Baby Carrier

The present invention relates to a baby carrier comprising a belt stably fastenable to a waist of a user, defining in use a closed path developing along a trajectory lying on a transverse plane, and including a strap defining a surface developing along said trajectory perpendicularly to said transverse plane; a support device comprising at least one rigid panel developing along a support plane; and fastening means mutually fastening said belt and said support device in such a way that said panel may rotate about a rotation axis, developing alongside part of said trajectory, with respect to said strap so as to define at least: a stable closed configuration in which said planes are substantially parallel to one another and/or said panel is more closely nearer to said strap, and a stable maximum open configuration in which said planes are mutually transverse and said panel is more far away from said strap, defining around said rotation axis a maximum rotation angle between said planes.

In particular, the present invention relates to a baby carrier defining a seat for a child that can be attached to the user's body, specifically at the waist or pelvis. As is known, the use of a device, such as baby slings, which allow a child to be kept in contact with the back or chest of a user, may result in the creation of a vertically applied load which may be concentrated on the user's shoulders. To attempt to shift the load toward more comfortable areas, in recent years, baby carriers have been developed comprising a waist belt worn around the wearer's waist, and a support forming a seating surface to receive the buttocks of a child, mounted on the waist belt and positioned to extend from the wearer's abdomen. Normally, the support is fixed, or it can be opened and closed, i.e. it defines a closed position in which it is substantially parallel to the abdomen and does not occupy space transversely to the user's pelvis, and an open position in which the support is oriented transversely to the pelvis to allow the child to be stably placed on it.

The opening mechanism is generally made by one or more hinges placed between the belt and the support itself.

Devices of this type are, for example, described in patent documents KR-B-102205260, KR-B-102297120, KR-U-20100007127, US-B-10349754, KR-B-102205261, US-A-2024/180340, and US-A-20180296005.

The known technique described comprises some significant drawbacks.

In particular, all the documents describe child-carrying devices in which the support manages to achieve mainly two stable end positions. In particular, document KR-B-102297120 describes a support that may define a plurality of different stable intermediate positions between the two determined end positions, specifically, when the support is parallel to the surface defined by the belt and when the support is perpendicular to said surface.

Thus, in fact, document KR-B-102297120 describes only one useful position to safely rest the child on the support.

Consequently, the device described in KR-B-102297120, as well as all the other devices, is not easily adaptable to children of different builds and weights and is also not suitable for use during the child's growth.

In this context, the technical task underlying the present invention is to devise a baby carrier capable of substantially overcoming at least part of the aforementioned drawbacks.

Within the scope of said technical task, an important object of the invention is to achieve a baby carrier that allows the creation of a plurality of different stable support positions.

Therefore, another important object of the invention is to provide a baby carrier that is easily adaptable to children of different builds and/or the advancement of the child's growth.

The technical task and the specified objects are achieved by a baby carrier comprising: a belt stably fastenable to a waist of a user, defining in use a closed path developing along a trajectory lying on a transverse plane, and including a strap defining a surface developing along said trajectory perpendicularly to said transverse plane; a support device comprising at least one rigid panel developing along a support plane; and fastening means mutually fastening said belt and said support device in such a way that said panel may rotate about a rotation axis, developing alongside part of said trajectory, with respect to said strap so as to define at least: a stable closed configuration in which said planes are substantially parallel to one another and/or said panel is more closely nearer to said strap, and a stable maximum open configuration in which said planes are mutually transverse and said panel is more far away from said strap, defining around said rotation axis a maximum rotation angle between said planes; said fastening means further defining a plurality of stable intermediate open configurations in which said planes are mutually transverse, each defining a distinct intermediate rotation angle between said planes between 50° and said maximum rotation angle, and said maximum rotation angle is distinct from each said intermediate rotation angle, greater than 90° and less than 150°.

In this document, measurements, values, shapes, and geometric references (such as perpendicularity and parallelism), when associated with words such as “about” or other similar terms such as “approximately” or “substantially”, are to be understood as subject to measurement errors or inaccuracies due to production and/or manufacturing errors and, especially, to a slight deviation from the value, measurement, shape, or geometric reference to which it is associated. For example, such terms, if associated with a value, preferably indicate a deviation not exceeding 10% of the value itself.

Furthermore, when used, terms such as “first”, “second”, “upper”, “lower”, “main”, and “secondary” do not necessarily identify an order, priority of relation or relative position, but may simply be used to more clearly distinguish between different components.

