GB2599649A - Infant bib - Google Patents

Abstract

A bib having an outer part 1 and an inner part 4 with flaps 5, 6. Preferably the outer part has a neck encompassing portion and a chest covering portion, the neckline 9 being attached to the inner part. The flaps may be tucked over and into the wearers clothing neckline to secure the bib in place. Preferably the bib is constructed of one or more layers of absorbent material and may further comprise a layer of waterproof material. The bib may be reversible and may have fastening means (12, fig 11) on the back panels of the outer bib, which may be adjustable. The number and size of the flaps may vary to accommodate older infants or adults. Any lack of fasteners reduces the risk of suffocation and keeps the bib away from the neck folds of an infant, an area susceptible to drool rash, providing a more comfortable fit.

Description

Infant Bib This invention relates to a bib which comprises of an inner bib which has flaps that are used to secure it to the wearer, eliminating the need for fasteners, to keep it away from the neck folds for comfort and to provide an all-round clothing neckline protection for the wearer.

Bibs are used on infants to protect their clothes and skin from food, spit-ups and drooling. However, the use of existing bibs lacks effectiveness in a few areas. Firstly, they are a suffocation hazard as all bibs require some sort of fastening or ties around the neck, even with new-born bibs. Secondly, they do not provide enough protection of the clothing neckline from drools, pureed food or split-ups sliding down the infants neck. This is especially true during the early months where many infants are prone to spitting up milk in the lying down position when the liquid slides towards the shoulders or the back of the neck and into the clothing neckline that are not protected by existing bibs as they are detached from the clothing. This results in many clothes changes each day which can be stressful for parents, carers and the infant. Thirdly, infants have more neck folds which are susceptible to drool rash and since most infant clothing already fits snugly around the neck, adding the existing rotatable bib on top with fastening causes discomfort due to friction and lack of space around the neck. Finally, since these bibs are detached from the clothing and can rotate, they tend to disfavour the look of outfits as they look disjoint and out of place.

Statement of Invention

To overcome these issues, the proposed invention is an outer bib attached to the neckline of an inner bib which comprises of tuck-in flaps that are used to hold the outer bib in place. These flaps will also assist with putting on the bib to the clothing neckline as each flap is to be folded in one at a time. Once all flaps are tucked in, they will hold the outer bib securely in place, eliminating the need for fasteners and therefore the risk of suffocation. Furthermore, since the flaps fold in and over the clothing neckline, it will provide a 360 degrees protection to the clothing neckline, therefore, reducing the number of clothing changes per day. Having the bib attached in this manner will also keep it away from the neck folds of infants since this area is susceptible to drool rash, so it will provide a more comfortable fit. Furthermore, it will visually seem part of the outfit due to being tucked inside the neckline and it will not rotate as each flap will have an individual hold on the clothing neckline, therefore complimenting the look of outfits.

Detailed Description

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the front view of the main outer bib Figure 2 shows the inner bib with three tuck-in bib flaps before it is attached to the bib Figure 3 shows the back view of the main outer bib with the inner bib attached Figure 4 shows the front view when the bib is worn by the wearer Figure 5 shows the back view when the bib is worn by the wearer Figure 6 shows a side view with one flap of the inner bib flaps folded in Figure 7 is a cross section view, demonstrating how the main outer bib will sit on top of the wearers clothing neckline and the inner bib flaps will rest beneath the wearers clothing neckline.

Figure 8 shows an example of an alternative embodiment, showing the front view of the outer bib Figures 9 and 10 gives examples of alternative embodiments of the inner bib Figure 11 gives an example of an alternative embodiment showing the front view of the outer bib with a fastening feature Figure 1 shows the main outer bib 1 with a neck encompassing portion, a chest covering portion and a dotted outline for the inner bib to show it will be attached behind this outer bib. The cut-out neck slot 3 is the neckline of the outer bib which will allow encompassing of the neck of the wearer and the back panels 2 will meet at the back of the neck when worn by the wearer as shown in figure 4.

Figure 2 illustrates the main part of the invention, the inner bib 4 which also has a similar cut-out neck slot to the outer bib, with the neckline 9 and two cuts 7 to create the three flaps 5, 6.

Figure 3 shows that the inner bib is to be attached to the outer bib. The neckline 9 and the back panels 8 of the inner bib 4 is to be aligned with the neckline 3 and the back panels 2 of the outer bib 1 respectively before being attached. The attachment can be done in a variety of ways; one example is a hidden seam which is hidden on the outer layers.

Figures 4 and S shows the front and back views of the bib respectively as it would be worn, resting around the wearers neck where the flaps 5, 6 are tucked over and into the wearers clothing neckline. The flaps will assist with putting on the bib such that the flap 6 of the inner bib will be first tucked over and into the clothing neckline as shown in figure 6, then the flaps Swill each be tucked around the shoulders and back part of the clothing neckline. This will secure the bib in place as the inner bib 4 will sit beneath the wearers clothing neckline and the outer bib 1 will cover the top of the neckline and chest area providing complete protection and securing of the bib. This is further demonstrated in the cross section image, figure 7, where the wearers clothing 11 is protected between the outer bib land inner bib 4.

Both the inner bib land outer bib 4 may comprise of one or more layers of absorbent material and the complete bib can be single-sided or double-sided depending on the number of layers used. A layer of waterproof material may also be used to block liquid reaching the wearers clothing, for example a middle layer can consist of a waterproof layer sandwiched between two absorbent layers of fabric. In another two layer example the front layer may consist of absorbent material and the back layer may consist of waterproof material.

The outer bib 1 can assume any shape and can vary in size. Figure 8 demonstrates one such example of an alternative embodiment of the outer bib 1. In further embodiments, the number of flaps and the size of each flap that make up the inner bib 4 may vary to accommodate use with older infants, adults, seniors, special needs patients, hospital patients, and/or nursing home patients. Two alternative embodiments of the inner bib 4 are shown; figure 9 shows the inner bib consisting of four flaps; and figure 10 shows it consisting of two flaps.

A further embodiment of bib may include an adjustable fastening feature 12 on the back panels 2, at the end of the neckline opening as shown in figure 11, which may comprise of tie strings, velcro fasteners, buttons, hook and eye fasteners or press stud fasteners for older infants, adults or those with special needs to provide a stronger securing to the wearers clothing neckline.

In other embodiments, a larger adult-sized version of the whole bib may be used in a manner like the infant sized version. The larger adult-sized version may perform all functions, similar functions, and additional functions for preventing the spilling of liquids, food particles, waste, and bodily fluids onto a patient's P g

Claims (1)

1. Claims 1. A bib comprising of an outer bib and an inner bib with flaps 2. A bib according to claim 1, comprising of a chest covering portion and a neck encompassing portion with opening panels that align at the back of the neck of the wearer and an inner bib which comprises of fold-in flaps, with its neckline attached to the neckline of the outer bib 3. A bib according to any preceding claims, such that the said outer bib and the said inner bib are constructed of one or more layers of absorbent material 4. A bib according to any preceding claims, further comprising of a layer of waterproof material.5. A bib according to any preceding claims, further comprising of reversible sides for double sided use.6. A bib according to any preceding claims, further comprising of a fastening feature on the back of the panels of the sadi outer bib