Supports – Nursing bottle type
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-20
2001-02-06
King, Anita M. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Nursing bottle type
C297S182000, C108S044000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182931
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tray devices and more specifically it relates to a child object support system for use within a vehicle to support a child's toys, bottles and other items within the child's reach during travel thereby reducing the chance of the child losing an item during travel.
When a parent travels with their children, typically the children will be restrained within a car seat specially designed for their smaller size. The car seat is typically positioned in the rear seat for safety concerns and air bags that are common in the front seats of vehicles. Before the parent begins to operate the vehicle, typically they will give the child a cup, bottle and/or toy(s) to keep the child occupied during travel. However, often times the child will drop the cup, bottle and/or toy(s) during travel thereby making them unhappy and prone to cry. Sometimes the parent will attempt to reach back to pick up the lost item during travel that can be extremely dangerous for the parent and the child. If the parent cannot reach the lost item, or does not desire to take the risk of reaching rearwardly, the parent will sometimes continue to travel with the child unhappy and possibly attempting to get out of their car seat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tray devices have been in use for years. Typically, the tray will be positioned about the child or attached to the rear portion of the front seat. The trays that attach to the rear portion of the front seat will often have a pivotally attached tray that extends downwardly. The problem with these devices is that often times the items retained within them are out of reach of smaller children whose arms cannot reach them. The devices that attach around the child as an “apron” are undesirable since they limit the child's movements during travel.
Examples of tray and apron devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,605 to Bowen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,659 to Carpentier et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,820 to Yielding; U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,450 to Hagestad et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,649 to Heimstra; U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,208 to Ozmar which are all illustrative of such prior art.
Bowen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,605) discloses an auto bib with integral tray portion. Bowen teaches a foldable and reusable bib that has a relatively flat stiff sheet with a fold portion. The problem with Bowen is that the stiff tray portion is uncomfortable for a child to have positioned about them. In addition, items on the tray portion can easily be bumped or rolled off out of reach of the child, thereby requiring the parent to reach back and retrieve the lost item.
Carpentier et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,659) discloses a seat back mounted tray holder. Carpenteir et al teaches a folding tray holder that is removably attachable to a rear portion of a seat by a pair of opposing hook members. The problem with Carpentier et al is that the position of the items on the tray is completely dependent upon the position of the seat thereby still requiring the parent to reach back to assist the child in retrieving a specific item.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for use within a vehicle to support a child's toys, bottles and other items within the child's reach during travel thereby reducing the chance of the child losing an item during travel. Conventional tray devices can be uncomfortable for a child during travel. Also, conventional tray devices that are attached to a rear portion of a seat are positionally dependent upon the position of the seat they are attached to.
In these respects, the child object support system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of supporting a child's toys, bottles and other items within the child's reach during travel thereby reducing the chance of the child losing an item during travel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of tray devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new child object support system construction wherein the same can be utilized for supporting a child's toys, bottles and other items within the child's reach during travel thereby reducing the chance of the child losing an item during travel.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new child object support system that has many of the advantages of the tray devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new child object support system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art tray devices, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a support member of a flexible material, a cup holder within the support member, a plurality of loops attached to the support member, a pocket attached to the support member, a front strap having a buckle attached to a front end of the support member, and a first rear strap, a second rear strap and a third rear strap having a pair of buckles attached to a rear end of the support member. The front strap is removable attachable about a head rest or a front seat of the vehicle. The first rear strap and the third rear strap are removable attachable to a car seat or a rear seat of the vehicle by the second rear strap. The support member is preferably angled downwardly toward the child within the car seat so as to retain the child's items within reach. The cup holder retains the child's bottle or cup. The plurality of loops and pocket retain miscellaneous objects and toys that the child plays with. A sheath is preferably included for assisting the user in positioning the second rear strap within the seat belt passageway of the car seat.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that 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 practices and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a child object support system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
Another object is to provide a child object support system that supports a child's items during vehicle travel within their reach.
An additional object is to provide a child object support system that is not dependent upon the position of the front or rear seats.
A further object is to provide a child object support system that reduces the chance of the items rolling away from the child.
Another object is to provide a child object support system that can also be utilized to store the child's items during non-travel.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are i
King Anita M.
Neustel Michael S.
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