GB2264438A

GB2264438A - Headrest cover for car seat

Info

Publication number: GB2264438A
Application number: GB9202214A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Humphrey Lewis
Original assignee: STRATTON TOYS Ltd
Current assignee: STRATTON TOYS Ltd
Priority date: 1992-02-03
Filing date: 1992-02-03
Publication date: 1993-09-01
Anticipated expiration: 2012-02-03
Also published as: GB9202214D0; GB2264438B; GB9603014D0; GB2295964B; GB2295964A

Abstract

A car accessory 1 has a portion 3 adapted to fit over a front-seat headrest. To this portion 3 may be fixed a toy animal head 4 to entertain a child siting in the back of the car. A downward extension 5 may be provided with arms 6, feet 7 and pockets 8 and may be secured by tapes 9. <IMAGE>

Description

Car Accessory This invention relates to a car accessory, and in particular to an accessory that may be fixed to a front seat.

A known problem with car journeys is that of keeping young children occupied and preventing them from becoming bored or restless. Children who become restless may not only irritate the other passengers, but can distract the driver with attendant dangerous consequences.

Viewed from one broad aspect the present invention provides a car accessory comprising a headrest receiving cover adapted to be fitted over a headrest of a front seat, said headrest receiving cover being formed on a rear portion thereof with a toy animal head such that said toy animal head faces rearwardly towards a back seat.

In this way there is provided a car accessory in the form of a toy that can keep a child occupied and diverted. Of course it will be understood that the term "toy animal head" is intended to be construed broadly since it may take many forms; e.g. a realistic or semirealistic representation of an animal head such as a tiger or monkey, a stylised animal such as a teddy bear, a three-dimensional form of a favourite cartoon or television character, or a realistic or stylised human head.

The car accessory may be as simple as the headrest cover with the animal head formed therewith.

Preferably, however, the rear portion of the headrest cover is formed with a downward extension that in use extends down the back of the front seat. To this extension may be fixed further elements of a toy animal such as arms, legs and feet, and/or suggestions of clothing that the 'animal' may be wearing.

When provided the downward extension may be formed with one or more pockets for receiving, for example, small toys or sweets. This downward extension may also be provided with means for securing it to the car seat, for example elongate tapes secured to the lower corners of the downward extension which may be passed around the base of the backrest of the car seat and tied together.

It will be appreciated that the same principles as described above with reference to a toy could also be applied to a more functional accessory.

Thus, viewed from another broad aspect the present invention provides a car accessory comprising, a headrest receiving cover adapted to be fitted over a headrest of a front seat, a rear portion of said headrest receiving cover being formed with a downward extension provided with one or more pockets for receiving items.

In this way there may be provided an accessory that may be used to help keep a car tidy by providing pockets for receiving items that would otherwise be loose.

Preferably, as before, the downward extension is provided with means for securing the accessory to the seat, such as tapes as described above.

In either form of the invention as described above the accessory may be formed of suitable, preferably fabric materials. While most headrests are of a similar size, if necessary the headrest cover may be elasticated so that it can fit over differently sized headrests.

Of course it will also be understood that while the invention has been described with reference to a car seat, it may similarly be applied to seats in coaches, trains, aircrafts or the like. It will also be appreciated that whilst expressions such as "front" and "rear" or "back" seats have been used, these are not intended to be limited to frontmost or rearmost seats, but merely define relative positions of the seats.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the Figure is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention in use.

The Figure illustrates one embodiment of the invention in the form of a toy 1 secured to a car front seat 2. The toy comprises a headrest cover 3 made of a soft fabric such as a simulation fur. The cover 3 is formed so as to be generally cuboid so that it fits over a standard car headrest. To the rear face of the headrest cover, i.e. the side facing a rear seat, the cover is provided with a toy animal head 4 which is attached by any suitable means. Preferably the head is attached so as to be integral with the cover, but conceivably it could be removably and replaceably secured thereto so that different animal heads could be swapped over. Like the cover, the toy animal head is made of conventional toy materials, primarily fabric materials.

Extending downwardly from the rear portion of the headrest cover 3 is a fabric sheet 5 to which are secured animal "arms" 6, and "feet" 7. The lower half of sheet 5 is also formed with pockets 8 for receiving small toys or sweets. The sheet 5 could also be formed with suggestions of items of clothing that the "animal" might be wearing, e.g. a bow tie.

Secured, for example by sewing, to the respective bottom corners of the sheet 5 are a pair of elongate fabric tapes 9 that can be passed around the base of the backrest of the seat and be tied together in order to help secure the accessory in place.

A simpler form of the toy may be provided by omitting the sheet 5 with the other parts of the "animal", and simply leaving the headrest cover 3 with the toy head 4 secured thereto. Alternatively, a more practical form of accessory could be provided by omitting the animal parts but leaving the pockets in which any loose items can be retained.

Claims

1. A car accessory comprising a headrest receiving cover adapted to be fitted over a headrest of a front seat, said headrest receiving cover being formed on a rear portion thereof with a toy animal head such that said toy animal head faces rearwardly towards a back seat.

2. A car accessory as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rear portion of the headrest cover is formed with a downward extension that in use extends down the back of the front seat.

3. A car accessory as claimed in claim 2 wherein further elements of a toy animal such as arms, legs and feet, and/or items of clothing are fixed to said extension.

4. A car accessory as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said downward extension is formed with one or more pockets.

5. A car accessory as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the downward extension is provided with means for receiving the extension of the car seat in use.

6. A car accessory as claimed in claim 5 wherein said securing means comprise elongate tapes secured to the lower corners of the downward extension which may be passed around the base of the backrest of the car seat and tied together.

7. A car accessory comprising, a headrest receiving cover adapted to be fitted over a headrest of a front seat, a rear portion of said headrest receiving cover being formed with a downward extension provided with one or more pockets for receiving items.

8. A car accessory as claimed in claim 7 wherein the downward extension is provided with means for securing the accessory to the seat.

9. A car accessory substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.