Unless otherwise specified, as appears from the following discussions, it is considered that terms such as “treatment”, “informatics”, “determination”, “calculation”, or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or similar electronic computing device that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical quantities, such as electronic magnitudes of registers of a computer system and/or memories into other data likewise represented as physical quantities within computer systems, registers or other storage, transmission or display devices of information.

The measurements and data reported herein are to be considered, unless otherwise indicated, as carried out in International Standard Atmosphere ICAO (ISO 2533:1975).

With reference to the Figures, the baby carrier according to the invention is globally denoted by the number.

The baby carrieris substantially adapted to support a child, i.e. an infant or a child, thus having less weight or a smaller size as compared with an adult, at the front or rear of the torso of a user.

Therefore, the carrier is adapted to allow the positioning of the child in front of the abdomen or the back of the preferably adult user.

To this end, the baby carriercomprises at least one belt.

The beltis stably attachable at the waist of a user. Therefore, the beltin use, i.e. when employed on the body of a user, defines a closed path.

The closed path develops along a trajectory. The trajectoryis substantially a closed virtual line that defines the extension path of the belt.

The trajectorylies on a transverse plane. The transverse planeis, therefore, a virtual plane along which the trajectoryis defined.

The belttherefore includes a strap.

The strapis a flat deformable element of low thickness. Therefore, the strapdefines a surface developing along the trajectoryperpendicularly to the transverse plane

Preferably, the strapis a finished element, thus defining two mutually opposite ends which can be joined.

To this end, the beltmay comprise connection means.

The connection meansmay be of the conventional type, for example comprising a buckle with pin and holes, or other types of quick-release buckles or other means known in the current state of the art.

If present, the connection meansare placed at the ends of the belt.

Preferably, the connection meansinclude Velcro. This configuration allows for rapid fastening and unfastening.

Furthermore, the strapmay be elasticised in such a way as to be able to be joined tightly around the user's waist.

Especially, but not only in this latter case, the strapcould be a closed element, a closed band wearable by the user and not openable.

The beltmay, in addition, comprise a plate.

If present, the plateis rigid. It is a predominantly two-dimensional element;

therefore, the plateis firmly constrained to the strapand superimposed thereon. To this end, the platemay be removably constrained to the strap. It may consequently define a reinforced portion of the belt, for example adapted to be arranged at the resting zone of the baby carrier.

The latter, in fact, also comprises a support device.

The support deviceis substantially an element adapted to form a seat for the child. Therefore, the support devicedefines at least one resting portion for the buttocks of the child.

To this end, preferably, the support devicecomprises at least one panel. Similarly to the plate, the panelis a predominantly two-dimensional element.

Therefore, it is adapted to make a sort of seat for the child. The panelis preferably rigid, i.e. not structurally deformable by the weight of the child.

Naturally, the panelis not necessarily a uniformly distributed and continuous element. Indeed, for example, the panelmay be a perforated support element, including one or more slots, also in a grid arrangement.

In addition, preferably, the panelextends along a support plane

The support planeis a virtual element along which the panelis mostly developed. Therefore, the support planea defines a reference plane for the panel, but the latter may also have a contact surface with the child's buttocks that is flat, or even shaped like the buttocks and thus curvilinear.

The baby carrieralso comprises fastening means.

The fastening meansmutually fasten the beltand the support device. In particular, the fastening meansconnect the beltand the support devicein such a way that the panelmay rotate about a rotation axiswith respect to the strap.

The rotation axisextends alongside a part of the trajectory. Therefore, the rotation axisis oriented such that the panelmay be pressed against the strapor opened with respect to it.

In fact, the fastening meansdefine at least one closed configuration and one maximum open configuration.

Both configurations are stable, i.e. defined by locked fastening means.

In detail, preferably, in the stable closed configuration, the planes,are substantially parallel to one another and/or the panelis more closely approximated to the strap. The term “substantially” indicates that the planes,do not necessarily have to be strictly parallel, but may also be slightly incident, as shown for example in.

Instead, in the stable maximum open configuration, the planes,are mutually transverse. Furthermore, preferably, the panelis further away from the strap. Therefore, the paneldefines with respect to the strap, in particular between the planes,, around the rotation axis, a maximum rotation angle α.

The maximum rotation angle α is the widest angle of opening between the paneland the strapfrom the closed configuration, as shown in.