Child safety seat

Abstract

Abstract A safety seat provides improved occupant protection, especially in a vehicle equipped with a passenger-side air bag when the seat is positioned with the occupant facing rearward. The safety seat includes a head protector configured to deflect a forward facing portion of the seat downward upon interaction with an inflating air bag. The child safety seat, when occupied, has a center of gravity that causes a belt retaining the seat to be tightened for proper retention of the child seat during a collision and subsequent air bag inflation. The child safety seat can include one or more longitudinal members to strengthen the seat, provide additional head and torso protection, and transfer impact forces away from the head protector. In another embodiment the safety seat includes a cradle suspended in a frame by shock-isolating mounts. In an additional embodiment, a child safety seat includes two opposing frame rails, each frame rail including a side frame element. A pivot element, shock mounted on each of two ends to a respective side frame element, extends between the side frame elements. A lower shock mount is attached to a lower section of the frame. A cradle is resiliently suspended within the frame. The cradle is rotatably mounted to the pivot element at a first end, and attached to the lower shock mount at a second end. Additionally, an air bag impact surface is provided along a section of the frame. The air bag impact surface is pivotable at a first end with respect to the frame, and the second end of the air bag impact surface has a shock absorbing element positioned between it and the frame.

Inventors

• 👤 Dan Goor

Bibliographic Details