Patent Application
20210084992
This invention relates to bibs. More particularly, it relates to bibs for protecting a person's body.
A bib is a garment worn hanging from the neck on the chest to protect clothing from accidentally spilled food. Bibs are frequently used by young children, especially infants, but also by some adults. Bibs are also worn when consuming certain “messy” foods, such as lobster. In addition, bibs are used for infants when they drool a lot, for example when they are teething.
The word, reported in English since 1580, probably stems from the verb bibben “to drink” (c.1380), from the Latin bibere, either because it was worn while drinking or because it “soaked up” spills.
The bib, when used for an infant or other toddler, is a material such as cloth or vinyl that is flat on both sides and only prevents the spillage or vomit emitting from the infant or toddler to soil the clothing worn by the infant or toddler. Therefore, there is a need for an infant or toddler bib that is configured to not only stop spillages and vomit from coming into contact with the person or the clothing, but also to help catch or retain the spillage/vomit such that it is easily removable without other problems from further contamination of other surfaces.
The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.
“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.
Referring to
The bib 100 is preferably a shape of square, but other shapes are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, oval, oblong, round, rectangular, trapezoidal, etc. The bib 100 is preferably one (1) foot in length, but other lengths are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, one-half (0.5) foot, one and one-half (1.5) feet, two (2) feet, etc. The bib 100 is preferably one (1) foot in width, but other widths are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, one-half (0.5) foot, one and one-half (1.5) feet, two (2) feet, etc. When the bib 100 is of an oval, round, oblong, etc. shape the diameter of the bib 100 is preferably one (1) foot, but other diameters are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, two (2) feet, three (3) feet, etc.
The bib 100 is preferably made of a vinyl material, but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, cotton, plastic, rubber, etc. The bib 100 is preferably disposable, but may be reusable if so desired.
The bib 100 has a front 101, a back 102, a collar 103 and a strap 104.
The front 101 of the bib 100 has a pocket 105. The pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 is useful for providing to catch vomit, spillage, accessories, etc. The pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 has a closure 106 and a tab 107. The closure 106 is coupled to a top portion 108 of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100. The closure 106 provides an entry/exit for access to an interior (not shown) of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100. The interior of the pocket 105 is preferably a plastic material, but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, vinyl, rubber, plastic, etc. The closure 106 of the pocket 105 is preferably a zip-lock closure, but other types of closures are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, zipper, Velcro, drawstring, etc.
The tab 107 is coupled to a first end 109 of the closure 106 of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 101. The tab 107 is preferably a tab coupling, but other types of couplings are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, clip, string, etc. The tab 107 coupled the first end 109 of the closure 106 of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 101 is useful for opening and closing the closure 106 of the pocket 105.
The pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 has an extending area 110. The extending area 110 is useful for expanding the area of the interior of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 such that as the interior receives more spillage, vomit, accessories, etc. that it expands the pocket 105 to allow for the vomit, spillage, accessories to be stored without affecting the comfort of the person. The extending area 110 is preferably an accordion style, but other styles are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, flat style, pleated style, bunched bag, etc.
The bib 100 has one or more handles 113 coupled to the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 at substantially near the closure 106 of the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 101. The handles 113 are useful for a caregiver to pull the pocket 105 of the front 101 of the bib 100 in an upward direction to catch spillage, vomit, etc.
The collar 103 is coupled to a top 111 of the front 101 of the bib 100. The collar 103 is preferably coupled to the front 101 of the bib 100 by a seam. The seam is preferably a rubber material.
The collar 103 fits around a neck of the person and is securely coupled to the person by connecting the strap 104. The connecting device 112 is preferably a snap, but other types of connecting devices are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, Velcro, a button, clips, etc.
In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
