GB2571503A

GB2571503A - Protective bib for a baby or infant and support structure therefore

Info

Publication number: GB2571503A
Application number: GB1719380.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Taal Melanie
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-11-22
Filing date: 2017-11-22
Publication date: 2019-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 2037-11-22
Also published as: GB201719380D0; GB2571503B

Abstract

A protective bib 16 including a sheet material portion, an aperture to allow the bib to be located with respect to the neck of a person and wherein engagement means (40, 41, 44, figures 3a, b) are provided which allow the bib the be selectively engaged with a chair 4 in which the person is located so as to maintain the bib in an extended protective position with respect to the person and/or said article. The neck aperture and engagement means may be permanently formed or releasable. Preferably, the bib engages with the chair using an elasticated portion that stretches around the chair. Other attachment means may connect to the frame of the chair or define a gap in the bib. The bib may comprise a protective coating and may comprise an extra removable sheet. Ideally, the bib is for a baby or infant and the chair is a pushchair.

Description

Protective Bib for a baby or infant and support structure therefore

The invention to which this application relates is in relation to a protective bib of a type which can be used by a baby or infant in order to protect the baby or infant, their clothing and/or a support structure, such as a pushchair, in which they may be located, from damage or mess. Typically, although not necessarily exclusively, the damage or mess can be caused during the feeding of the baby or infant, or by the baby or infant being ill.

The feeding of babies and infants is well-known to be potentially messy due to a number of possible. Such events can be caused by the need for a utensil which is used to be relatively small and hence increase the risk of the foodstuff falling from the same; the foodstuff itself is generally runny and is therefore more prone to fall off the utensil and/or, the baby or infant, if they contact the utensil or the container of the foodstuff, can cause the same to be spilled and/or as the infant grows older and starts to feed themselves, then as they are learning to do so, there is still a risk of spillage of foodstuff. There is also a risk that the baby or infant may vomit during or following feeding which again can cause mess.

The carer of the baby or infant conventionally has to deal with this problem by changing the clothing of the baby or infant and/or washing the baby or infant and when one considers that this can be required to be done frequently it can cause annoyance and/or inconvenience as well as being upsetting for the baby or infant. In order to try and alleviate this problem a bib to be worn by the baby or infant, with the bib conventionally comprising a portion of sheet material which is attached around the neck of the baby or infant such that the portion of sheet material is located over the top portion of the chest of the baby or infant so as to be located at that part of the baby or infant which is most likely to be messy and thereby provide protection of that part of the clothing of the baby or infant. There are many different variations of bibs, but they generally all take the same form and do not prevent contact with the portions of the clothing which are further removed from the baby or infant’s mouth or the surface of the support structure on which the bay or infant is located. This surface could, for example, be the floor, provided on a high chair or a pushchair in which the baby or infant is supported in a seating position. In certain instances whilst the surface may be formed so as to be relatively easily wiped clean once feeding has been completed or after a vomiting incident there can still be problems in achieving ongoing cleanliness and hygiene. For example, with pushchairs, there are problems caused by the surface on which the baby or infant is placed being formed of a fabric and is therefore more difficult to wipe clean if the mess absorbs into the fabric. Also, the pushchair tends to have more corners and confined spaces in which material can gather and be difficult to remove therefrom and/or the pushchair typically includes a folding mechanism to allow the pushchair to be moved between storage and in-use positions and material can also collect in the mechanism which again can be difficult to remove. Thus, in practice, the difficulties in removing the material can cause the pushchair to become unpleasant for the baby or infant over time, may cause damage to the pushchair and/or may make it difficult to operate.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved protective bib which has improved protective characteristics for the baby or infant and also for the support structure for the baby or infant. A further aim is to allow the protective bib to be used in conjunction with the pushchair to provide protection therefore.

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a protective bib including a sheet material portion, an aperture formed to allow the bib to be located with respect to the neck of the baby or infant, and wherein engagement means are provided which allow the protective bib to be engaged with an article when in use so as to allow the protective bib to be maintained in an extended protective position with respect to the baby or infant and/or said article.

In one embodiment, the said article is a support structure, in one embodiment in the form of a chair by which the baby or infant is supported at that time in a seated or partially reclined position. In one embodiment the said chair is a pushchair.

In one embodiment, the aperture which locates the protective bib with respect to the neck of the baby or infant, is permanendy formed or alternatively, the aperture is formed by the selective location together of retaining means so as to form the aperture once the protective bib is in position with respect to the baby or infant.

When retaining means are provided, the same can be released to allow the fitting of the bib to the baby or infant or removal of the bib from the baby or infant and the retaining means can be located together during use of the protective bib.

