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omptete Specification
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2 6'MAV 19S5
Date:
l3r('Z
N.z.p- •; ■:
:T CrK'CE
28 MA
R 1995
C-w* - ;r . - . / ;V r D ;PATENTS FORM NO. 5 ;Fee No. 1 & 4: ;PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION" ;INFANT CARRYING POUCH ;WE LUCY ISOBELLE ORMSBY and JEANETTE EDITH GRAY respectively of 4 Dorado Street, Erskine Park, New South Wales, Australia and 85 Boorea Street, Blaxland, New South Wales, Australia, both Australian citizens hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: ;l ;2419 1 ;This invention relates to a carrier pouch in which an infant can be safely carried by its mother. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a pouch which is unusually versatile in that it can be worn by the mother in a number of different positions, it is capable of being folded away into a belt pocket when not in use, and it can be strapped to the back of a supermarket shopping trolley of grid construction in order to hold the infant safely while the mother is shopping. ;Many designs of infant carrying pouches are currently available serving different purposes. One design comprises an appropriately shaped bag mounted within a light aluminium frame having straps enabling it to be worn comfortably on the mother's back. Another design of pouch avoids a frame and comprises a pocket having leg holes and in which the infant sits, the back of the pocket being extended upwards by means of a semi-stiff plastics backing strip, to support the infant's back and provide a head rest. Straps are attached to the plastics backing strip and the carrier pouch is worn with the infant facing the mother and held laterally by portions of a harness attached to anchorages. The harness enables the mother to carry the weight of the infant from her shoulders with the infant trapped comfortably between the backing strip and the front of the mother's body. Although such a construction of pouch can be stowed away fairly compactly when not in use, it is only capable of carrying an infant in one position. ;One of the many day-to-day situations which a modern-day, busy mother has to contend with is taking a lively infant with her while she is shopping. Most shopping trolleys are of grid construction and have a grid partition hinged at its lower end and which can be moved forwardly from the back of the trolley in order to provide a small compartment having a seat in which an infant may ;2 N.Z. PATENT OFFICE ;' 28 WAR 1995 I ;ii i v S ;be placed. Openings are provided in the back wall of the trolley and through which the infant's legs pass when it is sitting on the seat. The infant then faces rearwardly towards the trolley handle. ;Unfortunately, the seat provided in a shopping trolley is rather basic and does not give the infant any lateral support. A lively infant, finding the seat uncomfortable, will quickly struggle sideways to free its legs from the leg openings in the back wall of the trolley. It will then try and stand on the trolley seat. The infant's mother is naturally aware of this and will normally keep a very watchful eye on the infant in a shopping trolley. However, she frequently finds that she has to interrupt her shopping in order to rearrange the infant on the seat and to ensure that it never reaches a position where it can stand up and topple from the trolley. ;An object of this invention is to provide an infant carrying pouch of improved versatility. ;According to the present invention there is provided an infant carrying pouch comprising a strip of material having back and bottom support portions with a narrowed portion between them, restraining loops at the sides of the bottom support portion, a waist strap fixed to the back support portion, and at least two pairs of spaced harness loops fixed to the back and bottom support portions, the strip of material being formable into a pouch for an infant when the waist strap is tied and said harness loops being connectable to the end of a shoulder strap enabling an infant to be supported within the pouch from a persons shoulders. ;Reinforcing webbing in an X formation may extend between two pairs of said harness loops. ;3 j IV.'.T. 1' Mr"; :V OFFICE ;2« sVAR 1995 ;The pouch may include a shoulder harness which comprises two straps of substantially equal length interlinked in a X formation by a joint which enables one strap to slide relative to the other whilst maintaining unity, the ends of the shoulder harness straps each being provided with fasteners which enable them to be selectively fixed to the harness loops of the strip depending on the mode of carrying which is adopted. ;The front of the strip can be provided with a pocket which enables the strip to be rolled and stored in the pocket so that by using a further waist strap the pouch can be worn as a hip purse. ;One end of the first mentioned waist strap and one end of each shoulder strap can be adjustable for length. ;The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- ;Figure 1: shows in back elevation an inverted T shaped strip shaped to be formed into an infant carrying pouch; ;Figure 2: shows the strip of Figure 1 in front elevation; ;Figure 3: shows a harness which can be detachably connected to the pouch to enable it to be carried safely and comfortably; ;Figure 4. 5 and 6: shows the pouch in its closed condition and in use to enable the mother to carry the weight of the infant from her shoulders in any one of the three positions; and ;Lk 'j 9 1 8 ;Figure 7: ;shows diagrammatically a rear portion of a typical supermarket shopping trolley of grid construction and in which an infant is illustrated seated in the pouch which is tied to a hinged partition providing an infant-carrying compartment on the trolley; and ;Figure 8: ;shows a detachable cape of bag-like constructions which can be worn over the combination of infant and carrying pouch to protect the infant from inclement weather conditions. ;Figure 1 shows a strip 1 of thick quilted material. The back of the strip is made of strong jean material and the front of the strip, shown in Figure 2, is of softer material and is formed with slightly narrowed portion 3 to assist the formation of a pocket in which the infant is seated when the pouch is in use. ;Two sets of crossed jean webbing 4 are stitched to the back surface of the strip 1 and terminate in plastic loops and fixtures 5 for attaching the harness shown in Figure 3. ;The lower part of the strip 1 providing the head portion has a waist tie 7 stitched to it and releasable fastening fixtures 8 used to secure the ends of the tie together. The tie passes through a buckle 9 of one of the fastening fixtures to enable its length to be varied. The intermediate portion of the tie passes through D loops 10 of plastics material which are held in position with the tie being stitched to the jean face of the strip 1. ;The stem portion of the strip 1 referenced 11 and the opposite edge portions of the junction between the portion 6 and the stem portion 11 are protected by a ;soft edging material as shown at 13. Two restraining loops 14 are arranged at the lower stem and are stitched to the jean backing at their ends at 15. ;The upper part of strip 1 is covered with a fabric strip 16 which is stitched beneath the edging 13 at the top and upper sides of the stem-portion, and has an edge 17 elasticated so that it provides a pocket into which the lower stem and the head-portion can be stowed when the carrier pouch is not in use. A separate belt, not shown, can be fastened to the fixtures 5 to provide a belt enabling the carrier pouch to be carried around the waist of the mother when not in use. ;The harness used to carry the pouch on the mother's shoulders is shown in Figure 3. It comprises two thick webbing straps 20 which cross one another and are provided, at the point of crossing, with loop straps 21 which prevent the straps 20 from being uncrossed. The upper and lower ends of the straps are provided with plastics fixtures 22 enabling them to be attached to the fixtures 5 shown in Figure 1. Self-adhesive patches of material known under the registered trade mark VELCRO can be used to hold the free ends of the harness in appropriate positions on the carrier pouch when the harness is fitted to it. Four such VELCRO patches are shown in Figure 3 and referenced 24. ;Figures 4, 5 and 6 show different ways in which the carrier pouch can be supported on the shoulders of the mother with the infant is supported facing inwardly towards the front of its mother or outwardly. In some cases, such as when walking long distances, it may be more comfortable for the mother to support at least some of the weight of the pouch from her hips. A belt 30, normally used to carry the pouch when in its stowed position as has ;L. ^ v J ;previously been described, is then used around the mother's waist and its ends are secured to the D rings 10 provided on the head portion of the strip 1. ;Figure 7 shows the carrier pouch in use to hold an infant in a compartment provided between a grid back wall 40 of a shopping trolley. A conventional partition 41 which is hinged at 42 to the lower end of the back wall 40 can be tilted forwardly to provide a seat 43 for the infant who then faces rearwardly in the trolley and has its legs protruding through openings 44 provided in the rear wall of the trolley. The carrier pouch in which the infant is seated is placed on the seat 43 so that the infant's legs pass through the openings 44, and the web 7 is passed through the restraining loops 14 and around vertical bars in the grid partition 41 of the trolley. The fixtures 8 are then interconnected and the strap 7 tightened so that the infant is held in the carrier pouch, which, in turn, is securely held to the trolley. The webs 7 provide lateral support for the infant which is also provided with a back support by the upper stem 11 of the pouch. ;A cape shown in Figure 8 and made of warm, soft, quilted material provides a pocket 49 closed at its lower edge 48 and sides 47. A pair of zip fasteners 46 enable the upper part of the cape to be opened and the quilted portion 45 folded down to enable the carrier pouch to be inserted in the bag portion of the cape. The head of the infant is then contained within the hood-portion of the cape. When the cape is arranged around the infant and pouch, the cape is left unzipped to accommodate the harness. Tabs and VELCRO pads 52 enable the cape to be held in position on the carrier pouch. The tabs 51 are secured by the VELCRO pads 52 to attachment points provided on the harness which is carrying the weight of the infant. Press studs may be used in place of the VELCRO pads 51. ;NZ.PAT' i- 7 C.:l |C:: i ;~ *1 t
7 28 MAR 1995