Safety bow for a children's chair

IS 2 373 333 T3

DESCRIPTION

Safety arch for a child seat

The present invention relates to a safety arch for a children's chair, such as a chair in which the seat plate has a vertical hole in the front part, optionally presenting the possibility of vertically and horizontally adjusting the seat plate. . Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a safety arch in a children's chair.

Background of the Invention

It is well known that children, that is, children with an age from which they can sit up on their own (approximately 6-7 months) until they are able to sit safely in a children's chair without falling (approximately 2 years), They need equipment that prevents children from falling out of the child seat.

To this end, locking elements, such as arches or crossbars, optionally combined with a strap or vertical bar, are often used in children's chairs. Optionally, the entire seat of the chair can be molded into a seat with an integrated transverse arch and crotch bar. The disadvantage of molded chairs is that the seat may not fit the size and age of the child. Such physical locking elements of the seat are often combined with a harness to secure the child and prevent him from climbing out of the chair. However, it is possible to use only a physical locking element when the child is so young that he cannot climb and fall, or to provide additional physical support that a harness alone could not provide.

Document SE 451 530 discloses a safety arch for a child seat that is mounted on a conventional chair by means of straps. The safety arch has two horizontal ends that connect to corresponding horizontal upper surfaces of the side or seat pieces. The side pieces are hollow and have holes in the upper surface for the entry of screws from the bottom that are inserted in some housing holes located in the lower part of the ends of the arch. The arch further comprises a central piece with a pin at the lower end that fits into a hole in the child seat.

Furthermore, EP 1 388 311 discloses a limiting ring for a child seat that is mounted on a conventional chair. The restraint ring has two horizontal ends that attach to the rear of the seat and a separate center support bar with a lower threaded end that threads into a threaded hole in the child seat and with an upper end that attaches. to the limiting ring using a plug.

In recent years there has been a trend in which more countries and regions develop their own safety measures for equipment that is used by children, such as child seats. This must be taken into account when developing new child seats, although it can be difficult to adapt seats that were produced long before such safety measures went into effect. It is especially difficult to carry out such adaptations on chairs that have been sold for many years without performing physical interventions on the chairs. There are thousands of chairs in homes.

For example, this is the case with the Tripp Trapp® children's chair, which was developed in 1972 and patented in 1976, and which continues to be a very popular children's chair in many countries.

The chair is designed to consistently adjust to the size of the child's body and therefore has a seat plate and a foot plate that can be moved to different height positions by sliding on tracks on the side and side pieces. which can be locked by adjusting the distance between the side pieces. It is also possible to adjust the depth position of the seat plate, pushing the plate with respect to the back of the seat and thus obtaining a use of the chair by the child with a correct seat length below the thighs.

It has been found difficult to adapt existing seats to the new effective demands, especially to preserve the original functions of the chair mentioned above. To achieve this, for example, the attachment of a safety arch should be able to follow the height and depth position of the seat.

In addition to attaching a safety arch to such chairs, it can also be seen that it might be desirable to mount a harness for children that can be used simultaneously with the safety arch.

Another object is to provide a fixing means for such additional equipment mentioned above, so that owners of old chairs can also update their chairs. Another objective is to avoid physical interventions, such as making holes in any part of the chair or inserting screws that leave marks of deterioration in them, which will be visible when the harness or the child safety arch is no longer used. Such interventions can also lead to the risk of the user making adaptations

ES 2 373 333 T3 incorrectly, so that security is not kept intact. Therefore, an object of the invention is to make the attachment of the additional equipment as intuitive and simple as possible, while preserving safety, preferably without the use of tools.

Furthermore, a safety arch should be simple in design and reasonably produced, bearing in mind that the safety arch is only used for a limited period of time compared to the life of the chair.

Description of the invention

In order to achieve these objectives, the applicant has developed a security arch that solves the problems mentioned above.

Therefore, the present invention relates to a safety arch for use in a children's chair with a seat plate, a backrest and optionally side pieces, in which the backrest or side pieces each have at least an opening, preferably a horizontal opening, and the safety arch comprising the features of claim 1.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail, with the aid of the accompanying embodiments and drawings, none of which limit the scope of the invention, defined only by the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the safety arch according to the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a side view of the safety arch of figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a drawing of the installation of the safety arch during its attachment to a child seat.

