CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims foreign priority under 35 USC ยง 119 to United Kingdom Application No. GB 2318378.3 filed Dec. 1, 2023, and the entire disclosure of said prior foreign application is hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present specification.
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a baby bouncing chair or bouncer, or baby support, and more particularly, to a baby bouncing chair which is height adjustable, having a user operable means of adjusting the height of the supporting seat. In a further embodiment of the invention the bouncing chair or support includes means for attachment to a highchair or booster chair frame.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Baby bouncing chairs or bouncers are well known as a means of soothing occupying and entertaining young babies in a secure and safe manner.
It is desirable to adjust the height and inclination of the baby supporting frame depending on the activity taking place and the age of the baby. An adjustable height mechanism is disclosed in US2018/0206649 involving a screw thread, a rotatable triangular bracket and a cranked part of the wire frame.
Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an adjustable baby bouncing seat with a simpler adjustment mechanism with fewer moving parts.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a baby bouncing chair or baby support that is adapted to attach to a highchair frame. Thus, the baby can be attended to at the level of a table, rather than on the floor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a baby seat or support comprising a support frame and a covering to forming the seat or support for the baby, the support frame comprising a rearward attachment and a forward attachment adapted for attachment to a seat of a highchair, characterised in that the rearward attachment includes engaging means which is adapted to engage with the seat back of the highchair and that the forward attachment includes releasable attachment means adapted for releasable engagement with an arm rest of the highchair.
Preferably the baby seat or support is connected to a base to form a baby bouncer that may be used at table level. The baby seat or support my be adjustable in inclination in relation to the base.
These and other objectives of the present invention are defined in the appended claims or will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a baby bouncing chair or bouncer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view the baby bouncing chair or bouncer of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first position.
FIG. 4 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a second position.
FIG. 5 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a third position.
FIG. 6 is a front view of the soft covering for the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1.
FIGS. 8a to 8e are views showing the steps for attachment and removal of the soft covering of FIG. 6.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of fixed chair attachment parts of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the frame of the of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 with the fixed chair attachment parts removed.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the frame of the of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 showing the attachment, or removal of the fixed chair attachment.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a second stage of attachment to a highchair.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in an attached position with the covering re-attached.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the frame of a baby support with the base part removed from the bouncing chair of FIG. 1.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the frame of FIG. 11.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby support of FIG. 15 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair.
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby support of FIG. 15 in a second stage of attachment to a highchair.
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 15 attached to a highchair with the covering re-attached.
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the incline adjustment mechanism in a disengaged position with a housing cover removed.
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the incline adjustment mechanism in an engaged position with a housing cover removed.
FIG. 22 is a side view of the incline adjustment mechanism in the disengaged position.
FIG. 23 is a cross sectional view of releasable engaging means according to a further embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the releasable engaging means of FIG. 23.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In FIG. 1 is shown a perspective view of a baby bouncing chair or bouncer 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The bouncer comprises a base 2, which is generally flat to provide a sound and stable support for the bouncing chair 1 on a floor and is in the form of a flat hoop with a central void 6. The bouncing chair I also includes a seat 3 which is attached to the base 2 at one end of the base 2 and the seat 3 respectively by a connector 4 such that the seat 3 can be resiliently deflected upwardly and downwardly so that a baby occupying the seat 3 may be gently rocked or bounced to sooth or entertain.
Referring now to FIG. 2 a side view the baby bouncing chair or bouncer of FIG. 1 is shown including three alternative seat inclination positions and therefore baby height positions of the seat 3 in relation to the base 2. Connector 4 includes means of adjusting the height of the seat 3, which is controllable by the user by operating the button 5. FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 shows how the user may adjust the seat height between the three alternative positions. By means of a spring and rachet mechanism located within the connector 4, starting from a first highest position A as shown in FIG. 3 the user may press downwardly in the direction of the arrow against the resilient action of a spring within the connector 4 until the desired second middle position is reached. The seat will click into the second middle position B automatically due to the rachet mechanism within the connector 4. The user may push further in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 to achieve the third lower position C as shown in FIG. 5. In the third lower position the button 5 may be pressed by the user which releases the seat from the third lower position and returns it to the first highest position as shown in FIG. 3. The user may control this return to the second middle position. In this way the user may adjust the seat to the desired height of the three available positions.
