Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Child Restraint Seat for Vehicles
Field of the Invention
-The present invention rela~es to a child restraint ;~ '
5 seat for vehicles and, more particularly, to a child ~ ''
restraint seat in which a pillow can be removably '~ '
mounted on a seat back thereof.
Backaround of the Invention
Seat belt devices provided on a vehicle such as an ~ ~
10 automobile are not suitable for use with small ~'
children, because they are designed only to restrain
adult seat occupants. Therefore, child restraint seats '~
for restraining a child who is a passenger in a vehicle
have been developed and are used widely~ For use, such
a seat is placed on the seat of the vehicle and is-held
~; in place by the seat belt with which the vehicle is
equipped.
A presently available child restraint seat
~'~ includes a base and seat body that can be inclined to
;~ 20 several positions relative to the base. An abdominal
3~ pad and a belt are provided on the seat body to
restrain the torso of a child. A shoulder/head
restraint portion on each of the two sides of a seat
back of the seat body supports the shoulders of the
~`; 25' chiid'who'is o'n t'he seat'and helps keep ~im or her in
the seat. ~-~
However, in the above-described known child ~ -~
restraint seat, when a child falls asleep, his or her '~
. .~. .
head tilts sideways to a great extent; this makes the
sleeping child in the seat uncomfortable.
Accordingly, it has been proposed to place a small '
~- ' cushion or the like at the slde of the child's head to -
limit the inclination of the head. However, the
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cushion may be shifted from its original position and
often cannot be kept at its intended position due to
the movements of the vehicle or changes in the posture
of the child who is taking a nap in the seat.
S Summary of the Invention
In view of the aforementioned drawback of
conventional child seats, an object of the present ~;
invention is to provide a child restraint seat to which
a pillow can be mounted at a suitable position on a
seat back of the seat when necessary to provide a
comfortable posture of a child when he or she takes a
nap in the seat.
According to the present invention, a child
restraint seat for vehicles includes a seat body
equipped with devices for restraining the child and
adapted to be placed on a seat of a vehicle and held in
position by a seat belt with which the vehicle is
equipped and a pillow which can be removably positioned
on a seat back of the seat body. The invention is
20 characterized in that the seat body has on a portion of -~
a surface of an outer cover which covers the seat back
thereof an engaged surface having a loop member of a
hook and loop cloth fastener, and in that the pillow
has on a surface of an outer cover which covers said
pillow an engaging surface having a hook member of the
hook and loop cloth fastener which engages with the
loop member of said fastener to hold the pillow in
- ~ place. i ' '
In a preferred embodiment, the invention is
further characterized in that ~he engaged surface
having said loop member is located on a portion of the
surface of the outer cover which covers a shoulder/head
restraint side portion of the sea~ back. In another
preferred embodiment, the engaged surface having said
` 35 loop member is formed on portions of the surface of the
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outer cover which covers upper part of the front ;
surface of the seat back and of the shoulder/head -
restraint side portions of the seat back.
The engaged surface may be constituted by at least
S two spaced-apart loop members, which may be in the form
of strips, or by a panel or panels forming a part or
parts of the outer cover o the seat back. The
engaging surface may be constituted by at least two
spaced-apart hook members, which may be in the form of
strips.
In the present invention, the p llow can be
attached at a suitable location on the seat back of the
seat and is held in place at that position by engaging
the hook member provided on the engaging surface of;the
pillow with the loop member provided on the engaged
surface provided on the seat back of the seat.
In the seat in which a panel (or panels) of the
outer cover which covers the seat back forms the
engaged surface which can be engaged with the hook
member, the entire seat back can be engaged with the
hook member provided on the pillow, thus increasing the
area of the seat back on which the pillow can be
mounted. ;
Descri~ion o~ the Dr~wings
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment .~
o~ a seat according to the present invention; ~ -
Figs. 2A and 2B are, respectively, plan and side
views of a pillow; and i
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a second
~ 30 embodiment of the present invention.
