Height-adjustable vehicle seat

Abstract

A juvenile vehicle seat includes a squab (i.e. base) on which a child may sit when the squab is placed on a passenger seat in a vehicle. The orientation of the squab relative to the passenger seat may be varied at the option of a caregiver.

Claims

1. A juvenile car seat comprising a seat base including a foundation adapted to set on a seat bottom of a passenger seat in a vehicle and a squab adapted to support buttocks of a child and arranged to overlie and move relative to the foundation, the squab including a rear squab portion adapted to lie adjacent to a seat back of the passenger seat and an opposite front squab portion arranged to lie in close proximity to a forward edge of the seat bottom of the passenger seat when the foundation is placed on the seat bottom of the passenger seat, an anti-submarining protrusion coupled to the front portion and arranged to extend upwardly away from the foundation and laterally across the front squab portion, and squab-mover means for moving the squab upwardly relative to the foundation and for simultaneously changing inclination of the squab relative to a horizontal reference plane to cause movement of the squab relative to the foundation from an uninclined low position through an acute angle to an inclined high position to raise the rear squab portion to a first higher distance above the foundation and to raise the front squab portion to a relatively higher second higher distance above the foundation so that inclination of the squab is changed when the front squab portion and the anti-submarining protrusion coupled to the front squab portion are raised upwardly relative to the foundation and so the entire squab is raised to a position higher than the uninclined low position.

2. The juvenile car seat of claim 1, wherein the squab-mover means includes a front cam associated with the front squab portion and mounted for rotation about an axis, a rear cam associated with the rear squab portion and mounted for rotation about an axis, and a cam rotater arranged to rotate each of the front and rear cams about the axes to move the squab upwardly relative to the foundation and simultaneously change inclination of the squab.

3. The juvenile car seat of claim 2, wherein the axes of the front and rear cams are coextensive.

4. The juvenile car seat of claim 2, wherein the cam rotater is a single, rotatable spindle coupled to each of the front and rear cams.

5. The juvenile car seat of claim 2, wherein the front cam has an amplitude greater than an amplitude associated with the rear cam.

6. The juvenile car seat of claim 2, wherein the front and rear cams are arranged to rotate continuously in response to rotation of the cam rotater to cause inclination of the squab to change progressively as the squab is moved upwardly relative to the foundation.

7. The juvenile car seat of claim 2, wherein the front cam is arranged to underlie the anti-submarining protrusion.

8. A juvenile car seat comprising a seat base including a foundation adapted to set on a seat bottom of a passenger seat in a vehicle and a squab adapted to support buttocks of a child and arranged to overlie and move relative to the foundation, the squab including a rear squab portion adapted to lie adjacent to a seat back of the passenger seat and an opposite front squab portion arranged to lie in close proximity to a forward edge of the seat bottom of the passenger seat when the foundation is placed on the seat bottom of the passenger seat, an anti-submarining protrusion coupled to the front portion and arranged to extend upwardly away from the foundation and laterally across the front squab portion, and squab-mover means for moving the squab upwardly relative to the foundation and for simultaneously changing inclination of the squab relative to a horizontal reference plane to cause movement of the squab relative to the foundation from an uninclined low position through an acute angle to an inclined high position to raise the rear squab portion to a first higher distance above the foundation and to raise the front squab portion to a relatively higher second higher distance above the foundation so that inclination of the squab is changed when the front squab portion and the anti-submarining protrusion coupled to the front squab portion are raised upwardly relative to the foundation and so the entire squab is raised to a position higher than the uninclined low position, wherein the squab-mover means includes a front link coupled to the front squab portion and mounted on the foundation for pivotable movement about a front foundation pivot axis, a rear link coupled to the rear squab portion and mounted on the foundation for pivotable movement about a rear foundation pivot axis arranged to lie in spaced-apart parallel relation to the front foundation pivot axis, the front link has a length that is relatively longer than a length of the rear link, and pivoting movement of the front and rear links in a direction towards a seat back of the passenger seat moves the squab upwardly relative to the foundation and simultaneously changes inclination of the squab.

9. The juvenile car seat of claim 8, wherein the front link has a rear end pivotably coupled to the foundation at the front foundation pivot axis and a forward end pivotably coupled to the front squab portion at a front squab pivot axis and the rear link has a rear end pivotably coupled to the foundation at the rear foundation pivot axis and a forward end pivotably coupled to the rear squab portion at a rear squab pivot axis.

10. The juvenile car seat of claim 8, wherein the front link is arranged to underlie the anti-submarining portion.

11. The juvenile car seat of claim 8, wherein the front and rear links are arranged to pivot continuously in a clockwise direction about their respective pivot axes to cause inclination of the squab to change progressively as the squab is moved upwardly relative to the foundation.

Description

(1) Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from a reading of the following description of embodiments of the invention, given by way of illustration and non-limitatively and accompanied by the drawings, among which:

(2) FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate, seen from the side, a car seat according to the invention, respectively: FIG. 1A: in a high position of the squab (small child); FIG. 1B: in a low position of the squab (large child);

(3) FIG. 2 presents, schematically, the position of the anti-submarining protrusion, in the positions in FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively;

(4) FIGS. 3A and 3B present a first example of a mechanism for raising the squab based on cams;

(5) FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a second example of a mechanism for raising the squab based on links.

(6) The invention therefore proposes a novel type of car seat for children, providing effective and secure positioning of the diagonal safety belt strap, whatever the size of the child, while effectively combating the phenomenon of submarining.

(7) For this purpose, as can be seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrating a first embodiment of the invention, the back rest 11 of the seat is equipped with a head rest 12 and a strap guide 13 fixed with respect to the back rest.

