U.S. patent application number 16/724585 was filed with the patent office on 2020-07-02 for adjustable seat for baby or child float.
This patent application is currently assigned to Aqua-Leisure Industries, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Aqua-Leisure Industries, Inc.. Invention is credited to Scott R. de Grasse, Suzanne Wasserman.
Application Number | 20200205575 16/724585 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 71123540 |
Filed Date | 2020-07-02 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200205575 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wasserman; Suzanne ; et
al. |
July 2, 2020 |
ADJUSTABLE SEAT FOR BABY OR CHILD FLOAT
Abstract
An adjustable seat for a flotation device includes a seat member
made of flexible material attached to, surrounded by, and depending
from the flotation device, said seat having two apertures therein
for receipt of the legs of a child. A matable connector attached to
the flotation device and the seat member means permits the
adjustment of the shape and relative depth of the seat member to
accommodate children of different sizes.
Inventors: |
Wasserman; Suzanne;
(Winchester, MA) ; de Grasse; Scott R.;
(Marshfield, MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Aqua-Leisure Industries, Inc. |
Avon |
MA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Aqua-Leisure Industries,
Inc.
Avon
MA
|
Family ID: |
71123540 |
Appl. No.: |
16/724585 |
Filed: |
December 23, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62785735 |
Dec 28, 2018 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 7/666 20180801;
A47C 15/006 20130101; A47D 1/002 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47C 15/00 20060101
A47C015/00; A47D 1/00 20060101 A47D001/00; A47C 7/66 20060101
A47C007/66 |
Claims
1. An adjustable seat for a flotation device for a child,
comprising a seat member made of flexible material attached to and
depending from the flotation device, said seat having a bottom with
two apertures therein for receipt of legs of a child; and a
connector having two matable members, one member being attached to
the flotation device and the other attached to the seat member,
whereby dimensions of the seat may be selectively changed by mating
the two connector members, thereby causing the bottom of the seat
member to be raised in relation to the flotation device.
2. The adjustable seat of claim 1, wherein the connector comprises
a snap buckle.
3. The adjustable seat of claim 1, wherein the connector comprises
a toggle and a corresponding loop.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section
119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/785,735 entitled
"ADJUSTABLE SEAT FOR BABY OR CHILD FLOAT," filed on Dec. 28, 2018,
which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all
purposes.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to boats, tubes, or other flotation
devices for babies and small children, and particularly to devices
in which the baby or child is placed upright in a seat that depends
from and is surrounded by a flotation device such as a buoyant
ring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Floating pool and beach toys are often used to keep a young
child, including a baby or toddler, floating in a seated position
at the surface of a body of water while preventing the child from
becoming submerged in the water. One example of a common floating
pool and beach toy comprises a seat affixed to, depending from, and
surrounded by a flotation device such as an inflatable ring. The
child is placed on the boat or float by inserting his or her legs
into and down through apertures in the seat. The seat in
cooperation with the flotation device supports the weight of the
child and keeps the child afloat while the flotation device rests
on the water.
[0004] A seat of one fixed size may be suitable for a particular
child at a given time, but for a smaller or larger child the seat
may be either too low, too high, too large, or too small for
purposes of comfort and safety. It is an object of this invention
to provide a means for adjusting the dimensions of the seat so that
it may it may accommodate the small child or a larger child.
Moreover, for any particular child the seat may be adjusted to
match the size of the child as he or she grows older and
larger.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be
described by way of example with reference to the accompanying
figures, which are schematic and are not intended to be drawn to
scale. In the figures, each identical or nearly identical component
illustrated is typically represented by a single numeral. For
purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every
figure, nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention
shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of
ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. In the
figures:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a child placed in a baby
boat having a seat member attached to, depending from, and
surrounded by a buoyant ring.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a side view of the baby boat of FIG. 1, showing
snap buckle elements that allow adjustment of size and shape of the
seat.
