US20090007312A1

US20090007312A1 - Baby comforter

Info

Publication number: US20090007312A1
Application number: US11/825,564
Authority: US
Inventors: Donetta Lorene Greer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-07-05
Filing date: 2007-07-05
Publication date: 2009-01-08

Abstract

The present invention is a comforter style baby bag that has a main body with an open end, two side zippers and two offset leg receiving tubes. The offset aspect allows room along the side of the main body for the parent to comfortably slide their arm into the bag to check the child or adjust the child's legs or extract/install the child. The offset aspect also serves to secure and support the child in a stroller. The side zippers help accommodate the changing of the child's upper garments while still in the comforter.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved design for a baby comforter adapted to provide comfort for the child, preferred stroller positioning and ease of dressing for the parent.
There is a plethora of prior art baby comforters, comforters and the like. They also strive to provide ease of dressing, warmth, and comfort. The present invention provides the additional feature of an oversized side design with offset leg tubes and dual side zippers that allows the parent to easily insert their arm into the comforter to check the child, adjust the child's clothing or help insert or extract the child from the comforter. The offset leg tubes allow for two side sections that extend from the comforter so as to support much of the child's weight when in a stroller, car seat, walker etc. thereby reducing the point stresses normally experienced by a child seated in such a device. These two side sections also serve to prevent the child from sliding forward in these devices. In these strollers, car seats shopping carts and walkers, the child is held from sliding out by straps or bars that pass between the child's legs. This causes discomfort to the child and can cause bruising in the event of sudden stops.
Henceforth, an improved baby comforter would fulfill a long felt need in the industry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an improved baby comforter that is able to be easily put onto or taken off of the child and stay in it's protective position despite the child's movements in the stroller. It has many of the advantages mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new baby comforter which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
In accordance with the invention, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved baby comforter capable of allowing easy adjustments to the child's attire or extraction of the child for the comforter.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved baby comforter capable of protecting all areas of a baby's legs in a stroller.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved baby comforter that is quick and easy to surround the child with.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide for an improved baby comforter that will aid in supporting the child's weight while in a stroller, walker, car seat, etc.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide an improved baby comforter that will allow unhampered access to select areas of the child's body without exposing the remainder of the child to the elements.
The subject matter of the present invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. However, both the organization and method of operation, together with further advantages and objects thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like elements. Other objects, features and aspects of the present invention are discussed in greater detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front side view of a typical baby walker;

FIG. 2 is a front side view of a conventional grocery cart;

FIG. 3 a is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment baby comforter;

FIG. 3 b is a side view of the back top corner of the preferred embodiment baby comforter taken of view A;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the alternate embodiment baby comforter; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lightweight first alternate embodiment baby comforter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
Looking at FIG. 1 a typical baby walker 2, it can be seen that the baby's legs extend through openings 4 and that the baby' weight is partially supported by the crotch strap 6. Similarly in FIG. 2, a conventional grocery cart 8 has crotch bars 10 between the leg openings 12. In the walker 2 it can be seen that there is a first additional space 14 adjacent to the leg openings. In the cart 8 it can be seen that there is a second additional space 16 adjacent to the leg openings. These spaces are utilized by the present invention to help relieve the stress on the baby's crotch area when positioned in these type of devices.
In FIG. 3 a the preferred embodiment baby comforter 17 can best be seen to be constructed from the stitching together of substantially similar fabric bodies, a top body 18 and a bottom body 20 to form a generally rectangular fabric bag having a proximate side 21, a distal side 23, an open top end 22 as does a conventional sleeping bag but with two leg receiving tubes 24 affixed to the closed bottom end 26. There are zippers 28 disposed between the top body 18 and the bottom body 20 extending from the top end 22 along the sides 30 and the bottom end 26 to the point of intersection of the leg receiving tubes 24 and the bottom end 26. As can be seen in FIG. 3 b, a detail view of the distal side 23 of the preferred embodiment baby comforter 17, the zipper configurations upon the baby comforter 17 are substantially similar.
Since the baby comforter 17 is intended to warm and protect the child, the preferred embodiment is made of a quilted stitch design 32 with a fabric insulation (not illustrated) quiltingly sandwiched between a soft inner lining 34 and the outer cover 36. It is this three layer construction of an outer cover 36, fabric insulation and inner lining 34 that makes the top body 18 and the bottom body 20. It is important to note that the outer sides 38 of the leg receiving tubes 24 are not rectilinear with the proximate side 21 and distal side 23 of the baby comforter 17. This forms a transitional edge region 40 at the edges of the bottom end 26.
In operation, the preferred embodiment baby comforter 17 can be unzipped along one or both sides, fully or partially, to enter or extract the child. This allows lesser chance of twisting the child's clothing or legs upon entry. It also allows the adjustment of the top body 18 for partial or full coverage of the child. When placed in the stroller 2 the transitional edge regions 40 contact the first additional spaces 14. Similarly, when placed in the grocery cart 8 the transitional edge regions 40 contact the second additional spaces 16. This acts to shift much of the weight of the child off of the crotch and onto the transitional edges 40. The offset leg receiving tube 24 in conjunction with the transitional edges allow a surplus of material between the child's sides and the distal and proximate sides of the baby comforter 17 when zippered shut. This makes it easy for the parent to slide their arms down the baby comforter 17 to check on the child's clothing or extract a leg.
Looking at FIG. 4 the first alternate embodiment of the baby comforter 42 it can be seen that there has been the addition of foot access zippers 44 to the bottom section of the leg receiving tubes 46 and a zippered pouch 48 to the top body 18. In operation this allows the parent to access the child's foot to put on a sock or shoe before removing the child from the comforter as well as to store related items in the top access pouch 48.
FIG. 5 shows a lightweight first alternate embodiment baby comforter 50 that does not have a quilted construction but rather just the soft inner lining removably affixed about the perimeter to outer cover 36 without any insulation between. The method of affixation may be hook and loop fasteners, zippers, dome fasteners or the like. It is also known that this present invention need not have two fabric layers but could be from a single, extremely lightweight, fabric such as fleece to form more of a baby comforter than comforter. In all embodiments the fabrics will of a machine washable material.
The above description will enable any person skilled in the art to make and use this invention. It also sets forth the best modes for carrying out this invention. There are numerous variations and modifications thereof that will also remain readily apparent to others skilled in the art, now that the general principles of the present invention have been disclosed. Such embodiments will primarily relate to fabrics of construction, closures, placement of pockets, straps and accouterments of design apparel. For example, zippers may be replaced by hook and loop fasteners, dome fasteners or the such. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A baby comforter style bag comprising:.

