WO2013110924A2

WO2013110924A2 - A child support device

Info

Publication number: WO2013110924A2
Application number: PCT/GB2013/050085
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giles Crown
Original assignee: Giles Crown
Priority date: 2012-01-23
Filing date: 2013-01-16
Publication date: 2013-08-01
Also published as: GB201201034D0; GB2498579A; WO2013110924A3; GB2498579B

Abstract

There is provided a child support device, a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders; at least one support strap extending from the yoke, the at least one support strap dedicated to at least partly supporting the weight of the child; and at least one bag strap extending from the yoke for supporting a bag, the at least one bag strap dedicated to supporting the weight of the bag rather than the weight of the child. The at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap extend from opposite sides of the yoke. There is also provided a carrying device comprising a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders, at least one bag strap extending from the yoke for supporting a bag, and at least one second bag strap extending from the yoke for supporting a second bag, the at least one bag strap and the at least one second bag strap extending from opposite sides of the yoke. A child may or may not be supportable on the yoke.

Description

A CHILD SUPPORT DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a child support device, and more

particularly to a child support device comprising a yoke for resting upon an adults shoulders.

Various devices are known in the art to assist the carrying of a child by an adult. For example, published patent application WO 00/53060 discloses a device for carrying a child that comprises a yoke-like seat section for resting on an adult's shoulders and upon which a child may sit, and a leg section extending from the seat section with stirrups to hold the child's feet and partly support their weight.

One of the disadvantages of known child carrying devices is that they often impede the adult's ability to carry other items such as bags or rucksacks, for example due to additional weight or bulkiness that such items present. The adult may already be using their own weight to help counter-balance against the weight and positioning of the child that they are carrying.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a child support device that can help assist an adult in carrying other items such as bags, for example rucksacks.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a child support device comprising a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders; at least one support strap extending from the yoke, the at least one support strap dedicated to at least partly supporting the weight of the child; and at least one bag strap extending from the yoke for supporting a bag, the at least one bag strap dedicated to supporting the weight of the bag rather than the weight of the child. The at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap extend from opposite sides of the yoke. The extension of the at least one support strap and at least one bag strap from opposite sides of the yoke enables the at least part of the weight of the child to be counter-balanced against the weight of a bag, with the majority of the weight of the child and bag bearing directly downwards on the yoke. Accordingly, an adult may support the yoke on their shoulders with a reduction in any need for the adult to use their own weight to counter-balance the weight of the child.

The support strap may partly support the weight of the child via a support such as a harness or a foot support connected to the at least one support strap. The at least one support strap may support the whole weight of the child, for example if a harness is used, or just part of the weight of the child, for example if the yoke acts as a seat for the child to sit on and the support strap is fitted with stirrups for supporting the child's feet.

The at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap may be connected to one another to improve the counterbalancing of the weight of the child with the weight of the bag. The straps could be directly connected together such that they are formed as single strap(s), or could be connected together via a pulley system to provide a mechanical advantage. Advantageously, the use of a two pulley system could provide a 2:1 mechanical advantage so that a child could counterbalance a bag twice as heavy as the weight exerted on the support straps by the child.

The yoke could be reversible such that the at least one support straps are used as at least one bag straps and the at least one bag straps used as at least one support straps in order to bias the pulley system the other way round, such that in the two pulley system mentioned above the child could counterbalance a bag half as heavy as the weight exerted on the support straps by the child, instead of a bag twice as heavy as the weight exerted on the support straps by the child.

Advantageously, the at least one support strap may extend inside the yoke or above the yoke, so as to prevent contact between the adult's shoulders and the at least one support strap at the yoke, and the at least one bag strap extends inside the yoke or above the yoke, so as to prevent contact between the adult's shoulders and the at least one bag strap at the yoke. Preventing contact between the adult's shoulders and the support and/or bag straps at the yoke prevents the support and/or bag straps from rubbing against the adult's shoulders and causing irritation.

