Child Booster Seat Belt Guide With Moving Side Restraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional safety belts in vehicles are not effectively positioned for smaller occupants, such as children, leading to potential neck injury and inadequate restraint during crashes, and child booster cushions can create additional issues like improper belt positioning and lack of lateral support.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat with a moveable child squab and adjustable safety belt guide that changes positions in response to the presence of a child, using a drive arrangement like Bowden cables or electric actuators to ensure the safety belt is correctly positioned over the child's torso and shoulders, and additional lateral restraints for enhanced support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional safety belt is used for a child occupant, then the belt structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the belt positioning is incorrect causing neck injury risk
Solution Approach 1:
The guide loop is made moveable relative to the backrest, allowing it to adjust its position dynamically. When a child squab is detected, the guide loop moves to a first position that directs the safety belt correctly over the child's shoulder, whereas for adult occupants it remains at a second position. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by enabling correct belt positioning for children without requiring a completely different seat structure.
Solution Approach 2:
A sensor acts as an intermediary between the child squab and the guide loop positioning system. The sensor detects the presence of the child squab and triggers the guide loop to move to the appropriate position, mediating the interaction between the occupant type and the safety belt guidance system to achieve correct positioning.
2Reliability
If a child squab is added to raise the child's seating position, then the safety belt can be positioned correctly, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide loop positioning mechanism is merged with the existing backrest structure. The guide loop is mounted to move relative to the backrest, integrating the adjustment function into the existing seat framework rather than adding a completely separate positioning system, thus reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The moveable guide loop serves multiple functions: it guides the safety belt correctly for both child and adult occupants, and its positioning mechanism can potentially work with different types of squabs or cushion configurations. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems for different occupant types.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the guide loop is fixed for adult occupants, then the structure is simple, but it cannot provide correct positioning for children
Solution Approach 1:
The guide loop transitions from a fixed position to a moveable one, enabling it to adapt to different occupant sizes. The guide loop can be positioned at a first location for children and a second location for adults, providing the necessary adaptability while maintaining structural simplicity through the use of moveable rather than completely reconfigurable mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat (1) having a squab (2) and the backrest (3) may be provided with a child squab or booster cushion (4). Various elements are provided on the seat which may move in response to the child squab (4) being provided. A first element that may move is a guide (10) which guides part of a seat belt (7). The guide (10) moves inwardly towards the central axis (8) of the seat. Other moveable restraints may be lateral restraints (62,63) which move forwardly from the backrest of the seat to be located to either side of the torso of a child occupying the child squab (4) and head restraints (64,65) which may move forwardly from the head rest.