Baby Diapers

Abstract

An article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of two united wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a soft resilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two united wings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardly converging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant, at least one of said wings having at least one partially overlaying sheet transversly attached thereto along at least one edge of said overlaying sheet, said overlaying sheet being comprised of a material having a planar width of at least approximately one and one-half times the width of the area of said wing to which said overlaying sheet is attached and being gathered along the stitched edge so as to provide a means for grasping it and to approximately conform to the said width of said wing.

Parent Case Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 650,569, filed June 28, 1967, now abandoned and relates to an improved diaper for infants and particularly, the present invention is a diaper having the characteristic of better fitting, providing sex identification means and of providing for more ready handling of said diaper when in contact with an infant.

Description

Diapers are worn by infants of all races and religions and have followed a general pattern of illfitting garments having little or no surface attraction, and designed largely for simplicity of attachment and removal. Additionally, such diapers frequently are the only garment worn by the infant and thus, with conventional diapers there is no ready means of grabbing the infant without contact with the skin of the infant and the possibility of irritation to such skin by fingernails, rough skin, etc.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a diaper which is designed to produce a minimum of undesirable body pressure on the infant, so that it is not irritated and caused to cry or to annoy its parents or nurse, and will rest in maximum comfort, and when in a hospital, hotel or other public place can be quickly and accurately identified when a group of infants are brought to a common center, so that there will be no confusion in identifying a wanted infant.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a diaper with means for identifying the infant wearer thereof according to the sex of said infant.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a diaper which provides means for grasping or holding an infant wearer thereof without contact with the skin of said infant and further providing facilitating means of holding said diaper when soiled or otherwise being handled by a nurse or parent.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following description of the invention herein disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention which fulfills these and other objects is an article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of two united wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a soft resilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two united wings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardly converging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant, at least one of said wings having at least one partially overlaying sheet transversly attached thereto along at least one edge of said overlaying sheet, said overlaying sheet being comprised of a material having a planar width of at least approximately 1 1/2 times the width of the area of said wing to which said overlaying sheet is attached and being gathered along the stitched edge so as to approximately conform to the said width of said wing.

The articles of manufacture which are the present invention, by means of the overlaying sheet, provide means for ready identification of the sex of the wearer. further, and of considerable significance, the present invention provides a means of grasping or holding the infant wearer without risk of contact with the tender skin of such infant and further provides means for safely handling the diaper when soiled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the diaper of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the improved diaper of the present invention, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a view of a girl infant showing a use of the improved diaper, particularly as to sex identification.

FIG. 4 is a detail plan view of a useful modification of the improved diaper of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the present invention, 10 designates the body of the garment which is constructed with two wings 11 and 12, joined to each other along a central line 13, to provide a general hour-glass appearance, each wing having inwardly converging side edges 15a, so that the line 13 indicates the minimum width of the diaper, and is thus fitted to have a minimum bulk to engage the flesh of the infant between the thighs and under the crotch.

The body 10 of the garment is constructed of two sheets of overlaying fabric which is soft and resilient being of cotton or otherwise, one sheet 14 forming the outer wall of the garment and the other sheet 15 forming the underlying side to have contact with the body of the infant. The outer edges of sheets 14 and 15 are infolded and the infolded edges stitched or otherwise fastened together to form a neatly closed edge seam, as shown in FIG. 2. The sheet 14 may be printed or otherwise provided with numerous designs or patterns so that the garment is given the appearance and character of a particular sex, either male or female.

One wing 12 of sheet 14 is provided with three partially overlaying sheets 16, 17 and 18, each spaced a short distance longitudinally from one another. Each of sheets 16, 17 and 18 are of a transverse planar width of at least 1 .kappa. times the transverse width, of sheet 14 which it overlays and to which it is attached. The sheets 16, 17 and 18 are each attached along the upper edge thereof by stitching or otherwise to sheet 14. The width of sheets 16, 17 and 18 are conformed to the width of that portion of sheet 14 which they overlay by means of gathering the excess width of said sheets 16, 17 and 18 and including the upper edge of said excess in the stitched or fastened down upper edge of said sheets 16, 17 and 18.

In a particularly useful embodiment of the present invention, sheets 16, 17 and 18 are stitched or othewise fastened on one wing of sheet 14 along both the upper and lower edges thereof. In such instance, the longitudinal length of said overlaying sheet when flattened, is also at least 11/2 that of that portion of sheet 14 which it overlays. This embodiment results in a much more pronounced looping or gathering of overlaying sheets 16, 17 and 18 spaced from sheet 14 which is to provide a raised portion much easier to grasp and more strongly attached to sheet 14. To further facilitate the utility of the diapers of the present invention, it is frequently desirable to stitch or otherwise attach the end edges of sheets 16, 17 and 18 to the edges of sheet 14.

Another embodiment of the present invention contemplates the employment of overlaying sheets on both portions of sheets 14 of wings 11 and 12.

Overlaying sheets 16, 17 and 18 provide means for identification by sex of the infant wearer. Additionally, these overlaying sheets provide an outer surface which may be readily grasped and held. This is significant in attempting to forceably restrain or move an infant without touching the infant itself. Also, this is significant in handling soiled diapers.

If desired, the diaper of the present invention may be padded by placing soft cotton or other suitable absorbent material between sheets 14 and 15 before the edges are seamed closed, as indicated at 25 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification of the diapers of the present invention wherein a transparent plastic film envelope strip 26 is shown stitched to sheet 14 so as to provide an unattached longitudinal infolded edge portion 27 with the outermost edge 28 of the envelope strip stitched to the diaper. Under the unattached infolded edge 27 an identification card 29 may be inserted.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a diaper consisting of two united wings, each comprised of at least two overlaying sheets of a soft resilient material having a soft padding therebetween, said two united wings being disposed in end to end assembly to provide inwardly converging side edges for each wing and a narrow area adjacent the joinder area of said wings adapted to fit under the crotch of an infant, means for grasping and holding the diaper comprising at least one of said wings having at least one additional sheet partially overlaying a sheet portion of one of said wings transversely thereof from edge to edge of the wing and attached thereto by stitching along at least one edge of said additional sheet, said additional overlaying sheet being comprised of a material having a planar width across the width of said wing of at least approximately one and one-half times said width of said wing to which said overlaying sheet is attached said additional overlaying sheet having a portion spaced from and unattached to said at least one wing by being gathered along the stitched edge so as to approximately conform to the said width of said wing and define a grasping portion.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlaying sheet is transversly attached to said wing along both of its transverse edges.

3. The article of claim 1 wherein said overlaying sheet is attached to the upper side of one of said wings.

4. The article of claim 1 wherein an overlaying sheet is attached to each of said wings.

5. The article of claim 2 wherein said additional overlaying sheet is attached to said wing along all four edges of said overlaying sheet.