Quick Connect Coupler for Child Safety Seat Top Tether
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Solution Overview
Problem
The low compliance rate of top tether attachment in child safety seats due to difficulties in finding and connecting to anchor points, especially when these points are remote and hard to access, leading to reduced usage and potential safety concerns during vehicle impacts.
Innovation Solution
A quick connect coupler system that moves the attachment and adjustment points for the top tether from the anchor point to a more convenient location near the child safety seat, allowing for easier coupling and tightening of the tether, featuring a retaining portion, an insertion portion, a V-shaped second strap portion, and a first strap portion with an end hook, ensuring the coupler remains proximate to the vehicle seat back.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the top tether attachment point is located at the anchor point in the vehicle, then the tether can be properly secured to prevent forward movement during impact, but the attachment and adjustment process becomes difficult and inconvenient due to remote and hard-to-access locations
Solution Approach 1:
A quick connect coupler serves as an intermediary device between the top tether and the anchor point. The coupler includes a retaining portion that interfaces with the anchor point and an insertion portion that interfaces with the top tether, enabling secure attachment while allowing the adjustment process to occur at a more accessible location near the coupler rather than at the remote anchor point
Solution Approach 2:
The top tether system is segmented into multiple components: the top tether strap, the quick connect coupler with retaining and insertion portions, and the anchor point interface. This segmentation allows the adjustment and attachment operations to be separated - the tether can be adjusted at the insertion portion while the retaining portion remains secured at the anchor point
2Reliability
If the anchor point is located in difficult-to-reach positions such as on the back wall, ceiling, or under the seat, then the tether provides effective restraint, but the installer must work in tight and uncomfortable spaces reducing installation quality
Solution Approach 1:
The quick connect coupler acts as a mediator that allows the installer to perform adjustment operations at a convenient location near the child safety seat rather than at the remote anchor point. The coupler's insertion portion provides a accessible interface for tightening and adjustment while the retaining portion maintains the secure connection at the difficult-to-reach anchor point
Solution Approach 2:
The quick connect coupler is pre-configured with the retaining portion designed to interface with the anchor point and the insertion portion designed for tether attachment. This preliminary configuration allows the installer to simply connect the tether to the coupler and perform adjustments at the coupler location rather than having to reach into tight spaces at the anchor point during installation
Data Source
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AI summary
A child safety seat (100) may include a base portion configured to be disposed on a vehicle seat base of a vehicle seat, a back portion configured to be disposed proximate to a vehicle seat back of the vehicle seat, and a top tether (120) operably coupled to a portion of the child safety seat to enable the child safety seat to be tethered to an anchor disposed in the vehicle. The top tether includes a portion (134) of a quick connect coupler (130) and a first strap portion (126) having a distal end and a proximal portion. The distal end of the first strap portion may be configured to engage the anchor. Said portion of the quick connect coupler is operably coupled to the first strap portion proximate to the proximal end of the first strap portion. The quick connect coupler is configured to enable the first strap portion to be coupled or decoupled from a complementary portion (132) of said quick connect coupler being connected to the back portion of the child safety seat.