Further details of the spring and ratchet mechanism 31 are shown in FIGS. 20-22. The connector 4 includes a housing cover 34 which covers the ratchet mechanism 31 and is slid to one side in FIGS. 20-22 for the purposes of this explanation of how the ratchet mechanism 31 works. The spring and ratchet mechanism 31 includes a generally triangular shaped engaging plate 32 which is attached at one end to the support frame 12 and at the opposite end comprises first and second plate holes 33a, 33b. A U-shaped bracket 35 is secured to the base plate 36 and comprises bracket holes 37 in adjacent wing plates 38 which align with the first plate hole 33a in a first inclined position and the second plate holes 33b in a second inclined position.
A U-shaped carrier 39 is attached at one end to the button 5 and at the opposite end to a spring 40 such that the spring exerts a returning force against the pressing in of the button 5. The U-shaped carrier 39 also includes a pin 41 adapted to extend through the bracket holes 37 and one of the first and second plates holes 33a, 33b to hold the engaging plates and thus the support frame 12 in the desired position. When it is desired to the adjust the inclination of the support frame the user presses in the button 5 which releases the pin from the first plate hole 33a which frees the support frame so that it may be moved to the second desired position in which when the button 5 is released the spring 40 urges the carrier 39 back and the pin automatically back into the second plate hole 33b which corresponds to the support frame in the alternative desired position. The user may release the button 5 and adjust the support frame until the second plate hole 33b is aligned at which point the pin 40 engages automatically and the user can detect by hearing the pin click back into the plate hole 33b. The third position with the support frame lying nearly flat is achieved by an outer edge of the plate 32 passing the bracket holes 37 so the pin 41 returns to the locked position under the force of the spring 40. This is a safe position for the flat folded position of the support frame. It can be seen that further positions can be provide by dimensioning the plate 32 accordingly and providing additional plate holes.
In FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 forward and rearward fixed attachment means 7, 8 are shown which are adapted to attach the bouncing chair to a fixed support such as a highchair.
Referring now to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 it can be seen that the seat 3 comprises a support frame 12 and a covering 9. The covering 9 includes shoulders straps 11 and a lap strap 10 for safely securing the baby to the seat 3. In FIG. 7 of the frame of the child's seat is shown of the bouncing chair of FIG. 1, but with the forward and rearward attachment means 7, 8 removed. These attachment means 7, 8 are removable and supplied to the customer as separate attachable parts.
FIGS. 8a to 8d are views of the underside of the seat 3 showing the steps for attachment and removal of the soft covering 9. Starting from FIG. 8a with the covering 9 attached to the support frame 12 and a first step is to release the hook and loop attachment 13 to reveal buckle 14 which secures the covering 9 around the support frame 12. The user releases this buckle 14 as shown in FIG. 8b. The covering 9 includes a shaped section 15 to fit around the support frame 12 and this needs to be released by the user as shown in FIG. 8c. The covering 9 also includes side panels 16 which are secured by hook and loop attachment and may be released by the user as shown in FIG. 8d. Finally, the covering 9 can then be completely removed from the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. Se of a front view of the seat 3.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of forward attachment 8 and rearward attachment 7 which may be supplied already fixed to the support frame 12, but which may also be supplied separately for the user to fix to the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. 10. The forward and rearward attachments 8, 7 are each elongate and dimensioned to extend from each side of the support frame 12. The support frame 12 is made of round tube which corresponds dimensionally with open U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b and 8a, 8b at each end of the rearward and forward attachments. Protruding tongues 17 are provided on the support frame 12 which correspond with holes 18 (not shown) in the U-shaped sockets to locate the U-shaped sockets in the desired position on the tubular side frame 12 as shown in FIG. 11. Grooves 19 are provided at each of the U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b which correspond with elongate tongues 20 provided on each side of bracket covers 21 which slide into position securing the U-shaped sockets to the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair 22. The highchair comprises a seat back 23 and an arm rest 24. The void 6 is large enough to fit around the highchair 22 so that the rearward attachment 7 and the forward attachment 8 can be brought to bear directly against the seat back 23 and arm rest 24 respectively. The rearward attachment 7 comprises an engaging surface 27 which is shaped and dimensioned to correspond with the shape and dimensions of the seat back 23. The forward attachment 8 comprises releasable attachment means 25 located at each side thereof, 8b which releasably engage with each side arm 26 of the arm rest 24 such that when the seat frame is pressed down against the arm rest 24, the releasable attachment means 25 automatically engages the side arm 26 securing the seat frame to the highchair as shown in FIG. 13. In this embodiment the releasable attachment means 25 is pivotally mounted against a spring (not shown) and automatically engages the underside of the side arm 26 of the highchair 22 to securely attach the baby seat or support 1 to the highchair 22.
