Child's Chair Video Player

This invention relates to a child's chair video player. It relates particularly to a child's chair which is provided with a video player so that a user of the chair may receive audio and visual material for entertainment and education.

There has already been a proposal to provide a visual display screen for the entertainment of an infant confined to a crib. One device of this kind has been disclosed in European Patent No. EP0456869. This device is suitable for entertaining a young baby but as the child grows up lhis system will soon be outgrown. The child may men expect to be seated at a table for meals and to have its own high chair to put it on a level with its parents for the meal. In addition to home meals, many family meals are now being taken outside the home and there has been an increase in the numbers of family friendly pubs and restaurants. For these public places, the provision of a restaurant high chair for a child will help to improve the whole dining experience for family customers. A high chair then serves to occupy children and infants who might normally become distracted and unruly when the family is taking a meal together. Not all children will accept the need to remain seated during a normal visit to a restaurant and at some time the child may want to leave the table or will have become upset which in turn will unsettle the parents and other diners nearby. This situation is likely to cause embarassment to the parents and it may lead to an interruption of the meal and their premature departure from the restaurant.

In an attempt to reduce this problem, it is proposed that the use of a high chair will serve to keep a child seated and the child can then be occupied with a favourite programme or film if a video player is also available. The present invention was devised

to provide a combination of chair and video player which is able to be fully controlled by the child's parent.

According to the invention, there is provided a child's chair and video player combination, the chair having support means arranged for mounting a visual display unit, a video player, and an audio output device coupled to the player.

The video player may be a DVD player The combination may include two separately controllable video players and visual display units The visual display units may be arranged to show a common video programme or two different programmes. The audio output device may include a loudspeaker with two or more headphone sets, the headphones being controllable so that they may reproduce either the sound of the common video programme or that of two different programmes. The headphone sets may be cordless, for example, headphones using an infrared linkage where the effective range of the linkage is limited to a predetermined short distance such as a distance of two metres. The operation of the video displays and audio outputs of the chair combination may be switched by a remote control handset.

The chair combination may be under the control of a coin or token freed mechanism permitting actuation of the visual and audio components for a predetermined time period. The chair may include a keypad which by entry of a reference code will allow actuation of the visual and audio components for a predetermined time period. The combination may include a rechargeable battery power unit capable of being recharged from the mains electricity supply.

By way of example, a particular embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the child's chair video player of the invention,

Figure 2 is a front view,

Figure 3 is a side view, and,

Figure 4 is a rear view.

As depicted in Figure 1, the child's high chair 1 is constructed from a durable lightweight plastics material and metal. It includes a child's seat 2 which is provided with the usual child safety restraint straps. A dining tray 3 is provided in front of the child seating position and this tray is mounted on hinges which enable the tray to be relocated at a rear side of the seat if temporarily the tray is not required to be used. The tray might, for example, be positioned at the rear if a child of larger size was required to be seated in the chair.

In front of the child seating position, a visual display unit 4 is supported on an arm 6 which is provided with suitable pivot points and which extends from a mounting hub beneath the seat. The visual display unit 4 is thus adjustable in the choice of its position in front of a child in the seat. The visual display unit 4 is also capable of being moved to one side if it should be required, for example, to reposition the dining tray 3 to its alternative location behind the seat 2.

As well as the arm 6 mounted visual display unit 4 providing a first screen 7 which faces the child, a rear side of the unit carries a second screen 8 which faces away from the child. This second screen 8 is arranged so that the parents of the child can make their own

evaluation of the material that their child is viewing. This will therefore give the parents the opportunity to change the video programme if they find that the material being displayed was not suitable for the child seated in the high chair particularly if the age of the child is taken into account.

If this facility is not required, an alternative video nmσramme can be shown on the second video screen 8.

