Interesting....

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skaterbabs

Well-known member
I think he needs to go back to the drawing board. :twocents: The idea has merit, but it's poorly executed. The positioning of the harness will have it slipping right off the child's shoulders in a crash.
 

Synchro246

New member
It's pretty, but I agree there are some adjustments in the design that would need to be made for it to be safe.
I don't know much about carbon fiber, but I do wonder if it would be a good carseat material.
 

Maedze

New member
Wow.

I'm going to guess off the bat this guy does not have children and isn't otherwise familiar with CRS's, but I really like what I see here. For a prototype it's fascinating :twocents:

I love that he didn't bother with a flippin' chest clip. I love that he marked it rearfacing to 24 months. I'd like to see a complementary rearfacing weight limit of 40 pounds along with it. The 50 lb FF weight limit is nice. The ability to switch a convertible into an infant carrier, also interesting and nice.

It's obviously got some tweaking needed, like the position of the shoulders on the harness for small infants, and I can't see that this would install in most vehicles nicely. And it needs way more padding. But the overall concept, very interesting :thumbsup:
 

scuby20

Member
I just hope it wouldn't make people think it's ok to go race cars with kids in them! I know the recaro is a racing seat company, and I don't think people race w/ their kids just because of a recaro...but still.

and the picture of the kid in the ferrari....now I'm curious...is it safe to put a kid in a car that only has 2 seats...because obviously the front is the only place for the kid. Just curious now about that, hadn't really ever thought of that till now
 

Pixels

New member
The reclined FFing position looks like it's reclined enough for older RFers, and would give lots of leg room.

It says rear facing 0-24 months! :D But backless booster at age 3. :(
 

Pixels

New member
and the picture of the kid in the ferrari....now I'm curious...is it safe to put a kid in a car that only has 2 seats...because obviously the front is the only place for the kid. Just curious now about that, hadn't really ever thought of that till now

For vehicles without a back seat, there will be an airbag cutoff switch. It's fine to put a carseat up front in those vehicles, because that's the only option. As long as the airbag is off, it's not an unreasonable risk to the child.

Would the child be safer in the back seat of a 4 or 5 passenger vehicle? Yes.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Um...I'm not sure I like the idea of carbon fiber as a carseat material. I'm no expert, but my dh is into archery, and has used both aluminum and carbon fiber arrows. The carbon fiber is much more fragile, it was get hairline cracks that aren't really visible, and they have to be checked (by bending) before each use. If you don't do that, bad things can happen. My dh shot a carbon fiber arrow that he didn't bend first, and the force of the bow shooting the arrow caused it to snap in half. The entire back half of the arrow (including feathers) went THROUGH my dh's hand, in the meaty part of the palm between the thumb and forefinger. Carbon graphite splinters and shatters, creating tiny little fragments that spread out into flesh. He went to the ER, they hosed the hole out really well and tweezed out as many splinters of carbon that they could reach, but they couldn't get to them all. YEARS later, he still has fragments that work themselves to the surface of his skin, and pop out.

I'm sure there's different strengths of carbon fiber, but because of my experience with it, I'm leery of a carbon fiber carseat.
 

sparkyd

Active member
This was for a design class (at a college of Art and Design) and was conceptualized and prototyped in 9 weeks. I don't think it's going to be on store shelves any time soon. I think we should cut the guy some slack.

I love the name he came up with. :thumbsup:
 

morninglori

New member
I also thought that it is an interesting concept. I definitely see potential in a composite material /Carbon Fiber shell for a CR. I did some work with composite materials and graphite/epoxy or carbon fibers in graduate school.

first off CF is very strong and very light. The key to CF is to orient the fibers in the right direction, and to keep the fibers long. If the fibers start to break, then there are some stresses that weren't accounted for. The engineer NEEDS to know where all the stresses are coming from in all conditions.

If an engineer knows exactly where the stresses are in the car seat, they can design the carbon fiber to the direction and orientation of the stress loading....Think about the white stress marks you see on plastic car seats...This is an example of when the stresses are high enough to cause the plastic to deform slightly - not fail, but start to yield. If the engineer designed the CF right, that area would probably have a slightly thicker section of the CF. The engineer could really tailor the CR shell to the loading from a crash, and cut out a lot of the weight and extra material that the plastic seats have.

The thing I would consider as being as important as characterizing the stresses would be finding the right epoxy to embed the fibers in. The epoxy would have to be able to take the extreme conditions that a car seat sees. There are plenty out there, and the space program probably uses them all the time. CR engineers need to find one that works and is also affordable.

But yes, overall pretty nifty, a few tweaks to the fit of the child and some more padding. I bet we will see something like this in the future.
 
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mommycat

Well-known member
Sorry for double-posting it. I really didn't have tme to look before I posted and I didn't want to forget after lunch. I think it's pretty cool for a 14 week design class project. Obviously just a prototype and not ready for "the real world" and it does say so in the write-up. Off to read the other thread. :)
 

JerseyGirl'sMama

New member
Sorry for double-posting it. I really didn't have tme to look before I posted and I didn't want to forget after lunch. I think it's pretty cool for a 14 week design class project. Obviously just a prototype and not ready for "the real world" and it does say so in the write-up. Off to read the other thread. :)

Oh no, don't be! I just wanted to link the other thread so you could see the other replies. :) Plus not everyone has access to that thread.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
uhh...was that a FOUR point harness? I saw 2 straps coming down over the shoulders, and the 2 straps routing around the sides/hips..but it looked like those would clip together, and there was NO 5th point between the legs? DidI just miss it?
 

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