GB2077114A - Support arrangement for a child exercising device - Google Patents

Abstract

The support arrangement is of the type comprising a front panel 11, a back panel 13, a crutch part 12 interconnecting said front and back panels, and an adjustable waistband 14. A difficulty with such arrangements is that the child is supported almost exclusively by the crutch part and the arrangement affords little lateral support against vertical oscillation. The present invention overcomes the above disadvantages by providing a layer 16 of flexible resilient material, conveniently a one inch thick layer of resilient foam, between the back and/or front panel and a child in the arrangement. In a preferred embodiment the support arrangement includes a stiffening member adjacent the back panel and a resilient ring 22 adjacent the waistband, the said ring serving to hold the arrangement open to facilitate the insertion of a child into, or removal of the child from, the arrangement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Child exercising device This invention relates to a child exercising device and has particular application to those exercising devices commonly known as the "Baby-Bouncer" or "Baby-hop".

The "Baby-Bouncer" exercising device for babies and small children is well known in the art and generally comprises a child support arrangement suspended from a fixed location via a resilient support and whereby a child in the child support arrangement can 'kick" against the ground to cause vertical oscillation of the child support arrangement.

The conventional child support arrangement generally comprises a strip of woven material forming a front panel, crutch, and back panel for the arrangement with an adjustable belt or waistband secured to the front and back panels. Two flexible members, each secured to the front and rear panels, have their midlength regions supported by a single anchorage from a resilient support means or by a yoke which is anchored to a single suspension point from the resilient support means. Thus, with a child in the support arrangement and the waistband fastened, the lower trunk regions of the child are supported in such manner that the weight of the child can be taken by the resilient support means and the child cannot "tip" from its support.

When a human body is subjected to oscillations of the amplitude and frequencies attainable with a "Baby-Bouncer" the organs of the body, being of different masses and densities and generally surrounded by soft tissue, are subjected to different relative displacements and if the body is not correctly supported such organs can slip relative to one another to a degree detrimental to the body. This danger is particularly acute with a small child who may not be able to recognise the reasons for its discomfort and thereby take steps to avoid the uncomfortable oscillations and whose bone structure is soft and suseptible to damage.

A serious disadvantage with the conventional child support arrangements are that when the child is erect virtually all its weight is applied to the crutch part of the support and the front and back panels and waistband afford little practical support to the child.

The present invention seeks to provide a child support arrangement for an exercising device capable of affording a greater degree of support than conventional child support arrangements.

According to the present invention a child support arrangement for a child exercising device comprises a flexible material defining a front panel, a crutch part and a back panel, an adjustable waistband, and a layer of flexible resilient material intended to act between said front panel and/or said back panel.

Preferably the layer of flexible resilient material acts between said front panel and said rear panel.

In a preferred embodiment such layer of flexible material extends for the greater part of the height direction of the front and rear panels.

Preferably said waistband surrounds the said layer.

Preferably said layer comprises a flexible resilient foam material, such as sponge rubber, conveniently in the region of one inch thick.

In a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention the front and back panels each comprise two thicknesses of flexible material and the said layer for each panel is located between the two thicknesses of material of that panel.

Thus, with a child located in the child support arrangement and the waistband tensioned, an advantageous resilient support for the child's front and rear lower trank regions is obtained.

According to a further aspect of the invention the rear panel is provided with a stiffening member.

Preferably the stiffening member comprises a strip or panel of semi-rigid material, such as a rigid plastics or metal, with greater stiffness in the intended vertical direction and to this end the said panel may include strengthening ribs or corrugations extending in the height direction of the child support arrangement.

Preferably the said stiffening member is positioned externally of the back panel layer of resilient material.

Thus, by providing a stiffening for the back panel, the back of the lower trunk regions of the child is supported against damage to the spine.

A further difficulty with conventional child support arrangements is that, with the crutch part and waistband of flexible material and thereby collapsible, it is difficult to insert a child into the child support arrangement whilst the bouncer is suspended from its fixed elevated support. To overcome this difficulty most adults insert the child into the child support arrangement with the bouncer removed from its elevated fixed support and then suspend the bouncer, with the child therein, from the fixed elevated support, a difficult operation particularly with an active child.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a baby-bouncer including a resilient ring at or adjacent the waistband of the support, said ring, when the waistband is loose, serving to maintain the child support in open condition to facilitate the insertion, and removal of a child from the support means.

Preferably the resilient ring is located above the waistband of the seating arrangement and, in a preferred embodiment, the upper ends of the front and rear panels pass over and around said ring.

The invention will now be described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows, in perspective view, a child support arrangement for a baby-bouncer type device, Figure 2 shows a cross section through the back panel of the arrangement of Fig. 1 and Figure 3 shows a detaii view of part of the stiffener of Figs. 1 and 2.

