US2827953A

US2827953A - High chair attachment

Info

Publication number: US2827953A
Application number: US461537A
Authority: US
Inventors: Darlene M Jones
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-10-11
Filing date: 1954-10-11
Publication date: 1958-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1975-03-25

Description

March 25, 1958 D. M. JONES L 2,827,953

" HIGH CHAIR ATTACX-MENT' Filed 00;. 11 1954 y B I 3 'WI 9 V v TORNEYS United States Parent HIGH CHAIR ATTACHMENT Darlene M. Jones, San Pablo, Calif. Application October 11, 1954, Serial No. 461,537

6 Claims. (Cl. 155-188) This invention relates to attachments for high chairs and the like, and is more particularly directed towards a device which may be positioned on a high chair so as to receive food, liquid or other objects which may be dropped by the occupant of the chair.

Between the ages of approximately eight months and three years, a child is normally placed in a high chair for his feedings, as in this manner the child is relatively fastened in position at a level which is convenient for the adult to care for him. However, notwithstanding the provision of a tray on such chairs, a young child during the course of a meal or other feeding will invariably, either deliberately or accidentally, cause quantities of food or liquid to drop from the tray onto the floor. This ob viously requires time consuming effort to clean the floor adjacent the chair after each feeding.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an attachment for a high chair which is adapted to catch and retain both liquid and solid objects which may be dropped by the chair occupant or by the person feeding the occupant.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described which is simple in construction and which may be readily attached to and removed from a conventional high chair without interfering with the normal use thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a guard attachment of the above type which completely encompasses the chair so that irrespective of which portion of the chair the material has fallen from, the material will be trapped before falling to the ground.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, the variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a high chair equipped with the attachment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevational view with the chair portions indicated by dash-dot lines.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional plan view taken substantially in the plane indicated by line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a portional cross-sectional view, similar to Figure 2, but illustrating a modified form of my invention.

The attachment of this invention, generally indicated by the numeral 6 is particularly adapted for installation on a high chair 7, best seen in Figure 1 of the drawing. As is well known in the art, a conventional high chair will include a seat 8, a plurality of legs 9, a back 12, arm rests 13, and a tray 14 supported on the rests. The chair may further be provided with a foot rest 16, usually pivotally carried by the forward portion of the seat. While this construction serves numerous useful purposes, there ice is nothing to prevent the annoying spillage of food and the like from the chair to the floor on which it is supported.

By means of the attachment 6, the foregoing difficulty is eliminated as the attachment when in its operative position on the chair will catch and retain both solid and liquid objects falling from the tray. 14 or from the hands or mouth of the child heated in the chair. Broadly speaking, the attachment includes a central portion 17 adapted to encircle the legs 9 subjacent the seat and an integral upwardly and outwardly diverging portion 18 extending from the lower edge of portion 17. Thus, the

portions

17 and 18 cooperate to define a substantially continuous V-shaped trough 19 for receiving and retaining the spilled material.

Preferably,

portions

17 and 18 are constructed of an easily cleanable pliant plastic material such as vinylite, and means are provided to permit the portions to assume their above described positions on the chair. Portion 17 is formed of a generally rectangular piece of material with an upper edge 21 and ends 22 adapted to be secured together by any suitable means such as snap fasteners 23. Portion 18 may be formed integrally with or is preferably secured to the lower edge of portion 17 from which it then extends upwardly and outwardly in a cone-shaped manner to an upper edge 24 which may be slightly below the level of the. tray. Although the upper edge 24 is shown in the drawing :as defining a generally rectangular outline, it could likewise be made. oval or circular without departing from thescope of this invention. The end-s 26 of portions 18 are similarto ends 22 and are releasably secured together by additional snap fasteners 27. It will be appreciated that while most high chairs have a substantially uniform leg spacing, a small differential in the latter might render portion 17. too loose and permit the entire unitto slide downwardly from its normal position wherein edge 21 is substantially immediately adjacent the lower surface of seat 8. To assure a tight fit, I provide a plurality of draw strings 31 adjacent the upper and lower edges of portion 17 which may be tightened after the device is positioned on the chair. A similar draw string 32 may, if desired, be positioned at upper edge 24 of portion 18, and any number of intermediate strings may likewise be utilized.

