SIEGE DE SECURITE AVEC CEINTURES A RAPPEL AUTOMATIQUE POUR ENFANTS

CHILD SAFETY SEAT WITH AUTOMATIC RETRACTABLE SAFETY BELTS

Abrégé anglais

IMPROVED CHILD SAFETY SEAT WITH
AUTOMATIC RETRACTABLE SAFETY BELTS
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A child safety seat having a seat portion, a
backrest portion, side panels, a frame secured to the seat
and straps to secure the frame over an automobile seat.
The improvement comprises an arresting belt assembly fixedly
secured at a first end and extending from a front end of
the seat portion to an uppermost part of the backrest
portion for movement therethrough. A retracting mechanism
is fixedly secured outwardly of the seat and backrest
portions for attachment of a second end of the belt assembly.
The retracting mechanism has a belt winding spool to
maintain the belt under tension in position across the seat
and to permit easy retraction of the belt from the spool to
permit limited free movement of a child strapped in the
seat. Impact locking means is provided in the retracting
mechanism to positively lock the belt assembly when the
seat is subjected to a predetermined abrupt movement.
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Revendications

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In a child safety seat having a seat portion,
a backrest portion, side panels, a frame secured to said
seat and strap means to secure said frame over an
automobile seat, the improvement comprising an arresting
belt assembly fixedly secured at a first end and extend-
ing from a front end of said seat portion to an uppermost
part of said backrest portion for movement therethrough,
a retracting mechanism fixedly secured outwardly of said
seat and backrest portions for attachment of a second
end of said belt assembly, said retracting mechanism having
a belt winding spool to maintain said belt under tension
in position across said seat and permitting easy retraction
of said belt from said spool to permit limited free movement
of a child strapped in said seat, and impact locking means
in said retracting mechanism to positively lock said belt
assembly when said seat is subjected to a predetermined
abrupt movement.
2. A safety seat as claimed in claim 1 wherein
said retracting mechanism is secured in a rearward portion
of the underside of said seat portion.
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3. A safety seat as claimed in claim 1 wherein
said belt assembly comprises two shoulder straps extending
across at least an upper section of said backrest portion
and through a respective hole adjacent a respective side
of said backrest, said two shoulder straps being secured
to a common winding strap rearwardly of said backrest,
said winding strap being secured to said winding spool.
4. A safety seat as claimed in claim 3 wherein said
two shoulder straps are fixedly secured at a lower end to
said frame and extend through a respective hole on a
respective side of said seat portion.
5. A safety seat as claimed in claim 4 wherein there
is further provided a central restraining strap secured to
said frame and extending through said seat portion in a
central front portion thereof, a buckle assembly securing
said central restraining strap to a lower portion of said
shoulder straps while permitting axial displacement of said
shoulder straps.
6. A safety seat as claimed in claim 5 wherein
there is further provided a guide clip for slidingly and
releasably securing said shoulder straps in side-by-side
relationship over a central portion of said backerest.
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7. A safety seat as claimed in claim 3 wherein
a transverse interconnecting strap is secured at a top
end of said winding strap, said shoulder straps being
connected to said interconnecting strap to a respective
side of said winding strap to maintain said shoulder
strap in unison displacement
8. A safety seat as claimed in claim 7 wherein
said backrest is provided with a plurality of pairs of
slotted holes to permit adjustable passage of said
shoulder straps to accommodate children of different
sizes to be strapped in said seat.
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Description

192
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child
safety seat having an automatic retractable safety belt
assembly.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Safety seats for securement on an automotive
vehicle seat are known such as described in U,S.
patent 3,9~2,035 issued November 25, 1975 and U.S.
Reissue patent 29,841 of NOvember 21, 1978. However,
seats of these types are equipped with a safety belt
harness wherein the length of the belt sections are
adjusted to fit the child seated in the seat, and once
adjusted the belts are of a fixed length immovably
restraining the child in the seat. The disadvantage
with such seat harnesses is that every time a child of
different size or the same child using different clothing
is seated on the seat, it is constantly necessary to
readjust the length of some of the belts of the harness
to suit the size of the child. If these belts are not
adjusted p.roperly, then they can slip off and not provide
the intended protection. Also, such belt harnesses are
adjustably secured to the frame supporting the seat and
these adjustable securement sometimes become undone due
~5 to constant pulling on the belt when adjusti.ng the harness
each time a child is placed in the seat. Another disadvan-
tage of such belt harnesses is that the child is restrained
within the seat and is not comfortable as he is not free
of any movement, particularly in the upper part of the body.