a generally rectangular body portion formed from the stitched connection of a substantially similar fabric top layer and a fabric bottom layer about like sections of their perimeters, wherein said body portion has an open top edge and a closed bottom edge;

two leg receiving fabric tube portions stitched thereto said bottom edge so as to be unitary with said rectangular body portion, and wherein said leg receiving portions define a blind ended bore therein; and

at least one zipper.

2. The baby comforter style bag of claim 1 wherein said generally rectangular body portion has two side edges and where said top layer and said bottom layer are connected by meshing engagement of said zipper which is disposed along each side edge of said body portion.

3. The baby comforter style bag of claim 2 wherein said leg receiving tube portions have an outside perimeter that is not rectilinear with said side edges of said body portion.

4. The baby comforter style bag of claim 3 wherein the number of zippers is four and wherein there is a zipper disposed at the blind end of the bore defined in said leg receiving tubes.

5. The baby comforter style bag of claim 3 wherein said fabric of said body portion and said fabric of said leg receiving tubes is a quilted fabric construction of insulation encapsulated by an outer shell and an inner liner.

6. The baby comforter style bag of claim 5 wherein said inner liner is removable.

7. The baby comforter style bag of claim 3 wherein said fabric of said body portion and said fabric of said leg receiving tubes is of a dual layer fabric construction of by an outer shell and a removable inner liner.

8. The baby comforter style bag of claim 5 further comprising a pocket that is stitched to said outer shell of said top layer.

9. The baby comforter style bag of claim 7 further comprising a pocket that is stitched to said outer shell of said top layer.

10. A bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position comprising:

a body portion which includes a first section, a second section, a first end and a second end;

a fastener system that releasably connects the first section of said body portion to the second section of said body portion;

a first leg-accommodating portion that is unitary and one piece with said body portion which extends from the second end of said body portion, said first leg-accommodating portion being tubular and having a blind-ended bore defined therein; and

a second leg-accommodating portion that is unitary and one piece with said body portion and which extends from the second end of said body portion, and second leg-accommodating portion being tubular and having a blind-ended bore defined therein.

11. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said leg-accommodating portion has said fastener system disposed at the blind end of it's bore.

12. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said fastener system is meshingly engagable zippers.

13. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said fastener system is a look and loop fastener strip.

14. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said fastener system are a series of dome fasteners.

15. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 11 wherein said fastener system is meshingly engagable zippers.

16. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 11 wherein said fastener system is a look and loop fastener strip.

17. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 11 wherein said fastener system are a series of dome fasteners.

18. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said body portion has two side edges, and wherein said leg receiving portions have a inner leg edge and an outer leg edge and wherein said outer leg edges are not rectilinear with said side edges of said body portion.

19. The bag for accommodating a baby in a semi-confined seated position of claim 10 wherein said body portion has two side edges, and wherein said leg receiving portions are unitary with said body portion but off set from said body portion side edges so as to form corners at the intersection of the second end of said body portion and the side edges of the body portion.