Beneath the seat 2, a control box 9 encloses two DVD players, and a coin freed mechanism by which an intended user of the combination chair may insert a coin or token to set a predetermined time period of usage. The control box 9 also includes a power supply unit, a rechargeable battery and an appropriate electrical connector for enabling a power lead from a mains operated battery charger to be attached. In addition, the control box 9 includes suitable switches (not shown) for adjusting the operation of the visual display units, the video players and the audio output devices.

The chair also includes hooks (not shown) for supporting three pairs of headphone sets and a remote control handset. The headphones are of the cordless type and they are operated by means of an infrared link which is provided by a suitable infrared radiation transmitter and receiver sensor 11 located on the visual display unit 4. The headphones are so arranged that if they should be moved further than about two metres away from the chair combination they will no longer produce a useful audio signal. The remote control handset also operates by means of an infrared radiation link signal which is received at the sensor 11. By using this handset, a parent of a child in the seat will be able to control the material to be shown on the child's visual display. The parent may also decide to show

this programme on the second screen facing away from the child. Possibly, the parent may choose to show an alternative programme on the device second screen 8. When choosing a different programme, the parent will need to decide whether the programme material is wanted to be shown to another child in an older age group or whether the material is wanted for viewers of the parent's own age.

In addition to the headphone sets, the audio output device of the chair combination may include one or more loudspeakers (not shown) which are located in a back rest part of the seat 2.

In operation of the child's chair video player, it is expected that a small number of these will be placed in suitable family restaurants where parents will bring young children. Upon entering the restaurant, the parents will take a table and request the use of a high chair for an accompanying small child. The high chair is then used in the normal way for seating the child at the table. However, if the parents wish to make use of the video player part of the chair, they will insert appropriate coins or coin tokens into the control box 9 beneath the chair seat and initiate operation of the player for a predetermined time interval. The chair will be adjusted to make the child comfortable and the arm 6 supporting the visual display screen will be moved so the child will face the first screen 7. A pair of headphones will be fitted on to the child and a parent may also decide to use a similar pair. The parent will take the remote control handset and use this to select an appropriate video display which will be of interest to their child. The child's video display will be arranged to show material suitable for a child of up to two years in age. This display will be shown on the video screen 7 facing the child and the same display if wanted can also be shown on

the second screen 8 facing away from the child. If the parents wish to have a different programme on this second screen 8, for example for an older child to watch, the required different programme can also be selected by use of the remote control handset.

The parents will be _^ able to pause the video programme and restart it when required so the family will be able to enjoy the meal together.

If restaurant customers seated at an adjacent table also wish to make use of a further child's chair video player, then the headphone sets of these people will not be affected by stray infrared radiation from the chah of the fust customers provided that the headphones are kept at a distance of at least two metres away from the initial radiation source. The remote control handset for each video player will also be arranged so that it is not able to affect video players in use by diners seated ai adjacent tables.

TTie restaurant manager will be able to recharge the batteries of the child's chair video player when necessary and make changes in the video programmes provided for the customers. Batteries in the headphone sets and the remote control handset will also require recharging periodically.

Use of the video player is expected to make the family visit to the restaurant a more comfortable and pleasant one since the child using the chair is less likely to become troublesome or noisy and consequently to disturb other diners. The parents will therefore be able to enjoy the restaurant meal in a more leisurely manner. Since the parents can be expected to have fully enjoyed the whole family dining experience in the restaurant they will be more likely to make further visits to the same place. The restaurant is also likely to benefit because use of the video player will enable the child, its parents and the other

restaurant customers to enjoy the dining experience in a more peaceful and comfortable atmosphere.

The foregoing description of an embodiment of the invention has been given by way of example only and a, number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the video programme has been described as being held on DVD disc material but it could equally conveniently be held on other support media such as MPEG ₇ downloadable media files or video tapes. Similarly, the operation of the chair combination has been described as being by a coin freed mechanism, of course, an alternative method of payment control could be applied such as the insertion of a coin token, or the entry of a reference code on a keypad. Instead of the infrared radiation connection for the headphones, the connection may be achieved by different means such as a wireless link.