U.S. patent application number 09/780879 was filed with the patent office on 2002-08-15 for learning bib.
Invention is credited to Bolds-Leftridge, Germaine.
Application Number | 20020108162 09/780879 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25120978 |
Filed Date | 2002-08-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020108162 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bolds-Leftridge, Germaine |
August 15, 2002 |
Learning bib
Abstract
A child's bib used for educational activities having an elongate
body portion such that the wearer can interact with objects and or
words inscribed on the elongate body portion. The inscriptions
include various indicia providing learning activities to engage the
wearer's attention. The inscriptions are upside-down relative to a
front face viewer but are right-side up as viewed by the child
wearing the bib. The bib is an adaptable garment which may include
one or more re-attachable patches. These patches may be letters,
color strips, animals, or other concept images, and the sort, which
can be removed. The indicia or patches are used to educationally
stimulate the child wearer.
Inventors: |
Bolds-Leftridge, Germaine;
(Columbia, MD) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SONYA C. HARRIS PATENT AGENT
GUARANTEED PATENT AGENT
2836 SOUTH MEADE STREET
ARLINGTON
VA
22206-3148
US
|
Family ID: |
25120978 |
Appl. No.: |
09/780879 |
Filed: |
February 9, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/49.1 ;
2/48 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 27/08 20130101;
G09B 1/00 20130101; A41B 13/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/49.1 ;
2/48 |
International
Class: |
A41B 013/10; A41D
011/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A bib-type garment adapted to provide self-induced learning
activities, said garment comprising, a neck portion having a base
portion and securing means, an elongate body portion extending
beyond the chest of the wearer, said elongate body portion having
indicia inscribed providing educational concepts to actively
interact with the wearer, said indicia is provided right-side-up
relative to the wearer and upside down to a frontal observer.
2. The bib-type garment of claim 1 wherein, said securing means is
located at the rear of the neck portion, said securing means
further comprising fastening means consisting of the group of
Velcro.RTM. fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or
loop fasteners.
3. The bib-type garment of claim 1 wherein, said securing means is
located at either front side of the neck portion, said securing
means further comprising fastening means consisting of the group of
Velcro.RTM. fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or
loop fasteners.
4. The bib-type device of claim 1 wherein, said elongate body
portion has a length, L, measuring from the base of the neck
portion to the distal end of the elongate body portion, wherein L
ranges from 6-12 inches extending into the torso area of the
wearer.
5. The bib-type device of claim 1 further comprising removable and
reattachable patches, said patches providing additional learning
activities in conjunction with the educational concepts provided by
the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively attached and
reattached by adhesions means on the elongate body portion.
6. The bib-type device of claim 5 wherein the elongate body portion
contains phantom inidicia inscribed on the elongate body portion
for guiding placement of the patches.
7. An article of clothing to be worn for learning an educational
concept, said article of clothing consisting of indicia inscribed
onto the article provided right-side-up relative to the wearer and
upside down as viewed by a front face observer such that it
presents learning activities to actively engage the wearer.
8. The article clothing of claim 7 wherein said indicia providing
the educational concept is presented via any combination of
numerical, arithmetic, alphabetical, or musical means.
9. The article of clothing of claim 8 wherein said indicia is
presented in various languages.
10. The article of clothing of claim 7 wherein said article further
comprises musical means, said musical means further comprising a
sound chip embedded into said clothing providing corresponding
sounds or music relating to the educational concepts provided by
the indicia.
11. The article of clothing of claim 9 further comprising removable
and reattachable patches, said patches providing additional
learning activities in conjunction with the educational concepts
provided by the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively
attached and reattached with adhesion means on the article.
12. A bib to be worn by an infant or child providing educational
concepts via direct learning activities adapted to interact
directly with the wearer, said bib comprising, a neck portion
having a base portion and securing means, an elongate body portion
extending beyond the chest of the wearer, said elongate body
portion having inscribed indicia providing educational concepts to
actively interact with the wearer, said indicia is provided
right-side-up relative to the wearer and upside down to a frontal
observer.
13. The bib of claim 12 wherein, said elongate body portion has a
length, L, measuring from the base of the neck portion to the
distal end of the elongate body portion, wherein L ranges from 6-12
inches extending into the torso area of the wearer.
14. The bib of claim 13 wherein, said securing means is located at
the rear of the neck portion, said securing means further
comprising fastening means in the group consisting of Velcro.RTM.
fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop
fasteners.
15. The bib of claim 13, wherein said securing means is located at
either front side of the neck portion, said securing means further
comprising fastening means in the group consisting of Velcro.RTM.
fasteners, first and second string ties, buttons or loop
fasteners.
16. The bib of claim 13 wherein said indicia providing the
educational concept is presented via any combination of numerical,
arithmetic, alphabetical, or musical means.