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SUMMARY OF I~VENTION
It is a -feature of the present invention to
provi.de a child safety seat having an improved arresting
belt assembly which substantially overcomes the abovc-
mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
Another feature of the present invention is
to provide a child safety seat having an improved
arresting belt assembly which is automatically adjustable
to suit children of different sizes and which is easy to
use and assemble.
Another feature of the present invention is
to provide a child safety seat having an arresting belt
assembly which is automatically adjustable and which is
positively secured at opposed ends, thus preventing the
assembly from becoming undone.
Another feature of the present invention is
to provide a child safety seat having an arresting belt
assembly which is fail-safe and which is more comfortable
to the child.
According to the above features, from a broad
aspect, the present invention provides a child safety
seat having a seat portion, a backrest portion, side
panels, a frame secured to the seat and straps to secure
the frame over an automobile seat. The improvement
comprises an arresting belt assembly fixedly secured at
a first end and extending from a front end of the seat
portion to an uppermost part of the backrest portion for
movement therethrough. A retracting mechanism is fixedly
secured outwardly of the seat and backrest portions for
attachment of a second end of the belt assembly. The

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retracting mechanism has a belt winding spool to maintain
the belt under tension in position across the seat and to
permit easy retraction of the belt from the spool to
permit limited free movement of a child strapped in the
seat. Impact locking means is provided in the retracting
mechanism to positively lock the belt assembly when the
seat is sub~ected to a predetermined abrupt movement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWI~GS
An example of a preferred embodiment of the
present invention will now be described with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is a fragmented side view of the safety
seat having the improved arresting belt assembly of the
present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a rear view, partly fragmented, of
the child safety seat showing the retracting mechanism
attachment at one end of the arresting belt assembly, and
FIGURE 3 is a front view of the child safety
seat illustrating the configuration of the arresting belt
assembly of the present invention.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown at
10 a child safety seat having a seat portion 11, a back-
rest portion 12 and side panels 13. A frame 14 secures
the seat to a vehicle seat (not shown) by means of a strap
assembly (also not shown) but well known in -the art. An
arresting belt assembly 15 is secured at a first end 16
and extends from a front end of -the seat portion 11 to
~ an uppermost part of -the backrest portion 12 for retract-
able movement therethrough.

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As shown in Figure 3, the backrest portion is
provided with a plurality of pairs of slotted holes 17
whereby to provide adjus-table passage of the shoulder
straps 18 of the strap assembly to accommodate
children of different sizes to be strapped in the seat.
Essentially, the arresting belt assembly comprises two
straps which are secured at their lower end 16 to the
frame 14 of the seat and which pass through a respective
one of two slots 19 in a front portion of the seat portion
11. A further central restraining strap 20 is secured to
the frame 14 and extends through the seat portion 11 in a
central slot 21. A buckle assembly 22 secures the central
restraining strap 20 to a lower portion of the shoulder
straps 18 while permitting axial displacement of the
shoulder straps 18. The buckle assembly 22 consists of a
buckle 23 secured to the central strap 20 and having a
dual port (not shown) to receive therein two guide elements
24 through which the shoulder straps 18 are slidingly
restrained whereby to guide the straps in substantially
parallelism over a central portion of the seat. A sliding
guide clip 25, well known in the art, slidingly and
releasably secures the shoulder straps in side by-side
relationship over a central portion of the backrest
portion 12.
As shown more clearly in Figures 1 and 2, the
top portion of the shoulder straps 18 extends behind the
backrest 12 and are interconnected to a common winding
strap 26 which is secured to a belt retracting mechanism
27. The belt retracting mechanism 27 is fixedly secured
to the underside of the seat portion 11 near the hackrest
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portion L2 and is provided with a winding spool 28 to
maintain the belt 26 and the shoulder straps 18 under
tension and in position across the seat, as shown in
Figure 3, to permit easy retraction of the belt from the
spool and to permit limited free movement of a child
strapped in the seat. An impact locking means or
mechanism 29 is associated with the spring loaded spool
28 to positively lock the belt 26 and consequently the
shoulder straps 18 when the seat is su~jected to a
predetermined abrupt movement. The retracting mechanism
27 is that well known in the art and utilized presently
in automotive vehicles in the shoulder strap attachment
to the vehicle frame.
In order to maintain the shoulder straps in
substantially displaceable unison whereby to prevent one
strap from being looser than the other strap, the shoulder
straps are interconnected at their rear end 30 to a
transverse interconnecting strap 31 which is secured at
a top end of the winding strap 26~ Thus, the shoulder
straps move in unison when displaced outwardly from the
backrest 12.
It can be seen that with the arres-ting strap
assembly of the present invention it is easy to install
a child in the seat as the length of the straps need not
be adjusted each time the child is placed in the seat.
All that is necessary to do is to disengage the guide
clip 25 from one of the shoulder straps and to pull the
strap assembly Ollt fitting the child with each leg to
one side of the center strap 20 and placing the shoulder
straps over his shoulders and -then again securing the

guide clip 25 to the detached shoulder straps. The
child is then securely strapped in the seat but free of
forward movement in its upper body portion. Should the
seat be subjected to an abrupt predetermined movement
or shoc}~, the retracting mechanism 27 will lock with
the arresting belt assembly restraining the child from
further forward movement.
It is within the ambit of the present invention
to cover any obvious modifications of the example of the
preferred embodiment described herein, provided such
example falls within the scope of the appended claims.
For example, the retracting mechanism 27 may be conve-
niently ~ecured in a manner different Erom that shown,
provided it carries out the intended function described.