The present invention relates to child seats and, in particular, to child restraint seats. Child restraint seats, are provided in many sizes and configurations. Generally, conventional child restraint seats are “grown out of” in relatively short periods, and thus need to be replaced at various milestones in the physical development of the child. As the child grows, he or she graduates to a seat configured to accommodate the child's increased height and weight. Although the growth rate of children varies widely, even with the slowest growing children, replacement of the car seat becomes necessary before the end of the car seat life expectancy.
While the child is an infant, the parent must place the child in a rearwardly facing infant car seat for vehicular travel. The infant car seat needs to be designed to support an infant, who is not able to support him or her self, thereby allowing the infant, who cannot sit up on its own, to lie or recline in the seat. Once the child is able to sit upright, the infant seat must be replaced by a toddler-sized seat. In addition to providing a rearward-facing seating environment, the toddler-sized seat provides a forward-facing and slightly reclined seating environment for the toddler. The toddler seat is secured to the rear seat of the vehicle and typically includes a harness to secure the toddler within the seat. Eventually, however, the child outgrows the toddler-sized seat and progresses to a youth-sized seat. The youth-sized seat can accommodate children over 40 lbs. and functions primarily as a booster seat.
Child car seats must be replaced relatively frequently to accommodate the relatively fast growth rate of children—increasing height, weight, and needs of the child. Additionally, parents and other adults often must care for several children who do not fit within the same seat model. In this instance, the parents must buy two or more seats to accommodate their various-sized children.
Thus, there is a need to eliminate the waste and expense associated with the purchase of numerous child seats caused by the failure of most conventional seats to provide any adjustment for accommodating the change in the size of the occupant. As a child grows, the size of both the upper and lower body changes. Thus, there is a need for a car seat that allows the user to adjust the depth of the seat and the height of the backrest so that children of a variety of sizes may be accommodated.
Some existing child seats provides armrests for the child occupying the seat. However, most of these seats do not provide any adjustment in the position of the armrests to correspond to the size of the child. Furthermore, the adjustable armrests currently available do not provide for simple operation and cost effective design. Thus, there remains a need for a child seat that provides for cost effective and easy to operate adjustable armrests.
Many existing child seats provide extra amenities, such as storage pockets and beverage or container holders (i.e., cupholders). Existing cupholder designs are cumbersome, because some are not permanently attached to the child seat and/or do not provide for a retracted position when not in use. Thus, there remains a need for a child seat that provides an object holder attached to the seat that can move between a retracted storage position and an extended, in-use position.
Certain existing child seats are of two piece design. The back rest and the seat base are formed separately and are connected together, typically in a manner that permits adjustment of the angle of the backrest. This two piece design is advantageous because it allows for compact storage and shipping. Two piece designs also allow the child seats to be used either with or without the back.
Many existing car seats are problematic in that removal of the child seat from the vehicle causes the backrest and the seat base to separate unintentionally while handling the seat outside the vehicle. When moved away from the backrest of the conventional vehicle seat, the backrest of the child seat may fall to a position in a plane with the seat base and separate from the seat base. Thus, there remains a need for a two piece child seat having a configuration that reduces the likelihood of unintentional separation of the backrest and the seat base, yet still provides for simple and intuitive separation when desired.
Most child seats include a shoulder height belt guide to properly align the seat belt with the child's torso. Existing belt guides fall into two general categories, locking or free. Locking belt guides prevent any movement of the seat belt once the belt guide is locked. This configuration is preferred by many parents, because of the limited movement it provides for naturally restless children. On the other hand, some parents prefer a belt guide that operates in a free mode that allows the seat belt to withdraw and retract in response to movement of the child. Unfortunately, existing belt guides fail to provide the parent with the option between either a locking mode or free mode of operation. Thus, there remains a need for a child seat having a belt guide that provides the user with the choice of selecting operating modes between locking and free.