JP7619638B2 - Bicycle child seat cover - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an improved front child seat cover that can cover almost the entire front child seat that is attached and fixed to the center of the handlebars of a bicycle, but it can also be applied to covers for rear child seats that are fixed to the carrier of a bicycle.

There are various types of child seat covers available on the market that can cover almost the entire seat of a front or rear child seat fixed to the handlebars or carrier, except for the bottom surface of the seat.
All of the inventions described in the following patent documents were previously proposed by the applicant of the present application, but the invention described in Patent Document 1 below relates to a rear child seat cover and aims to reduce temperature rise and stuffiness inside the cover.

Its configuration is a box shape with an open bottom that can cover the entire child seat fixed to the rear carrier of the bicycle, with a transparent section on the front and a slide fastener on the boundary between the front and one of the side sections, an air inlet on the front side of each of the two side sections, and an exhaust port on the rear section. In addition, a second air inlet is provided across the entire horizontal direction at the bottom of the front section by opening and closing the slide fastener.

The invention described in Patent Document 2 listed below relates to a front child seat cover that can cover the entire body of an infant even when the infant is seated in the seat.
Its configuration is such that a cover main body can cover the entire seat, a closing sheet member that can be opened and closed is provided at the top opening, and an opening and closing cover member is detachably connected to the main body. The opening and closing cover member has a transparent front portion, and can be connected to the main body by engaging the inner fastening portion of the connecting portion, which is the front side portion, with the fastening member at the fastener receiving portion of the main body. This allows the closing sheet member of the main body to be rolled up and opened, and with the closing sheet member tied down by the bundling member, a child is seated in the child seat, and the back portion of the opening and closing cover member can be hooked onto the upper edge of the extended headrest of the child seat to cover the child seat.

This front child seat cover can also be constructed without the closing sheet member that closes the top opening, in which case the opening and closing cover member simply needs to be connected to the main body at its front end at all times.

In neither of the above-mentioned conventional front and rear child seat covers is there a window (front opening and closing part) in the transparent front part, but some currently available on the market have a window in the front transparent part that can be rolled up.
More specifically, in the front portion of the child seat cover, the upper edge is continuous with the top portion, and the two side edges and the lower edge are separated from the front portion to form a window portion, and the three edges of this window portion are configured to be opened and closed by a slide fastener or the like, and the window portion can be opened by opening the slide fastener and rolling it up.

The reason for providing the window portion in this manner on the front portion is to eliminate the need to remove the child seat cover when it rains while the child seat cover is attached to the seat, and to allow outside air to enter the inside of the cover, thereby reducing the rise in temperature inside.
Normally, these child seat covers were developed for use when it was raining, but once they were attached to the seat, it was difficult to remove them, so it became common to leave the cover on when using the seat.

Therefore, in order to allow the user to use the cover comfortably even when it is not raining, it has become common for the cover to have a large window formed in the front part.
The front opening and closing portion, which serves as the window, is also used as an entrance and exit when a child sits inside the cover and when a child gets out of the cover.

JP 2014-28617 A JP 2014-37236 A JP 2016-130073 A

The applicant for the patent document 3 also proposed this invention earlier, but like the conventional child seat covers mentioned above, the basic idea is to provide a child seat that can be worn when not in use, and used with a child on it in any weather, including rain, strong winds, cold weather, and even sunny weather.

The objective of this third conventional example was to provide a child seat cover that would prevent the top of the child's head from touching the top of the cover as much as possible when the child was seated in the child seat, and, even if it did come into contact, would not place too much weight of the cover on the top of the child's head.

Furthermore, in the third conventional example, infants sit at various heights, and it was also an objective of the invention to be able to accommodate this, and to provide a child seat cover with a highly shape-retaining external shape that can stand on its own.

In order to solve the above problems, in the third conventional example, a child seat cover for bicycles was proposed that is fixed to the handlebars of a bicycle and can cover almost the entire child seat that has a headrest that can move up and down, and that has an attachment member provided on the inside of the rear part of the cover, and an attachment member that can engage with this attachment member is provided on the rear surface of the cover, and a fixing member formed separately from the cover is attached to the rear part of the child seat headrest, and the attachment member of this fixing member and the attachment member provided on the inside of the rear part of the cover are engaged with each other, thereby ensuring that the rear part of the child seat cover is secured at an appropriate height position.

