Patent Application
20240138592
The invention relates to a nursing pillow system comprising a nursing pillow and an expandable privacy shield. The privacy shield may be removably attached to the nursing pillow and provides privacy to a user when nursing a child.
Nursing a baby can be an important element in the proper development of a child and is often desired, by the parent, for potential health benefits, cost effectiveness, and bonding with the child. Nursing is related to many aspects of a child's development including the proper development of muscles of the child's mouth and tongue which can decrease the likelihood of speech problems, a stronger bond between a mother and child, and balanced eye development resulting from a child's ability to look at his mother alternatingly with only one eye when the child is nursed on each side.
In spite of these advantages, nursing can be a complicated process involving supporting the weight of a baby's body and head, as well as holding the body and head in a position such that the baby can properly latch on to the breast for feeding. Additionally, these feeding sessions can extend beyond an hour in length, forcing the mother to properly support the baby's body and head for long periods of time. This exertion can be further complicated by the need to feed multiple babies or late night feedings. These problems have been frequently addressed by a variety of nursing aids ranging from slings, carriers, and arm supports to pillows. While these aids have proven beneficial to mothers, they have not fully addressed issues of baby and mother comfort, ease of use, and privacy. Privacy, especially, has been a concern. Nursing slings and covers have been proposed in this regard. These devices, however, may overheat the child and the child often does not nurse well or continuously when these devices are used.
Nursing pillows are generally well accepted by children but suffer from a lack of privacy. Known attachable covers suffer from the same problems as traditional covers: they are difficult to use, may overheat the child, and often distract the child from eating. They also may not ensure privacy for the mother when she is beginning a feed, ending a feed, or switching sides.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,418,295 discloses a nursing pillow system for providing support to one or more children during breastfeeding or bottle feeding. The system preferably includes a coyer-up in an attempt to provide privacy during feeding. The cover-up may be removably detached and stored in an integrated pocket in the nursing pillow system. Other features, such as a bolster, belt, back pillow, elastic, bands, and pockets may be included to increase the comfort and utility of the system. However, the cover-up extends over the mother's head and thus suffers from many of the same problems as nursing covers.
Thus, the need exists for a nursing pillow system that does not require a cover that extends over the mother's head, that does not overheat the child, and that is well tolerated by the child while still providing privacy for the mother and the child. These and other issues are disclosed by the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, the present disclosure includes a nursing system comprising a nursing pillow with an outer permitter and an expandable privacy shield that is configured to cover at least a portion of the user and a baby during nursing. The expandable privacy shield has at least two spines that create a dome-shaped structure 113. The spines are attached to each other through a substrate. Additionally, the expandable privacy shield is attachable to at least one surface of the nursing pillow.
In some embodiments, the spines are expandable to allow the expandable privacy shield to move between an open and closed position. The open position provides at least partial coverage for the user and baby, while the closed position is intended for storage and transportation. In other embodiments, the spines may telescope to expand or may fold in at least two places. In some embodiments, the spines are perpendicular to the nursing pillow and user, while in other embodiments the spines are parallel to the nursing pillow and user.
In all embodiments, the substrate attaches the spines to one another and creates the at least partial coverage for both the user and baby. The substrate may be made of any type of fabric, plastic material, mesh material, breathable material, stretchable material, UV protective material, waterproof material, opaque material, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the substrate is removable from the spines. Removability of the substrate from the spines enables washability and allows the user to change out the substrate based on fabric type or fabric design preference. The material comprising the substrate may be machine washable.
In some embodiments, the substrate may feature at least one pocket. The pocket or pockets may be on either the interior or exterior of the substrate. In other embodiments, the nursing pillow system further comprises a storage pocket that the expandable privacy shield folds into when not expanded. In some instances, the pockets may have a mechanical closure to secure the pocket. In other instances, the pocket may be fully removable from the substrate.
In some embodiments, a hook (e.g., a plastic hook) is attached to the interior of the substrate. The hook allows to user to connect objects to the hook. Users may choose to attach baby toys to the hook to provide entertainment to the baby during use.
In some embodiments, the attachment between the expandable privacy shield and the nursing pillow is a zipper. In other embodiments, the attachment means between the expandable privacy shield and nursing pillow is a hook and latch substrate. In some instances, the attachment means is a rigid placement member. In other embodiments, the attachment means is a buckle that secures around the user and an elastic band that attaches to the substrate.
Additional embodiments and features are set forth in the description that follows, and may also become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities, combinations, and methods described in the specification.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the several drawings to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sublabel is associated with a reference numeral and follows a hyphen to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sublabel, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components.
The following description and examples illustrate preferred embodiments of the present technology in detail. Those of skill in the art will recognize that there are numerous variations and modifications of this technology that are encompassed by its scope. Accordingly, the description of a preferred embodiment should not be deemed to limit the scope of the present technology. Furthermore, the drawings are not limited to the scale shown for parts and although some parts, when folded, are shown as flat, they may be convex or concave.