In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a carrying device comprising a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders; at least one bag strap extending from the yoke, the at least one bag strap dedicated to supporting a first bag; and at least one second bag strap extending from the yoke, the at least one second bag strap dedicated to supporting a second bag rather than the first bag. The at least one bag strap and the at least one second bag strap extend from opposite sides of the yoke, and the at least one bag strap and the at least one second bag strap are operatively connected to one another at the yoke such that pulling the at least one bag strap to move it outwardly from the yoke results in the at least one second bag strap being drawn further into the yoke.

The carrying device enables the weight of a first bag to be counteracted by the weight of the second bag, helping balance the load over the adult's shoulders.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective diagram of a child support device according to a first embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 shows an exploded diagram of a yoke with bag and support straps according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 3 shows a diagram of a yoke comprising a pulley system according to a third embodiment of the invention.

A first embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the perspective diagram of Fig. 1 . Fig. 1 shows a child support device 10 that comprises a yoke 12, two support straps 20 and 21 extending from the yoke 12 for partly supporting the weight of a child, and two bag straps 30 and 31 extending from the yoke 12 that support a bag 35. The support straps 20 and 21 extend from the opposite side of the yoke from the side where the bag straps 30 and 31 extend.

The yoke 12 comprises a seat 40 in which a child may sit. The seat 40 has left and right sides 48 to help support the child in the seat, and has two straps 45 for passing around the sides/shoulders of the child and between the child's legs, whereupon the straps 45 are secured to the yoke 12 at a releasable attachment point 46, such as a buckle.

In use, the yoke 12 is placed on an adult's shoulders with the support straps 20 and 21 extending over the adult's chest and the bag straps 30 and 31 extending down the adult's back. The yoke 12 has a cut-away portion where the buckle 46 is secured to accommodate the adult's neck when the yoke is resting on the adult's shoulders.

The bag 35 is held by the bag straps 30 and 31 , and a child is placed in the seat 40 of the yoke 12. Supports in the form of stirrups 25 are connected to the support straps 20 and 21 for securing the child's feet in the stirrups 25. The support straps 20 and 21 support at least the weight of the child's legs in stirrups 25, and the stirrups 25 each comprise a support ring 26 for holding the child's feet in the stirrups.

A cross strap 28 extends between the support straps 20 and 21 to help hold the child's legs in place over the chest of the adult, and the support straps comprise buckles 29 so that the length of the support straps can be varied to suit the size of the child being carried. Furthermore, the support straps may be lengthened to lower the stirrups such that an older child can fully stand on the stirrups and use their arms to steady themselves on the adult's shoulders/neck.

The weight of the bag 35 on the adult's back is counter-balanced by the weight placed on the support straps 20 and 21 by the child, thereby reducing the effort that the adult has to make to balance the yoke on the adult's shoulders. A second embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 2, which shows an exploded diagram of a yoke 1 12 with support straps 120 and 121 , and bag straps 130 and 131. The support strap 120 and bag strap 130 are connected together by forming them as a single strap, and the support strap 121 and bag strap 131 are also connected together by forming them as another single strap.

The yoke 1 12 is formed by an upper portion 1 14 and a lower portion 1 13 that are fitted together. The upper portion 1 14 comprises buckles 1 18 for holding the single straps. The upper portion 1 14 may for example be formed of a plastics material. The lower portion is formed of a foam padding material, and comprises a stiffening rib 1 15 to help spread the weight on the yoke across the width of the yoke.

The support straps 120 and 121 are connected to a support (not shown in Fig.2) for supporting at least part of the weight of a child. The support may for example be a harness that carries the whole of the child's weight, or a foot support which the child may stand upon and steady themselves by placing their hands on the upper portion 1 14 of the yoke.

The bags straps 130 and 131 are connected to a bag (not shown in Fig. 2). The bag may be connectable to the bags straps via clips or buckles, or may be permanently attached to the bag straps.

In use, the tension in the bag straps from the weight exerted on the bag straps by the bag is counter-balanced by the tension in the support straps from the weight exerted on the support straps by the child, thereby reducing the effort the adult has to make to support the yoke on their shoulders.

