Rearward-facing infant restraints:​ optimum reclining angles for the design of safer, more protective and comfortable restraints

McDonald, Quentin H.

Affiliations

¹President, The Bobby-Mac Company, Inc., Scarsdale, New York

Abstract

For the infant who cannot sit up by himself the most protective car restraint is one which is designed to face the infant rearward in the automobile and is sufficiently reclined to afford support for the infant's back, neck and head at all times. If the restraint is too upright, the infant's head falls forward onto his chest and receives no support whatsoever. If the restraint is too reclined, under impact it tends to "flatten out" risking undue loading of the infant's shoulders by the restraint harness and the possible partial or total release of the infant from the device. In this study rear-facing restraints were installed on an auto seat with a seat slope representative of the average slope of the seats in a survey of 1978 and 1979 automobiles. An infant was placed in each restraint which was then positioned at the manufacturer's recommended reclining angle or angles. The restraints were studied to evaluate the back and head support provided by each. These restraints were then impact sled tested installed on an auto seat with the same average seat slope employed in the first phase of this study. The harness loading on the shoulders of the 6- months dummy was measured for each restraint. The purpose of this study is to determine for a rear-facing infant restraint: (1) the optimum reclining angle that will provide adequate support for the infant at rest; and (2) the optimum reclining angle on impact that will afford the best back, neck and head support for the infant without imposing undue loading on the infant's shoulders.

Cited Works (3)

Year	Entry
1969	Burdi AR, Huelke DF, Snyder RG, Lowrey GH. Infants and children in the adult world of automobile safety design: pediatric and anatomical considerations for design of child restraints. J Biomech. July 1969;2(3):267-280.
1968	Rogers RA, Silver JN. Elements of an effective child restraint system. In: Proceedings of the 12th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 22-23, 1968; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:172-187. SAE 680776.
1968	Siegel AW, Nahum AM, Appleby MR. Injuries to child in automobile collisions. In: Proceedings of the 12th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 22-23, 1968; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:1-46. SAE 680771.

Cited By (1)

Year	Entry
1980	von Wimmersperg HF. A new concept for infant passenger protection. In: 24th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 7-9, 1980; Rochester, NY.103-116.