A further embodiment of an attachment means or latch 42 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 23 and 24. The latch 42 includes a slider 44 that is slidably movable against a spring 43 such that the slider is biassed by the spring 43 to move to a locked position in which the slider engages behind a mounting lip 46 on the underside of the arm rest 24.
The slider 44 includes a curved cam surface 47 on its underside that engages with the mounting lip 46 when the chair or support is presented to the highchair 22 such that the slider 44 is caused to automatically move sideways against the spring 43 until the mounting lip 46 is passed at which point the slider 44 springs back into a locked position under the mounting lip 46 securely locking the baby chair or support in place.
The slider 44 also includes a lever 45 which the user engages to release the attaching means or latch 42 from the locked position by manually sliding back the slider 44 against the spring 43 until the slider 44 extends back beyond the mounting lip 46 thus allowing the baby seat or support I to be detached from the highchair 22.
The engaging surface 27 engages underneath the seat back 23 so that inadvertent release by upward movement of a rearward end of the support frame 12 is prevented. The engaging surface 27 is also preferably dimensioned and shaped so that a resilient engagement is achieved by elastic deformation of the engaging surface so that it clicks into engagement with the seat back 23 in such a way that is releasable by upward movement of a forward end of the support frame 12 when the user wishes to remove the seat 1 from the highchair 22 by releasing the spring biased releasable attaching means 25.
The user then re-attaches the covering 9 as shown in FIG. 14. The bouncer is now available for use, not as a bouncer, but is at the height of a table as a baby support, which allows the baby to be engaged with the rest of the family at mealtimes, and also allows an adult career to perform other activities at a table whilst engaging with the baby. The support frame 12 is safely fixed to the highchair 22.
In an alternative aspect of the invention seat 3 is removable from the base 2 as shown in FIG. 15 to form a support frame 30, which is shown without a covering 29, to enable attachment to a highchair 22 as described above. The support frame 30 may be supplied to a customer separately or may be removable from the bouncer 1 by separation from the base 2.
As shown in FIG. 17 the support frame 30 of FIG. 15 is brought to bear against the seat back 23 first by engaging the engaging means 27 with the seat back 23 before in a first stage of attachment to a highchair 22, before pressing down the attachment means 25 to fix the child's support 30 to the highchair 22 as shown in FIG. 18, and as described above for the bouncer 1.
As shown in FIG. 19 the covering 29 is then re-fitted to the support frame 30 to form the completed child support 28 ready for use at the level of a table.
Comparing to the prior art, the baby bouncer or baby support is able to be safely secured to a highchair to enable the career to be at a table height adjacent the baby, rather than bending over to reach the baby at floor level.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.
COMPONENT LIST
1. Bouncer
2. Base
3. Seat
4. Connector
5. Button
6. Void
7. Rearward attachment
7
a, 7b. U-shaped sockets
8. Forward attachment
8
a, 8b. U-shaped sockets
9. Covering
10. Lap strap
11. Shoulder strap
12. Support frame
13. Hook and loop attachment
14. Buckle
15. Fitted section
16. Side panels
17. Protruding tongues
18. Holes
19. Elongate grooves
20. Elongate tongues
21. Bracket covers
22. Highchair
23. Seat back
24. Arm rest
25. Releasable attachment means
26. Side arm
27. Engaging surface
28. Baby support
29. Covering
30. Support frame
31. Ratchet mechanism
32. Engaging plate
33.a, 33b, First and second plate holes
34. Cover
35. U-shaped bracket
36. Base plate
37. Bracket holes
38. Wing plates
39. Carrier
40. Spring
41. Pin
42. Latch or releasable engaging means
43. Spring
44. Slider
45. Lever
46. Mounting lip
47. Curved cam surface
Patent Application
20250176736
