Booster seat with stowable tray and/or stowable securing strap
View Patent ↗A booster seat includes a storage compartment for a tray and/or a storage compartment for securing straps. The tray-storage compartment can be formed in a base of the seat and include an access opening through a sidewall of the base. The tray-storage compartment can include two opposite and inwardly-extending lips that support the tray in the stowed position, and a support foot that moves between a use position in the compartment where it helps support the seat and a stored position displaced from the compartment. Also, the tray-storage compartment can include ribs that engage the tray in the stowed position to retain it there. The strap-storage compartment can be formed in the base and include an access opening with a closure for retaining the straps in the compartment.
1. A booster seat for a child, comprising:
a seat on which the child sits and is supported;
a tray that removably attaches to the seat and is repositionable between a use position mounted to the seat and a stowed position, wherein the tray has a width and a height; and
a storage compartment formed in the seat, wherein the tray is received in the storage compartment in the stowed position, wherein the storage compartment has a width and a height, the storage compartment width is greater than the tray width, and the storage compartment height is substantially equal to or greater than the tray height, wherein the storage compartment is defined at least in part by a top wall and two inwardly extending and opposing lips positioned below the top wall, wherein the lips define therebetween a bottom opening of the compartment, and wherein the lips support the tray in the stowed position.
2. The booster seat of claim 1 , wherein the seat includes a base and includes a backrest and two opposing sidewalls extending upward therefrom, wherein the base, the backrest, and the sidewalls form a sitting well in which the child sits and having a width between the sidewalls, and wherein the storage compartment width and the tray width are greater than the sitting well width.
3. The booster seat of claim 1 , wherein the seat includes a base upon which the child sits, wherein the storage compartment is formed in the base.
4. The booster seat of claim 3 , wherein the base includes at least one sidewall, the storage compartment includes an access opening formed in the sidewall, and the tray is inserted into and withdrawn from the compartment through the access opening.
5. The booster seat of claim 1 , further comprising a retractable support foot that moves between a deployed position and a retracted position, wherein in the deployed position the foot extends into the compartment and a bottom of the foot is in a horizontal plane of a bottom surface of the base to help support the seat, and in the retracted position the foot is displaced from the compartment to provide clearance for the tray to be inserted into the compartment in the stowed position.
6. The booster seat of claim 5 , wherein the support foot is spring-biased toward the deployed position and moved from the deployed position toward the retracted position upon contact with and displacement by the tray being inserted into the stowed position in the compartment.
7. The booster seat of claim 1 , wherein the lips are positioned at a bottom of the base and the tray in its entirety slides into the compartment above the lips and is supported atop the lips.
8. The booster seat of claim 1 , wherein the lips deflect downward upon being contacted and displaced by the tray as the tray is slid into the compartment toward the stowed position, the deflection generating a nominal frictional force that retains the tray in the compartment.
9. The booster seat of claim 1 , further comprising at least one rib extending into the compartment and engaging the tray in the stowed position in the compartment to apply a nominal frictional force to retain the tray in the compartment.
10. The booster seat of claim 9 , wherein the rib includes a front end positioned within the compartment inward from an access opening of the compartment so that the tray does not engage the rib front end until at least partially inserted into the compartment.
11. A booster seat for a child, comprising:
a seat on which the child sits and is supported, wherein the seat includes a base with two opposing sidewalls extending upward therefrom and includes a backrest, wherein the base, the backrest, and the sidewalls form a sitting well in which the child sits and having a width between the sidewalls, and wherein the base includes at least one base wall;
a tray that removably attaches to the seat and is repositionable between a use position mounted to the seat and a stowed position, wherein the tray has a width and a height;
a storage compartment formed in the base of the seat, wherein the tray is received in the storage compartment in the stowed position, wherein the storage compartment has a width and a height, the storage compartment width is greater than the tray width which in turn is greater than the sitting well width, and the storage compartment height is substantially equal to or greater than the tray height, wherein the storage compartment includes an access opening formed in the wall of the base, and the tray is inserted into and withdrawn from the compartment through the access opening; and
a retractable support foot that moves between a deployed position and a retractable position, wherein in the deployed position the foot extends into the compartment and a bottom of the foot is in a horizontal plane of a bottom surface of the base to help support the seat, and in the retracted position the foot is displaced from the compartment to provide clearance for the tray to be inserted into the compartment in the stowed position.
12. The booster seat of claim 11 , wherein the support foot is spring-biased toward the deployed position and moved from the deployed position toward the retracted position upon contact with and displacement by the tray being inserted into the compartment toward the stowed position.
13. The booster seat of claim 11 , wherein the storage compartment is defined at least in part by a top wall and two inwardly extending and opposing lips positioned below the top wall, wherein the lips define therebetween a bottom opening of the compartment, and wherein the lips support the tray in the stowed position.
14. The booster seat of claim 13 , wherein the lips deflect downward upon being contacted and displaced by the tray as the tray is slid into the compartment toward the stowed position, the deflection generating a nominal frictional force that retains the tray in the compartment.
15. The booster seat of claim 11 , further comprising at least one rib extending into the compartment and engaging the tray in the stowed position in the compartment to apply a nominal frictional force to retain the tray in the compartment.
16. The booster seat of claim 15 , wherein the rib includes a front end positioned within the compartment inward from the access opening of the compartment so that the tray does not engage the rib front end until at least partially inserted into the compartment.
17. A booster seat for securing to a surface and supporting a child, comprising:
a seat in which the child sits and is supported;
a tray that removably attaches to the seat and is repositionable between a use position mounted to the seat and a stowed position;
a tray storage compartment formed in the seat, wherein the tray is received in the storage compartment in the stowed position;
one or more securing straps for securing the booster seat to the surface; and
a strap storage compartment formed by the seat, separate from the tray storage compartment, wherein at least a portion of the straps can be stored out of the way in the compartment so they are not loose and dangling when transporting or storing the seat; wherein:
the straps are detachably coupled to the seat;
the straps secure the seat to a vertical portion of the surface, a horizontal portion of the surface, or both;
the strap storage compartment includes an access opening and a closure that is repositionable between an open position in which the straps can be inserted into the strap storage compartment and a closed position in which the straps are retained in the strap storage compartment;
the strap storage compartment is formed in a base of the seat;
the access opening faces downward;
the strap storage compartment includes a peripheral sidewall surrounding the access opening;
a portion of the peripheral sidewall is formed by a back wall of the base; and
an opposing portion of the peripheral sidewall is formed by a back wall of a sitting well formed in part by the base.
18. The booster seat of claim 17 , wherein the straps can be removed from the seat and then secured and stored out of the way entirely within the strap storage compartment.