In one embodiment the protective bib includes first and second arms for the location therein of the respective arms of the baby or infant.

In one embodiment, the said engagement means include a first form of engagement assembly at or adjacent to the periphery of the protective bib and/or a second form of engagement assembly for location with portions of the frame of the article and/or a third form of engagement assembly to be located with the article. Typically the engagement means are provided to be selectively engaged with the article so as to retain the protective bib in position with the article and released so as to allow removal of the protective bib from the article.

In one embodiment, the first form of engagement assembly includes elasticated means which are located with the sheet material and which can be expanded to a degree to allow the same to be placed around a portion of the article such as, for example, around the rim of the support surface of a pushchair, and then retracted so as to act to engage the protective bib with the said pushchair and then be expanded again to remove the protective bib from the pushchair.

In one embodiment the second form of engagement assembly includes first and second portions which can be engaged together, such as by a snap fit function, to allow the same to be engaged around a frame member of the article, such as an arm rest, of a pushchair.

In one embodiment the third form of engagement assembly includes a sheet material panel which is provided in location with the protective bib at opposing edges and defines a gap between the rear face of the sheet material and said panel so that at least part of the article is located in the gap when the protective bib is located with the article.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, when the protective bib is in use, only the head, part of the neck, and hands are located externally of the protective bib and the remainder of the baby or infant is positioned between the support surface in the form of the chair and the underside of the sheet material so as to be protected, along with the said support surface, by the protective bib.

In one embodiment, the protective bib, when in use position, extends across the exposed area of the pushchair and the head of the baby or infant passes through the aperture in the protective bib to He externaHy of the protective bib. It will therefore be appreciated that the outer surface of the protective bib then acts as a protective sheet so as to prevent any materials from the baby or infant’s mouth or from the feeding process, from contacting the clothing of the baby or infant or the support surface of the chair on which the baby or infant is positioned at that time.

In one embodiment, the sheet material can be formed of, or provided with an external coating of a material which aids in the removal of material.

In one embodiment the protective bib may include a further sheet material portion which can be selectively removed from the same. In one embodiment the said further sheet material portion can be located at the part of the protective bib which is most likely to be contacted by material and is therefore most frequently washed and the selective removal of the same allows the said further portion to be washed more frequently than the remainder of the protective bib.

Specific embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings; wherein

Figure 1 illustrates a pushchair with a baby or infant located therein a conventional manner;

Figure 2 illustrates the pushchair and baby or infant of Figure 1 with a protective bib in accordance with one embodiment of the invention located therewith;

Figures 3a-e illustrate the protective bib of Figure 2 in greater detail;

Figures 4a-c illustrate a protective bib in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention; and

Figures 5a-c illustrate a protective bib in accordance with a yet further embodiment of the invention.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is illustrated one form of support structure for a baby or infant 2 in the form of a pushchair 4 which has a frame 6 with wheels 8, push handles 10 and a support surface 12 for the baby or infant 2. The support surface is typically formed from a sheet material supported at its periphery by a frame 14. The baby or infant is retained in a seating position by the shape of the support surface 12.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a protective bib 16 which can be located with the pushchair, in one embodiment with the frame 14 of the pushchair, portions of the frame at locations 18, 20 and with the rear of at least part of the pushchair so that the head and neck 22 of the baby or infant 2 is located externally of the protective bib 16 and the remainder of the baby or infant is located in a cavity formed between the inner surface of the protective bib 16 and the support surface 12 and so is protected, along with the support surface 12, from contact with any foodstuff, vomit or the like and is therefore kept relatively clean and hygienic in comparison with the conventional arrangement shown in Figure

1.

Figures 3a-e illustrated the protective bib in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 in more detail with Figures 3c-e illustrating the external surface 24 of the same showing that a further bib portion 26 can be selectively positioned adjacent the aperture 28 in the bib through which the baby or infant’s neck passes. This further portion can be selectively removed by, in this case, removal and attachment to strips of hook and loop fastening 30. 32, typically to allow the same to be washed as required. It is also shown how the protective bib includes arm portions 34, 36 which act to protect the arms of the baby or infant when the same are placed therein. Figures 3a and b illustrate the rear of the protective bib and show the internal surface 35 of the sheet material and shows the first engagement assembly formed at the periphery 38 of the sheet material with an elasticated rim 40. The elastication allows the same to be stretched and placed over and around the frame 14 of the pushchair so as to locate the protective bib in position with the pushchair for use and this is performed once the baby or infant is in position on the pushchair. The third form of engagement assembly in the form of panel 41 is shown in Figure 3a (and is removed from Figure 3b for ease of illustration). The panel 41 is joined at edges 43, 45 to the protective bib and forms a gap 45 between the internal surface 35 and the panel 41 such that the protective bib can be slid into position on the pushchair in the direction indicated by arrow 47 so that at least a portion of the pushchair, typically the portion 49 indicated in Figure 1, lies within the gap and so is engaged with the protective bib.