The child support arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1 is intended to be suspended from a resilient support means as is well known in the baby-bouncer art but, as the resilient support means forms no part of the present invention, said support means has been omitted from the drawings.

The support arrangement illustrated in Fig.

1 and Fig. 2 generally comprises a flexible sheet material defining a front panel 11, crutch 12, and back panel 1 3 with a waistband 1 4 comprising a part 1 4a, secured to front panel 11, part 14 b, secured to back panel 13, and fastening means, such as press-fasteners 15, for securing the adjacent ends of parts 1 4a and 1 4b in any of a plurality of different positions, thus permitting the waistband 1 4 to be adjustable.

A layer 1 6 of resilient foam material is located against the inner surface of front panel 11 and retained by a piece 1 7 of flexible material which overlies the layer 1 6 and is peripherally secured, as by stitching, to the panel 11. A layer 1 8 of resilient foam material is located adjacent the inner surface of the back panel 1 3 and retained by piece 1 9 of flexible material, peripherally secured to panel 1 3 as by stitching. A strip of rigid plastics material 20, with vertical corrugations 21, is located between layer 18 and the back panel 13.

The child support arrangement further includes a resilient ring 22, conveniently of foam rubber, retained by turning the upper free edges of panels 11 and 1 2 over different length sections of said ring 22 and securing said free edges to the panels 11 and 13, as by stitching, so that the ring 22 passes through two tunnels formed at the upper free edges of the panels 11 and 13.

The child support arrangement is completed by flexible straps 23 and 24, each secured at its ends to panels 11 and 13, and which straps 23 and 24 have their mid-length regions (not shown) attached for support to a resilient support arrangement (not shown) as is well known in the baby-bouncer art.

It will be observed that when the waistband ends 1 4a and 1 4b are disconnected the resilient ring 22 will hold the upper regions of the child support arrangement in open condition to permit a child to be readily inserted into, and removed from, the child support arrangement whilst the child support arrangement is suspended from its resilient support means.

With a child inserted into the child support means the ends 1 4a and 1 4b to each side of the child support arrangement are secured, by connecting appropriate press-fasteners 15, to afford a firm, but comfortable, support for the child.

A child in the child support means, with the waistband 1 4 correctly adjusted, is supported for all conditions of the child support means, the resilient layers 1 6 and 1 8 afford a resilient support which resists relative displacement of the organs in the lower trunk part of the child whilst the rigid plastics material 20 affords a support to reduce accidental spinal damage to the child.

In the specific example the layer 16, and the layer 1 8 and plastics material 20, form an inherent part of the child support arrangement but one edge region of the respective pieces 1 7 and 1 9 of flexible material may not be stitched to the respective panels 11 or 1 3 so that said pieces 1 7 and 1 9 form pockets.

With such an arrangement the layers 1 8 and 1 9 and the strip of rigid plastics material 20 can be removed from the child support arrangement for cleaning, or replacement, and the cleaned or replacement layer 18, 1 9 or strip 20 can be re-inserted in the device.

Although the present invention has been described by way of example with reference to a specific embodiment many modifications and variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art and such variations and modifications as include a flexible resilient material in the front or rear panel of a child support arrangement must lie within the scope of this invention.

Claims (11)

1. A child support arrangement, for a child device, comprising a front panel, a back panel, a crutch part interconnecting said front and back panels, and an adjustable waistband, characterised in that a layer of flexible resilient material is arranged to act between the front or back panel, and a child in the support arrangement.

2. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which the layer of flexible, resilient material extends for the greater part of the height direction of its associated panel.

3. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the layer of flexible, resilient material comprises a flexible resilient foam.

4. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the layer of flexible, resilient material has a thickness in the region of one inch.

5. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 in which a said layer of flexible resilient material is associated with the front panel and another said layer of flexible material is associated with the back panel.

6. A child support arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which the, or each, layer of flexibly resilient material is retained with its associated panel by a piece of flexible material secured at peripheral edge regions to the associated panel.

7. A child support arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a stiffening member for the back panel.

8. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 7 in which the stiffening member comprises a strip or panel of plastics or metal material.

9. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 7 or 8 in which the stiffening member includes ribs or corrugations intended to afford a greater stiffness in the vertical direction than the horizontal direction when the arrangement is in its position of use.

1 0. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 7, 8 or 9 in which the stiffening member is located adjacent the internal face of the back panel.

11. A child support arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a resilient ring at or adjacent the waistband of the support, said ring surrounding a child in said support and serving to maintain the child support open to facilitate insertion of a child into, and removal from, the support.

1 2. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 11 in which the said ring is located above the waistband.

1 3. A child support arrangement as claimed in claim 11 or 12, in which the upper regions of the front and back panels pass over and around front and rear parts respectively of said ring.

1 4. A child support arrangement as claimed in any preceding claims including flexible members, secured to the front and rear panels, for suspending the child support arrangement in its position of use.

1 5. A child support arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.