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Description of the Embodiments
Embodiments of the present invention will be
described below with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
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Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment ~;
of the present invention. In this embodiment, the
structure of the seat is similar to that of a ~ ~ ;
previously known seat described and shown in
DE-OS 38 09 968 (October 13, 1988) and will thus be
described below only briefly. The seat includes a base
1 and a seat body 2 which can be adjusted to several~ -
tilted positions relative to the base 1. An abdominal
pad 3a and a belt 3b are provided on the seat body 2 to
restrain the torso of a child. A shoulder/head
restraint portion 2b is provided on each of the two
sides of a seat back 2a of the seat body 2 to support
the shoulders of the child who is on the seat and
thereby help keep him or her in the seat.
In this embodiment, the entire seat bottom, seat
back, arm rests and shoulder/head restraint portions of
the seat are covered by an outer cover S, and engaged
surfaces 4 havlng loop members of hook and loop cloth
("Velcro") fasteners are mounted on the surface of the
outer cover S that covers the shoulder/head restraint
portions 2b of the back portion of the seat back. The
~ loop members 4, which are in the form of strips~ are
`~ - sewed to the outer cover S at two positions on each
!`" ~ ' seat back portion 2b, i.e., on both the left and right
~h 25 portions 2b.
Figs. 2A and 2~ are, respectively, plan and side
`~ views of a pillow 5 that can be removably mounted on
either of the two shoulder/head restraint portions 2b
of the seat back of the seat. The pillow 5 is composed
~; 30 of a urethane resin and a fabric which is of the same
type as that which forms the outer cover S of the seat
and which encloses the urethane resin. The pillow
cover is sewed together at a gusset 5a thereof. A
~; mating side 5b of the pillow 5 is covered by a bias
tape 5c. Two engaging surfaces 6 having hook members
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of the "Velcro" hook and loop cloth fasteners, which
are in the form of strips, are sewed on one surface of
the pillow cover at separate positions.
In this embodiment, the pillow 5 can be mounted on
a desired position on the seat by engaging the hook
members 6 on the pillow 5 with the loop members on the
seat and back portions 2b. Once mounted on the seat,
the pillow 5 is held in the position in which it is
originally mounted by the hook and loop cloth
fasteners. This allows a child who is taking a nap to
maintain his or her posture in a comfortable state.
Fig. 3 is a perspect ve view of a second
embodiment of the present invention. In this
embodiment, the basic structure of the seat is the same
as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the same
reference numerals are used to denote parts which are
the same, and the description thereof is not repeated.
In the second embodiment, variations in the size of the
body of a child who uses the child seat are ,
~ 20 accommodated. As shown in Fig. 3, the portions of the -
; outer cover S that cover the upper parts of the front
of the seat back 2a and of the shoulder/head restraint
portions 2b are made of a loop cloth fabric component
of a hook and loop cloth fastener ("Velcro").
The pillow of this embodiment has the same
structure as that of the first embodiment. In this
embodiment, the pillow 5 can be f ixed to a desired
position of the seat back so as to accommodate the
differences in`~the si'ze of the body of a child or
changes in the posture of the child, unlike that of the
first embodiment.
Although the invention has been described in its
preferred forms, it is understood that the present
disclosure of the preferred forms can be changed in the -
details of construction without departing from the
spirit and the scope of the appended claims. Examples
o~ such changes will be described below.
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The loop cloth members provided on the
shoulder/head restraint portions in the first
embodiment may also be provided on the back seat 2a.
Furthermore, the number of loop cloth members provided
on each side is not limited to two. A single long
strip of loop cloth may be provided on each side.
Alternatively, three or more loop cloth strips may be
provided on each of the shoulder/head restraint side
portions of the seat back.
~he pillow may also have hook cloth strips on one
side and loop cloth strips on the other side. This
allows a second pillow to be fastened to a pillow
fastened to the seat back.
Furthermore, the fabric which is used for the ;
pillow cover ~ay be of a loop cloth which corresponds
~ to the loop cloth of the "Velcro" fastener. This
; allows two or more pillows to be piled on top of one
another more effectively.
~`~ As will be understood from the foregoing
description, it is possible according to the present
invention to support the head of a child who is having
~ a nap in the child restraint seat and thereby maintain
;~ his or her posture. The pillow is made detachable ;
~ relative to the seat back so that it can be removed
n~ 25 from the seat when unnecessary. Furthermore, the
i~ pillow is engaged with or disengaged from the ceat back
by means of the loop cloth of the "Velcro" fasteners, -
which does not disturb or make the seat occupant of the
vehicle uncomfortable~when the seat occupant touches
it.
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