The upper and lower portions 1 14 and 1 13 comprise cut-away portions 1 17 to accommodate the adult's neck. In an alternative embodiment, the positions of the bags straps and the support straps may be interchanged, such that the child is carried on the adult's back and the bag is carried on the adult's front. Cut-away portions 1 17 may additionally be provided on the other side of the yoke between the bag straps 130 and 131 , such that the yoke could be reversed (i.e. rotated through 180 degrees in a horizontal plane) and placed the other way around on the adult's shoulders.

The single straps in the yoke 1 12 may be shifted and/or extended using the buckles 1 18 to accommodate the particular bag/child combination. The single straps pass over the upper side of the yoke 1 12 to prevent them from contacting the adult's shoulders at the yoke. In an extension to the second embodiment, an appendage such as a pin could be attached to each single strap between the respective buckles 1 18, to prevent each single strap from moving too far in one direction or the other by snagging of the strap's appendage against either one of the buckles. The appendage could alternatively be arranged to slide along the length of a runner incorporated in the yoke. The range of movement of the appendage, and therefore the strap, may be bounded by the ends of the runner.

A third embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the diagram of Fig.3, which shows a yoke 212 incorporating a pulley system between the support straps 220 and 221 and the bag straps 230 and 231. Fig.3 shows a cut-away view inside the yoke 212 so that the various pulleys may be seen.

The pulleys comprise two pairs of pulleys, wherein the first pair of pulleys 225 and 235 are connected between a support strap 220 and bag strap 230, and the second pair of pulleys 226 and 236 are connected between another support strap 221 and another bag strap 231 . The support straps 220 and 221 are used together to support at least part of the weight of a child, and the bag straps 230 and 231 are used together to support the weight of a bag. The pulley 235 is opposite the pulley 225, and the pulley 236 is opposite the pulley 226.

Each one of the pulleys 225, 226, 235, 236 comprises a cage 240 that is fixed to the axle of the pulley and that loops diametrically around the pulley to encircle it. The support strap 220 extends into the yoke 212, and is terminated to the cage of the pulley 225. The bag strap 230 extends into the yoke 212 opposite to the side of the yoke into which the support strap 220 extends, and then passes around the pulley 235, then around the pulley 225, and then back towards the pulley 235 where it is terminated to the cage of the pulley 235.

Likewise, the other support strap 221 extends into the yoke 212, and is terminated to the cage of the pulley 226. The other bag strap 231 extends into the yoke 212 opposite to the side of the yoke into which the other support strap 221 extends, and then passes around the pulley 236, then around the pulley 226, and then back towards the pulley 236 where it is terminated to the cage of the pulley 235.

The two pulleys 235 and 236 to which the bag straps 230 and 231 are terminated are free to rotate around a fixed axis, each pulley axle being fixed within the yoke by a fixing means (not shown in Fig.3 for clarity) such as two apertures within the yoke for receiving each ends of the axle.

The two pulleys 225 and 226 to which the support straps 220 and 221 are terminated are free to rotate, each pulley axle being free to move towards and away from the respective opposing pulley 235 or 236. Each axle of the pulleys 225 and 226 is held within two opposing slots or rails (not shown in Fig. 3 for clarity), and is movable along the extent of the slots or rails to move the corresponding pulley 225 or 226 closer or further away from the opposing pulley 235 or 236.

Accordingly, drawing the support straps 220 and 221 out from the yoke 212 by 1 unit length will result in the axles of pulleys 225 and 226 moving by 1 unit length, and the bag straps 230 and 231 being drawn into the yoke 212 by 2 unit lengths, providing a 1 :2 mechanical advantage that assists a smaller load on the bag straps 230 and 231 in countering the weight of a larger load on the support straps 220 and 221 . Alternatively, the bag straps may be used as support straps and the support straps may be used as bag straps to effectively reverse the mechanical advantage to 2:1 , for example if the bag is expected to exert a greater weight than the child. Other types of pulley system and ratios of mechanical advantage are also possible, although a 2: 1 ratio is relatively simple to implement and is a practical ratio given likely relative weights of bags and children.