(8) This strap guide 13 has been designed and placed on the back rest in an optimum position for ensuring guidance of the safety belt strap 14.

(9) Thus, whatever the size of the child, the head and shoulders of the latter are all the time in the same position with respect to the height of the back rest and therefore with respect to the strap guide 13. For this purpose, the strap 15 is adjustable for height, so as to adapt the distance between this back rest and the head rest to the size of child.

(10) When the child is small, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, the squab is placed in the high position. Conversely, for a large child, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, the squab 15 is brought downwards.

(11) This approach is therefore effective, for guiding the diagonal safety belt strap. On the other hand, it may amplify the risks of submarining, in particular when the squab is placed in the high position. To combat this phenomenon, an anti-submarining protrusion is used, which is preferably adjustable according to the position of the squab.

(12) In addition, the seat is equipped with Isofix clamps (not visible in FIGS. 1A and 1B, but shown schematically in FIG. 2, reference 20), which hold the back rest 11 pressed against the back rest 17 of the vehicle.

(13) As can be seen in FIG. 1A, the front part 18 of the squab forms a larger angle with the horizontal in the case where the squab is in the high position than in the case in FIG. 1B.

(14) Thus the anti-submarining protrusion 21 is placed suitably, according to the morphology of the child being transported. FIG. 2 shows schematically the top part of the squab and the anti-submarining protrusion 21, respectively in the case of FIG. 1A (arrow A) and FIG. 1B (arrow B).

(15) The squab may adopt at least two distinct positions in height H.sub.A, H.sub.B. Several intermediate positions may of course be provided. The adjustment between two extreme positions may also be continuous.

(16) The squab therefore has a hollow 22, level with the buttocks of the child, and then an anti-submarining protrusion 21, the position of which is adapted according to the position of the pelvis and legs of the child. Its inclination .sub.A, .sub.B may also be adjusted in order to maximise the anti-submarining action.

(17) More generally, the shape, the volume and the level with respect to the top surface of the squab and/or the angle formed with respect to the horizontal by the anti-submarining protrusion may be adapted according to the height of the squab.

(18) Moreover, according to a particular embodiment, the depth P.sub.A, P.sub.B of the squab is also adjustable in order to adapt even better to the size of the child.

(19) Although the various adjustments may be independent, an advantageous approach is to link them to each other. Thus changing from height H.sub.A to height H.sub.B automatically causes a change from the depth P.sub.A to the depth P.sub.B and/or a change from the inclination .sub.A to the inclination .sub.B.

(20) These various movements may be controlled by a manual action, for example by squab-mover means 23 of a crank or knob. In other embodiments, these movements may be motorised.

(21) The squab-mover means 23 between a foundation 19 and the squab 18 may for example use links, cams, worms, racks, gears, etc.

(22) A first example of a mechanism for raising the squab of the car seat according to the invention, based on cams, is now presented in relation to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

(23) The squab 15, having an anti-submarining protrusion 21, is mounted on two cams, a front cam 31 and a rear cam 32. These two cams 31, 32 are secured to the same spindle 33, able to move in rotation (arrow 34), for example by means of manual manipulation of a crank or knob, not shown in the figure. The rotation 34 of the spindle 33 causes the rotation 35 of the cams 31 and 32, which causes the raising of the squab 15.

(24) In addition, provision is advantageously made for the front cam 31 to be of greater amplitude than the rear cam so that, apart from the raising of the squab 15, the rotation 35 of the cams 31 and 32 also causes its inclination because of the difference in amplitude A between the two cams.

(25) It should be noted that the movement of the cams 31, 32 is continuous when the spindle 33 is rotated so that the inclination changes progressively, as the squab 15 is raised.

(26) FIG. 3A therefore illustrates a first low position of the squab 15, suited to a large child, in which the inclination of the squab is substantially zero.

(27) FIG. 3B for its part illustrates a second high position of the squab 15 suited to a child of small size, in which the inclination of the squab is of value .

(28) FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate another embodiment in which the raising of the squab 15 is done by means of links, namely a front link 41 situated under the front part of the squab 15 and a rear link 42 situated under the rear part of the squab 15. The front link 41 is therefore substantially situated under the anti-submarining protrusion 21.

(29) Provision is made for the front link 41 to be longer than the rear link 42. The simultaneous rotation of the links, represented by the arrows 45, causes the raising of the squab 15. Conjointly, the difference in length between the links 41 and 42 causes the inclination of the squab 15.

(30) Thus the anti-submarining protrusion 21 is placed in a suitable fashion according to the morphology of the child being transported.

(31) FIG. 4A therefore illustrates a first low position of the squab 15, suited to a large child, in which the inclination of the squab is substantially zero.

(32) FIG. 4B for its part illustrates a second high position of the squab 15 suited to a small child, in which the inclination of the squab is of value Q.

(33) As in the example in FIG. 2, the mechanisms of FIGS. 3A-3B and 4A-4B are therefore designed so that the change of the squab 15 from a height H.sub.A to a height H.sub.B automatically causes change from an inclination .sub.A to an inclination .sub.B.

(34) It should be noted that, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the car seat of the invention has been shown as comprising, apart from the squab, a back rest, head rest and lateral protections. As already previously mentioned, the invention also concerns such a car seat that would be devoid in whole or in part of a back rest and/or head rest and/or lateral protections. This is because the simple presence of a squab adjustable for height, combined with the presence of an anti-submarining element and securing clamps (for example Isofix clamps, not visible in FIGS. 3A-3B, 4A-4B) suffices to solve the technical problem of the invention, namely providing a car seat ensuring more effective and more secure holding of a child, in particular in the event of impact or deceleration, by means of an optimised belt strap passage and a reduction in the submarining effect.