Figure 4 shows the safety arch of figure 3 installed in a child seat.

Figure 5 shows a side view of a second safety arch according to the invention installed in two different horizontal and vertical positions in a children's chair.

Figure 6 shows an alternative installation of the safety arch of figure 6.

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of the safety arch of figure 6.

Figure 8 shows a detail of the safety arch of figure 6.

Detailed description

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the safety arch 40 is a one-piece three-armed arch, comprising an arched cross member 41 and a vertical crotch piece 42.

The arched cross member 41 has two ends 43 with first and second attachment means 44 that attach to the back of a chair or to the side pieces of a chair. Similarly, the end of the crotch piece 42 has a third attachment means 46, in this embodiment a snap-fit ​​member, which is attached to a base plate of a support.

As can be seen in Figure 2, the cross member 41 comprises a wrapping band 47, in this embodiment with an upper projecting edge 48 which forms an essentially horizontal surface. The transition between the band 47 and the edge 48 is curved for reasons of comfort for the child and forms good support for the lower part of the child's arms. The structure also provides the crossbar with greater rigidity and strength, as well as torsional stability.

For reasons of safety regulations, in some countries it may also be interesting that the band 47 of the crossbar has a variable width, so that it can be deeper in areas where it is desirable to limit the mobility of the child or reduce the size. or the shape of the opening defined by the base plate 2 and the arch 40, as shown in Figure 3. In this embodiment, the band 47 has an increased width downwards at the side portions with fins 49 on each side, in the area between the ends 43 and the crotch strap 42.

Figure 3 also shows how the safety arch is mounted on a child seat. As can be seen in Figure 2, the connection elements comprise upwardly facing shoes 44, bent back with respect to the cutout of the ends 43, and in Figure 3 the manner in which

ES 2 373 333 T3 these shoes 44 are hooked between the upper cross member 3 and the lower cross member 4 of the back of the chair

1. Next, the arch 40 rotates downwards at the front, so that the shoes 44 are pressed forward at the upper edge, until the connecting element 46 at the end of the crotch piece 42 can be connected to an element. corresponding connection of the base plate 2. In this embodiment, the connecting element of the base plate 2 is an edge groove 12 located in a fixing bracket 10, fixed to the base plate 2, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The fact of that the crotch piece 42 is somewhat flexible allows a depth adjustment of the seat plate according to the size of the child. Depending on the stiffness of the arched cross member 41 and / or the arrangement of the first and second fixing means 44, it is also possible to adapt the safety arch to different height positions of the base plate, such as 2-3 positions, by tilting it up or down.

Since the crotch piece 42 must absorb the loads exerted on the transverse arch 41, it may be preferable that the safety arch 40 also comprises engaging surfaces with the children's chair 1 that absorb such loads. Depending on the quality and flexibility of the safety arch 40, for example, it may be preferable that the ends 43 of the cross member 41 also comprise stop elements 45 in the form of downward-facing butt shoes, bent forward relative to the ends 43. , as shown in figure 2. In this way, the stop elements 45 are pressed backwards at the upper edge of the upper front edge of the lower cross member 4 of the backrest of the chair 1, as shown in figure 3. In this way, the safety arch 40 it is fixed in a totally firm way when it is locked in the seat 2 and, furthermore, its horizontal movement directed backwards is blocked, avoiding at the same time the presence of play between the chair and the safety arch. Simultaneously, a part of the load on the safety arch is absorbed.

In the previous and next embodiments, the chair 1 has a backrest consisting of two horizontal parallel crossbars 3 and 4 that form a through opening with a defined height. However, the opening can also simply consist of two separate openings in the back or side pieces of the chair, such as, for example, two parallel slots with a defined height and an optional defined width. Nor is it necessary for the openings to be through, but may be cavities, for example, with an edge or track that make locking possible by engaging the connecting elements 44, as shown. Optionally, the ends 43 of the safety arch themselves may rest against the back of the chair or the side pieces to lock the safety arch and prevent its backward movement.

