Adjustable Child Seat Harness for Upper Torso Restraint
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current juvenile seat restraints in vehicles do not adequately minimize the movement of a child's upper torso relative to the seat back during external forces, potentially increasing the force transferred to the child's head, especially when accommodating occupants of varying sizes.
Innovation Solution
A child restraint system featuring a juvenile seat with a movable headrest and shoulder-belt cover that includes a belt receiver, receiver anchor, and friction pad, which aligns the shoulder belt to minimize movement of the upper torso by engaging with the friction pad, and a headrest-retainer rod that locks or unlocks to adjust the headrest's position, ensuring the shoulder-belt cover moves with the headrest to maintain proper alignment and engagement with the child's torso.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed shoulder belt position is used in juvenile seats, then the structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate occupants of varying sizes and fails to minimize upper torso movement during external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The shoulder-belt cover is made movable and coupled to the headrest-retainer rod, allowing it to move up and down along with the headrest. This dynamic positioning system enables the shoulder belt to adapt to different occupant sizes while maintaining proper alignment, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shoulder-belt cover serves multiple functions: it guides the shoulder belt, provides friction engagement with the occupant's torso, and moves synchronously with the headrest adjustment. This multi-functionality allows a single component to address both adaptability and alignment requirements without significantly increasing overall system complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the headrest is fixed in position, then the structure is simpler, but it cannot accommodate varying occupant sizes and maintain proper shoulder belt alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The headrest is designed as a movable component that can be adjusted up and down along the seat back, coupled through the headrest-retainer rod mechanism. This dynamic positioning allows the headrest to adapt to different occupant sizes, and the coupled shoulder-belt cover moves synchronously to maintain proper belt alignment throughout the adjustment range.
3Reliability
If the shoulder belt is not aligned with the upper torso, then the structure is simpler, but the movement of the upper torso cannot be minimized during external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The shoulder-belt cover acts as an intermediary component between the shoulder belt and the occupant's upper torso. It features a friction pad that engages with the torso to provide alignment and minimize movement during external forces, while the belt receiver guides the shoulder belt to maintain proper positioning without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
4Reliability
If friction engagement is not used between the shoulder belt and upper torso, then the structure is simpler, but the alignment and movement minimization cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The friction pad material and surface properties are specifically designed to provide optimal friction engagement between the shoulder-belt cover and the occupant's upper torso. By controlling the friction parameter, the system achieves reliable alignment and movement minimization through passive friction-based engagement rather than active mechanical constraints.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration effectively minimizes the movement of the child's upper torso relative to the seat back during external forces, thereby reducing the force transferred to the child's head and accommodating various sizes by adjusting the headrest and shoulder-belt cover alignment.
Implementation Method 1
a friction pad coupled to an inner surface of the belt receiver so that the friction pad is positioned to lie between the belt-receiver and the upper torso of the occupant
Data Source
AI summary
A child restraint includes a juvenile seat and a child-restraint harness coupled to the juvenile seat. The juvenile seat includes a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom. The juvenile seat also includes a headrest mounted for up-and-down movement on the seat back relative to the seat bottom.