Shaded Infant Lounge Device and Method Therefor

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The disclosure relates to infant chairs, bouncers, and similar devices for holding infants and more particularly pertains to a new shaded infant lounge device for supporting infants on a support panel suspended from a frame, which includes a canopy to shade an infant from natural or artificial light. The canopy is detachable from the frame of the lounge device to allow a user to collapse the frame and support panel of the lounge device for ease of transport, as well as allowing easier access to place an infant on the support panel and take the infant off of the support panel.

The prior art relates to infant chairs, bouncers, and similar devices for holding infants. The prior art, as best understood, does not disclose a shaded infant lounge device that supports the infants in a supine position lying on the lounge device, either in a horizontal or inclined orientation with respect to the ground, which includes a canopy to shade an infant from natural or artificial light, and wherein the canopy is detachable from the frame of the lounge device to allow a user to collapse the frame and seat of the lounge device for ease of transport.

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above in a shaded infant lounge device generally comprising a frame, a support panel, a canopy, and connection assemblies. The frame is selectively positionable between an expanded position and a collapsed position. The support panel is attached to the frame to support an infant lying thereon when the frame is in the expanded position. The canopy is removably mounted to the frame and is vertically spaced above the support panel when the frame is in the expanded position. The canopy is designed to create a shaded space over the support panel to shade the infant lying thereon from light, such as sunlight. The connection assemblies detachably connect the canopy to the frame, which allows for the canopy to be removed and the frame collapsed for ease of transport, as well as to allow the user, such as a parent, to remove the canopy for placing the infant on and taking the infant off the support panel.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular tothereof, a new shaded infant lounge device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeralwill be described.

As best illustrated in, the shaded infant lounge devicegenerally comprises a frame, a support panel, a canopy, and connection assemblies. The frameis selectively positionable between an expanded position, as seen in, and a collapsed position, as seen in. The support panelis attached to the frameto support an infantlying thereon when the frameis in the expanded position, as shown in. The canopyis removably mounted to the frameand is vertically spaced above the support panelwhen the frameis in the expanded position, as shown in. The canopyis designed to create a shaded space over the support panel. As best seen in, the canopyis resiliently flexible such that the canopyhas an open-ended arch shape when connected to the frame. However, when the canopyis detached from the frame, the canopysprings back to a flat state, as shown in. The canopymay be substantially rectangular in shape, though other shapes, such as squares or trapezoids, are within the scope of the disclosure. The canopycan be made of plastic or fabric material, or possibly a combination of both, such as a fabric cover on a plastic frame. The canopy material could be UV-resistant and weather-resistant, especially for outdoor use.

The connection assembliesdetachably connect the canopyto the frame. As best seen in, each of the connection assembliesincludes a first mating memberpositioned on the frameand a second mating memberpositioned on an edge portion of the canopy, such as the corners of the canopyas shown in. The first mating memberand the second mating memberare detachably connected by magnetic force for ease of connection and disconnection of the canopy, though other types of detachable connections, such as snaps, buttons, clips, and similar connectors, are within the scope of the disclosure.shows one exemplary design in which the second mating membersare circular disks made at least in part of a magnetic material, and the first mating membersare circular receptacle structures that also are made at least in part of magnetic material. It should be understood that the design of the connection assembliesinis an exemplary design and other designs are within the scope of the disclosure.

As best seen in, the frameincludes upper support structures. The support panelincludes corner portions, each attached to a corresponding one of the support structuresto support the support panelin a suspended manner on the frame, much like a sling or hammock. Each of the first mating membersis positioned on a corresponding one of the support structuressuch that the canopycovers the support panelwhen the canopyis connected to the frame. In other words, since the corners of the support paneland the corners of the canopycan be connected to the frameat approximately the same location, the canopycan provide substantial coverage over all or most all of the support panelto promote optimum shading of the infant, regardless of the positioning of the shaded infant lounge deviceor the angle of a light source. In at least one possible embodiment, one or two flexible flaps, made of a breathable cloth or fabric, could be attached to one side or two opposing sides of the canopyto provide a curtain-like covering over the open ends of the canopywhen connected to the framefor additional shading.