In figure 5 an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown, in which the ends 43 of the crossbar 41 comprise another type of connection elements 50 oriented towards the opening or openings located between the crossbars 3 and 4 of the chair 1. In In this embodiment, the connection elements 50 comprise projecting extensions of the ends 43 (see previous figures), oriented in a posterior direction, which can pass through the opening or openings of the backrest 3, 4. The end of the connecting element 50 is completed with a significant raised part directed upwards, so that the safety arch must be hooked inside the opening or openings, as described above. However, the connecting elements 50 are dimensioned with more material to absorb larger loads than the members 44. Thus, it is not necessary to provide additional stop members 45 at the front of the ends 43.

In addition to the raised part 51, the connection element 50 can also comprise an additional transverse track 52 on the upper edge, as can be seen more clearly in Figure 7, and which allows the cross member to be hooked in a further horizontal depth position. close to the backrest, as shown in figure 5. Such a position could be interesting for younger children using the chair. In relation to the increase in the horizontal opening limited by the arched crossbar 41 of the safety arch and by the backrest, it will be interesting to lower the seat plate 2 as the child grows, changing from the transverse track 52 to the raised part 51 In order to use the relative rigid arch 40 in alternate height positions of the base plate 2, the connecting element 46 comprises various locking positions. The connecting element 46 comprises a plurality of snap fittings one behind the other, as shown in detail in Figure 8.

As shown in Figure 7, the end of the crotch strap 42 comprises an upwardly facing lower snap-fit ​​flap 51, in the same way as in the previous embodiment, although another downward-facing snap-fit ​​flap 52 it is positioned over this snap-fit ​​flap to prevent downward movement of crotch strap 42 by itself, rather than a stop edge as shown in Figures 1-4. However, upon releasing the second snap-fit ​​flap 52, the crotch strap 42 may move further down into the slot 12, and an upward-facing third snap-fit ​​flap 53 will lock the crotch strap in a deeper position in the slot 12, thus being blocked its further downward movement with the aid of a fourth snap-fit ​​flap 54.

The crotch strap 42 may also have an additional number of snap-fit ​​flaps to increase the possibility of adjustments, although the number is somewhat limited to prevent the length of the piece from sticking out under the seat plate. when the safety bow is used in the inside position

ES 2 373 333 T3 constitutes an obstacle.

An alternative mounting on a child seat is shown in Figure 6, in which the safety arch 40 is used by directly fixing the crotch strap 42 via the connecting element 46 in a slot in the seat plate 2 itself. For example, in the original Tripp Trapp® chair, such a slot is present for the attachment of another type of crotch strap. The seat plate 2 can be moved in a horizontal direction to adapt the depth to the safety arch and the child. In general, fixing the crotch strap 42 through a support 10, as shown in figure 5, will allow more space for the movement of the child's legs, since the crotch strap is fixed in place. the outside of the seat plate, while the crotch strap is attached to the outside of the seat plate, the space being somewhat more limited in the embodiment according to figure 6.

The safety bow can be produced in any material, such as metal, wood, plastic or other synthetic material or composite material. Preferably, the safety arch is made of a semi-rigid material that is unsupported but exhibits sufficient flexibility to adjust the depth of the seat, preferably made of plastic.

Therefore, the advantage of the safety arch according to the invention is that it can be used on an existing chair, such as a Tripp Trapp® chair, or on or after chairs, without making physical changes to any of the parts of the chair. the chair or without the need for fixing means, such as screws. The safety arch is simply hooked on the rear edge only by the help of the existing components and on the front edge by the existing slot or by means of a bracket on the base plate. The safety arch can to some extent follow the adjustments of the chair vertically and horizontally, such as the height adjustment and / or the depth adjustment of the seat plate, without limiting any of the functions of the chair. The safety arch can be easily removed after use or can be arranged in another corresponding chair when it is no longer needed. The adjustment possibilities included in the safety arch include covering the adjustment range of the seat plate which is interesting for use with infants and young children.

Another advantage of the safety arch according to the invention is that it is possible to integrate all the fixing elements in the safety arch necessary for its attachment to a child seat, as shown in figure 6, without the need for the presence of of additional separate parts or the use of tools.