17. The bib of claim 16, wherein said indicia is presented in
various languages.
18. The bib of claim 17, further comprising removable and
reattachable patches, said patches providing additional learning
activities in conjunction with the educational concepts provided by
the indicia, said patches being temporarily adhesively attached and
reattached with adhesion means on the elongate body portion.
19. The bib of claim 18 wherein the elongate body portion contains
phantom inidicia inscribed on the elongate body portion for guiding
placement of the patches.
20. The bib of claim 12, further comprising musical means, said
musical means further comprising a sound chip embedded into said
clothing providing corresponding sounds or music relating to the
educational concepts provided by the indicia.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to children's
garment and also to the field of teaching aides which can be worn,
and more particularly to articles of clothing adapted for
interaction with a child, infant or learner.
[0003] 2. Background of Related Art
[0004] Articles of clothing such as bibs, aprons, smocks, and the
like have long been used for the protection of clothing worn by
infants or children while engaging in activities such as eating or
playing. Since these articles are used for children, often times
they are decorated with bright primary colors and designs pleasing
to children. U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,428 to Waldman et al teaches of a
general bib with applied ornamentation. These articles may also
serve multiple uses as suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,430 to Mack
demonstrating the bib device as a greeting card.
[0005] Often times garments are used for educational purposes which
provide insignas, alphabet, pictures and the like. The U.S. Patent
to Lenart, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,152 discloses educational children's
clothing having a plurality of pockets displaying educational
concepts. The U.S. Patent to Poskanzer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,697)
also teaches of an educational garment which permits reversible
adhesion with attachable stickers on the garment. These stickers
are disclosed as educational or entertainment articles.
[0006] The above examples have recognized the use of clothing as a
valuable forum for the education and appeasement of children. Some
in this field have gone as far as providing educational clothing
that is to be worn by the adult rather than the child. For example,
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,101 issued to Slezak discloses a teaching cape
having numerous patch pockets with detachable patches for aiding in
alphabet and phonics instruction. Similarly, the U.S. Patent to
Bull et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,979 discloses another garment for
use by an adult where herein the mother wears an apron to actively
participate in the baby's play which involves detaching or
reattaching two-dimensional cut out toys to the front of the apron.
Bull et at teaches of a variety of detachment tasks being performed
by the child while the mother monitors or assists in directing the
infant. Akin to the above mentioned is the Wright, Jr. child
activity bib (U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,323). Wright, Jr. also discloses
a garment to be worn by an adult while presented for interaction by
a child facing the adult. This garment provides a plurality of pull
tabs providing the educational activity means.
[0007] What is missing from all the prior art is an article such as
a bib used for educational means wherein the wearer engages in a
self-induced activity. Unfortunately, each of the educational and
entertainment oriented garments known hereto suffer from a common
drawback in that they fail to give the wearer, i.e., the child,
self-motivated learning activities with the clothes/garment that
the child is wearing. There are no teachings of articles of clothes
worn by an infant or child which are specifically designed to
actively interact with the wearer to stimulate the senses in mental
and physical development.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Therefore, the principle feature and advantage of this
invention is to provide an improved bib, a learning bib, which
permits stimulating interactive indicia located on the garment.
Instead of providing a garment to be worn by an adult, and instead
of having inscriptions which interact with the wearer in a passive
manner or in a purely decorative manner, the present invention
overcomes this with indicia displayed in an upside-down manner but
is actually right-side-up relative to the wearer. Thus, the present
invention permits the infant/child wearing the garment to actively
learn and play while wearing the garment.
[0009] The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a bib
worn around the neck of a child adapted to engage the attention of
the wearer with learning elements inscribed in an upside down
manner, relative to a front-face viewer. Such an inscription, which
is right side up relative to the wearer, is displayed on an
elongated body portion of the bib.
[0010] Other embodiments include a bib or apron-type device as
described above, but may have patches, tabs, stickers or the sort
which may be adhesively re-attachable by the wearer.
[0011] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated and
constitute part of this disclosure, illustrate preferred
embodiments of the invention and serve to explain the principles of
the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the learning bib.
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment with side-snap fastening
means.
[0014] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the bib having removable
patches.
[0015] FIG. 3A illustrates an alternative to the embodiment of FIG.
3.
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the bib adapted for
playing music.
[0017] FIG. 4A is a cut-away perspective view of the sound means of
the FIG. 4 embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The disclosed learning bib as seen in FIG. 1 illustrates a
garment having securing means 20, neck portion 30 and elongate body
portion 40. The elongate body portion 40 is shown with indicia 50
on the front side of bib displayed in an upside-down manner
relative to a front face viewer but is actually right-side up
relative to the wearer, as shown in FIG. 1. For the purposes of
this invention, the term "indicia" includes any writing, marks,
symbols, pictures, figures, numbers, drawings or the like, or any
combination thereof. The indicia 50 is inscribed on the elongate
body portion 40. The inscriptions may be embroidered, embossed,
stitched, silk screened, or any other suitable means to provide the
images as a permanent part of the fabric.
