Patent Application
20220395115
The present invention generally relates to devices which provide a privacy screen to infants and grownups. More particularly, the present invention relates to a privacy screen device which is configurable for multi-functionality.
Parents take care of their children's needs from birth through later years. However, the care and nurturing of newborn babies and infants present special issues. To take care of these special issues, the baby industry continues to expand with novel and innovative products that are consistently made available to expectant parents for the care of their children. The baby industry provides a huge number of products ranging from toys, feeding products, bathing products, bedding products, clothing, travel products and the like. More specifically, for example, many mat or pad for different reasons, like to change the baby's diaper or clothes are available in the market.
It is often required to place an infant, from newborn baby to toddler on a mat or pad for various reasons, like to change the infant's diaper or clothes. Home is the ideal place to change a baby's diaper or for children/adults to change clothes. If away from home, changing a baby's diaper or changing clothes in public places can be inconvenient. Sometimes, parents must change the baby in his or her lap, on the floor or the sink counter, all options being not only inconvenient but at the same time unhygienic and risky. Infants that are not placed on a mat or pad may be subjected to undesirable dirty conditions.
When there is no sufficient facility in public places for the diapering of babies or for changing the babies' clothes, the mother is faced with a juggling issue of the greatest extent in removing the soiled diaper, cleaning the baby, and placing a fresh diaper into position. The utmost inconvenience to mothers because of insufficient facility for the diapering of babies or changing their clothes is incalculable. A nursing mother gets her full privacy while feeding her baby at home. Away from home at public places where there is no adequate provision the nursing mother may at times encounter awkward situations.
Other than babies even small children may also be placed on a pad or mat for various reasons, including to provide a cleaner surface than that available for e.g., if outdoors such as on the ground or grass. If not placed on a pad or mat children may be subjected to dirty, unhygienic conditions that are undesirable.
Generally, parents need to duplicate all of the baby products or must pack all of the baby products in the changing table into the diaper bag each time parents leave the house with the baby. Often parents forget to pack every single product and end up missing a product needed for a diaper change.
Portable changing mats or pads are available, however such mats or pads are generally flat pieces of material that can be folded or rolled for storage and transport and unfolded but they do not lend any privacy.
Hence there is a need for a privacy solution that can easily and conveniently be carried on the go.
The present invention has as its object the provision of an easily portable, simple, inexpensive configurable multifunctional privacy screen for the diapering of babies, for children/adults to change clothes and for sunbathing, which is provided with a plurality of panels and which is arranged to provide a privacy screen and optionally a padded surface upon which the baby can be rested while diapering is in progress, or while the baby is asleep.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which is easy to erect.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be easily folded for easy storage and portability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be easily supplied and serviced.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be of various sizes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be converted from a privacy screen into a baby's diaper changing surface.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be converted from a privacy screen into a sunbathing structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which occupies a minimum of space in the folded condition.
Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The present invention is directed to a configurable multifunctional privacy screen which can be used as a privacy screen, a child bed, a baby diaper changing pad etc. by changing its configuration. The configurable multifunctional privacy screen comprises a plurality of panels. Each of the plurality of panels comprises a sheet of material having a perimeter defining a top side, a bottom side and two lateral sides. A resilient frame member affixed along the perimeter keeps the panels in taut condition unless the resilient frame member is bent or twisted. In one embodiment, the panels are attached to each other on both lateral sides whereas, in another embodiment, two panels form the extremities of the interconnected panels by not being connected with each other. The couplings between the panels are flexible which enable folding of the panels at any desired angle with respect to each other across the lateral sides. One or more pieces of a sheet of material are detachably attached to one or more of the panels as per the requirement.
The flexible coupling and the piece of detachable coupling allow the panels to be transformed into multiple configurations ranging from a free standing privacy screen to a semi deployed configuration in which the panels define a partially-open space to a fully deployed configuration in which the plurality of panels define a confined space closed along the lateral sides and open at top and bottom sides. The configurable multifunctional privacy screen with confined space or the partially-open space offer privacy for change of clothes, change of baby diapers or even for letting a baby sleep.
In order to describe the manner in which features and other aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented, a more particular description of certain subject matter will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments and are therefore not to be considered to be limiting in scope, nor drawn to scale for all embodiments. Various embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications of the invention and their requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
Reference to
The resilient frame member 104 is made of any resilient material that bends under force and regains its original shape upon alleviation of the force. The dimension of the sheet of material 102 and the dimension of the resilient frame member 104 are such that the resilient frame member 104 can expand to its original shape when not under any external force and keep the sheet of material 102 in a taut condition as shown in panel 118 in
A preferred shape of the sheet of material 102 and the resilient frame member 104, as shown in the drawings, can be an obround shape having the form of a flattened cylinder with the lateral sides 112 and 114 parallel and the top end 108 and bottom end 110 hemispherical. It is to be understood any other shape of the sheet of material 102 that allows the resilient frame member 104 to expand to its original shape can be used.
Two or more panels 118 are coupled to one another on any of their lateral sides to form the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 as shown in
The coupling between any two panels 118 across the lateral sides is a flexible coupling which enables each of the panel 118 to be folded at any desired angle with respect to its adjoining panel. The flexible coupling can be made by stitching together lateral sides of the panels 118 or by providing detachable attachments such as hook and loop fasteners or snap buttons along the lateral sides. The flexible coupling allows the plurality of panels to be folded and transition among a plurality of adjustable configurations as per requirement of a user.
The confined space 202 can be used for providing privacy. For example, in case of a configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120, the confined space 202 can be used for child care purposes as shown in
In some embodiments, one or more pieces of sheet of material, with or without having a resilient frame member affixed to it, are detachably attached to any of the panels 118.
In the semi deployed configuration 300 the pieces of sheet of material 210 can be used in various ways. For example, as shown in
In the semi deployed configuration 300, the piece of sheet of material 210 used for holding the side panels 118a can be extended to any desirable length. In embodiments shown in
The panels 118 of the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 can be folded at any desired angle to make a privacy screen which can stand on its own vertically on the bottom side 110 of the panels. Such a screen configuration is illustrated in
The resilient frame member 104 is flexibly bendable and twistable from its original shape and size to a new shape and size to make the panels 118, and, thus the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120, easily storable and portable. For example, the resilient frame member 104 of original obround shape can be collapsed into a coil/loop shape by bending and twisting. Accordingly, the panels 118 can also be individually or collectively (in completely folded configuration 502, for example) twisted to turn the panels 118 from a taut condition to a collapsed condition. As soon as the applied force is withdrawn from the resilient frame member 104 it tends to regain its original shape making the panels 118 regain their taut condition.
Some exemplary steps which can be followed to collapse the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 by bending and twisting actions for storage and portability purposes are depicted in
Further, the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 in collapsed state can be stored in a pouch provided on the piece of sheet of material 210.
As discussed above, the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 of the present invention is an easy to make, inexpensive, easy to use and carry and convenient to store device/apparatus which can be configured in multiple ways without using any tool to make it act like a privacy screen (for changing clothes, for example) or to act like a child care apparatus (diaper changing bed, baby bed etc., for example). One or more panels 118 of the configurable multifunctional privacy screen 120 can be provided with padding for additional comfort.
It is to be further understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques, uses, and applications, described herein, as these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, “said” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is a reference to one or more elements and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art. All conjunctions used are to be understood in the most inclusive sense possible. Thus, the word “or” should be understood as having the definition of a logical “or” rather than that of a logical “exclusive or” unless the context clearly necessitates otherwise. Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures. Language that may be construed to express approximation should be so understood unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
