HIGH CHAIR FOR CHILDREN CONVERTIBLE INTO A BOOSTER SEAT

The present invention relates to a high chair for children convertible into a booster seat comprising an upper part and a base, the upper part having a seating surface adapted for engagement with the base, lateral armrest sides, a backrest whose perimeter boundary extends from one lateral side to the other, as well as a backrest extension extending in cantilever fashion from the perimeter boundary of the backrest.

Document US 5951102 A describes a high chair for children that is convertible into a booster seat. The high chair comprises a base and an upper part having a seating surface configured for removable engagement with the base. The high chair is provided with lateral armrest sides and a backrest whose perimeter boundary comprises a top section and two lateral sections, each facing a respective lateral side. The high chair also includes a backrest extension which extends in cantilever fashion from the perimeter boundary of the backrest. The backrest extension consists of a body that can be separated from the backrest of the upper portion of the high chair. In particular, the high chair described in the above cited document includes members for removable connection of the backrest extension to the perimeter boundary of the backrest that consist in a plurality of straight pins realized in the backrest extension and adapted to be inserted in respective straight holed realized in the perimeter boundary of the backrest. A similar high chair for children is also disclosed in document EP 2008550 A1. In the prior art, in compliance with safety standards, high chairs for children have the upper part secured to the base by means of coupling members which allow it to be removed and placed on a normal adult chair to act as a booster seat. Such arrangement allows, for instance, children to sit at the same table as adults, and is particularly useful when a child is too small to use a normal adult chair but has grown enough to find the high chair too narrow and uncomfortable, or when the use of the high chair is not practical (for example for size restrictions). In the prior art, in compliance with safety standards, the upper part of high chairs, which is designed to receive very small children, has a backrest that encircles the shoulders of the child when he/she sits on the seating surface. When the upper part of a high chair is removed from the base to act as a booster seat, the encircling configuration of the backrest causes the booster seat to have a large size, and be difficultly transported and used in non-domestic environments. Furthermore, if the booster seat is used by a child that has grown enough to stop using the high chair, the backrest of the booster seat, due to its large size, will make the use of the booster seat quite inconvenient. The object of the present invention is to obviate the drawbacks associated with the use of the upper part of a high chair as a booster seat.

Particularly, one object of the present invention is to provide a high chair for children convertible into a booster seat, in which the booster seat can be easily transported. Another object of the present invention is to provide a high chair for children convertible into a booster seat that can be also used by children that no longer need a high chair.

These and other objects, as better explained hereafter, are fulfilled by a high chair whose upper part, removable from the base, is as defined in the accompanying claim 1.

The invention will be now described in greater detail with reference to the annexed drawings, which show a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of illustration and without limitation, in which:

• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the structure of a high chair of the invention, with the upper part secured to the underlying base;
• Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the structure of the upper part of the high hair of Fig. 1;
• Figure 3 shows a rear perspective view of the structure of the upper part of the high hair of Fig. 1;
• Figure 4 shows a front perspective view of the structure of Fig. 2, with a backrest extension in a first position, assumed during removal thereof;
• Figure 5 shows a rear perspective view of the structure as shown in Fig. 4;
• Figure 6 shows a front perspective view of the structure of Fig. 2, with the backrest extension in a position in which it is separate from the backrest;
• Figure 7 shows a rear perspective view of the structure as shown in Fig. 6;
• Figure 8 shows a front perspective view of the upper part of the high chair of Fig. 1, with the backrest extension entirely removed from the base, to be employed as a booster seat;
• Figure 9 shows a rear perspective view of the structure as shown in Fig. 8. Referring to the accompanying figures, and particularly to Figure 1, the high chair of the invention comprises an upper part, generally referenced 1, and a base, generally referenced 2.

In the illustrated embodiment the base comprises two structures, i.e. a front structure and a rear structure, referenced 3 and 4. Each of the front and rear structures 3, 4 is composed of tubular elements that are bent into a C configuration.

These structures 3, 4 are hinged along a horizontal connection axis X-X about which they can be opened and folded in tripod fashion.

The base has mechanical connection members, e.g. a surface 5 designed to have the upper part 1 removably connected thereto to form a child seat. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper part 1 has a seating surface 6 adapted to be coupled to the surface 5 of the base.

The seating surface 6 has lateral sides 7 and 8 and a backrest 9 connected thereto. The latter has a perimeter boundary comprises a top section 10 and two lateral sections 11, 12 each facing its respective lateral side 7, 8.

The backrest 9 also has a backrest extension 13, which extends in cantilever fashion from the perimeter boundary of the backrest 9 itself.

Such backrest extension 13 consists of a body separate from the backrest 9 of said upper part of the high chair and comprises members for removable connection to the perimeter boundary of the backrest 9, as better explained hereinbelow.

This extension 13 of the backrest 9 comprises lateral portions 14 and 15 which extend along said lateral sections 11, 12 of the backrest 9 that face the lateral sides 7, 8. The members for removable connection of said backrest extension 13 to the backrest 9 comprise interlocking members consisting, in the preferred exemplary embodiment, of a groove 16 formed in the top section 10 of the boundary of the backrest 9 and a corresponding tongue 17 on the extension 13. The tongue 17 is placed on an operating member, preferably a flat wing 18 which projects in cantilever fashion from the rear side 13a of the backrest extension 13. The flat wing 18 is elastically connected to the backrest extension, to allow disengagement of the tongue 17 from the groove 16.

The members for removable connection of said backrest extension 13 to the backrest 9 further comprise hook-like elements 19, 20 preferably located at the ends 21, 22 of the lateral portions 14, 15.

Said hook-like elements 19 and 20 are adapted for removable engagement into corresponding slots 23, 24 formed on said lateral sections 11, 12 of the boundary of the backrest 9 facing said lateral sides 7, 8.

It will be appreciated from the above discussion that the backrest extension 13 may be easily removed from the backrest 9 by acting on the handgrip 18 to lift the tongue 17 and remove it from the groove 16 formed in the backrest 9. The extension 13 is fully separated by displacing the extension 13 toward the front side of the backrest 9 with a rotation of the hooks 19 and 20 within their respective slots 23 and 24.

Once the upper portion of the high chair is released from the extension 13, it may be used as a booster seat for a sufficiently grown-up child that might find such extension 13 inconvenient.

Nevertheless, for very small children, the extension 13 may be left connected to the backrest 9 and the upper part 1 of the high chair 1 may be still employed as a booster seat. For this purpose, the upper part 1 of the high chair comprises, as it is known in the art, belts 25 for retaining the child on the seating surface 6, as well as belts, not shown, for removable fixation of an adult chair to the backrest and the seating surface respectively, when said upper part 1 acts as a booster seat.

The high chair of the present invention has been only described with reference to its construction and operation features.

The high chair also comprises a textile cover for the backrest and the backrest extension, not shown. The portion of the textile cover for the backrest extension 13 can be physically separated from the portion of the textile cover for the backrest 9. Particularly the portion of the textile cover of the backrest extension has a shape that is substantially equal to the shape of the backrest extension. This textile portion is joined to the textile portion of the backrest 9 using connection means such as Velcro or zippers. Thus, once the portion of the textile cover for the backrest 9 has been released from that for the backrest extension 13, the latter can be removed.