[0019] Since the indicia 50 is provided for the benefit of the
wearer, the elongate body portion 40 is longer than traditional
bibs. Traditional bibs generally have lengths which do not extend
much beyond the chest area and averaging between 5 and 8 inches,
measured from the neck. The bib of the present invention provides
an elongated body portion 40, characterized by L in FIG. 1, which
extends from the chest area to the torso. The elongated length
measures in a range between 6 to 12 inches. This length, L,
characterizes the distance from the top of the base of the neck
portion 35 to the distal end of the bib 45. This elongated length
is designed particularly to allow the wearer to best view the
indicia inscribed on the bib.
[0020] Various securing means 20 can be employed to fasten the
respective ends of the bib. The securing means 20 fastens the upper
end of the bib around the neck of the wearer. These securing means
may comprise first and second fastening means. For instance, first
and second strings may comprise the securing means which may be
secured to the neck by tying the respective ends of the strings
together behind the neck of the wearer, as illustrated in FIG. 2A.
Alternatively, snaps, buckles, buttons and flexible fasteners such
as Velcro.RTM. or the like may be employed to secure the bib to the
wearer.
[0021] The learning bib may include manipulation means which
comprises a plurality of patches 60 which may be releasably
attachable to the elongate body portion 40 of said bib. As shown in
FIG. 3, the elongate body portion 40 may have matching phantom
indicia 55 displayed in or on the fabric which match the patches
60, whereby said patches 60 can be selectively removed from and
reattached to said phantom indicia 55 as a part of a learning
exercise. The patches may be attached and reattached by any
suitable temporary adhesion means such as magnetic attaching means
or temporary adhesion stickers. These patches may be letters, color
strips, animals, or other concept images, and the sort, which can
be removed. Said learning exercises may be self-induced by the
wearer or may be guided by an adult instructing the child through
various learning activities. The removable patches serves to as
stimulate inquisitiveness as well as test and stimulate the child's
hand-eye coordination skills by encouraging manipulation via the
hands. The removable patches also serve to facilitate cleaning of
the bib.
[0022] FIG. 3A illustrates the embodiment which is a derivative of
the FIG. 3 embodiment wherein patches are utilized. However, FIG.
3A illustrates the use of removable patches without the guidance of
phantom indicia to guide placement of the patches. Herein, the
patches may be used for placement at will while guided by the
educational concept inscribed on the bib. For example, arithmetical
exercises may be performed wherein the patches may be placed to
produce mathematical expressions such as addition and subtraction.
Again, the removable patches aide in the cleaning of the bib.
[0023] In as much as music is a well known educational component,
the disclosed invention may be adapted to play music. FIG. 4
illustrates a learning bib with indicia 50 including figures and
inscriptions representative of songs adapted to be played by the
bib. FIG. 4A illustrates a cut-away view of the bib of FIG. 4 to
show means for producing music such as a sound chip 80. The sound
chip 80 may be embedded between insulative layers of the bib. Said
insulation 70 may comprise plastics for protecting the chip from
liquids. The insulation 70 may also comprise padding layers to
further protect the chip.
[0024] The learning bib is designed with the idea of it being worn
by a learner with educational means designed to interact with an
infant or child wearer, However, the wearer need not necessarily be
young and may also include those persons, youth and adult, with
various learning disabilities. The bib as disclosed may also be
used for an adult during rehabilitative learning exercises for
recovery from mental illnesses, such as amnesia or the like, which
may require mental rehabilitation exercises.
[0025] The present invention described herein represents a small
aspect of how the learning bib can be used for educational
purposes. For example, child group exercises can be performed
wherein children wearing the same or similar learning bibs can be
performed wherein children may be required to participate in
specific game-type activities and so forth.
[0026] The learning bib described herein is exemplary and are
provided merely to show how the bib is used in a manner that
provides fin intellectual exercises while simultaneously developing
visual perceptions, motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
[0027] The present invention has been described in detail with
particular reference to these preferred embodiments, other
embodiments can achieve similar results. For example, the garment
may take the form of a smock, or an apron. The garment may also
include any article of clothing such as shirts, sweaters, pants,
gloves, skirts and so on. However whichever the garment, the
inverted indicia is a key factor to the object of the invention.
Variations and modifications of the present invention will be
obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover in
the appended claims all such modifications and equivalents. It is
therefore intended that all matters in the foregoing description
and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as
illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, the scope of the
invention should be determined by the appended claims and their
legal equivalents.
* * * * *