Therefore, the first objective of the present invention is to make it easy for a child to get in and out of the car through the front opening and closing part in a front or rear child seat cover type in which the front window part, that is, the front opening and closing part, serves as an entrance and exit for the child.
With conventional covers, the front opening is rolled up over the top to put the child inside the cover or take the child out; however, when doing so, the front edge of the top of the cover gets in the way and the child's head gets caught on the upper edge of the opening and closing window (front opening and closing part), preventing entry and exit.
The first object of the present invention is to easily eliminate these obstacles to entry and exit.

Furthermore, when no child is seated on the bicycle, the top of the front cover is positioned at the highest point, making it difficult for the rider to see ahead and making it difficult to ride.
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention improves the method of fixing or attaching the fixing member and the cover, resulting in the following invention.

The first aspect of the present invention is a child seat cover for bicycles that is fixed to the handlebars of a bicycle and can cover almost the entire front child seat having a headrest, and has a front opening and closing part that allows a child to sit on the seat inside and to remove the child from the seat to the outside. The cover has an insert piece on the inside of the back part and an insertion receiving part on the rear surface into which the insert piece can be inserted. A fixing member formed separately from the cover is attached to the back part of the headrest, and the insert piece provided on the inside of the back part of the cover is inserted into the insertion receiving part of the fixing member, so that the child seat cover is secured at an appropriate height and attached to the seat, and when a child is seated inside the seat and removed from it, the insert piece is removed from the insertion receiving part so that the upper edge of the front opening and closing part of the child seat moves diagonally backward.

The second aspect of the present invention is a child bicycle seat cover according to the first aspect of the present invention, characterized in that the insertion receiving portion is movable up and down on the rear surface of the fixing member.

The third aspect of the present invention is a child bicycle seat cover according to the first or second invention, characterized in that at least two belt-shaped members are provided vertically on the fixing member, and the fixing member can be attached to the back of the headrest by wrapping and fixing the belt-shaped members around the headrest of the child seat.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is a child bicycle seat cover according to the first aspect of the present invention, characterized in that the insertion piece is provided on the rear side of the fixing member and the insertion receiving part is provided on the inside of the rear part of the child bicycle seat cover.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is a child seat cover for bicycles according to the first aspect of the invention, characterized in that the child seat cover is fixed to the rear carrier of the bicycle, can cover almost the entire rear child seat having a headrest, and has a front opening and closing part that allows a child to be seated on the inner seat and removed from the seat to the outside.

In the first aspect of the present invention, an insertion piece is provided on the inside of the rear part of the child seat cover (hereinafter simply referred to as the "cover"), and a fixing member having a receiving portion for inserting the insertion piece is provided on the rear surface of the fixing member, which is formed separately from the cover, and this fixing member is attached to the rear part of the headrest of the seat. Therefore, by inserting the insertion piece on the cover side into the receiving portion of the fixing member, the rear part of the cover can be easily secured at an appropriate height position, i.e., the entire cover can be secured at a predetermined height position.

Furthermore, when seating or removing a child inside the seat, the front opening and closing part of the child seat moves diagonally backward by removing the insertion piece from the insertion receiving part, so that the cover, which uses this front opening and closing part as an entrance and exit, allows the child to easily enter and exit the seat.

When a child is not using the seat, the front opening and closing part of the cover moves diagonally backward by removing the insertion piece from the insertion receiving part, and the top part also moves downward. In the case of a front cover, this opens up the forward field of vision for the bicycle rider, making it easier to ride, and the top part of the cover does not get in the way.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the plug-in receiving portion is more specifically defined.
That is, the plug-receiving portion is made movable up and down on the rear surface of the fixing member.
This allows the height of the top part of the cover to be freely changed.

