Supports – Scuff plate or bumper
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-06
2004-06-01
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Scuff plate or bumper
C005S424000, C005S425000, C005S663000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06742751
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Parents and guardians of infants and toddlers spend most of their time protecting their young from danger. A newborn could choke on its vomit; an infant could roll off a bed during a diaper change; and a toddler could accidentally run through a set of glass doors, if not properly supervised. It is virtually impossible to watch a child 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether left alone to play in the crib, take a nap, or sleep during the night, a child is never more unsupervised than the time spent in the crib. According to safety experts, most accidents occur in the crib because children are left alone for long periods of time. Because the structure of a crib appears to be a safe place to leave a child, parents and guardians often have a false sense of security. They place a bumper pad inside the crib to help cushion inevitable falls, only to remove it when the infant is able to sit up unassisted (around 6-9 months). An infant at this stage could easily push down on the pillow-like pad and use it as a step to climb out of the crib. Once the bumper pad is removed, the crib slats are left unprotected, and so is the occupant inside. The present invention overcomes this safety issue; it can be used in the crib from the time the baby is born, until it can sleep in a regular or toddler bed (usually around 2-3 years of age). Unlike a conventional bumper pad, the present invention is a padded safety device that is affixed around the individual vertical supports of a crib, and includes an object that stabilizes the pad in a fixed, vertical position so it may not be pushed down and used as a step.
While researching for prior art similar to the present invention, a product with U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,071 was discovered, herein known as the “prior art”, which is a comparative product to protect infants and toddlers from injuring themselves on the material that comprise a crib or playpen, after the bumper pad is removed. A crib or playpen is typically described as made of wood, with four sides comprised of two parallel horizontal railings, with individual vertical supports, herein known as, “crib slats”, connected between them. The crib slats are usually rectangular in shape, four-sided, approximately 1 to 1½ inches wide, ½ inch thick, spaced approximately 2⅜ inches apart, and are about 26 inches high, depending on the style and type of crib. There are an estimated 50 slats that comprise a typical crib, again, depending on the style and type of crib (see
FIG. 5
for a drawing of a typical crib). The crib typically has a horizontal spring that supports the crib mattress. According to safety experts, the mattress should have no more than an approximate gap of 1½ inches (a “two finger” width) between the mattress and the crib slat. A gap larger than this presents a safety hazard of child entrapment and suffocation. Padding inside the crib is necessary to prevent an infant or toddler from injuring themselves when they come in contact with the hard crib slats.
The prior art describes in its “Background of the Invention” section the disadvantages of the commonly used crib bumper pad. To summarize, bumper pads are a cushioned material, similar to a pillow, that encompass the entire inside perimeter of a crib, widely used and accepted by parents and guardians to protect their child from injury in case the child would fall against the hard, wooden slats. Bumper pads are usually about one foot high, normally are of one piece, and are typically fastened by strings tied around the crib slats. The disadvantages of bumper pads include: (1) the inability of a parent or guardian to view a child while the child is lying in the crib, unless the parent or guardian is standing next to the crib and views the child from the top of the crib and looks down; (2) an infant, while lying in the crib, is unable to view its outer world; (3) bumper pads offer the ability of an older infant to use it as a step to climb out of the crib (the potential for injury is limitless in this case); (4) are difficult to use when lowering the side rail of a crib to reach a child (because the bumper pad is tied to the crib slat, it moves with the slat and does not stay in one place), and (5) due to the raising and lowering of the crib rail, the ties may become loose, and potentially allow for the bumper pad to fall onto an infant who may not have the strength to push it off, thus creating a suffocation hazard. Because of the safety issues mentioned above, bumper pads are typically removed when an infant can sit up or stand by him or herself.
Bumper pads or padding of some form, however, are a basic necessity to protect mobile infants or toddlers from injuring themselves on the crib slats. The next step to improve upon the bumper pad is to have an invention similar to the prior art. The prior art describes a pad that covers most of the vertical length of each individual crib slat, and is padded on 1 to 3 sides. The cover is comprised of either vinyl or some “flexible material” (see prior art's “Summary of Invention” section), and is filled with a “cushioning material” (see prior art's “Summary of Invention” section). The advantages of this include: (1) the parent or guardian can now view their child through the slats in the crib; (2) the child can see the “outer world”; and (3) the padding should protect the infant from injury.
While there are many advantages of a slat pad over a bumper pad, there are still disadvantages to the prior arts' design. The prior art has disadvantages that could ultimately cause severe injury for infants and toddlers. Disadvantages include:
1) The prior art has padding only on one to three sides, and none on the exterior of the crib slat. This is a disadvantage because in the everyday usage of the crib, the product could potentially turn, thus leaving the interior of the slats exposed to the side of the product that does not have the padding. This could lead to injury of the child inside, if the interior slat is left unprotected.
2) The prior art drawing of the product (see its drawings,
FIG. 1
) shows the cover is fastened on the right-hand side of the pad. This would allow for the right side of the pad to be wider, and stick out further, than the left side. Due to this disadvantage, the aesthetic appearance of the pad and crib slat would be affected. It also may not leave enough room between the next slat to the right to view the baby.
3) The prior art product appears to be pre-formed (or pre-molded), (see drawing of the prior art, FIG.
1
), is of one shape, and has a slit that opens when placed onto the crib slat, which may cause the inability to fit onto crib slats of different sizes.
4) The prior art does not cover the crib slat below the mattress (see prior art drawing, FIG.
3
); the prior art states in the “Detailed Description” section that, “The length of the pad is identical to the length of the crib balusters down to but not below the crib mattress (viz. 18″-20″)”. This is a disadvantage because, even though the prior art is tapered at the bottom, over time and usage, it may slip below the mattress, thus leaving an upper area of the hard, wood slat exposed to the crib slat itself, and causing possible injury to a child, if impacted. This is especially true for the side of the crib that features the crib railing that raises and lowers, and is used many times during a typical day. In both cases, the pad could potentially slip down underneath the mattress on any side of the crib, and create the opportunity for an enterprising infant or toddler to use it as a step to climb out of the crib, which could cause serious injury.
4A) Crib safety experts recommend that the space between the mattress and crib not be larger than approximately 1½″, or the width of two average fi
Pro-se
Ramirez Ramon O.
Sterling Amy J.
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