Tamper guard

Abstract

Provided is a tamper guard for a child safety seat. The tamper guard comprises an upper portion configured as a hollow prism or cylinder, and a lower portion connected to the upper portion. The lower portion is comprised of a quadrilateral top face having an opening of similar cross-section to the hollow prism or cylinder, and an integral retainer located below the quadrilateral top face. The lower portion is configured to receive a buckle of the child safety seat within a space defined by the quadrilateral top face and the retainer. The retainer is configured to retain the buckle with in the space. Additionally, the upper portion and the lower portion cooperate to form a continuous opening from a distal opening of the hollow prism or cylinder to the opening of the top face, the continuous opening configured to display and allow access to a quick release mechanism.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A tamper guard for a child safety seat, said tamper guard comprising:
 a hollow tubular upper portion; and   a lower portion comprising an adhesive tape which is configured to operatively secure the upper portion to a buckle of the child safety seat, wherein the upper and lower portions cooperate to form a continuous opening from a distal opening of the tubular upper portion, the continuous opening configured to display and allow access to a quick release mechanism located at a front face of the buckle for an adult whilst impeding access to the quick release mechanism for a child seated in the child safety seat by said upper portion manufactured from a resiliently flexible material having an elastic modulus value that disallows a child requiring a safety seat to physically deform the material using their appendages, thereby limiting ingress of said appendages and access to the quick release mechanism by the child;   wherein the lower portion is operatively secured to the upper portion of the buckle of the child safety seat and the buckle and safety information on a back face of the buckle 1 , opposite the front face, is unobstructed and visible 2 .   Support found in [0038] stating “The bottom face is further configured 1  to have a substantially rectangular opening to display a back face of the buckle, which typically “.contains safety information relating to the child safety seat  2  Support found in [0044] stating “through the openings not covered by the pair of opposing members” and in [0038] as described above.   
     
     
         25 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the upper portion is a hollow prism or cylinder. 
     
     
         26 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the upper portion is integral to the lower portion and safety information on the back face of the buckle is unobstructed and visible. 
     
     
         27 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the lower portion comprises a quadrilateral top face and an opening of substantially similar cross-section to the hollow prism or cylinder, a pair of opposing members of similar cross-section to the hollow prism or cylinder, and a retainer located below the quadrilateral top face;
 and wherein the lower portion is configured to receive a buckle of the child safety seat within a space defined by the quadrilateral top face and the retainer, and the retainer is configured to retain the buckle within the space   
     
     
         28 . The tamper guard of  claim 27 , wherein the upper portion is configured as a hollow prism having the same cross-sectional shape as the top face of the lower portion. 
     
     
         29 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the upper portion is of a height greater than 40 mm. 
     
     
         31 . The tamper guard of  claim 27 , wherein the retainer is a pair of opposing members extending from edges of the top face and a pair of internal flanges located at distal ends of the pair of opposing members. 
     
     
         33 . The tamper guard of  claim 27 , wherein the retainer is a pair of opposing members extending from edges of the top face and connecting to edges of a bottom face having an opening to display a back face of the buckle. 
     
     
         34 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the lower portion is manufactured from a resiliently flexible material selected from a group consisting of rubber, foam, plastics and metal and and safety information on the back face of the buckle is unobstructed and visible. 
     
     
         35 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the upper portion is configured so that the continuous opening to the buckle is at an angle generally perpendicular to the quick release mechanism. 
     
     
         36 . The tamper guard of  claim 35 , wherein the angle of the continuous opening is away from a child secured in the child safety seat to impede the child accessing the quick release mechanism. 
     
     
         37 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the distal opening of the continuous opening is bevelled to facilitate access to an adult's finger to the quick release mechanism whilst impeding a child secured in the child safety seat from accessing the quick release mechanism. 
     
     
         38 . The tamper guard of  claim 24 , wherein the upper and/or lower portion is manufactured from a transparent or translucent material to facilitate display of the quick release mechanism. 
     
     
         39 . A seat belt buckle for a child safety seat, said buckle comprising a tamper guard in accordance with  claim 24 . 
     
     
         40 . A one-piece tamper guard comprising an upper portion and lower portion, wherein:
 said upper portion is a hollow cylindrical region with a circular distal opening passing through said lower portion;   said lower portion, fixedly connected and integrally moulded to said upper portion, further comprises a square top face extending, in one continuous piece, to opposing side walls and rounded into internal flanges parallel to said square top;   wherein a space for receiving and retaining is a rectangular prism with a top side being said square top face, sides being said opposing side walls, and a bottom side comprising a spaced apart region between each of two of said internal flanges and said internal flanges which extend towards each other with a space there-between.   
     
     
         41 . The one-piece tamper guard of  claim 40 , further comprising at least two lines of symmetry through said tamper guard, each of said at least two lines of symmetry extending perpendicular to one another and perpendicularly through said square top.