The third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the fixing member is provided with at least two belt-shaped members arranged vertically, and these belt-shaped members are wrapped around the headrest of the child seat and fixed so that the fixing member can be attached to the back portion of the headrest.
This embodies the mounting means for the fixing member.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the insertion piece is provided on the side of the fixing member and the insertion receiving portion is provided on the inside of the back portion of the front child seat cover, and the insertion piece and the insertion receiving portion are provided in the opposite manner to the first invention described above.
In this case, the insertion piece provided on the fixed member must be provided so as to extend upward, but the principle is exactly the same as in the first invention.

In the fifth aspect of the present invention, the first invention is specified in that the child seat cover is fixed to the rear carrier portion of the bicycle, can cover almost the entire rear child seat having a headrest, and has a front opening and closing portion that allows a child to be seated in the internal seat and removed from the seat to the outside.
In rear child seat covers, the vertical boundary between the front and side sections has traditionally been able to be opened and closed freely to allow the infant to enter and exit, but the cover of the present invention can also be applied to rear child seat covers as long as they have a front opening and closing section, and this is what we claim as the fifth invention.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating one embodiment of a front child seat cover according to the present invention, showing a state in which a child (not shown) is seated inside and the front opening/closing part is open upward. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the front child seat cover according to the embodiment is disengaged from the fixing member and the cover is lowered obliquely downward. FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the cover according to the embodiment is attached and a driver is in the vehicle. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the cover according to the embodiment is disengaged from the fixing member, the cover is lowered diagonally downward, and a driver gets in the vehicle. FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining engagement and attachment of the cover according to the embodiment, illustrating the rear surface side of the fixing member and the inside of the rear surface part of the cover. 11 is an explanatory view of the fixing member of the cover according to the embodiment, viewed from the rear side. FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating one embodiment of a front child seat cover according to the present invention, showing a state in which a child (not shown) is seated inside and the front opening/closing part is open upward.

This front child seat cover 10 can cover almost the entire front child seat S of the type that is attached to a steering wheel later.
The entire unit is composed of a front portion 11, a top portion 12, a rear portion 13, and both side portions 14, 14.

An openable/closable front opening/closing portion 11w is provided at the upper portion of the front portion 11, and this front opening/closing portion 11w serves as a window portion and an entrance/exit for allowing an infant to sit inside.
Accordingly, the front opening/closing portion 11w is made of a transparent material, and similarly, the top portion 12, the upper portion of the back portion 13, and the upper portions of both side portions 14, 14 are also made of a transparent material.

That is, when an infant is seated inside, the entire periphery of the infant's head is surrounded by a transparent material, allowing the infant to see outside, thus providing a sense of openness.
Handle insertion holes 15 are provided at positions on both side surfaces 14 corresponding to the handle grips G, through which the handle grips, brakes, brake wires, etc. can be inserted.

To attach the front child seat cover 10 to the child seat S, a fixing member 20 separate from the cover is used.
This fixing member 20 is made of a thin, flexible plate having a substantially rectangular shape, and two belt members 21, 21 provided vertically on both sides of this plate are overlapped on the rear side of the headrest H of the child seat S, and then wrapped around and fixed using an adjuster buckle, hook-and-loop fastener, etc.

When the belt member 21 is wound around the headrest H, a hole provided in the headrest H through which the seat belt B is attached can be utilized.
Furthermore, although not shown in Figure 1, a plug-in receiving portion, which will be described later, is provided on the rear surface of the fixing member 20, and the cover 10 can be attached to the seat S by inserting an insertion piece provided on the inner surface of the back portion 13 of the cover into this plug-in receiving portion.
The plug-in piece and the plug-in receiving portion will be described in detail later.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the front child seat cover according to the embodiment has been disengaged from the fixing member and lowered obliquely downward.
As briefly explained above, when the plug-in piece provided on the cover is removed from the plug-in receiving portion provided on the fixing member, the state shown in FIG. 2 is reached.

In other words, when the insertion piece provided on the inner surface of the back surface 14 of the cover 10 is removed from the insertion receiving portion provided on the rear surface of the fixing member 20 fixed to the rear surface (rear surface) of the headrest H of the child seat S, the entire cover 10 shifts diagonally backward or downward to the state shown in FIG. 2.