[0008] FIG. 3 is another side view of the baby boat of FIG. 2,
showing the snap buckle elements.
[0009] FIG. 4 is bottom view of the boat of FIGS. 2 and 3, showing
each pair of snap buckle elements in position to be connected
together.
[0010] FIG. 5 is a side view of another embodiment of the
invention, in which paired toggles and loops are provided to allow
adjustment of the size and shape of the seat.
[0011] FIG. 6 is another side view of the embodiment of FIG. 5.
[0012] FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and
6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, baby boat 10 comprises a seat member 12
attached to and surrounded by a buoyant ring 14. A shade or canopy
15 may be attached to the ring in some embodiments.
[0014] FIGS. 2 and 3 depict side views of baby boat 10, with seat
member 12 attached to and depending from buoyant ring 14. Seat
member 12 may be made of flexible plastic. As seen in FIG. 4, seat
member 12 includes apertures or leg holes 16 for receipt of the
child's legs.
[0015] To one side of the seat member 12, snap connector element
20A is affixed to buoyant ring 14 while element 20B is affixed to
the bottom of seat member 12. Similarly, on the other side of seat
member 12, snap connector element 22A is affixed to buoyant ring 14
while element 22B is affixed to the bottom of seat member 12. When
each of the two pairs of snap connector elements are mated
together, the bottom of seat member 12 is raised upward to a new
position, having a lower depth and a somewhat narrower width for
the seat.
[0016] In another embodiment of the instant invention, shown in
FIGS. 5-7, the shape of the seat member 12 may be adjusted by means
of paired loops and toggles. Toggle element 30A is attached on one
side of buoyant ring 14, while loop member 30B is attached to a
side of seat member 12 and loop member 30C is attached to the
bottom of seat member 12. Similarly, toggle element 32A is attached
on the other side of buoyant ring 14, while loop member 32B is
attached to a side of seat member 12 and loop member 32C is
attached to the bottom of seat member 12.
[0017] The toggle elements 30A and 32A may be connected to either
loop members 30B and 32B, respectively, or loop members 30C and
32C, respectively, in order the adjust the shape and depth of seat
member 12 to either of two positions: connecting toggle element 30A
to loop member 30B and toggle element 32A to loop member 32B will
raise seat member 12 slightly. Connecting toggle element 30A to
loop member 30C and toggle element 32A to loop member 32C will
raise seat member 12 to a height that will approximately halve its
depth for sitting.
[0018] The loop members preferably comprise a tab having a first
portion attached to seat member 12 and the a second portion
extending outwardly away from the side of seat member 12. An
aperture in the outwardly extending portion of the tab accepts a
toggle element. For example, as see in FIG. 5, loop member 30B
comprises a first portion 40A attached to seat member 12 and a
second portion 40B extending from seat member 12. As seen in FIG.
6, aperture 44 in second portion 40B may accept toggle member 30A.
The toggle elements are preferably made of nylon, while the tabs
may be made of PVC material.
[0019] Those skilled in the art may readily recognize various
alterations, modifications, and improvements. Such alterations,
modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the scope
and spirit of this disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing
description is by way of example only and is not intended to be
limiting.
[0020] From the description of at least one embodiment of the
present disclosure, various alterations, modifications, and
improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such
alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be
within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the
foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended
to be limiting.
[0021] While several embodiments of the present invention have been
described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the
art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or
structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the
results and/or one of more of the advantages described herein, and
each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within
the scope of the present invention. More generally, those skilled
in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions,
materials, and configurations described herein are mean to be
exemplary and the actual parameters, dimensions, materials and/or
configurations will depend upon the specific application or
applications for which the teachings of the present invention
is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to
ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many
equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described
herein. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing
embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, with the
scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the invention
may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and
claimed. The present invention is directed to each individual
feature, system, article, material, and/or method described herein.
In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,
articles, materials, and/or methods, if such features, systems,
articles, materials, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,
is included within the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *