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  Vehicular seat assemblyUSPTO Application #: 20070108813Title: Vehicular seat assembly Abstract: The present invention relates to a vehicular seat assembly that may be configured in four different arrangements to accommodate an adult in its first position, a youth in its second position, a toddler in its third position, and infant in its fourth position. When configured to seat an infant, the infant is retrained using a restraint system that is integral to the seat assembly, and when configured to seat a toddler, the toddler is restrained by a separate and distinct restraint system that is also integral to the seat assembly. (end of abstract) Agent: Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP - Memphis, TN, US Inventor: Rodney Edward Thomas USPTO Applicaton #: 20070108813 - Class: 297255000 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070108813. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/751,078 that was filed Jan. 2, 2004, which is filly incorporated herein by reference. STATEMENT REGARDING SPONSORED RESEARCH AND/OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention generally relates to seats for motor vehicles, and more particularly, to a child seat assembly for use in motor vehicles. [0005] 2. General Background of the Invention [0006] It has become increasingly desirable to place special seating apparatuses in motor vehicles to accommodate children. For instance, typically a rear-facing infant seat is utilized to sufficiently restrain an "infant," meaning a person that is generally less than one-year-old or that weighs less than about twenty (20) pounds, enabling the infant to safely ride in a motor vehicle. Some of these conventional infant seats are at least generally immobilized, relative to an integrated, adult-accommodating seat of the motor vehicle, by extending a seat belt of the motor vehicle through at least a portion of the infant seat or by interconnecting one or more support straps of the infant seat with a frame of the motor vehicle or a combination thereof. [0007] Once it is determined that a child has outgrown (e.g., is too tall and/or heavy to be appropriately accommodated by) an above-mentioned infant seat, the infant seat is typically removed from the motor vehicle and replaced by a toddler seat that may be utilized to sufficiently restrain a "toddler," meaning a person that is generally older or larger than an infant but not more than forty (40) to sixty-five (65) pounds, enabling the toddler to safely ride in the motor vehicle. Like many conventional infant seats, many conventional toddler seats are at least generally immobilized, relative to the integrated, adult-accommodating seat of the motor vehicle, by extending a seat belt of the motor vehicle through at least a portion of the toddler seat or by interconnecting one or more support straps of the toddler seat with the frame of the motor vehicle or a combination thereof. [0008] Eventually, it typically becomes desirable to remove the above-mentioned toddler seat from the motor vehicle and replace the same with a booster seat that may be utilized to sufficiently restrain a "youth," meaning a person that is generally larger than a toddler but less than about fifty-six (56) inches tall (i.e. not tall enough to use the vehicle's standard restraint system while seated on the vehicle's primary seating surface), enabling the youth to safely ride in the motor vehicle. These booster seats may be fastened into the motor vehicle using a seat belt of the motor vehicle or one or more support straps of the booster seat; in some configurations, the booster seat simply rests on the vehicle's standard seat in order to seat the youth at an elevation sufficient to allow the youth to be restrained using the vehicle's standard safety belt. [0009] Regardless of the particular models utilized, the designs of these special seats for children have generally required parents or guardians of a child to purchase, at a significant cost, an infant seat, a toddler seat, and a booster seat through the growth of their child. In addition, these special seats for children must be installed properly, i.e. immobile relative to the vehicle's primary seat, to provide the desired level of safety, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated that as many as 80% of these seats are improperly installed. [0010] As an alternative, some vehicle seats have been equipped with a child seat contained therein, commonly referred to as an integrated child seat. However, designs of these conventional integrated child seats generally allow them to only be useful during a short portion of a child's life, thus still requiring the purchase of one or more of an infant seat, a toddler seat, and a booster seat. For example, a motor vehicle may include an integrated booster seat, but the integrated booster seat is generally not suitable for accommodating an infant and/or toddler. Thus, the vehicle owner may still have to purchase an infant seat or a toddler seat or both to sufficiently accommodate the owner's child(ren). SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] Accordingly, the objectives of the present invention are to provide a seat assembly for a motor vehicle that can sufficiently accommodate an infant, a toddler, a youth, and an adult that is cost effective and easy to use. [0012] The invention comprises a seat assembly for a motor vehicle that includes a seat and a backrest. The backrest contains a supplemental seat, which has a first end portion that is pivotally connected to the backrest and an opposing second end portion, and a supplemental back rest, and a portion of the backrest additionally forms a pivotally deployable toddler armrest. [0013] This basic structure allows the seat assembly to be configured in four different ways to accommodate the seating of an adult, a youth, a toddler, and an infant respectively. To accommodate an adult, the supplemental seat and supplemental backrest are stowed in the receptacle, with a back support surface of the supplemental seat providing a portion of the support for the back of an adult using the seat assembly. [0014] To accommodate a youth, the supplemental seat is pivoted out of the receptacle in the backrest to rest on the seat, exposing a seating surface for the youth to sit on. The supplemental backrest moves forward to fill the void in the backrest and to provide support for the youth's back. This places the youth at a sufficient height to utilize the vehicle's standard restraint system. [0015] To accommodate a toddler, the supplemental seat is pivoted out of the receptacle in the backrest and the supplemental backrest is moved forward as when the seat assembly is configured to seat a youth. In addition, the toddler armrest is deployed, which also makes a restraint system designed specifically for restraining a toddler accessible. [0016] To accommodate an infant, the supplemental seat is pivoted out of the receptacle in the backrest to rest on the seat. An upper portion of the supplemental seat is then pivoted about the second end portion of the supplemental seat to form an obtuse angle with a lower portion of the supplemental seat, exposing an infant seating area and a restraint system designed specifically for restraining an infant. [0017] In addition, the supplemental seat portion is preferably, but not necessarily, removable from the vehicle. This particular feature is especially valuable for parents of infants that often desire to remove an infant seat from a vehicle to transport the infant from the car. To protect the back support surface of the seat assembly and to provide additional stability when the supplemental seat is removed from the vehicle, a base may be provided that the lower portion of the supplemental seat may snap into. [0018] Because the supplemental seat is not attached to the vehicle's seat assembly using the vehicle's safety belts, the risk of improper installation is virtually eliminated. And even when the supplemental seat is removable, the interconnection between the supplemental seat and the backrest is of a positive, locking type interconnection that is not dependent on the ability of a vehicle owner to properly tension belts that are intended to keep a child seat immobile relative to the vehicle's seat. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the certain embodiments of the invention given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. Continue reading... Full patent description for Vehicular seat assembly Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Vehicular seat assembly patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Vehicular seat assembly or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Method and apparatus for safely seating multiple children Next Patent Application: Glider Industry Class: Chairs and seats ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Vehicular seat assembly patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 1.20879 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Software: Finance , AI , Databases , Development , Document , Navigation , Error |
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