That is, the upper edge of the opening of the front opening/closing portion 14 is positioned above the upper edge of the headrest H.
When the insertion piece and the insertion receiving portion are engaged with each other, the upper edge of the opening of the front opening/closing portion 14 is located above and in front of the headrest H, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the state shown in Figure 1, when a child is seated in the internal seat, the child's head comes into contact with the upper edge of the opening of the front opening/closing part 14w, making it difficult for the child to sit in the seat. However, by using the state shown in Figure 2, the child's head does not come into contact with the upper edge of the opening of the front opening/closing part 14w, making it easier for the child to sit in the internal seat S.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the cover according to the embodiment is attached and a driver is in the vehicle.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the cover according to the embodiment described above is disengaged from the fixing member, the cover is lowered obliquely downward, and a rider gets in the vehicle.

These two diagrams clearly show the relative positions of the cyclist and the cover.
3 shows the state in which the rider sits on the saddle in the position shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows the state in which the rider sits on the saddle in the position shown in FIG.

3 shows a state in which a bicycle rider is riding with a child (not shown) seated on the inner seat. In this state, the front opening/closing part 11w may be either open or closed. It may be closed in rainy weather and left open in fine weather.
As a result, the cover top portion 11w is positioned directly in front of the bicycle rider's face, blocking the lower inner portion of the forward field of vision; however, this problem is solved because the upper portion of the cover is transparent.

On the other hand, when a child is not seated in the internal seat S, the top portion 11w of the cover 10 can be moved downward or diagonally downward and rearward as shown in FIG. 4, so that the forward visibility is completely open and in this state, it is easy for a child to get in and out of the car.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining engagement and attachment of the cover according to the embodiment, illustrating the rear surface side of the fixing member and the inside of the rear surface of the cover.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the fixing member of the cover according to the embodiment, viewed from the rear side.

From these two figures the cover mounting means according to the present invention becomes clear.
The fixing member 20 according to the present invention is a flexible plate (plate-like) made of synthetic resin and having a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the rear.
The four corners of this fixing member are formed with a radius.
The shape of this fixing member is not limited to the rectangular shape described above, but may be an H-shape, a horizontal H-shape, a lattice shape, a ladder shape, or any other shape or form.

The fixing member 20 can be fixed by being wrapped around the headrest of the seat using a pair (two) of belt-shaped members 21, 21 provided vertically on both sides of the fixing member 20.
That is, an adjuster buckle 22 is fixed to one end of this belt-shaped member 21, and a portion slightly above this adjuster buckle 22, this belt-shaped member 21 is fixed to a fixed member. The other end is wound around the headrest from the rear to the front, passed through a hole in the seat belt, pulled out to the rear, and then inserted into the adjuster buckle 22 and fixed.

The fixing member 20 has a plug-in receiving portion 23 on its rear surface.
This insertion receiving portion 23 is made of a wide cloth having an appropriate thickness, that is, a material having a thickness and strength that makes it difficult to change shape, and has upright portions formed on both sides thereof and is fixed to the rear surface of the fixing member 20.
Therefore, the plug-in receiving portion 23 forms a hole 23h having a predetermined width and a predetermined height toward the rear.

The insertion receiving portion 23 is fixed to the fixing member 20 using a male and female hook.
In other words, four male hooks 24m are provided on both sides of the rear surface of the fixing member 20, and two female hooks 24f are provided on both sides of the insertion receiving portion 23, and by selecting one of the male hooks 24m of the fixing member 20 and engaging the female hooks 24f of the insertion receiving portion 23 with each other, it is possible to select the upper and lower heights and fix the fixing member 20.

Either the male or female hook can be provided on the fixing member 20 or on the insertion receiving portion 23, and can be freely selected.

An insertion piece 25 provided on the inner surface of the rear portion 13 of the cover is inserted into the hole 23h of this insertion receiving portion 23.
This ensures that the cover is attached to the seat with its overall height position secured.

On the other hand, when the insertion piece 25 is removed from the hole 23h of the insertion receiving portion 23, the top portion of the cover descends downward or diagonally rearward and downward.
Furthermore, a through hole is provided at the lower edge of the cover, and a stretchable rubber cord or the like is inserted into this through hole. Therefore, even if the cover sags downward, the lower end of the cover will converge toward the center of the bottom surface of the seat due to the rubber cord or the like, and will not sag downward.