Although the embodiments described above show two bags straps and two support straps, which may be preferred for providing stability, the invention also extends to using only one bag strap and/or support strap or more than two bags straps and/or support straps. If a pulley system according to Fig. 3 is used, then the pulley system will have more or less pairs of pulleys according to the number of bag and support straps that are used.

Furthermore, the at least one support strap may be suitable for use as at least one second bag strap for supporting a second bag instead of partly supporting the weight of the child, so that the weight of the first bag is countered by the weight of the second bag. The child can still sit upon the yoke and be supported with both first and second bags present.

A fourth embodiment uses the same yoke, strap, and optional pulley arrangements as described in relational to the first to third embodiments, but relates to a carrying device wherein the carrying device does not have to be capable of functioning as a child support device. In this fourth embodiment, the at least one support strap of the first to third embodiments is used as at least one second bag strap for supporting a second bag, the at least one second bag strap and second bag being similar to the at least one bag strap and bag.

Further alternate embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims will also be apparent to the skilled person.

Claims

1 . A child support device comprising:

a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders;

at least one support strap extending from the yoke, the at least one support strap dedicated to at least partly supporting the weight of the child; and

at least one bag strap extending from the yoke for supporting a bag, the at least one bag strap dedicated to supporting the weight of the bag rather than the weight of the child,

wherein the at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap extend from opposite sides of the yoke.

2. The child support device of claim 1 , further comprising a support connected to the at least one support strap, the support for supporting the child.

3. The support device of claim 2, wherein the support is a harness.

4. The support device of claim 2, wherein the support is a foot support.

5. The support device of claim 4, wherein the at least one support strap comprises two support straps, and wherein each support strap comprises a stirrup for supporting a foot of the child.

6. The support device of claim 4 or 5, wherein the yoke provides a seat for the child to sit upon.

7. The child support device of any preceding claim, further comprising a bag connected to the at least one bag strap.

8. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap are operatively connected to one another at the yoke such that a tensional force on the support strap is counterable by a tensional force on the bag strap.

9. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one support strap comprises two support straps, wherein the at least one bag strap comprises two bag straps, and wherein each support strap is operatively connected with a respective bag strap at the yoke such that a tensional force on the support strap is counterable by a tensional force on the respective bag strap.

10. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap are operatively connected to one another at the yoke such that pulling the at least one support strap to move it outwardly from the yoke results in the at least one bag strap being drawn further into the yoke.

1 1 . The child support device of claim 8, 9, or 10 wherein one of the at least one support straps and one of the at least one bag straps are formed by a single strap.

12. The child support device of claim 1 1 , wherein the single strap passes through an interior of the yoke or above the yoke, so as to prevent contact between the single strap and the adult's shoulders at the yoke.

13. The child support device of claim 8, 9, or 10, wherein the operative connection comprises a pulley system between the at least one support strap and the at least one bag strap.

14. The child support device of claim 13, wherein the pulley system comprises two pulleys for operatively connecting one of the at least one support straps to one of the at least one bag straps, the two pulleys being movable towards one another to provide a mechanical advantage.

15. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the child support device is reversible such that the at least one support strap acts as at least one bag strap and the at least one bag strap acts as at least one support strap.

16. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one support strap extends inside the yoke or above the yoke, so as to prevent contact between the adult's shoulders and the at least one support strap at the yoke, and wherein the at least one bag strap extends inside the yoke or above the yoke, so as to prevent contact between the adult's shoulders and the at least one bag strap at the yoke.

17. The child support device of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one support strap is suitable for use as at least one second bag strap for supporting a second bag.

18. A carrying device comprising:

a yoke for resting upon an adult's shoulders;

at least one bag strap extending from the yoke, the at least one bag strap dedicated to supporting a bag; and

at least one second bag strap extending from the yoke, the at least one second bag strap dedicated to supporting a second bag,

wherein the at least one bag strap and the at least one second bag strap extend from opposite sides of the yoke, and

wherein the at least one bag strap and the at least one second bag strap are operatively connected to one another at the yoke such that pulling the at least one bag strap to move it outwardly from the yoke results in the at least one second bag strap being drawn further into the yoke.