Tether strap that allows rotation of a safety seat about a vertical axis

Abstract

A tether arrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seat is rotatably mounted to a base, the tether arrangement having a tether strap, a tether connector on the strap for attachment to an anchor point, and a strap take up reel such as an inertia reel mounted on the safety seat onto which the tether strap is attached and wound so that when the safety seat is rotated with respect to the base, the tether strap unwinds from and back onto the strap take up reel. One end of the tether strap can attach to one side of the safety seat with the tether strap passing through the anchor point and the other end of the tether strap attached and wound onto the strap take up reel at the other side of the safety seat.

The claims defining the invention are as follows:  
     
         1 . A tether arrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seat is rotatably mounted to a base, the tether arrangement comprising: 
 a tether strap,    a tether connector on said strap for attachment to an anchor point, and    a strap take up reel mounted on said safety seat onto which said tether strap is attached and wound so that when said safety seat is rotated with respect to said base, said tether strap is able to unwind from and wind back onto said strap take up reel.    
     
     
         2 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  wherein the strap take up wheel is an inertia reel.  
     
     
         3 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 2  wherein the inertia reel is of a type adapted to sense acceleration or deceleration of the motor vehicle and thereby lock the reel to prevent it from unwinding.  
     
     
         4 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 2  wherein the inertia reel is of a type which when a slow continuous force is applied to the tether strap wound onto the reel the reel will rotate allowing the tether strap to unwind from the reel but if a sudden force is applied to the tether strap, the reel will lock whereby if the safety seat is rotated about its base, the reel will rotate thereby allowing the tether strap to lengthen by unwinding from the reel and unwinding of the inertia reel will tension a spring which will act to rewind the strap when the safety seat is returned to its forward facing position but in an accident situation a sudden force applied by the tether strap to the reel will cause it to lock.  
     
     
         5 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  wherein the strap take up reel is manually operable whereby the take up reel is adapted for a manual operation to enable unwinding of the tether strap and the unwinding of the inertia reel will tension a spring which will act to rewind the strap when the safety seat is returned to its forward facing position.  
     
     
         6 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 5  wherein the manual operation is the pressing of a button to release the take up reel.  
     
     
         7 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  having a single length of tether strap that extends from the strap take up reel at a head end of the safety seat to the anchor point.  
     
     
         8 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  wherein one end of the tether strap is attached to one side of the safety seat with the tether strap passing through the anchor point and the other end of the tether strap attached and wound onto the strap take up reel at the other side of the safety seat whereby if the safety seat is rotated one way the tether strap can extend directly from the strap take up reel to allow the rotation and if the safety seat is rotated the other way the tether strap can extend from the strap take up reel and pass through the tether connector to allow lengthening of the tether strap on the other side.  
     
     
         9 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  having an attachment point or mounting recess for the strap take up reel on either side of the head end of the safety seat so that the strap take up reel may be placed on either side of the head end of the safety seat and the other end of the tether strap is mounted at the other side of the head end of the safety seat.  
     
     
         10 . A tether arrangement as in  claim 1  having strap take up reels on both sides of the head end of the safety seat so that the seat can be rotated to either the right hand side or the left hand side.  
     
     
         11 . A tether arrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seat is rotatably mounted to a base substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.