ADJUSTABLE SEAT FOR BABY OR CHILD FLOAT

Abstract

An adjustable seat for a flotation device includes a seat member made of flexible material attached to, surrounded by, and depending from the flotation device, said seat having two apertures therein for receipt of the legs of a child. An adjustment strap extends from front to back under said seat, and is attached at its ends to the flotation device, Connection means permit the adjustment of the length of the strap, thereby changing the size of the seat member to accommodate children of different sizes.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to boats or other flotation devices for babies and small children, and particularly to devices in which the baby or child is placed upright in a seat that depends from and is surrounded by a flotation device such as a buoyant ring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Floating pool and beach toys are often used to keep a young child, including a baby or toddler, floating in a seated position at the surface of a body of water while preventing the child from becoming submerged in the water. One example of a common floating pool and beach toy comprises a seat affixed to, depending from, and surrounded by a flotation device such as an inflatable ring. The child is placed on the boat or float by inserting his or her legs into and down through apertures in the seat, and the seat in cooperation with the flotation device supports the weight of the child and keeps the child afloat while the flotation device rests on the water.

A seat of one fixed size may be suitable for a particular child at a given time, but for a smaller or larger child the seat may be either too low, too high, too large, or too small for purposes of comfort and safety, relative to the flotation device. It is an object of this invention to provide a means for adjusting the dimensions of the seat so that it may accommodate the small child or a larger child. Moreover, for any particular child the seat may be adjusted to match the size of the child as he or she grows older and larger.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, which are schematic and are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the figures, each identical or nearly identical component illustrated is typically represented by a single numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure, nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. In the figures:

FIG. 1 in perspective view a baby boat having a seat member attached to, depending from, and surrounded by a buoyant ring.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the baby boat of FIG. 1, showing the adjustable strap extending downward from the ring and continuing under the seat member.

FIG. 3 is side view of the boat of FIG. 1, showing the adjustment strap extending around the seat member from front to back.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the baby boat.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bottom of the boat, depicting the seat portion and the adjustment strap.

FIG. 6 depicts the front section of the adjustable strap, including the female portion of the connecting buckle.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the rear section of the adjustable strap, including the male portion of the connecting buckle.

FIG. 8 depicts the two sections of the adjustable strap connected together by means of the buckle, with the rear section of the strap looped through the male portion of the buckle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, baby boat 10 comprises a seat member 12 attached to and surrounded by a buoyant ring 14. A shade or canopy 15 may be attached to the ring in some embodiments.

Turning to FIG. 2, seat member 12 includes apertures or leg holes 16 for receipt of the child's legs. Adjustment strap 18, described more fully below, extends under the seat member 12 from front to back, between the seat apertures 16, as better seen in FIG. 3. The seat member 12 may be made of a flexible nylon mesh material; other known flexible materials are equally suitable.

As seen in FIG. 3, adjustment strap 18 is comprised of two section, front section 20 attached to the ring 14 near the front upper edge of the seat member, and rear section 22 attached to the boat near the rear upper edge of the seat member (also see FIG. 4). Strap sections 20 and 22 may be connected or mated by a snap buckle 24 of conventional construction that permits adjustment of the overall length of the strap 18, as explained below.

FIGS. 4 and 5 also depict flexible pad 26, which is wider than the adjustment strap 18 and includes a channel along its length through which strap section 22 may be threaded. Pad 26 may be slid along rear strap section 22 and positioned approximately at the bottommost portion of the seat 12 to provide extra support and comfort to the seated child.

The front section 20 of adjustment strap 18 is depicted in FIG. 6 and is attached to and extends from the buoyant ring 14. The female half 28 of buckle 24 is attached to the distal end of strap section 20. Rear section 22 of adjustment strap 18 is depicted in enlarged form in FIG. 7. The male half 30 of buckle 24 may be positioned along rear strap 22 to allow adjustment of the length of the adjustment strap 18. Rear strap section 22 is seen extending out of pad 26 and looping through an opening in male portion 30 of buckle 24. The distal, unattached end of rear strap 22A may be tucked into pad 26 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

For a given child, strap 18 may be adjusted to a suitable length by appropriately positioning male portion 30 of buckle 24 along the rear strap section 22. By adjusting the position of the male portion of the buckle, the effective length of rear strap section 22 may be shortened or lengthened so that the child will be situated in a proper and comfortable position on the float. Of course, for a larger child the strap should be longer so that the seat member 12 will be larger and deeper, and for a smaller child the strap should be shorter, thereby reducing or condensing the size of the seat member.

Those skilled in the art may readily recognize various alterations, modifications, and improvements. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting.

From the description of at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one of more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present invention. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are mean to be exemplary and the actual parameters, dimensions, materials and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present invention is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, with the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present invention is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An adjustable seat for a flotation device, comprising a seat member made of flexible material attached to and depending from the flotation device, said seat having two apertures therein for receipt of the legs of a child; andan adjustable strap attached at each of its ends to the flotation device and extending under the seat, whereby the dimensions of the seat may be selectively changed by adjusting the length of said strap so as to increase or decrease the size of the seat member to accommodate the size of the child.

2. The adjustable seat of claim 1, wherein the adjustable strap extends between the two apertures in the seat.

3. The adjustable seat of claim 1, wherein the adjustable strap comprises two sections, with a first section connected at one end to the flotation device, a second section connected at one end to the flotation device, and connection means for connecting the other end of the first section to the other end of the second section.

4. The adjustable seat of claim 3, wherein the connection means includes means for adjusting the length of the adjustment strap when the two sections of the strap are connected.

5. The adjustable seat of claim 3, wherein the connection means comprises a first member attached to the first section of the adjustment strap, and a second member attached to the second section of the adjustment strap, the first member including means for allowing adjustment of the length of the first strap section from its point of attachment to the flotation device to the first member of the connection means.

6. The adjustable seat of claim 5, further comprising an elongated pad having a channel along its length and configured to receive one section of the adjustable strap along its length through said channel.