IES20100376A2 - A seat belt security harness - Google Patents

Abstract

The point of the invention is to improve the safety of seat belt systems. For children's car seats in particular the device related to this invention prevents tampreing with the intended position and function of the shoulder belts. Most typical is an additional harness with two ends attached to the present shoulder belts and a middle section attached to the back support. Due to a substantial width of the harness the areas underneath the shoulder belt are closed partially leaving restricted through sufficient large areas for the arms to be placed through. Closing mentioned area obsturcts the child from placing p.e. the back of its hand between the shoulder belts and upper body in order to push the belts aside creating an unsafe situation and keeping it in the restrained position as intended by the seat's manufacturer it also improves support of the upper body. <Figure 1>

Description

Title A seat belt security harness.

Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to vehicle seats with a safety belt system. The invention particularly relates to children car seats where securing the function of the shoulder belts is required as children tend to free themselves from a proper restrained position as intended by the seat’s manufacturer. io Background to the Invention: Children's car seats commonly have a five-point seat belt system with a lock mechanism that connects all belts in front of tlie child at the level of the waist. This and similar seat belt systems are designed and considered as an ' adequate means for securing the child's safety in the case of sudden and is unexpected manoeuvres or collisions of the vehicle. Typically these systems feature two shoulder belts that easily can be pushed aside by the child by starting to manoeuvre its hands underneath the belt from behind and subsequently pushing the belts outwards with the back of its hand. This action allows the child to move its upper body forward and ends with the belts sliding towards the back of the child. This creates hazardous situations by bringing other vehicle controls within reach of the child and also results in inadequate protection in the case of a collision. Existing solutions to prevent this often involve an additional strap between the shoulder belts in front of the passenger. These systems interfere with the ease of use and there for with the convenience and passive safety of the system. 1E1 Ο 0 3 76 The device mentioned in this invention addresses this problem in a reliable and effective manner. After placing the child in the seat and before securing the belts, the child's arms will have to be directed through the area underneath the shoulder belt as usual. Typical for the device mentioned in this invention is an additional belt or harness that is attached to the shoulder belts and back support. Being of a substantial width the harness partially closes mentioned area leaving a restricted though sufficiently large gap for the arms to be placed through comfortably. With the child restraint and locked it will typically find that its hands cannot access the gap between io upper body and shoulder belts with the intention to push the shoulder belts aside. More so the harness improves support of the body sideways and encourages a proper upright position without interfering with the ease-of-use of the seat belt system. The harness does not interact with the lock or other safety features of the seat and it can be applied to seats where only one shoulder belt for the belt system is provided. The harness is simple to manufacture. It is easy to retro-fit and to remove but can also be integrated in the seat’s design.

Statement of Invention: This invention relates to a device that comprises a seat comprising a bottom seat portion and back support portion, headrest, side support portions and safety belt system comprising a lock and belts. The belt system provides various safety functions including the function of two shoulder belts each -attached to the top of back support portion at one end and joined with the lock in front of the passenger at the other end. The device typically features an additional belt or harness attached to each shoulder belt whereby basically a restricted area is created underneath said shoulder belts through IE 1 Ο 0 3 76 which the arm has to. protrude before said shoulder belts can be placed in position and subsequently the lock can be secured. Mentioned harness can be of substantial width, from arm-pit down to waist level, in order to prevent the passenger, from moving the hands between shoulder belts and upper body. The function of mentioned harness is to improve the safety of a safety belt system by offering enhanced support and by obstructing the removal of the shoulder belts when the passenger is in a restraint and locked position.

Brief Description of the Drawings: io Fig 1: This figure shows a 3-dimensional front view of vehicle seat with security harness in place. The harness is of a substantial width and is constructed as a retro fit product consisting of a rigid middle section and two flexible end sections with their attachments to the shoulder beit.

Fig la: This figure shows a 3-dimensional view of the harness seen in fig 1 Fig lb: This figure shows a 3-dimensional rear view of safety belt system with security harness as seen in fig 1 in place.

Fig 2: This figure shows a 3-dimensional front view of a child restraint in a vehicle seat with security harness as seen in fig 1.

Fig 2a: This figure shows a 3-dimensional front view of a child restraint in a vehicle seat without security harness and moving its hand between shoulder belt and upper body to remove left shoulder belt Fig 3: This figure show a 3-dimensional bottom view of vehicle seat with one side support portion removed and security harness applied as shoulder loops with relevant attachments Fig 4: This figure shows a 3-dimensional front view with both side support portions of the vehicle seat removed. The security harness IE 1 Ο 0 3 76 is shown as a typical one-piece retro fit product with its attachments to back support portion and shoulder belts.

Fig 4a: This figure shows a 3-dimensional front view with side support portions of the vehicle seat removed. The security harness as shown s is in place and attached to both shoulder belts and two locations on the back support portion in a manner that can be part of an integrated seat design.

