4. The top ends of the two supports 3 are capped by respective couplers 5 configured to connect to a universal connection mechanism used with most child car seats, such as those of Maxi-Cosi®. The car seat adaptor 1 has a symmetrical build-up so the two couplers 5 have similar but mirrored configurations, just as the two supports 3.

[0042] The two couplers 5 are connected to the supports 3 by means of a spring suspension 6, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The spring suspension 6 comprises a core 7 and a tension spring 8, jointly received within the tubular top end of the support 3. The top end of the core 7 is fixed to the respective coupler 5 by means of a bolt 9 at an inner side of the coupler 5. The lower end of the core 7 has a hook 10. Between the bolt 9 and the hook 10, the core 7 has a substantially C-shaped cross section with an open side 11 (FIG. 3) providing access for positioning the spring 8. The core 7 is also provided with a slot 12 (FIG. 4) opposite to the open side 11 and extending in a longitudinal direction of the core 7 between a point near the bolt 9 and a point about halfway the length of the core 7. Vertically extending ribs 13 (FIG. 4) space the core 7 from the inner wall of the tubular support 3 and serve to provide a low clearance sliding guide.

[0043] The spring 8 is contained in the C-shaped cross section of the core 7. The spring 8 has a lower end with a loop 14 hooked to the hook 10 of the core 7 and a top end with a loop 15 suspended to a bolt 16 extending radially through bores 17 (FIG. 2) in the tubular support 3 crossing the slot 12 of the core 7. The bolt 16 has a bolt head 18 at one side of the support 3, and a threaded part carrying a nut 19 at an opposite side of the support 3.

[0044] With this construction, the lower end of the spring 8 moves with the core 7 and the coupler 5, while the top end of the spring 8 is fixed relative to the support 3. As a result, the couplers 5 can resiliently move up and down relative to the support 3.

[0045] The spring can be balanced with the child's weight and impact loads during transport. Spring rate and pretension can for example be selected to limit spring expansion to about 40 mm.

[0046] The nut 19 is slidably contained in a closed chamber 20 of the coupler 5, visible as a protruding box part on the outside of the coupler 5. The length of the chamber 20 is slightly shorter than the length of the slot 12, so the nut 19 serves as a stop or a sliding limiter.

[0047] Both couplers 5 have a lower end slidably receiving the tubular top end of the associated support 3 with the nut 19, and a top end comprising universal connection elements 21 matching with the usual connecting elements of a car seat. At their lower ends, the couplers 5 comprise two sections 22, 23 jointly fitting around the top end of the associated support 3. The two sections 22, 23 are coupled by a snap fit connection extending along a vertical plane and are typically made of an injection moulded plastic. The two sections 22, 23 include a main section 22 with the connection elements 21, and a cap section 23. The main section 22 is fixed to the core 7 and contains the chamber 20 covering the nut 19. The cap section 23 connects to a lower half of the main section 22 in order to cover the top end of the tubular support 3 and the bolt head 19, so as to hide these from view.

[0048] The main section 23 has an annular part 24 (FIG. 5) slidably receiving the tubular top end of the respective support 3, so as to provide further guiding for proper joint sliding movement of the two couplers 5.

[0049] In the assembled state, the cap sections 23 of the couplers 5 face each other, just as the universal connection elements 21, while the protruding chambers 20 encasing the nuts 19 point away from each other. In this position of the couplers 5, a car seat provided with the matching universal connection means can easily be clicked onto the couplers 5.

[0050] The support frame 2 can be bolted to a vehicle, e.g., to an inner wall of a cargo box 25 of a cargo bike, as shown in FIG. 7. The frame 2 is mounted using a number of allen screw bolts 26, shown in detail in FIG. 6. To optimize child safety, each allen screw bolt 26 has a head 27 with a lower edge received in a matching recess 28 of a saddle washer 29. The saddle washer 29 has a lower edge 30 following the surface curvature of the tubular support 3. The saddle washer 29 can for example be made of an elastomeric or plastic material.

[0051] The two supports 3 of the tubular frame 2 are slightly kinked at an obtuse angle. The car seat adaptor 1 is mounted in the cargo box 25 in a position that the lower ends 31 of the supports 3 are substantially vertical, while the kinked upper ends 32 are directed slightly forward, e.g., slightly towards a steer of the cargo bike. In this position a car seat can easily be clicked upon the car seat adaptor 1 with the sitting child facing the driver.

[0052] The terms “upward”, “downward”, “below”, “above”, “top”, “lower”, “vertical” and the like relate to the position of the respective parts in an assembled state of the car seat adaptor 1 during normal use.