Means of keeping a disabled child's head upright

Abstract

I have invented a means for keeping an occupant's head upright in a child safety seat or wheelchair. The invention comprises either a child safety seat or wheelchair with a backrest and a headrest with either loop or hook attachment media attached to the area of the headrest that contacts the back of the occupant's head (or, alternatively, in the head area of the backrest, with the headrest being omitted), with mating media attached to the backside of a cap to be worn on the head of the occupant. The occupant's head is held up by the mating of the attachment media between the cap and headrest or backrest. The purpose of this configuration is to prevent the occupant's head from tipping forward or to either side. When used in conjunction with a child safety seat, an additional purpose is to reduce injury values, such as HIC (Head Injury Criteria), neck injury, and Chest G values associated with the US Code Title 49, Part 571, FMVSS 213 performance requirements. In addition, the present invention is applicable to children and adults in other types of durable medical equipment such as standers and walkers.

1 . A method for keeping an occupant's head upright in a child safety seat, said child safety seat including a backrest, a headrest with loop/hook attachment media attached to the area of said headrest that contacts the back of said occupant's head, a cap worn by said occupant with loop/hook attachment media located on the backside of said cap, said method comprising:
 placing said cap on said occupant's head;   attaching said headrest to said backrest of said child safety seat;   placing said occupant's head against said headrest allowing said attachment media to mate.   
     
     
         2 . A method for keeping an occupant's head upright in a child safety seat, said child safety seat including a backrest with loop/hook attachment media attached to the area of said backrest that contacts the back of said occupant's head, a cap worn by said occupant with loop/hook attachment media located on the backside of said cap, said method comprising:
 placing said cap on said occupant's head;   placing said occupant's head against said backrest allowing said attachment media to mate.   
     
     
         3 . A method for keeping an occupant's head upright in a wheelchair, said wheelchair including a backrest, a headrest with loop/hook attachment media attached to the area of said headrest that contacts the back of said occupant's head, a cap worn by said occupant with loop/hook attachment media located on the backside of said cap, said method comprising:
 placing said cap on said occupant's head;   attaching said headrest to said backrest of said wheelchair;   placing said occupant's head against said headrest allowing said attachment media to mate.   
     
     
         4 . A method for keeping an occupant's head upright in a wheelchair, said wheelchair including a backrest with loop/hook attachment media attached to the area of said backrest that contacts the back of said occupant's head, a cap worn by said occupant with loop/hook attachment media located on the backside of said cap, said method comprising:
 placing said cap on said occupant's head;   placing said occupant's head against said backrest allowing said attachment media to mate.