Baby carrier cover system

Abstract

Cover ( 10 ) for baby held in front-carried carrier ( 100 ; or car seat / carrier 200 , FIG. 8 , etc.) suspended at adult user's front including two, top, substantially triangular, front ( 70 ) sub-panels ( 21 ) forming, alternatively, sealing collar ( 21' ) when positioned about baby's neck (FIG. 4 ), or hood ( 21 '') about baby's head when pulled up and snap connected ( 22 , FIG. 5 ). The cover includes shoulder straps ( 31 ), front straps ( 41 ), stowing sleeves ( 42 ), waist straps ( 51 ) providing four-point carrier attachment, interior zippered pouch ( 61 ), cinches ( 75 ), side "pocket" slits ( 76 ) & elastic bands ( 77 ) in expandable, accordion sides ( 74 ). A central band ( 31 ) of heavy duty material provides structural support. Cover's rear ( 71 ) has "cut-out" ( 72 ) allowing cover to be slipped under front-carried carrier and over baby in carrier, with two, vertically spaced, strap sets connecting cover directly to carrier's body attachment straps (e.g., 101, 103 ) and not directly to user.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the priority rights of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 637,715 filed Dec. 19 (20), 2004 entitled “Baby Carrier Cover System” listing the co-inventors hereof.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to baby carriers, for example, those made of cloth or other fabric material worn on the front of an adult and secured by, for example, shoulder straps, waist straps, etc., as well as those that are rigid (e.g., made of plastic) and carried by hand or used as car seats or strollers, etc., and more particularly to a cover therefor for supplemental covering and protection of the baby to protect the baby from the ambient or undesirable environmental conditions. Various features of the cover of the invention and its cooperative relationships with the carrier, the baby and the adult user are described below. BACKGROUND ART [0003] A list of prior patents based on a search done by one of the co-inventors...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0032] The right and left sides of the exemplary embodiment of the carrier cover preferably each include inverted box pleats or the like with a rectangular bottom. This design provides a nice tailored look while at the same time allows enough fabric and “give” so that the child can freely move his/her arms and legs. The currently preferred cover thus preferably has a squared-off, laterally expandable, paper grocery bag-like interior with the inverted box pleat or accordion-fold sides (or the like) providing a side expandable interior resulting in additional room for the child to comfortably move about, flail about, kick and the like.

[0033] Within the inverted box pleat side panels preferably is, among other items, a cinching system which allows one to adjust the carrier cover's effective length to best accommodate the baby's height.

[0034] The exemplary, currently preferred carrier cover of the invention can be attached using several, different strap sets, which preferably are located at the shoulder, front and waist areas. By providing multiple means by which to secure the carrier cover, this design ensures a snug, secure fit and also allows a parent to decrease coverage while allowing the carrier cover to remain affixed to the carrying device. For example, when in a store, a parent can undo the top shoulder straps and the front straps to remove the carrier cover from the child's shoulders and torso, while keeping the waist straps attached so that the child's legs remain covered.

[0035] The cover's shoulder straps and

Problems solved by technology

Additionally, there are no side pockets for the adult user and no pouch for storing essentials.

The Simpson cover also has no hood / collar arrangement, no way to adjust the cover's effective length and has limited wiggle room for the child, etc.

It has a bulky design with no way to adjust length (i.e., effective height), is not designed to be used on devices other than soft front infant carriers, and has no form of hood, etc.

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