Embodiments of a nursing pillow system 100 are described in
Some embodiments of the nursing pillow system 100 may have one or more removable covers 111 for the nurse pillow 101 component itself. The nursing pillow system may include not only a nursing pillow 101 but also a back pillow or bolster (not shown). The back pillow and bolster included in some embodiments may also have removable covers. Additionally, the one or more removable covers 111 of the nursing pillow 101 may serve as the platform to which other features such as a bolster, belt, elastic band, and pocket may attach. The one or more nursing pillow covers 111 allow for cleanliness as they can easily be removed for washing and drying. The at least one removable cover 111 allows the user to customize the nursing pillow 101 by choosing removable covers 111 of different fabric types and design preferences, such as a specific color or pattern that may be replaced as desired.
In some embodiments, the nursing pillow 101 provides a broad middle section 106 which supports the weight of the body and provides a surface upon which the baby can lay. The middle section 106 may be sufficiently wide to allow the infant to comfortably rest on the nursing pillow 101. As shown in
Expandable Privacy Shield. As depicted in
As depicted in
When in the open position, the expandable privacy shield 108 is free standing allow the user 110 and the baby to focus on nursing rather than holding the expandable privacy shield 108. The plurality of spines 103 creates the necessary rigidity and corresponding dome-shaped structure 113 of the expandable privacy shield 108. The side perspective of the dome-shaped structure 113 is depicted in
The dome-shaped structure may then be folded in on itself as shown in
The expandable privacy shield 108 includes a plurality of spines 103, at least two, and a substrate 104 that connects the spines 103. The substrate 104 of the expandable privacy shield 108 is comprised of any type of fabric, plastic material, mesh material, breathable material, stretchable material, UV protective material, waterproof material, opaque material, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the substrate 104 is removable from the spines 103 allowing the user 110 to implement substrates 104 of different material compositions for various purposes. Removability of the substrate 104 from the spines 103 allows for washability and provides the user 110 the ability to change out the substrate based on fabric type or fabric design preference.
In embodiments where the substrate 104 is removable, the substrate 104 material may be suitable for machine washing. The optionality of a machine-washable substrate provides the user 110 with the convenience of utilizing a washing machine to wash the removable substrate and dry the removable substrate without attachment to the spines 103 or the nursing pillow 101. As the substrate 104 is removable, the user 110 may have various substrates 104 in differing material types and design patterns that can be substituted based on preference or during the washing and drying process. The nursing pillow system 100 as depicted in
In some embodiments, the nursing pillow system 100 is shown in
In other implementations of the technology, expandable privacy shield 108 includes at least one pocket (other than for storage of the shield). The pocket or pockets may be located on either the interior surface 114, shown in
In some embodiments, the pocket or pockets may be removable from the substrate 104. In instances where the pocket or pockets are removable, the pocket or pockets may be attached to the substrate 104 with either a mechanical connection or a connection made of Velcro or Velcro equivalents. Mechanical connections may be either a zipper, a series of snaps, a series of hooks and latches, a series of buckles, a series of any other type of mechanical fastener, or a combination thereof. The removable pocket or pockets may be made of the same material as the substrate 104 or may be made of any other material suitable for use.
The nursing pillow system 100, comprises a means of attachment for attaching the expandable privacy shield 108 to at least one surface of the nursing pillow 100. In some embodiments the means of attachment comprises a zipper, in some embodiments it comprises a hook and latch substrate, and in some embodiments, it comprises a rigid placement member. In all embodiments, some form of attachment means exists and the means of attachment between the expandable privacy shied 108 and the nursing pillow 101 is not inclusive of the means specifically mentioned. The means of attachment between the expandable privacy shield 108 and the nursing pillow 101 create the fully integrated nursing pillow system 100.
In some embodiments, the attachment means comprises a buckle 105 as depicted in
In some configurations, the expandable privacy shield 108 is attached to each arm (end) 116 of the nursing pillow 101, and substantially covers the outer perimeter 112 of the nursing pillow 101. By attaching the expandable privacy shield 108 to each end 116 of the nursing pillow 101 and substantially covering the outer perimeter 112 of the nursing pillow 101, coverage is provided for the user 110 and the resting baby.
The nursing pillow system 100, includes an expandable privacy shield 108 that at a minimum includes two spines 103. In some configurations, the expandable privacy shield 108 features a minimum of at least four spines 103. Dependent upon the substrate 104 material or fabric, increasing the number of spines 103 can lead to greater rigidity of the dome-shaped structure 113.
In some instances, the spines 103 telescope to expand in length. The telescoping feature of the spines 103 enables movement between the open and closed positions. The telescoping feature of the spines 103 also allows for more compact storage.
In other configurations, the spines 103 fold in at least two places. The folding feature of the spines allows for more compact storage and total collapse of the dome-shaped structure 113.
In the exemplary embodiment featured in
The above description discloses several methods and materials of the present invention. This invention is susceptible to modifications in the methods and materials, as well as alterations in the fabrication methods and equipment. Such modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this disclosure or practice of the invention disclosed herein. Consequently, it is not intended that this invention be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but that it covers all modifications and alternatives coming within the true scope and spirit of the invention as embodied in the attached claims.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. Each smaller range between any stated value or intervening value in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included.
As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a process” includes a plurality of such processes, and so forth.
Also, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” “include,” “including,” and “includes” when used in this specification and in the following claims are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, steps, acts, or groups.
