Protective Baby Support

Abstract

A protective baby support and restraining device formed of a resilient material and including a horizontal base portion and an oval, hollow horse-collar-shaped body portion, said body portion having a greater height at one end than at the other and being dimensioned to receive a reclining infant. A horizontal tray is removably supported between the sides of the body portion, and a crotch strap is removably connected between the tray and the base portion to extend between the legs of an infant when seated in the support, thereby preventing a child from sliding forwardly in the support.

Description

The present invention relates to a protective baby support for gently supporting and restraining an infant in either a reclining or a sitting position during sleeping, transport, bathing, feeding or holding of the child.

As evidenced by the prior U.S. Pats. to Johnson No. 3,013,555, Hughes No. 2,229,411 Easley et al. No. 3,245,382 and Arp No. 3,306,287, various types of resilient cushion devices have been proposed in the patented prior art for restraining and/or supporting an infant. While in general the known devices have proven to have merit, they do not afford the degree of support required for a relatively unstable seated infant, and are normally so expensive in construction that they are not commercially acceptable. The present invention was developed to avoid the above and other drawbacks of the known devices, and to provide an inexpensive lightweight durable washable support that safely and comfortably supports an infant in a reclining or a sitting position.

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide an improved baby support formed of a resilient cushion material and including a hollow oval horse-collar-shaped body portion secured to a planar base portion, said body portion being higher on one end than the other and including sides that taper downwardly from the high end to the low end. The opening in the hollow body portion is dimensioned to receive a reclining infant, and the end and side walls are of such a height and thickness as to gently restrain the infant against rolling or turning, and to support the infant's back when seated in the support.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a baby support of the type described above and including a horizontal tray removably connected between the sides of the body portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide releasable crotch strap means connected between the tray and the base portion to extend between the legs of an infant seated in the support and thereby prevent the child's seat from sliding forwardly in the support.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the baby support;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the support;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing, the baby support comprises a horizontal planar base portion 2 and an oval, hollow generally horse-collar-shaped body portion 4, said base portion being oval and extending horizontally outwardly beyond the body portion to define a stabilizing flange 2a which prevents tipping of the support when mounted on a horizontal surface. The body and base portions are formed of a resilient lightweight cushion material, such as foam rubber, a foamed synthetic plastic material (polyfoam), or the like, and can be molded either as a unitary construction or as separate parts secured together by a suitable adhesive.

One end 4a of the body portion is higher than the other end 4b to define an infant's back support, the sides 4c and 4d tapering in height downwardly from the high end to the low end. Generally this tapering in height is from about 7 inches at the high end to about 3 inches at the low end. The widths of the ends 4a and 4b are about 3 inches, and the widths of the sides 4c and 4d decrease from a maximum width of about 5 inches adjacent the high end 4a to a minimum width of about 3 inches at the low end 4b.

The interior of the hollow body portion is adapted to receive a reclining infant and has a length of about 22 inches, a shoulder room width of 9 inches adjacent the high end 4a, and a leg room width of about 7 inches at the lower end 4b. The width of the peripheral stabilizing flange 2a is about 3 inches, and the thickness of the base cushion pad is 1 inch. The overall dimensions of the support are about 34 inches by 25 inches. The base and body portions of the support are preferably enclosed by a layer 6 of washable, synthetic plastic material.

In accordance with an important feature of the invention, a rigid horizontal synthetic plastic tray 8 is removably connected between the sides 4c, 4d, of the body portion. More particularly, the tray is provided at each end a rod-shaped enlarged portion 8a adapted to be snapped into engagement with a corresponding spring retainer 10 that is secured to the adjacent side wall by rivets 12. Thus, the tray is resiliently and removably mounted between the sides 4c and 4d of the support.

In accordance with another important feature of the invention, there is removably connected (by snap means, or the like) between the tray 8 and the base 2 a crotch strap 14 formed of a flexible material, such as a suitable synthetic plastic material. The crotch strap and tray are so arranged that when an infant is seated between the tray and the back-supporting high end 4a, the crotch strap extends between the legs of the child to prevent its seat from sliding forward in the support.

The baby support may be used in a play pen or on the floor, as a bed while traveling in an automobile, or as a restraining device during feeding. Furthermore, owing to the unitary waterproof construction, the baby support serves also as a portable bath tub. An advantage of the support is that a parent may briefly leave an infant therein unattended while performing light household chores, such as cleaning, sewing, telephoning or the like. The manufacturing cost of the baby support is quite reasonable, and the device is so designed that a child may be supported in a safe injury-free manner.

While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes I have illustrated and described the best form and embodiment of the invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the apparatus described without deviating from the invention set forth in the following claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A protective baby support, comprising

a unitary cushion member formed of a resilient synthetic plastic material and including a planar horizontal base portion, and an oval hollow generally horse-collar-shaped body portion secured to the upper surface of, and spaced inwardly from the outer periphery of, said base portion, said body portion having at one end a greater height than at the other end, each of the sides of said body portion tapering generally uniformly from the high end to the low end of the cushion, said sides having a greater width than said end portions, the opening in said oval body portion being dimensioned to receive a reclining infant and having a greater width adjacent said one end than at the other, the sides of said body portion having such a height as to prevent the infant from rolling over in the support;

tray means removably connected between the sides of, and extending transversely across, said body portion, said tray means being spaced above said base portion;

and a vertically extending crotch strap removably connected between said tray means and said base portion, said crotch strap being arranged to extend between the legs of an infant, when said infant is seated within the body portion, to prevent said infant from sliding in the support.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, and further including retainer spring means for removably connecting the ends of said tray with said body portion, said tray being resiliently supported by said retainer spring means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, and further including an impermeable layer of washable material substantially completely covering said base and body portions.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said layer-covered support is leakproof and is adapted to contain water, whereby said support serves as a portable bath tub.