A simple, lightweight safety car seat for children between the ages of two and ten is in the process of patent registration ahead of full prototype development and commercial launch.
“We are proud to announce that ‘The Precious Cargo Child Seat’ has been named a winner in the recent Samsung South Africa Launching People – Mixed Talents competition,” says Michelle Potgieter, Director: Brand and Product Marketing and Communications. This innovative product is designed to make child safety seats safer, more affordable and easily portable.
Product designers, Trenton and Tracy Carr, began development on a new style of safety seat in 2008, when they discovered that existing baby car seats on the market were cumbersome and expensive, as well as difficult to transfer from one car to another. As children grow taller, booster seats and other car safety products available on the market can often leave a lot to be desired.
On the back of extensive research, the Carrs designed a new system based on a washable upper body vest and a lightweight booster seat that doubles as a suitcase for the vest. “The vest is a full upper body restraint that serves as a cocoon for the child’s vital organs in the case of an accident and there is no risk that he or she will ‘submarine’ – slide down under a seatbelt restraint on impact,” says Trenton Carr. In addition to being safer, the product is so portable and lightweight that a child can carry it himself.
Manufacturing will be done in South Africa, with ‘The Precious Cargo Child Seat’ expected to retail for under R2 000, offering vests available in three sizes for children up to the age of ten.
The prototype has been widely welcomed by parents as well as seeing a major baby goods retailer expressing interest in stocking the product. “The win in the Launching People – Mixed Talents challenge will help fund the process of securing intellectual property protection, which is a key step on the road to full production and market launch,” Carr continues. “Another important step will be securing funding, for tooling the moulds for the manufacturing of the seat component.”
“As a winner of Samsung Electronics South Africa’s Launching People – Mixed Talents competition, the that ‘The Precious Cargo Child Seat’ offers a safe and reliable product, which we believe the market will respond positively to due to its high quality design,” adds Potgieter.
“The Launching People – Mixed Talents challenge, now in its second year, is supported by Samsung South Africa in line with its focus on innovation and supporting new business development in South Africa,” Potgieter says.
