HARNESS TENSION SENSOR AND CRASH OCCURRENCE SENSOR

Abstract

A child safety device for a vehicle including a seat including a shell, a harness including at least one strap for retaining an occupant in the seat, and a sensor between a device on the strap and the seat shell indicating a tension status of the harness.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures in which:

FIG. 1 is front perspective view of an embodiment of a child safety seat;

FIG. 2 is side view of the embodiment of the child safety seat;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an embodiment of a crash occurrence assembly for the child safety seat;

FIG. 4 is a top view of an embodiment of a sensor housing;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the sensor housing of FIG. 4 showing crash occurrence and belt tension sensors;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of an embodiment of a belt tension sensor in a closed state;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view of an embodiment of a crash occurrence sensor in an open state;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the crash occurrence sensor of FIG. 7 in the closed state;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view of an embodiment of a belt tension sensor in an open state;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the belt tension sensor of FIG. 9 in the closed state;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view of an embodiment of a combined belt tension and crash occurrence sensor showing the belt tension sensor in a closed state; and

FIG. 12 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 11 showing the crash occurrence sensor in a closed state.

Claims

1. A child safety device for a vehicle, comprising: (a) a seat comprising a shell;(b) a harness comprising at least one strap for retaining an occupant in the seat; and(c) a sensor between a device on the strap and the seat shell for indicating whether the harness is sufficiently tensioned.

2. A child safety device according to claim 1 wherein the harness comprises shoulder straps and a crotch strap.

3. A child safety device according to claim 1 wherein the device on the strap comprises a strap buckle or slide.

4. A child safety device according to claim 1 wherein the sensor is positioned on a shell bottom.

5. A child safety device for a vehicle, comprising: (a) a seat comprising a shell;(b) a harness comprising at least one strap for retaining an occupant in the seat; and(c) a sensor including crushable members between a device on the strap and the seat shell for indicating whether the harness has been severely tensioned.

6. A child safety device according to claim 5 wherein the crushable members are calibrated to crush at 500-700 pounds of load.

7. A child safety device according to claim 5 wherein the crushable members comprise ribs or thin walls.

8. A child safety device according to claim 5 wherein the sensor is a one use, one way type.

9. A child safety device for a vehicle, comprising: (a) a seat comprising a shell;(b) a harness comprising at least one strap for retaining an occupant in the seat;(c) a sensor between a device on the strap and the seat shell for indicating whether the harness is sufficiently tensioned; and(d) a sensor including crushable members between the device on the strap and the seat shell for indicating whether the harness has been severely tensioned.

10. A child safety device according to claim 9 wherein both sensors are positioned under the seat shell.