GB2374525A

GB2374525A - Sleeping bag allowing connection to the safety harness of a seat

Info

Publication number: GB2374525A
Application number: GB0109597A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frances Elizabeth Clohessy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-19
Filing date: 2001-04-19
Publication date: 2002-10-23
Also published as: GB0109597D0

Abstract

A body warmer (sleeping bag) 10 for use with a seat 34 having a safety harness, e.g. a child's car seat, comprises a body-receiving envelope 12 having a back portion 14 and a front portion 16. The back portion 14 has at least one aperture 18, 20 allowing passage of harness portions 22, 24, 26 which allow a body to be secured to seat 34 whilst within envelope 12. Warmer 10 may have flaps 40 covering part of the harness inside envelope 12, and holes 42 allowing access to the harness once the body is in the envelope. Holes 42 may be fastenable, e.g. with velcro¹, buttons, zippers, draw-cords or elastic, and warmer 10 may have a head portion 28 which fastens it to seat 32, e.g. by velcro¹, stud fasteners or a pocket 30 which fits over the seat. Warmer 10 may have slits 44, secured with fasteners 46a, 46b when closed, on the front and/or sides allowing displacement of front portion 16. Warmer 10 may have an insulating layer, a waterproof layer, and/or a breathable layer, and a shaped foot portion which maintains it a spaced distance from the feet in use. Warmer 10 may have holes for harness portions 22, 24, 26 in front portion 16, and may narrow towards the head portion (figure 5).

Description

Body Warmer The present invention relates to a body warmer for use in association with a seat having a safety harness for securing a body to said seat and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to such body warmers suitable for use with child car seats.

Whilst there are a number of body or child car seats available on the market, none of these allows one to keep the baby or child warm whilst removing the child easily from the car seat. In present arrangements a child that has fallen asleep in the car seat often wakes up as it is removed from the seat and transferred from the vehicle. This is particularly the case in inclement weather requiring the use of an allin-one baby suit which keeps the child both warm and dry, as this must also be removed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which reduces and possibly eliminates the above-mentioned problems.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a body warmer for use in association with a seat having a safety harness for securing a body to the seat and comprises an envelope into which the body may be placed and having a back portion and a front portion, said back portion having holes provided therein for the passage of portions of said safety harness therethrough so as to allow securing of said body to said seat whilst being enveloped by said envelope.

In a more comfortable arrangement the body warmer may further include one or more cover portions (flaps) for covering at least a portion of the harness on the inside of the envelope, thereby to protect the body from said harness.

Whilst a number of variations are described herein, a preferred arrangement of the present invention is one in which the envelope substantially covers the body once the body is placed therein.

Conveniently, the envelope includes access holes to allow access to the harness once the body has been placed in the envelope. Fasteners may be provided for fastening the access holes closed when not in use and these may take the form of velcrol buttons, zips, draw-cords or elastic.

Conveniently, the warmer includes a head portion extending from a main body portion of the envelope at the back thereof and including a seat fastener for fastening the envelope to the seat. The seat fastener may comprise a returned portion of the head portion which, in operation, fits over the head of the seat so as to secure the envelope thereto.

Conveniently, the envelope further includes one or more slits in the front, side or sides thereof so as to allow the front portion to be displaced when not required.

Preferably, the wanner includes slit fasteners for securing said slits closed as and when required.

The envelope may comprise an insulating layer and/or a water resistant or waterproof layer and any of these layers may comprise breathable material.

As an alternative to the returned head portion described above, the warmer may be secured to the head of the seat by seat fasteners comprising velcro or poppers.

Advantageously, the head portion may include a waterproof outer layer for protecting the warmer when exposed to inclement weather.

Advantageously, the envelope includes a shaped foot portion for maintaining the warmer a spaced difference from the feet of a body placed therem.

In one arrangement the warmer includes holes for shoulder straps and a crotch strap, each of which pass through the back portion of the warmer.

In an alternative arrangement, the warmer includes holes for a crotch strap provided in both the back and the front of said envelope and shoulder straps remain on the outside thereof for securing to each other and to said crotch strap.

In the above arrangement the envelope may be narrowed towards the head portion so as to allow the shoulder straps to pass over the narrowed portion for easy securing to said crotch strap.

Also described herein is a baby seat having securing straps and a body wanner as described herein.

