The invention relates to a child's chair at the front of a child buggy, comprising a seat and a backrest, the backrest being displaceable in its position with respect to the seat. The child's chair comprises at least one coupling element to be used for detachably coupling the child's chair to a coupling member of the child buggy. The invention also relates to a child buggy to which a child's chair of this type is to be fastened, to an assembly made up of a child buggy and child's chair of this type, and to the coupling itself.

A child's chair of this type with a coupling element therefor is generally known. The known child's chair can be placed on a child buggy with the aid of the coupling element. For this purpose, a coupling member attached to the child buggy, in the form of an upright protruding part, can be slid into an opening of the coupling element, after which a clamping mechanism ensures that the chair remains in place. In order to release the chair from the child buggy, the clamping mechanism can be unlocked, so that the protruding part can be slid back out of the opening of the coupling element. In this way, the chair can be removed again from the child buggy; this is advantageous during, for example, the transporting or storing of the child buggy.

The known child's chair and the child buggy pertaining thereto have the drawback of being relatively unsafe. During the coupling of the child's chair to the child buggy, it can occur that the handling of the coupling is carried out not quite correctly. The circumstance can then occur that the chair is not fastened in a correct manner, as a result of which the chair is in fact placed loosely on the child buggy. This can lead to dangerous situations when an infant is subsequently placed in the chair. The chair can for example fall from the child buggy; this can lead to injury to an infant placed in the child buggy.

In addition, it is possible for the chair to be taken off from the child buggy while the infant is still sitting in the chair. This can also lead to dangerous situations. After all, the chair should be secured to a specific place in order to unlock the clamping mechanism. During the raising of the chair, the play of forces on the chair will be such that a moment is exerted on the chair. This can easily cause the chair to topple. This can cause the user who is detaching the chair to lose his grip so that the chair falls. Again, this can lead to injury to the infant placed in the chair.

A situation of this type can occur in the child buggy which is described in international application WO 2007/053021. The infant seat of the child buggy is laterally provided with hinges having retractable pins. The pins can be withdrawn, counter to the action of a spring, into the aforementioned hinges so that die seat can be placed between upright parts of the main frame. The seat is furthermore provided on both sides with arms, to each of which a further pin is attached. These further pins can be received in pin receptacles in the main frame in order in mis way to fasten the seat to the frame. There is said to be a locking mechanism which ensures that the infant seat can be removed in any desired position thereof by causing the aforementioned pins to retract. In the known child buggy too, the situation can therefore occur that the infant seat can be taken off from the child buggy while the infant is still present in the infant seat.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a child's chair with which the aforementioned drawbacks and/or other drawbacks of the known child's chair are at least partially overcome.

It is, in addition, an object of the invention to provide a rapid, user-friendly and safe coupling and uncoupling of a child's chair to and from a child buggy respectively.

According to a first aspect of the invention, at least one of the objects is achieved in a child's chair at the front of a child buggy, comprising a seat and a backrest, the backrest being displaceable in its position with respect to the seat between at least one use position in which an infant can be placed in the chair and at least one non-use position in which no infant can be placed in the chair, wherein the child's chair comprises:

- at least one coupling element to be used for detachably coupling the child's chair to a coupling member of the child buggy;

- at least one locking element to be used for locking the coupling between the child's chair and the child buggy, a locking element being configured to lock the coupling between the child's chair and the child buggy when the backrest is in any desired use position and to allow the chair to be detachable from the child buggy when the backrest is in a non-use position.

The chair should first be brought from a use position to a non-use position in order to be able to couple or to be able to uncouple the chair and subsequently to be able to detach it. The non-use position is in this case selected in such a way that it can in practice not be reached when an infant is sitting in the chair. This means that the chair cannot be removed from the child buggy when an infant is present in the chair. This increases the safety for the infant. In addition, the chair will be slid, during coupling thereof, from the non-use position on the child buggy when the chair is brought into a use position.

If the backrest has two or more use positions, the locking element can for example be configured in such a way that the coupling of the child's chair is locked in each of the use positions. This means that the child's chair cannot be uncoupled in those positions. In specific embodiments, it is possible for the backrest to remain swivellable between various use positions, even when the locking element has locked the coupling. However, in other embodiments, the locking element is configured to secure the child's chair, in particular the backrest thereof, in a specific position. The backrest can, for example, no longer be swivelled while the locking element continues to lock the coupling.

