Child Safety Seat Base Energy Absorber for Impact Deceleration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Child safety seats in vehicles fail to adequately mitigate impact forces during sudden stops, posing a risk to children's safety due to insufficient securing mechanisms and lack of effective force dissipation.
Innovation Solution
A child safety seat with an integrated belt tensioning system that secures the seat to the vehicle using a lap or shoulder belt, combined with an energy absorber that dissipates impact forces through a deformable energy absorbing member and impactor piston, allowing for enhanced stability and force distribution during deceleration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a traditional child safety seat is used without an energy absorber, then the device complexity is low, but the ability to dissipate impact forces during sudden stops is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The energy absorber is pre-installed within the seat base, with the impactor piston positioned to engage the energy absorbing member before any collision occurs. During a sudden stop, the impactor piston immediately deforms the energy absorbing member (such as foam or spring elements), dissipating impact forces through controlled deformation. This beforehand cushioning approach provides impact protection without requiring complex active control systems, resolving the contradiction between impact force dissipation capability and device complexity.
2Reliability
If a simple belt retention system is used, then the ease of operation is high, but the reliability of securing the seat during impact is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The belt tensioning system utilizes the vehicle seat belt itself as the tensioning element, eliminating the need for separate motorized or mechanically complex tensioning devices. When the vehicle belt is threaded through the belt guides and tightened, it automatically tensions the belt across the seat base, frictionally engaging the belt against the base to prevent sliding during impact. This self-service approach maintains ease of operation while significantly improving seat securing reliability during collisions.
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
The solution effectively secures the child safety seat to the vehicle and dissipates impact forces, reducing the risk of injury by applying tension to the vehicle belt and utilizing an energy absorber to manage deceleration forces, thereby enhancing the safety of children during sudden stops.
Implementation Method 1
The impactor piston is configured to deform the energy absorbing member and to dissipate impact forces that may be imposed on the seat base during the deceleration of the seat base
Implementation Method 2
an energy absorber that dissipate impact forces that may be imposed on the seat base during a deceleration of the seat base
Implementation Method 3
a plurality of resilient ribs that extend transverse to the elongate axis. The impactor piston includes at least one impactor rib that extends substantially parallel to the elongate axis, and is configured to deform the resilient ribs as the resilient ribs translate towards the base lid
Implementation Method 4
The tensioning arm is also configured to frictionally engage a vehicle belt that is disposed between the tensioning arm and the base portion when the tensioning arm is disposed in the tension and unloaded positions
Data Source
AI summary
A seat base includes a base pan and a base lid secured to the base pan. The base lid and the base plan together define a cavity therebetween. An energy absorber is disposed within the cavity and includes an impactor piston provided on the base lid and an energy absorbing member supported by the base pan. The energy absorbing member is configured to translate away from the base pan and towards the base lid during a deceleration of the safety base. The impactor piston is configured to deform the energy absorbing member and to dissipate impact forces imposed on the seat base during the deceleration of the seat base.