In view of the fact that, the

portions

17 and 18 are of a soft pliant material, stiffening means must be provided to cause portion 18 to assume the position illustrated in the drawing. Preferably, this may be accomplished by providing continuous sealed

pockets

36, 37 and 38 at the bottom, middle and top of the portion, such pockets containing entrapped air. Similar vertically extending pockets 39 are provided, and it has been found that this combination, while deformable under a load, will cause the portion to retain its desired generally conical configuration.

In Figure 4, a slight modified stiifening arrangement is disclosed wherein instead of entrapped air wire 41 or the like is connected to the pliant material. The wire is also capable of limited distortion to facilitate installing and removing the attachment while still performing its major funtcion of keeping portion 18 in its extended form.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that to install the unit, the fasteners 23 and 27 are opened and portion 17 is wrapped around the chair legs 9, the snaps secured and the draw strings tightened. This will provide a continuous trough 19 of upwardly diverging cross-sectional form completely around the seat and tray of the chair so as to receive articles falling from the latter. However, where liquid has fallen, the same must be prevented from running out of the trough at the

ends

22 and 26 of the respective portions. Accordingly, at each end of each of the portions, the material is folded back 3 as indicated at 46 so that the liquid will be confined within the trough.' I i While the above described device is simple and economical to produce and may be incorporated on a high chair without interfering with the normal use of thechair, it is' believ'ed that c'ouiitles's' hou'rs of annoying floorcleaning a c'tivi'ties may be eliminated by its use.

What isclaimed is:

1. A11 attachment for a highchair having a first portion a'daptedro encompass the legs of the chair substantially immediately below the chair seat, and a second portion attached to'the lower edge of said first portion and thence extending outwardly and upwardly therefrom to define a trough'i'sub'stantially encompassing said chair, each of said portions being substantially impervious to water whereby a continuous water-containing open-top receptacle for liquidextends completely around said chair.

2. An attachment for a high chair having a seat and a plurality of legs supporting said seat comprising: a first generally rectangular pliant member having an upper edge, a lower edge and end portions, said member being adapted to encompass'said legs with the upper edge thereof adjacent said seat, a second pliant member having an upper edge a'ndend portions aligned with said first mentioned end portions'and a lower edge integrally associated with the lower edge of said first member, means for releasably securing the respective ends of said first and second members together, the upper edge of said second member having a greater peripheral length than the lower edge thereof and being positioned above the upper edge of said first member, said members defining a trough extending around said chair for catching and retaining material falling therein.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which said first member when mounted on said legs assumes a generally rectangular form, and said second member assumes an outwardly and upwardly diverging form.

4. A device for catching articles falling from the tray of a high chair which comprises a substantially unitary member having a first vertically disposed central portion adapted to encompass and be secured to a high chair and a second portion extending outwardly and upwardly from adjacent the lower edge of said first portion to define with said first portion a horizontally extending trough extending completely around said chair for receiving spilled material from said chair.

5. A device for catching articles falling from the tray of a high chair which comprises a substantially unitary member having a first vertically disposed central portion adapted to encompass and be secured to a high chair substantially immediately subjacent the seat thereof and above the bottom of the chair legs and a second portion extending outwardly and upwardly from adjacent the lower edge of said first portion to define with said first portion a continuous horizontally extending trough for receiving spilled material from said chair, each of said portions having generally aligned end portions, and means for releasably securing the respective end portions together to provide a complete enclosure around said chair. I

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which said end portions are provided with substantially vertically extending means for preventing fiowable material from passing out of saidtrough at said end portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 924,554

Jackson June 8, 1909 1,050,205 Conley Ian. 14, 1913 1,377,860 Thomas May 10, 1921 2,423,159 Shockey July 1, 1947 2,540,685 Mayer Feb. 6, 1951 2,577,274 Sampson Dec. 4, 1951 2,585,434 Caponera Feb. 12, 1952 2,607,052 Le Roy Aug. 19, 1952 2,608,696

Le Roy Sept. 2, 1952