In one embodiment of the invention, the locking elements will automatically lock the coupling between the chair and the child buggy while the chair is brought into the use position (or at least one of the use positions). Only once the backrest has been brought into a use position can an infant sit down on the chair. In this way, it is not possible to place an infant in an incorrectly fastened chair, thus ensuring the infant's safety.

In one embodiment of the invention, the child's chair comprises one or more swivelling elements provided between the backrest and seat for swivelling the backrest between the various positions. Swivelling allows the backrest to be brought rapidly and simply into the desired position with respect to the seat. In addition, this allows the sitting position of the infant, more particularly the position of the infant's back, to be set as comfortably as possible. In a further embodiment, the aforementioned coupling elements and locking elements are integrated with the swivelling elements, so that a compact construction is obtained.

In a further embodiment, the angle between the backrest and the seat in a non-use position is smaller than the angle between the backrest and the seat in a use position. More particularly, the angle in a non-use position is less than approximately 90 degrees, so that in practice it is not possible to place an infant in the chair when the backrest is in a non-use position.

hi further embodiments, the aforementioned angle is less than 60 degrees or even less than 40 degrees, thus making it practically impossible to place an infant in the child's chair (even if the user of the child buggy wanted to).

In one embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned angle in a use position is greater than approximately 90 degrees, so that the infant leans backward to a greater or lesser degree and can thus assume a comfortable position in the chair.

In one embodiment of the invention, the coupling element comprises a guide slot with a guide opening for slidably receiving therein a coupling member provided on the child buggy. In the case of a substantially vertically arranged coupling member, the chair is for example displaced downward so that the coupling member of the child buggy is slid into the slot via the opening, hi the inserted state, the chair is coupled to the child buggy. The chair will remain coupled to the child buggy until the user raises the chair again from the child buggy.

hi the coupled state, the chair has therefore not yet been locked with respect to the child buggy. One embodiment of the invention uses a form-lock to lock the coupling member to the coupling element. According to a further embodiment, the locking element closes off, in a use position of the backrest, the guide opening of the guide slot in such a way that, in a coupled state of the child buggy, the coupling member is confined in the guide slot, the locking element releasing, in a non-use position of the backrest, the guide opening of the guide slot so that the coupling member can be slid into and out of the guide slot.

In one embodiment of the invention, the swivelling element (or the swivelling elements if more than one swivelling element is provided), which can be used to swivel the backrest with respect to the seat, comprises:

- a central shaft with a disc, the guide slot being provided in the disc;

- a sleeve which is attached so as to rotate about the disc, the sleeve wall being provided with a recess corresponding to the guide opening, which recess is to be rotated in front of the guide opening in order to release the coupling member and is to be rotated away from the guide opening in order to lock the coupling member.

In a further embodiment, the backrest is displaceable between a number of (for example at least three) discrete use positions and non-use positions, hi other embodiments, the backrest is continuously (i.e. steplessly) adjustable between a number of use positions, while transition between any desired non-use position and any desired use position is discrete at all times in order to make it clear to the user that a potentially dangerous non-use position has been reached.

The child's chair can be provided with an operating device for operating the locking element in order to allow the position of the backrest to be adjusted. The operating device can therefore be used not only to place the backrest of the chair in a position which is most comfortable for the infant, but also to unlock the child's chair so that the chair can be uncoupled from the child buggy. In particular, in a specific embodiment, in an operating position of the operating device, the backrest can be embodied so as to be displaceable between the various positions and, in a rest position of the operating device, the backrest has a fixed position.

In a specific embodiment, the operating device comprises an operating handle which is positioned close to the free end of the backrest. As a result, the operating handle is readily accessible to the user even when an infant is present in the child's chair.

According to a further embodiment, the aforementioned operating device is configured:

- to lock the coupling in a rest position using the locking element; - to unlock the coupling in a first operating position in such a way that displacement is possible between only the use positions; and

- to unlock the coupling in a second operating position in such a way that displacement is possible between all use positions and non-use positions. There are for example embodiments wherein the operating device comprises a handle, for example positioned in the top part of the backrest, which can be pressed-in in order to displace the operating device from the rest position to one of the operating positions. When the handle has been pressed in over a specific distance, the operating device enters the first operating position in which the backrest can be swivelled merely between the backrest use positions. Only once the handle has been pressed in further does the operating device enter the second operating position in which the backrest can be swivelled to any desired position (that is to say, the use position or non-use position).

In another embodiment, the operating element is at least partially combined with the operating mechanism which can be used to adjust the height of the backrest. In specific embodiments, the operating element comprises an operating handle which is provided, for example, in the top part of the backrest. Operating this handle allows not only vertical adjustment, but also swivelling of the backrest between various positions.

In order to prevent, when the child's chair has been removed from the child buggy, the slot from becoming blocked by the locking element because rotation of components of the swivelling element has taken place, the child's chair comprises in a further embodiment a cam element which can be used to lock the swivelling movement of the backrest with respect to the seat when the chair is detached. As a result, the slot will remain at all times positioned in the correct manner with respect to the aforementioned recess and the chair can easily be refastened at all times to the frame.

In a further embodiment, a pair of coupling elements is provided on both sides of the child's chair, while at least one of the coupling elements (usually both coupling elements) is provided with the aforementioned locking elements.

According to another aspect of the invention, a child buggy is provided for the child's chair described in the present document, the child buggy comprising a chassis provided with a number of wheels, wherein one or more coupling members, which are embodied to be detachably coupled using corresponding coupling elements of the child's chair, are attached to the chassis.

Further advantages, features and details of the present invention will be clarified based on the following description of certain embodiments thereof. The description refers to the appended figures, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 are a perspective side view and front view, respectively, of a preferred embodiment of a child buggy with a child's chair;

Figures 3 and 4 are a side/front view and a side view, respectively, of the embodiment of the child buggy, in a use position;

Figure 5 A is a partially detached side view of the child buggy with the child's chair from Figures 3 and 4, in a release position;

Figure 5B is the partially detached side view from Figure 5A, in the release position and with a partially inserted coupling member;

Figure 5C is the partially detached side view from Figure 5A, with the coupling member fully inserted and the backrest swivelled to a use position;

Figure 6C shows a further detached side detail of the coupling/locking mechanism of the child's chair from Figures 5A - 5C;

Figure 7 is a schematic side view of the child buggy in various positions; and

Figure 8 is a partially detached side view of the coupling/locking mechanism and also a part of the operating device therefor.

One aspect of the invention relates to the coupling mechanism which is used to couple the child's chair to the child buggy. One of the demands placed on the child buggy is that the child's chair should be easy to couple to the frame and to uncouple from the frame. If, for example, use is made of upright insert shanks at the side edge of the chair, which can be slid over upright protrusions of the frame, in order to bring about a coupling between the frame and the chair (as is described hereinafter), it is easy for the user to raise the chair straight up from the frame. Arrangements must be made to rule out the risk of the chair being able to come loose when an infant is sitting in it. A further reason to make arrangements is that it is necessary to satisfy the safety requirements placed on child's chairs. One possibility would be to use a padlock allowing the coupling to be padlocked. However, when using a padlock, it is necessary either to factor in redundancy by using two or more padlocks (wherein all the padlocks must be opened in order to be able to uncouple the chair) or to use a combined primary padlock and secondary padlock. This entails the introduction of additional padlocks and associated operating mechanisms, increasing complexity for the user.

Figures 1 and 2 show a preferred embodiment of a child buggy 30 provided with a child's chair 1 according to the invention. The child buggy comprises a frame 31 which is constructed from a left frame part 32, a right frame part 33, a frame intermediate part 34 and also a push clasp 35. The frame 31 is provided with four wheels 36 allowing the overall entity to be moved over a base. Both the right frame part 33 and the left frame part 32 are provided with a support part 37, on each of which an upright coupling member 39 (shown in greater detail in Figures ?) is provided. The coupling members 39 are intended for detachably coupling the child's chair 1 to the child buggy 13.

The child's chair 1, which is shown in greater detail in Figures 3 and 4, comprises a seat 2 with a backrest 3 connected thereto. The backrest 3 is connected to the seat 2 via two swivelling elements 4 provided on both sides. The swivelling elements allow the backrest 3 of the chair 1 to be swivelled steplessly or non-steplessly between a number of positions. The positions of the backrest can be adapted by the user. In a preferred embodiment, the backrest 3 can be secured in a specific number of positions. Figure 7 shows, for example, that the backrest 3 can be swivelled between a completely folded- down position 40, a half-folded-down position 41, an upright position 42, a folded-up position 43 and a release position 42. In the completely folded-down position 40, the half-folded-down position 41 and the upright position 42, an infant can sit in the chair and these positions are therefore also called the use positions. In the folded-up position 43 and certainly in the release position 42, it is physically impossible to place an infant in the chair and these positions are therefore also called the non-use positions. More generally, the non-use positions are the positions in which, from a practical point of view, no infant can sit in the child's chair.

In the embodiment shown, the swivelling elements 4 are integrated with the fastening mechanism with which the chair can be coupled to the frame 31 and optionally can be locked. In other embodiments, the swivelling elements, with which the backrest 3 can be swivelled with respect to the seat 2, can be provided separately from the fastening mechanism.

The child's chair 1 is provided with a leg support 5 which is connected to the seat 2 by means of hinges 6. The leg support 5 can be secured in various positions with respect to the seat 2, such as is shown in Figure 7, and has the function of offering additional support to the legs of the infant. Furthermore, the chair is provided with supports 7 with which a sunscreen, for example the collapsible sun hood 45 shown in Figures 1 and 2, and similar accessories, can be fastened to the child's chair.

A hand grip 8 of an operating device 39, which can be used to allow the swivelling of the backrest 3, is also machined onto an upper side of the backrest 3. The operating device 39 comprises the hand grip 8, a substantially U-shaped transmission part 38 (Figure 3), which is fastened thereto and displaceably attached in the backrest 3, and also an operating mechanism which is provided in each of the swivelling elements 4 and allows the backrest 3 to be blocked and unblocked. The transmission part 38 is located, when in use, between the inner side of the backrest 3 and a protective cover (not shown) against which the infant's back rests. The transmission part can be displaced upward and downward (Figure 3, direction Pi). The upward displacement takes place as a result of the pressing-in of the operating handle or hand grip 8. The downward displacement takes place by releasing the handle or grip 8, after which the overall entity slides downward under the influence of one or more springs (not shown in the figures). The rising and falling movement of the transmission mechanism 38 is converted by the aforementioned operating mechanism into movement of a blocking cam 50 to be described hereinafter (Figure 8). This blocking cam 50 allows the backrest 3 to be blocked with respect to the seat 2, thus preventing any further mutual swivelling movement.

The operating mechanism can also be connected to the construction of the support leg 5. In this way, it can be made possible to have the support leg 5 move in conjunction with a movement of the backrest 3.

The coupling mechanism used to couple the chair 1 to the child buggy 30 is shown in greater detail in Figures 4, 5 A - 5C. These figures show the coupling mechanism provided at one side of the child's chair. The second coupling mechanism, which is situated at the opposing side of the child's chair, is embodied in a similar manner. The coupling mechanism shown comprises a round coupling disc 15 which is attached around a central shaft 10. The coupling disc 15 is provided with an elongated guide slot 11. The guide slot 11 is closed at one end 46 and provided with a slot opening 47 at the opposing end 47. A cylindrical sleeve 13 is attached so as to be able to rotate about the coupling disc 15. The sleeve 13 is provided with a recess 12. The recess 12 has a shape and dimensions which correspond to the opening 47 in the guide slot 11.

The sleeve 13 is directly or indirectly fastened to the backrest 3 or is formed in one piece therewith and therefore rotates when the backrest 3 is swivelled. The disc 15 is connected to the seat 2 and therefore remains stationary during the swivelling of the backrest 3.