The present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure I is a side view of a child vehicle seat and the body warmer positioned therein; Figure 2 is a first front view of one alternative arrangement of a body warmer/seat combination ; Figure 3 is an alternative front elevation of the body, a warmer/seat combination and ; Figures 4 and 5 illustrate alternative forms of the body warmer itself Referring now to the drawings in general but particularly to Figure 1, the body warmer shown generally at 10 comprises an envelope 12 having a back portion 14 and a front portion 16. As shown throughout the drawings the back portion 14 is provided with a plurality of holes 18,20 for the passage of safety harness straps 22,24, 26 therethrough. The inter-relationship of the straps and holes will be described in detailed later herein but it will, at least for the moment, be appreciated that by facilitating the passage of said harness lines through the back portion 14 it will be possible to secure a body to the seat whilst also being positioned within the warmer itself. Best seen in Figure 1 is a further feature of the present invention which comprises a head portion 28 extending from the main body portion of the envelope 12 at the back 14 thereof and which includes some form of seat fastener for fastening the

envelope to the seat. In the particular example of Figure 1 the seat fastener comprises a returned portion 30 of the head portion 28 which, in operation, fits over the head 32 of the seat 34 so as to secure the envelope thereto. In alternative arrangements shown

specifically in Figures 4 and 5 but applicable to all embodiments of the present tt-)" invention the fastening means may comprise straps or loops 36a, 36b having velcro or poppers 38 provided thereon for engagement with suitable fasteners on the seat itself Shown throughout the drawings is an upper extension portion 16a which may be folded down over the front portion 16 or pulled upwardly towards the face of any body or baby placed therein so as to provide a more comfortable sleeping arrangement.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, it will be appreciated that the straps 22,24 pass through rather larger apertures 18 provided in the back portion 14

and it might be desirable to protect the body of the person or baby placed in the envelope from the edges of these apertures. Consequently, an arrangement of the

present invention provides one or more cover portions or flaps 40 for covering the

aperture 18 once the straps have been passed therethrough. These may be secured by 1to\ any conventional means such as velcrotor poppers (not shown). Also shown in Figures 2 and 4 are optional access holes 42 for allowing access to the harness once the body has been placed in the envelope. These holes 42 may be provided with W fasteners (not shown) in the form of velcrd buttons, zips, draw-cords or elastic.

Shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5 is a further feature in the form of one or more slits 44 in the front, side or sides of the envelope 16 so as to allow the upper or front portion 16 to be displaced when not required. Figure 4, for example, shows an edge of the front portion 16 being displaced so as to allow access to the inner portion of the envelope and possibly even the security straps or body placed therein. Again, these openings or slits may be provided with slit fasteners shown generally at 46a, 46b for securing the slits closed as and when required. Any suitable means such as velc or

zips or the like may be employed for this purpose.

Figure 2 illustrates a particular arrangement which straps 22 pass through the upper or front portion 16 and into the interior of the envelope where they may be secured to the crotch strap 26 which enters the envelope via hole or aperture 20. This arrangement allows the arms of the person or baby positioned within the envelope to remain outside of the envelope and this might provide additional conflict if, for example, the envelope is being used for an adult or hospital patient. If such an arrangement is employed it might be advantageous to provide some for of storm flap 48 so as to prevent the ingress of inclement weather through the aperture 16b provided therein. An alternative to this strap arrangement is shown in Figure 5 in which the crotch strap 26 also passes through the front portion 16 so as to allow securing of all straps outside of the envelope itself Referring now to Figure 3 it will be appreciated that the straps 22,24, 26 may all be secured on the inside of envelope 16 which is in contrast with the arrangement of Figure 2. In the arrangement of Figure 3 the various straps simply pass through

apertures 18,20 and into the envelope but do not pass through the front portion 16 itself The straps are then secured to buckle 48 in the normal manner and this operation may be simplified by the provision of apertures 42 shown in Figures 2 and 4 but not in Figure 3. For the purposes of clarity, the embodiment of Figure 3 is shown without the upper part of front portion 16 but it will be appreciated that this part is, normally, kin position over the straps and buckles themselves. This arrangement allows for the person or child positioned in the envelope to be more securely and comfortably positioned as their arms may easily be positioned within the envelope itself.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 it will be appreciated that the envelope

arrangement shown in Figures 1-3 is similar to that shown in Figure 4. The Figure 4

arrangement does, however, show additional securing means in the form of tabs 36a 1 havmg poppers or velcropS provided thereon. The straps would secure to the seat so WM long as corresponding velcrtpoppers are provided at the appropriate portion thereof It1'M Figure 4 also illustrates in more detail the position of the velcro (or zips 46a, 46b

required in order to secure the side portions for slits discussed above. Also shown in Figure 4 is a storm flap 42a provided on access 42.