Fig 4b: This figure shows a 3-dimensional close up of the harness only as seen in fig 4 attached with push buttons to the back support portion io ofthe vehicle seat.

Detailed Description; The device comprises a seat (1) that can be integrated or retro fitted in any vehicle in which restraining a passenger (2) by means of a belt system is desired. The device contains a seat belt system comprising a lock mechanism (3), waist belts (4), shoulder belts (5) and possibly a lap belt (6). An additional harness (7) is attached to each shoulder belt at one end and to the back support portion (9) at the other end in such a manner that it restricts the provided area for the arms. This harness can have both ends attached to same shoulder belt thus forming a loop or ring through which the passengers io arm is directed. Mentioned looped harness may comprise an additional strap (8) linking it with the back support of the seat. The strap keeps the harnesses face aligned with the surface area underneath the shoulder belt by preventing the harness from swirling around shoulder belt and there for improves ease of use when placing the arm through the loop fonned by the harness.

In the particular case of two shoulder belts mentioned harness can also have one end attached to each shoulder belt forming an elongated element. For ease of use the harness can be attached to the back support of the seat whereby it can be can be seen as divided into a middle section (7a) with means for attachment to the back support portion and end-sections (7b) that link the middle section with the shoulder belts. The attachment of the middle section of the harness to the back support portion can be done directly by means of Velcro, push buttons or the like. Attaching the end-sections to the shoulder belts can also be done by means of Velcro, push buttons or the like whereby the attachment also can be done in such a manner that an end section is allowed to move or slide along the shoulder belt. All mentioned means for attachment can be applied in a fixed or adjustable manner being part of the integrated design of the seat or as a retro fit-able product. The IElO 0 3 76 harness can be of a substantial width covering a large area underneath the shoulder belt from the waist up to the arm pit. The harness as mentioned above and all its sections can be made of rigid or flexible materials or a combination there of.

References;

Claims (5)

Claims:

1) A seat comprising a bottom seat portion and back support portion, headrest, side support portions and safety belt system comprising a lock and belts, said belts providing the function of one or two shoulder belts each 5 attached to the top of back support portion at one end, possible through slots provided, and joined at the lock in front, or at the side in the case of one shoulder belt, of the passenger at the other end, possibly at waist level, whereby an additional harness is attached with one of its ends to each shoulder belt and with the other end to the back support portion, thus io dividing the area under the shoulder belt into two smaller areas, with the purpose to create a restricted area above the harness through which initially an arm has to protrude before each shoulder belt can be fit in place and subsequently the lock can be secured, whereby said harness creates an obstruction for the passenger to move its hand of same arm, in reversed is direction of said initial protrusion, through said restricted area and to remove said shoulder belt subsequently by pushing it outwards in an attempt to move said shoulder belt towards said passengers back, thereby avoiding a unsafe situation. 20

2. ) Device according to claim 1) whereby one end of each said additional harness is attached to each shoulder belt and the other end of said harness is attached to same shoulder belt at an elevated position towards the belt's attachment to the back support portion thus forming a loop enclosing the shoulder and arm-pit area with said harness, with said loop possibly 25 connected to the back support portion with an additional strap to avoid unintended rotation of the loop around said shoulder belt for ease of placing the shoulder belt, whereby an obstruction is created with the same function ΝΗϋ 0376 as mentioned under 1) with enhanced support around shoulder if desired.

3. ) Device according to claim 1) comprising mentioned additional harness, whereby one end of the harness is attached to a shoulder belt and the other 5 end of said harness is attached to the back support portion, said harness forming a section of a vest with a substantial width that can reach from attachment in arm-pit area towards proximity of lock or any width in between, thus closing the area between shoulder belt and back support portion substantially, leaving a small but sufficiently open area only for io initial protrusion of the arm yet creating a blockage in the remaining area between arm-pit and waist for the hand of same arm to be placed between same shoulder belt and upper body, with said shoulder belt in place and lock secured, eventually creating an obstruction to remove said shoulder belt in a manner as mentioned under 1) but with the particular purpose to discourage 15. the initial tampering with the shoulder belt.

4. ) A device according to claim 1) and 3) whereby each said harness with one of its ends is attached to same shoulder belt and with its other end attached to a mid-section piece, positioned between passenger and back support, thus 20 forming one unit or vest, comprising the three mentioned elements with means for said mid-section piece to be attached in an adjustable manner to back support portion, connecting the shoulder belts, whereby linking said elements into one unit provides improved ease of use and a wider range towards, adjusting the harness to particular passenger's needs and size.

5. ) A device as claimed in any preceding claim whereby mentioned additional harness and mid-section pieces, each made of either a flexible or IE 1 Ο Ο 3 76 rigid material and with adjustable attachments, have detachable attachments with Velcro, press buttons or likewise, for ease of use in a retro-fit application.