When in position, the retaining means 42 can be closed as shown in Figure 3a so as to form the aperture 28 around the neck of the baby or infant and the second form of engagement assembly, in the form of fixings 44 can be passed around the frame locations 18 and 20 and attached, in this case by snap buttons 46, but possibly by other engagement means, so that the protective bib is held in location with the baby or infant via aperture 28 and arm portions 34, 36, and with the pushchair via firs engagement assembly 40 and second engagement assemblies 44.

Further embodiments of the protective bib are illustrated in Figures 4a-c and 5a-c and the same reference numbers ate used for the same features with, in Figures 4a-c, variations in the shape of the rear portion of the protective bib 16 and the retaining means 42 indicated, and in Figures 5a-c the arm portions are provided with elasticated cuffs 50. In both of these embodiments the further bib portion is not used. However the same performance characteristics and advantages are achieved in each of the embodiments.

Claims

1. A protective bib, said bib including a sheet material portion, an aperture to allow the bib to be located with respect to the neck of a person and wherein engagement means are provided which allow the bib to be selectively engaged with a chair in which the person is located so as to maintain the bib in an extended protective position with respect to the person and/or said article.

2. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the aperture which locates the bib with respect to the neck of the person is permanently formed.

3. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the aperture which locates the bib with respect to the neck of the person is formed by retaining means which can be selectively positioned together so as to form the aperture once the bib is in position with respect to the neck of the person.

4. A bib according to claim 3 wherein the retaining means are releasable to allow the fitting of the bib to the person or removal of the bib from the person and then located together during use of the bib on the person.

5. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the bib includes first and second arm portions for the location therein of the respective arms of the person.

6. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the bib includes engagement means which are selectively engageable with the chair so as to allow retention of the bib in position with the chair and is selectively releasable so as to allow removal of the protective bib from the chair.

7. A bib according to claim 6 wherein the engagement means include a first form of engagement assembly positioned at or adjacent to the periphery of the protective bib and/or a second form of engagement assembly for location with a portion of a frame of the chair and/or a third form of engagement assembly located with the chair.

8. A bib according to claim 7 wherein the first form of engagement assembly includes elasticated means which can be expanded to a sufficient amount to allow the same to be placed around a portion of the chair and retracted so as engage the protective bib with the chair.

1801 19

9. A bib according to claim 7 wherein the second form of engagement assembly includes first and second portions which are engageable to allow the same to be engaged around a frame member of the chair.

10. A bib according to claim 7 wherein the third form of engagement assembly includes a sheet material panel provided in location with opposing edges of the bib to define a gap between the rear face of the sheet material portion and said sheet material panel so that at least part of the chair is located in the gap to locate the bib with the chair.

11. A bib according to any of the preceding claims wherein the head, part of the neck and hands of a person are located externally of the protective bib and the part of the person’s upper torso positioned on a support surface of the chair is located between the underside of the sheet material portion of the bib and the support surface and is protected.

12. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the sheet material portion, when in an inuse position, extends across the exposed area of the support surface of the chair and the head of the person passes through the aperture in the protective bib to lie externally of the protective bib.

13. A bib according to any of the preceding claims wherein the sheet material portion of the bib is formed, or provided with an external coating, of a material which aids in the removal of substances which fall thereon.

14. A bib according to any of the preceding claims wherein a further sheet material portion is provided which can be selectively positioned on and removed from the bib.

15. A bib according to claim 14 wherein the said further sheet material portion is located at the part of the bib which is deemed to be most likely to be contacted by material and hence most frequently require to be washed.

16. A bib according to any of the preceding claims wherein the person is a baby or infant.

17. A bib according to claim 1 wherein the said chair is a support structure to support the person in a seated or partially reclined position at the time of use of the bib.

18. A bib according to any of the preceding claims wherein the chair is a pushchair.

19. A bib and article assembly, said article provided in the form of a chair in which a person sits, and a bib for location with the said chair and the person when located on the chair, said bib having a sheet material portion which extends from the neck of the person across at least part of the torso of the person, means to allow the bib to be engaged with the person and wherein the bib includes engagement means to allow the bib to be located with the chair so that when in use, at least part of the person is located between the underside of the bib and the support surface of the chair and at least part of the person is protected by the bib from contact with extraneous materials.

CD δ