Referring now particularly to Figure 5 we would draw the reader's attention to the wasted portions 50 formed by contouring the back portion 18 so that the edges thereof remain within or between straps 22,24. Such an arrangement would allow a person or child to be placed in the warmer before being positioned in the seat as the straps at the rear do not need to pass through the back portion 18. The straps may then be passed within the envelope in order to connect to crotch strap 26 or may be placed over the outside thereof in order to connect to crotch strap 26 when the outer portion of the envelope is provided with a suitable aperture 52 for allowing said strap 26 to pass through the envelope. Hole 52 in combination with hole 20 allowing the crotch strap to be fed through the envelope in order to facilitate buckling of the straps on the outside of the envelope itself Additional features shown only in Figure 5 nut applicable to each and every embodiment of the invention include strap 36b which may, for example, be of elastic or resilient material and may also be provided with

( vetcrotor poppers shown generally at 38 for securing with associated velcrct or poppers provided on the head portion of the seat 34.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a means for keeping a person or baby warm and protected from its environment whilst still allowing easy access to the various safety straps required when transporting the person or baby. For each of these arrangements it will be possible to remove the person or baby from the vehicle safety seat 34 and transport them to a more convenient location at which the envelope may be removed either immediately or at a later time. Such an arrangement is particularly suited for babies which often fall asleep whilst being transported in velucles and are easily awoken during the disturbance necessary in order to extricate them from the vehicle.

Whilst the present invention has been described with reference to child safety seats for use in vehicles it will also be appreciated that such an arrangement may be used for securing a patient to stretchers and this might be particularly advantageous when the patient is being transferred between hospitals. Additionally, injured mountaineers may be transported by such an arrangement as this would be much more comfortable that securing the patient within a conventional sleeping bag.

Claims

EXAMPLE CLAIMS 1. A body warmer for use in association with a seat having a safety harness for securing a body to the seat comprises: an envelope into which the body may be placed and having a back portion and a front portion, said back portion having holes provided therein for the passage of portions of said safety harness therethrough so as to allow securing of said body to said seat whilst being enveloped by said envelope.
2. A body warmer as claimed in claim 1 and further including one or more cover portions (flaps) for covering at least a portion of the harness on the inside of the envelope, thereby to protect the body from said harness.
3. A body warmer as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the envelope substantially covers the body once the body is placed therein.
4. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the envelope includes access holes to allow access to the harness once the body has been placed in the envelope.
5. A body warmer as claimed in claim 4 and including fasteners for

fastening the access holes closed when not in use.
6. A body warmer as claimed in claim 5 including fasteners selected from the group comprising : t velcro buttons, zips, draw-cords, elastic.

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7. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 including a head portion extending from a main body portion of the envelope at the back thereof and including a seat fastener for fastening the envelope to the seat.
8. A body warmer as claimed in claim 7 in which said seat fastener comprises a returned portion of the head portion which, in operation, fits over the head of the seat so as to secure the envelope thereto.
9. A baby warmer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the envelope further includes one or more slits in the front, side or sides thereof so as to allow the front portion to be displaced when not required.
10. A body warmer as claimed in claim 9 including slit fasteners for securing said slits closed when required.
11. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 in which said envelope comprises an insulating layer.
12. A baby warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 in which said envelope comprises a water resistant or waterproof layer.
13. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 in which the

envelope comprises breathable material.
14. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 13 in which said tftl\ seat fastener comprises velcilor poppers.

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15. A baby warmer as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 13 in which the head portion includes a waterproof outer layer.
16. A baby warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15 in which the envelope includes a shaped foot portion for maintaining the warmer a spaced distance from the feet of a body placed therein.
17. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16 including holes for shoulder straps and a crotch strap.
18. A body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16 including holes for a crotch strap provided in both the back and the front of said envelope.
19. A body warmer as claimed in claim 18 in which the envelope narrows towards the head portion to allow shoulder straps to pass over the narrow portion for securing to each other and said crotch strap.
20. A baby seat having securing straps and a body warmer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19.
21. A body warmer substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.