The insertion piece 25 is fixed to the center of a support frame or support band that is hung across the back part 13, and the back part 13 on which the support band is provided has a slit in the horizontal direction, so that the outer support frame or support band can be grasped, and the base part of the insertion piece 25 can be grasped and easily inserted into the hole 23h of the insertion receiving part 23.

The insertion piece 25 may be formed from a thick material with a core material disposed inside, and has a tongue-like shape with an approximately arc-shaped lower tip as shown in FIG. 5, but this shape can be freely modified.
The shape of the plug is not particularly limited, and a shape having an appropriate downward extension length is preferable, because this prevents the plug piece 25 from easily coming out of the hole in the plug receiving portion due to vibration.

Finally, the plug-in piece in the present invention may be provided on the rear surface of the fixing member, and the plug-in receiving portion may be provided on the inside of the rear surface of the cover.
In this case, the plug-in piece must be arranged facing upward, while the plug-in receiving portion can also be implemented by hanging, for example, a strip-shaped member or frame member horizontally on the inside of the rear portion of the cover, and hooking the latter strip-shaped member or frame member onto the former plug-in piece with its open portion facing upward.

Although the embodiment has been described above, various design modifications can be made as follows.
The present invention is a child seat cover that uses a fixing member, and its greatest feature is the freely detachable connection structure between the fixing member and the seat. The other structure, shape, etc. of the cover can be freely designed and modified.

In other words, as long as the cover can cover almost the entire child seat and has a front opening and closing part at least on the front side for the child to enter and exit, other configurations can be freely selected and the cover can be applied to either a front cover or a rear cover.
The cover may be formed as a single unit, or may be a two-piece type with the cover divided into an upper and lower part. The design can be freely modified in terms of the provision of an outside air inlet or exhaust vent, the position of the transparent part, the arrangement of the framework to give the cover a three-dimensional shape, etc.
There is also freedom to choose the size, shape, and material.

As described above, the present invention is a child seat cover that can be used to cover a child seat on a bicycle, and by inserting and removing the insertion piece provided on the inside of the back part into and from the insertion receiving part provided on the fixing member fixed to the back of the headrest, the front opening part, which is the entrance and exit for the child seated inside, can be moved downward or diagonally downward, making it easier for the child to enter and exit.Furthermore, with the front cover, the top part of the cover can be lowered downward when there is no child on board, making it an extremely convenient child seat cover.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 front child seat cover 11 front portion 11w front opening portion 12 top portion 13 back portion 14 side portion 15 handle insertion hole 20 fixing member 21 belt-shaped member 22 adjuster buckle 23 insertion receiving portion 23h hole portion 24f female fastening hook 24m male fastening hook 25 insertion piece G handle grip S child seat H headrest

Claims (4)

A child seat cover is attached to the handlebars of a bicycle, can cover almost the entire front child seat having a headrest, and has a front opening and closing part that allows a child to sit on the seat inside and to remove the child from the seat to the outside.
A plug is provided on the inside of the rear part of the cover,
a fixing member formed separately from the cover and attached to the rear surface of the headrest;
By inserting the insert piece provided on the inside of the back part of the cover into the insert receiving part of the fixing member, the child seat cover is secured at an appropriate height position and attached to the seat,
This child seat cover for bicycles is characterized in that, when a child is seated inside the seat or removed from it, the upper edge of the front opening and closing part of the child seat moves diagonally backward by removing the insertion piece from the insertion receiving part. A child bicycle seat cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the insertion receiving portion can be moved up and down on the rear surface of the fixing member. A child bicycle seat cover according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least two belt-shaped members are provided vertically on the fixing member, and the fixing member can be attached to the back of the headrest by wrapping and fixing the belt-shaped members around the headrest of the child seat. A child seat cover for bicycles according to claim 1, characterized in that the child seat cover is fixed to the rear carrier of the bicycle, can cover almost the entire rear child seat having a headrest, and has a front opening and closing part that allows a child to be seated on the inner seat and removed from the seat to the outside.