Wearable side impact protector

This present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/575,955, filed Jun. 1, 2004, which application is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

The present disclosure relates to body cushioning systems for use in vehicles, and in particular side impact protectors for use by people traveling in vehicles. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a side impact protector that is wearable by a child traveling in a vehicle.

Juvenile seats are widely used to transport young children in automobiles and other vehicles. Such seats include backless and high back booster seats.

According to the present disclosure, a side impact protector is configured to be worn by a youth seated in a child-restraint system anchored in place on a vehicle seat. Such a protector may also be worn by a person of any age seated in a vehicle and restrained using a seat belt harness of the type found onboard a vehicle.

Features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wearable side impact protector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the protector of FIG. 1 with portions broken away;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a child wearing the side impact protector shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the child of FIG. 3 seated in a high back booster seat located in a vehicle equipped with a seat-belt restraint system while wearing the side impact protector of FIGS. 1-3 ;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the high back booster seat of FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the child of FIG. 3 seated in a backless booster seat located in a vehicle equipped with a seat-belt restraint system while wearing the side impact protector of FIGS. 1-3 ;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a wearable side impact protector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view, with portions broken away, of a child seated in a high back booster seat while wearing the side impact protector of FIG. 7 .

Side impact protector 10 includes a head cradle 12 , cradle support 14 coupled to head cradle 12 , a waist strap 16 coupled to a lower portion 18 of cradle support 14 , and a shoulder harness 20 coupled to a middle portion 22 of cradle support 14 as shown, for example, in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Cradle support 14 also includes an upper portion 24 coupled to a rear surface 26 of head cradle 12 as shown best in FIG. 2 . Head cradle 12 and cradle support 14 cooperate to form a brace that is adapted to transmit, direct, resist, or support weight or pressure of the head and/or neck of a person wearing side impact protector 10 .

Illustratively, shoulder harness 20 is configured as a first strap and a second strap adapted to be coupled to a wearer, and waist strap 16 is configured as a third strap adapted to be coupled to the wearer. First strap 20 is formed to include loops 21 at end portions of first strap 20 . Loops 21 are configured to receive a portion of second strap 20 therethrough.

Head cradle 12 includes a U-shaped frame 28 formed to include a convex portion providing rear surface 26 and a concave portion 30 facing toward the head of a person wearing side impact protector 10 as shown in FIG. 3 . Head cradle 12 also includes a U-shaped cushion 32 mounted on concave portion 30 to provide padding for the head and neck of the person wearing side impact protector 10 . Head cradle 12 includes side wings 31 to envelope the head of a wearer; however, head cradle 12 is open on the top and front. Illustratively, side wings 31 include a first side wing and a second side wing. A width of head cradle 12 extends from the first side wing 31 to the second side wing 31 and a width of cradle support 14 is less than the width of head cradle 12 .

Waist strap 16 and shoulder harness 20 are used to retain cradle support 14 in place along the back of a wearer as suggested in FIG. 3 . It is within the scope of this disclosure to use a backpack (not shown) in place of waist strap 16 and shoulder harness 20 to retain cradle support 14 in place on a wearer.

Cradle support 14 is sized and shaped to cause head cradle 12 to surround a portion of a wearer's head and neck before and after the wearer is seated in a high back juvenile seat 34 or a backless juvenile seat 36 as suggested, for example, in FIGS. 3-6 . Although not shown, a wearer could sit directly on a vehicle seat 38 and be restrained by a vehicle seat-belt harness 40 while wearing side impact protector 10 without necessarily sitting on a juvenile seat 34 or 36 . Seat-belt harness 40 includes a lap belt 41 and a shoulder belt 42 .

Side impact protector 10 can be used with a car seat having an internal harness system or with a belt-positioning booster seat. Protector 10 can be attached to a wearer via a back pack system or a harness system. Protector 10 can be made of both hard and soft goods such as polyester, nylon, cotton, and polypropylene. As suggested in FIG. 5 , in the case of a high back juvenile seat 34 , a portion of head cradle 12 is located in a space provided between a left side wing 35 and a right side wing 35 of seat 34 when the wearer of side impact protector 10 is seated on seat 34 .

Side impact protector 110 is shown in FIG. 7 . Protector 110 includes a harness mount plate 111 configured to lie along the back of a wearer and carry, for example, a five-point harness 113 including, for example, a waist strap 116 and a shoulder harness 120 . Protector 110 also includes a brace 115 coupled to harness mount plate 111 and adapted to transmit, direct, resist, or support weight or pressure of the head and/or neck of a person wearing side impact protector 110 .

In the illustrated embodiment, harness mount plate 111 is formed to include a spaced-apart pair of slots 144 sized to receive a portion of an automobile belt 146 therein. Automobile belt 146 can thus be used to anchor harness mount plate 111 in a desired position relative to a vehicle seat (i.e., seat 38 ) on which a wearer of protector 110 is seated.

Also in the illustrated embodiment, brace 115 includes a head cradle 112 and a cradle support 114 coupled to head cradle 112 . Head cradle 112 includes a U-shaped frame 128 formed to include a convex portion providing a rear surface 126 and a concave portion 130 facing toward the head of a person wearing side impact protector 110 . Head cradle 112 also includes a U-shaped cushion 132 mounted on concave portion 130 to provide padding for the head and neck of the person wearing side impact protector 110 . Head cradle 112 includes side wings 131 to envelope the head of a wearer; however, head cradle 112 is open on the top and front.

Cradle support 114 is formed monolithically with U-shaped frame 128 in the illustrated embodiment. Cradle support 114 extends downwardly from U-shaped frame 128 to mate with harness mount plate 111 . In the illustrated embodiment, an adjustable head cradle height-adjustment mechanism 148 provides means for mounting cradle support 114 for movement relative to harness mount plate 111 between among several predetermined positions along the length of cradle support 114 so that a user may vary the height of head cradle 112 relative to harness mount plate 111 worn by the wearer of protector 110 .

In the illustrated embodiment, height-adjustment mechanism 148 includes a support guide 150 coupled to harness mount plate 111 and formed to include a channel sized to receive cradle support 114 and allow up-and-down movement in directions 119 and 121 of cradle support 114 therein. Height-adjustment mechanism 148 further includes a retainer 152 mounted for movement on support guide 150 in direction 153 to engage and disengage retainer receivers 154 formed in vertically spaced-apart relation one to another along the length of cradle support 114 as suggested, for example, in FIG. 7 .

With respect to side impact protector 10 , U-shaped frame 28 , concave portion 30 , U-shaped cushion 32 , and first side wing 31 and second side wing 31 associated with the head cradle 12 provide means for enveloping the head of the wearer. First strap 20 , second strap 20 , and third strap 16 also cooperate to form harness means to inhibit movement of the head and a neck of the wearer in response to sudden lateral forces being applied to a torso of the wearer.