1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable footrest for a small child's car seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Children's car seats are an important part of automotive safety. Designed to secure a baby or small child, these car seats are subject to federal guidelines for proper usage and installation. Car seats are well-known in the related art and are provided with a variety of features that insure a child's safety in the event of an automobile accident.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,308,315, issued to Smith, discloses an automobile accessory seat designed specifically for a child. The seat is crude by modern standards because of its cumbersome size and design and has the capability to manually tilt the back of the seat and raise a non-adjustable footrest. The accessory seat is also designed to be foldable and easily stored for added convenience.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,877, issued to Ettridge, discloses a more modern children's car seat. This particular car seat is held in place on a regular automobile seat with a safety belt. The car seat is adjustable from an upright position into a reclining sleeping position. The adjustment is easily made by a linkage system that is operated by a simple handle. A non-adjustable footrest is provided as part of the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,674, issued to Deloustal, also discloses a car seat for a child with a non-adjustable footrest. This particular car seat is reclinable into various different positions. The positions can be changed with the adjustment of a rotatable attachment handle assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,331, issued to Tucker et al., discloses the use of a combination car seat and stroller. The stroller is provided with pivotable wheels, with a spring or clip being provided for locking the wheels into place in the stroller embodiment. Slots in the arms of the car seat embodiment are provided to engage the seatbelt of an automobile or airplane. A selectably extendable footrest is also provided for in the car seat embodiment of the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,997, issued to Shubin, discloses the use of an adjustable car seat provided with a pivoted tray that comes over the top of the child being seated. Shoulder and lap straps automatically come into position to hold the child in place. As the child gets older and bigger, the position of the shoulder straps may be raised and adjusted as needed. The seat and back may also be tilted as a unit by raising the front of the seat so the child can recline and sleep.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,519, issued to Natt, describes the use of fitted leg rest attachments for existing child car seats. The fitted leg rest is made up of a leg pad and two extension bars attached to a set of springs which can raise or lower the leg pad in an angular plane outside of the car seat. This particular leg rest attachment can be retrofitted onto most types of car seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,964, issued to Weimersheimer, describes a child restraint car seat and bed. The device is interchangeable between being an upright car seat and a reclinable flatbed. While in the upright car seat position, a retractable footrest is slidably deployable from the interior of the base assembly. The backrest can be secured in any position of rotation relative to the assembly.
Several of the devices outlined in the above patents are provided with some form of footrest for the child. These footrests, however, are not adjustable enough to account for the different sizes of babies and small children. The presence of a footrest is not useful if it cannot be properly fitted to the child sitting in the car seat. That's what is really needed, a car seat that is provided with a properly fitting and adjustable footrest. It would also be quite useful if such a device could be retrofitted on currently existing car seats as well as being furnished as an item of original equipment manufacture (OEM) on new car seats.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an adjustable footrest for a car seat solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds