Child restraint with movable headrest

Abstract

A child restraint includes a seat shell and a carrying handle coupled to the seat shell. The seat shell includes a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom.

1 . A child restraint comprising
 a seat shell made of a first plastics material and adapted to support a child in a child-receiving region formed in the seat shell,   a headrest support including a shell-rigidifying plate made of a rigid second plastics material that is different from the first plastics material and coupled to the seat shell to lie in a stationary position relative to the seat shell so as to rigidify the seat shell and an anchor receiver coupled to the shell-rigidifying plate, and   a movable headrest mounted for up-and-down movement on the shell-rigidifying plate relative to the seat shell between highest and lowest positions, the movable headrest including a head cradle arranged to lie alongside a front face of the shell-rigidifying plate for movement in the child-receiving region and a headrest-height controller arranged to lie alongside an oppositely facing rear face of the shell-rigidifying plate and coupled to the head cradle for movement therewith during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest relative to the seat shell, wherein the headrest-height controller includes a movable first anchor supported for movement between an extended position wherein the movable first anchor engages the anchor receiver of the headrest support to block movement of the movable headrest on the shell-rigidifying plate relative to the seat shell an a retracted position wherein the movable first anchor disengages the anchor receiver of the headrest support to free the movable headrest for movement on the shell-rigidifying plate relative to the seat shell.   
     
     
         2 . The child restraint of  claim 1 , wherein the shell-rigidifying plate is formed to include first and second shoulder belt-travel channels, the head cradle is formed to include a first shoulder belt-receiver slot aligned to remain in communication with the first shoulder belt-travel channel formed in the shell-rigidifying plate during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest, and the anchor receiver of the headrest support includes a first lock strip coupled to the shell-rigidifying plate to extend along an edge of the first shoulder belt-travel channel and formed to include several tab-receiving notches sized to receive therein a tab included in the movable first anchor upon movement of the movable first anchor to the extended position to block movement of the movable headrest relative to the seat shell. 
     
     
         3 . The child restraint of  claim 2 , wherein the child restraint further includes a child-restraint harness comprising a first shoulder belt passing through the first shoulder belt-receiver slot formed in the head cradle and the first shoulder belt-travel channel formed in the shell-rigidifying plate and a second shoulder belt passing through a second shoulder belt-receiver slot formed in the head cradle and the second shoulder belt-travel channel formed in the shell-rigidifying plate, and the tab-receiving notches formed in the first lock strip open toward the first shoulder belt. 
     
     
         4 . The child restraint of  claim 3 , wherein the anchor receiver of the headrest further includes a second lock strip coupled to the shell-rigidifying plate to extend along an edge of the second belt-travel channel and formed to include several tab-receiving notches sized to receive therein a tab included in a movable second anchor included in the anchor receiver of the headrest support upon movement of the movable second anchor to an extended position and the tab-receiving notches formed in the second lock strip open toward the second shoulder belt. 
     
     
         5 . The child restraint of  claim 4 , wherein the shell-rigidifying plate includes top and bottom panels arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to one another, a first side panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and coupled to the first lock strip, a second side panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and coupled to the second lock strip, and a middle panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and to cooperate with the first side panel to define the first shoulder belt-travel channel therebetween and to cooperate with the second side panel to define the second shoulder belt-travel channel therebetween. 
     
     
         6 . The child restraint of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second lock strips of the anchor receiver of the headrest support are arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to cause the tab-receiving notches of the second lock strip to open toward the tab-receiving notches of the first lock strip. 
     
     
         7 . The child restraint of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second shoulder belt-travel channels are arranged to lie between the first and second lock strips. 
     
     
         8 . The child restraint of  claim 1 , wherein the seat shell includes a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom and the shell-rigidifying plate is coupled to the seat back. 
     
     
         9 . The child restraint of  claim 8 , wherein the seat back is formed to include fastener mounts and the shell-rigidifying plate includes fastener means for engaging the fastener mounts formed in the seat back to hold the shell-rigidifying plate in a stationary position on the seat back between the head cradle and the cradle-motion blocker. 
     
     
         10 . The child restraint of  claim 9 , further comprising a child-restraint harness including first and second shoulder belts and wherein the seat back is formed to include a belt-receiving opening and a border around the belt-receiving opening and the border is formed to include the fastener mounts and each of the first and second belts is arranged to extend through the belt-receiving opening formed in the seat back. 
     
     
         11 . The child restraint of  claim 8 , wherein the seat back is formed to include a first shoulder belt-travel channel that is aligned to communicate with a first shoulder belt-travel channel formed in the shell-rigidifying plate and a second shoulder belt-travel channel that is aligned to communicate with a second shoulder belt-travel channel formed in the shell-rigidifying plate and the seat back includes a middle strip located between the first and second shoulder belt-travel channels of the seat back and arranged to confront a middle panel included in the shell-rigidifying plate and located between the first and second shoulder belt-travel channels of the shell-rigidifying plate. 
     
     
         12 . The child restraint of  claim 11 , wherein the head cradle is formed to include a first shoulder belt-receiver slot aligned to remain in communication with the first shoulder belt-travel channels formed in the seat back and the shell-rigidifying plate during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest, and the anchor receiver of the headrest support includes a first lock strip coupled to the shell-rigidifying plate to extend along an edge of the first shoulder belt-travel channel of the shell-rigidifying plate and formed to include several tab-receiving notches sized to receive therein a tab included in the movable first anchor upon movement of the movable first anchor to the extended position to block movement of the movable headrest relative to the seat shell. 
     
     
         13 . The child restraint of  claim 12 , wherein the child restraint further includes a child-restraint harness comprising a first shoulder belt passing through the first shoulder belt-receiver slot formed in the head cradle and the first shoulder belt-travel channels formed in the seat back and the shell-rigidifying plate and a second shoulder belt passing through a second shoulder belt-receiver slot formed in the head cradle and the second shoulder belt-travel channels formed in the seat back and the shell-rigidifying plate, and the tab-receiving notches formed in the first lock strip open toward the first shoulder belt. 
     
     
         14 . The child restraint of  claim 13 , wherein the anchor receiver of the headrest further includes a second lock strip coupled to the shell-rigidifying plate to extend along an edge of the second belt-travel channel of the shell-rigidifying plate and formed to include several tab-receiving notches sized to receive therein a tab included in a movable second anchor included in the anchor receiver of the headrest support upon movement of the movable second anchor to an extended position and the tab-receiving notches formed in the second lock strip open toward the second shoulder belt. 
     
     
         15 . The child restraint of  claim 14 , wherein the shell-rigidifying plate includes top and bottom panels arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to one another, a first side panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and coupled to the first lock strip, a second side panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and coupled to the second lock strip, and a middle panel arranged to interconnect the top and bottom panels and to cooperate with the first side panel to define the first shoulder belt-travel channel of the shell-rigidifying plate therebetween and to cooperate with the second side panel to define the second shoulder belt-travel channel of the shell-rigidifying plate therebetween. 
     
     
         16 . The child restraint of  claim 14 , wherein the first and second lock strips of the anchor receiver of the headrest support are arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to cause the tab-receiving notches of the second lock strip to open toward the tab-receiving notches of the first lock strip. 
     
     
         17 . The child restraint of  claim 14 , wherein the first and second shoulder belt-travel channels of the shell-rigidifying plate are arranged to lie between the first and second lock strips. 
     
     
         18 . The child restraint of  claim 1 , wherein the seat shell includes a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from the seat bottom and the shell-rigidifying plate is coupled to the seat back and the headrest-height controller includes a slidable cradle retainer coupled to the head cradle to move therewith during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest and arranged to slide on the shell-rigidifying plate without contacting the seat back during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest on the shell-rigidifying plate. 
     
     
         19 . The child restraint of  claim 17 , wherein a first load-transfer flange included in the slidable cradle retainer is arranged to engage and slide on a companion first load-receiver rail included in the shell-rigidifying plate during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest relative to the seat back. 
     
     
         20 . The child restraint of  claim 18 , wherein a second load-transfer flange included in the slidable cradle retainer is arranged to engage and slide on a companion second load-receiver rail included in the shell-rigidifying plate during up-and-down movement of the movable headrest relative to the seat back.