Vehicular seat assembly

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicular seat assembly that may be configured in four different arrangements to accommodate an adult in its first position, a youth in its second position, a toddler in its third position, and infant in its fourth position. When configured to seat an infant, the infant is retrained using a restraint system that is integral to the seat assembly, and when configured to seat a toddler, the toddler is restrained by a separate and distinct restraint system that is also integral to the seat assembly.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10 / 751,078 that was filed Jan. 2, 2004, which is filly incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING SPONSORED RESEARCH AND / OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention generally relates to seats for motor vehicles, and more particularly, to a child seat assembly for use in motor vehicles. [0005] 2. General Background of the Invention [0006] It has become increasingly desirable to place special seating apparatuses in motor vehicles to accommodate children. For instance, typically a rear-facing infant seat is utilized to sufficiently restrain an “infant,” meaning a person that is generally less than one-year-old or that weighs less than about twenty (20) pounds, enabling the infant to safely ride in a motor vehicle. Some of these conventional infant seats are at least generally...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] Accordingly, the objectives of the present invention are to provide a seat assembly for a motor vehicle that can sufficiently accommodate an infant, a toddler, a youth, and an adult that is cost effective and easy to use.

[0014] To accommodate a youth, the supplemental seat is pivoted out of the receptacle in the backrest to rest on the seat, exposing a seating surface for the youth to sit on. The supplemental backrest moves forward to fill the void in the backrest and to provide support for the youth's back. This places the youth at a sufficient height to utilize the vehicle's standard restraint system.

[0017] In addition, the supplemental seat portion is preferably, but not necessarily, removable from the vehicle. This particular feature is especially valuable for parents of infants that often desire to remove an infant seat from a vehicle to transport the infant from the car. To protect the back support surface of the seat assembly and to provide additional stability when the supplemental seat is removed from the vehicle, a base may be provided that the lower portion of the supplemental seat may snap into.

[0018] Because the supplemental seat is not attached to the vehicle's seat assembly using the vehicle's safety belts, the risk of improper installation is virtually eliminated. And even when the supplemental seat is removable, the interconnection between the supplemental seat and the backrest is of a positive, locking type interconnection that is not dependent on the ability of a vehicle owner to properly tension belts that are intended to keep a child seat immobile relative to the vehicle's seat.

Problems solved by technology

Regardless of the particular models utilized, the designs of these special seats for children have generally required parents or guardians of a child to purchase, at a significant cost, an infant seat, a toddler seat, and a booster seat through the growth of their child.

In addition, these special seats for children must be installed properly, i.e. immobile relative to the vehicle's primary seat, to provide the desired level of safety, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated that as many as 80% of these seats are improperly installed.

However, designs of these conventional integrated child seats generally allow them to only be useful during a short portion of a child's life, thus still requiring the purchase of one or more of an infant seat, a toddler seat, and a booster seat.

For example, a motor vehicle may include an integrated booster seat, but the integrated booster seat is generally not suitable for accommodating an infant and / or toddler.

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