Foldable child lap seat

Abstract

A foldable lap seat including a back support, two side walls, a bottom support and multiple straps. The foldable lap seat is well suited for use with a lap child on an airplane, in a chair, at a table, in a stadium seat, on a train or bus in a church pew or in other situations. Embodiments include a set of functionally distinct but interconnected panels which are permanently connected together along certain junctions and which also may be selectively connected together or disconnected along various edges. Thus, seat embodiments can be configured in at least three distinct ways. The foldable lap seat may be configured for use by connecting certain edges together; configured a substantially flat structure by disconnecting selected edges and the seat may be stored or transported when not in use in a very compact folded configuration. In a use configuration, selected straps are provided to secure a child to the seat and other straps are provided to secure the seat to an adult's seat belt, harness or another structure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A foldable seat comprising:
 a back support;   a first side wall;   a second side wall; and   a bottom support extending outwardly from the bottom edge of the back support, wherein the side edges of the bottom may be detachably connected with the side walls, and wherein in use, the bottom support is positioned between bottom edges of the two side walls.   
     
     
         2 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a center strap having a fixed end and a free end, wherein the fixed end is connected to the bottom support in proximity to a bottom edge of the bottom support. 
     
     
         3 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a waist belt having a first strap element and a second strap element, wherein, in a fastened configuration, the first strap element is fastened to the second strap element to form a waist belt loop. 
     
     
         4 . The foldable seat of  claim 3 , wherein the center strap has a loop at the free end, and wherein the waist belt passes through the loop when secured around the waist of a child. 
     
     
         5 . The foldable seat of  claim 3 , wherein the first and the second strap elements of the waist belt are connected to an inside surface of the bottom support or the back support in proximity to a junction between the bottom support and the back support. 
     
     
         6 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising at least first and a second securing strap connected to an outside surface of the back support. 
     
     
         7 . The foldable seat of  claim 6  further comprising:
 a third securing strap connected to an outside surface of the first side wall; and 
 a fourth securing strap connected to an outside surface of the second side wall. 
 
     
     
         8 . The foldable seat according to  claim 7 , wherein each of the four securing straps comprises a lower strap element and an upper strap element, and the lower strap element is longer than the upper strap element. 
     
     
         9 . The foldable seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the bottom support is detachably connected to the side walls with a zipper. 
     
     
         10 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a shoulder strap. 
     
     
         11 . The foldable seat of  claim 10  wherein the shoulder strap comprises a first shoulder strap element and a second shoulder strap element, wherein the first shoulder strap element is connect to an inside surface of the back support in proximity to one side of the top edge and the second shoulder strap element is connected to an inside surface of the back support in proximity to the junction between the back support and the bottom support and wherein one of the first of the second shoulder strap elements further comprises an outward facing hook tape and the other of the first and second shoulder strap elements comprises a mating inward facing loop tape. 
     
     
         12 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  wherein the back support, the first side wall, the second side wall and the bottom support are made of multiple layers of materials, comprising a first and a second cover layer, a first and a second soft layer, and a rigid or semi-flexible layer. 
     
     
         13 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a wrist strap attached to one of two side walls. 
     
     
         14 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a shoulder harness. 
     
     
         15 . The foldable seat of  claim 14  wherein the shoulder harness comprises a plurality of shoulder straps attached to the back support with each shoulder strap having a free end configured to be attached to a five-point buckle to connect the two shoulder belts, two free ends of a waist belt and a free end of a center belt together. 
     
     
         16 . The foldable seat of  claim 14  wherein the shoulder harness comprises a Y strap, wherein two ends of the Y strap are fixed in proximity to the top edge of the back support, and one end is terminated with a loop. 
     
     
         17 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising two thigh straps attached to the bottom support. 
     
     
         18 . The foldable seat of  claim 1 , wherein the back support, the first and the second side walls, and the bottom support are covered with a waterproof material. 
     
     
         19 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  further comprising a securing strap associated with a top edge of the back support which securing strap comprises a buckle. 
     
     
         20 . The foldable seat of  claim 1  wherein junctions between the back support and each side wall and a junction between the back support and the bottom support provide for each side wall to be folded over opposite sides of the back support and the bottom support to be folded over one of the side walls when the side edges of the bottom are detached from the side walls.