In use, the chair 1 can be easily coupled to the child buggy 30 or be uncoupled therefrom, as will be described hereinafter. Figure 5A shows the backrest 3 when it is in the release position 44. In this position, the slot opening 47 of the guide slot 11 of the coupling disc 15 is aligned with the recess 12 in the sleeve 13, so that the guide slot 11 is accessible from the underside. This makes it possible to slide the chair in the downward direction (direction P ₂ , Figure 5B) over the aforementioned coupling members 39, as is represented in Figure 5B. More specifically, each of the coupling members 39 slides via the slot opening 47 in the guide slot 11 until the end of each of the coupling members abuts against the closed ends of the guide slot. Subsequently, the backrest 3 is swivelled to one of the use positions 40 - 42, for example to the upright position 42 represented in Figures 4 and 5C. In this position 42, the recess 12 in the sleeve 13 is rotated over an angle such that the recess 42 is no longer aligned with the slot opening 47 of the guide slot 11 of the coupling disc 15. In the upright position 42, in fact in each of the use positions, the recess 12 is rotated sufficiently far that the coupling element 49 in question is completely confined by the wall of the sleeve 13 and the guide slot 11. This has made it impossible to uncouple the coupling members 39, in particular the coupling disc 15, and the chair is prevented from being able to come free of the child buggy.

Depending on the user's wishes, the backrest 3 can be swivelled between the various use positions 40 - 42 in order in this way to be able to provide the most comfortable position for the infant, without thereby running the risk of the chair coming free of the child buggy. Only once the infant has been removed again from the child's chair 1 and the backrest of the chair has been folded back into the release position represented in Figure 7 will the recess 12 of the coupling disc 15 and the opening 47 of the guide slot 11 be realigned and will it be possible to safely remove the child's chair from the child buggy 30 by raising the child's chair 1 upward and by removing the coupling members 39 from the guide slot 11.

As was previously noted, an infant cannot be placed in the child's chair in the release position 44 of the backrest 3. This ensures that the child's chair cannot be detached while an infant is still sitting in the chair. In a locked position of the fastening means, on the other hand, the backrest 3 is in a use position and an infant can be placed in the chair. However, it is impossible in this position to place the chair 1 on the carriage 30 or to pick up the chair from the child buggy 30.

As was described hereinbefore, the backrest can be swivelled, during operation of the operating mechanism, manually or non-manually into various swivelling positions (which may or may not be use positions). More specifically, the handle 8 can be pressed in and be brought from a rest position to a first operating position. Referring to Figures 3, 6 and 8, a cam element 53 of the transmission part 38 can be displaced upward and downward as a result of the aforementioned displacement of the operating handle 8. When the operating handle 8 is in the rest position, the cam 53 is located in one of the recesses 50 provided in the circumferential surface of the coupling disc 15. As a result of the fact that the backrest is securely connected to the coupling disc 15, the backrest cannot be swivelled when the operating cam 53 is in the rest position and the backrest is thus fixed in one of the positions. When the handle 8 is displaced to the first operating position and thus the cam 53 is raised upward, the cam can come out of the recess 50 in order in this way to allow rotation of the coupling disc 15. When the coupling disc 15 can rotate, this means that the backrest, which is securely fastened thereto, can also be swivelled.

In the embodiment represented in Figure 8, the recesses 50 are formed between cams 51, 52. The cams 52 are however less high than cams 51. This means that in order to allow rotation of the coupling disc 15, the operating cam 53 has to be raised less far when the operating cam is located in one of the recesses between cams 52 of a relatively low height, while the operating cam 53 has to be raised further when the operating cam is located in one of the recesses situated between two relatively high cams 51. In other words, in order to swivel the backrest between two or more use positions, the operating handle 8 has to be raised from the rest position to the first operating position over a relatively low height. However, in the first operating position of the operating cam 53, displacement of the backrest to a non-use position is not possible. Only once the operating handle 8 has been pressed in further and has been brought to a second operating position and therefore the operating cam 53 has also been displaced further upward can the backrest also be displaced to the non-use positions.

In order to remove the child's chair from the child buggy, it is therefore first necessary to bring the handle or grip 8 into the second operating position and afterwards the backrest must be brought into a non-use position. Only then can the chair be removed from the carriage. This eliminates the need for additional locks, buttons and/or padlocks; this increases the ease of operation for the user. Additional advantages include the fact that the infant seat can be embodied in a compact manner as a result of the fact that the backrest comes to lie parallel to the seat. The present invention is not limited by the embodiments described in the present document. Rather, the rights applied for are defined by the following claims, within the scope of which a broad range of adaptations and modifications are conceivable.