As shown in, the support panelincludes a first end portionto support an upper body portion of an infantand a second end portionto support a lower body portion of an infant. The framesupports the first end portionhigher than the second end portionto support the head of the infantlying on the support panelvertically higher than the feet of the infant, such that the infantis in an inclined or partially inclined position. In the embodiment of the frameshown inand elsewhere, two rod structuresextend upwardly at an angle to support the first end portion, though other designs of the framethat produce a similar inclination of the first end portionof the support panelare within the scope of the disclosure.

As seen in, the frameincludes a locking structure, such as a collapsible crosspiece, to releasably lock the framein the expanded position. The framealso includes leg portionspositioned below the support structuresto support the support panela distance off of a ground or floor surface. The leg portionscomprise foot structuresto provide stability and minimize tipping of the frame.

The support panelis elongated to support a body of an infantlengthwise. The support panel has a substantially rectangular shape, though the support panelcould be other shapes, such as square or trapezoidal. The support panelis made of a flexible material, such as fabric or cloth, which permits the support panelto be folded up when the frameis in the collapsed position and unfolded into a smooth support surface when the frameis in the expanded position. The support panelis in the form of a sling suspended from the support structures, much like a hammock.

As shown in, pairs of the second mating membersare detachably connectable to one another to permit a user to roll up the canopyand connect edge portions or corners of the canopyto form a tubular shape to store the support paneland the frametherein in the collapsed position. In other words, the canopycan be rolled up and connected at its edges or corners to function as a transport container for the frameand support panel.

As shown inand elsewhere, the shaded infant lounge devicealso includes a securing devicethat is designed to prevent an infantfrom rolling and falling off of the support panel. The securing deviceis in the form of a harness designed to fit around a body of an infant. The harness includes a waist strapdesigned to be placed over a waist area of an infantand a center strapdesigned to be placed between legs of an infant. However, other harness designs for securing an infantin place are within the scope of the disclosure. The securing deviceis connected to the support panelas shown in, but alternatively could be attached to the frameor both the frameand the support panel, depending on the design of the securing device.

The shaded infant lounge deviceis designed to fit the average infant, especially infants that are unable to sit up on their own, such as newborns. The average length of a baby or infant from birth to one year of age is in the range of about 19 to 30 inches. The support panelis therefore sized accordingly, having a length in the range of about 38 to 46 inches and a width in the range of about 15 to 18 inches to accommodate most infants up to about one year in age. The support panelcould be even smaller to be designed for newborns and infants under six months, having a length in the range of about 30 to 36 inches and a width in the range of about 12 to 15 inches. The canopywould be sized to have a similar length as the support panelto provide shade over all or most all of the support panel. However, the canopywould have a larger width in order to produce the arch when connected to the frame. The canopyis in one embodiment essentially square shaped, such that both the length and the width are in the same range, such as 30 to 36 inches or 38 to 46 inches. However, the canopycould be rectangular or trapezoidal such that the width of the canopyor a portion thereof could be larger or smaller than the length to produce arches of greater or lesser height. The arch height should be relatively small in order to minimize the amount of light that enters the arch from the open ends, though a larger arch height may be desirable in order to allow for easier access to the infant when the canopyis connected to the frame. It should be noted that all ranges listed herein include all whole numbers and tenths in the range. Other sizes and dimensions suitable for infants are within the scope of the disclosure.

To use the shaded infant lounge device, the user expands the frameinto the expanded position. The user places an infanton the support panel, as shown in. The user removably mounts the canopyto the frameusing the plurality of connection assemblies, and thereby creates a shaded space over the support panelto protect the infantfrom exposure to light, whether natural or artificial. Since the canopyhas an open-ended design, it is possible to slide the infanton and off of the support panelwhile the canopyis attached, though it is more convenient to do so with the canopyremoved, especially since the canopycan be so easily disconnected and reconnected to the frame. When the user is done using the shaded infant lounge device, the user removes the canopyfrom the frameand removes the infantfrom the support panel. The user then collapses the frameand the support panelinto the collapsed position shown in. Finally, as shown inand discussed above, the user can then roll up the canopyinto the tubular shape and connect pairs of the second mating membersto maintain the tubular shape. The rolled-up canopyis then used to store the support paneland the framein the collapsed position, for both ease of transport and compact storage when not in use.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.