1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of baby products, and in particular to providing a convenient organizer carrying bag for a high chair that includes various fluid resistant lined storage compartments adapted to house a variety of different articles, such as utensils, drinking cup, napkins, and the like, for use with an infant or young child.
2. Description of the Related Art
During a meal, infants and toddlers are generally placed into a high chair in close proximity to the parent. At this suitable height, the parent attending to the child can conveniently care for and feed the child in an efficient and clean manner. However, infants and young children at this tender age lack muscular coordination and are somewhat challenged at keeping their dining area clean. Consequently, the child's food, as well as many of the articles and/or utensils, such as forks, spoons, cups, napkins, bibs, and the like, tend to get scattered and/or thrown in various places around the high chair making what should be a routine meal a rather difficult and messy ordeal. In an effort to protect the child from coming into contact with unwanted germs or bacteria, once an object is dropped onto an unsanitary surface, such as the floor, the item should be cleaned before it is returned to the child.
Unfortunately, during the meal, the attending parent frequently finds herself having to continually get up from the table to retrieve the dropped or thrown items as well as to sterilize and/or locate replaceable items, such as napkins, a clean utensil or some other item so that the child can resume eating. As a result, a parent oftentimes dreads meal time because of the inherent difficulties and challenges presented when attending to the young child. This constant disruption consequentially takes away from the parent's peaceful uninterrupted enjoyment of their own meal.
While replacement objects may be stored in a diaper bag, diaper bags are not practical to use in a home setting at feeding time. Thus, there is a need for a quick and easy solution for a modular and portable organizer carrying bag that organizes and stores baby feeding articles on a high chair so the adult caring for the child does not have to continuously get up from their seat to retrieve an item.
An object of the present invention is to provide a removable portable organizer carrying bag for use in combination with a high chair. The portable organizer carrying bag is constructed to include various storage compartments into which a variety of different articles, such as utensils, drinking cup, napkins, and the like may be stored, and for ready use by a person attending to the feeding of an infant or toddler during a meal.
The portable organizer carrying bag includes a front panel fastened to a rear panel continuously along side edges and a bottom edge thereof that forms a first large internal pocket. A pocket panel is fastened to the front panel continuously along the side and bottom edges of the pocket panel to form an outer pocket. The outer pocket is further divided by various stitches sewn into the pocket panel to define a plurality of pouches.
The portable organizer carrying bag may be made from a flexible material capable of being wrapped around portions of the high chair, yet rigid enough to prevent sagging resulting from the weight of the contents in the portable organizer carrying bag. An elastic material may be disposed on an upper edge of the pocket panel. The elastic material is biased to keep the open end of the plurality of pouches closed.
At least one cover flap may be attached to the front panel that extends outward there from and over at least one opening of a pouch. The end of the cover flap may be secured over the pouch securing various articles that may be stored therein.
Another aspect of the invention would be to line the portable organizer carrying bag with a fluid impermeable liner capable of retaining spilled fluids therein. Likewise, the portable organizer carrying bag may be lined with a thermal insulating material capable of maintaining the temperature of various articles in the portable organizer carrying bag at a substantially constant temperature.
These and other objects, features, and/or advantages may accrue from various aspects of embodiments of the present invention, as described in more detail below.
Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components or steps, with reference to the following figures, wherein:
Particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the figures.
Since infants and young children alike are challenged at keeping their dining area in front of them clean, parents continuously have to get up from the table to locate various items to enable the child to resume eating. Examples where an adult would have to get up from her seat to tend to the child include when the child drops his or her utensil, a bib, a cup and/or food. In these instances, the parent generally has to leave their seat to retrieve a clean utensil, a straw, a new cup, some napkins, and/or other item that will allow the parent to clean the area so that the child can continue eating. Unfortunately, this disruption takes away from the parent's peaceful uninterrupted enjoyment of their own meal since they continuously have to get up out of their seat to retrieve various items for the child. The conveniently placed portable organizer carrying bag described below specifically addresses and alleviates these concerns.
According to this invention, the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is shown attached to the various legs 2 of the high chair 8 by a plurality of adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d. It is to be understood that the flexibility of this construction enables the portable organizer carrying bag 10 to be fastened to any part of the high chair 8.
The portable organizer carrying bag 10 is positioned on the high chair 8 so that a person attending to the child will have convenient access to the portable organizer carrying bag 10 and the various contents disposed within the portable organizer carrying bag 10. By positioning the portable organizer carrying bag 10 out of reach of the child, such as shown here on the back side of the high chair 8, only the person attending to the child can access the contents in the portable organizer carrying bag 10. Another object of this invention is to position the portable organizer carrying bag 10 out of the reach of the child so that the child cannot reach into the portable organizer carrying bag 10 and remove the contents therein.
A pocket panel 30 is fastened to the front panel 20 continuously defining side edges 24a, 24b and a bottom edge 25b for the pocket panel 30. The pocket panel 30 may be divided into a plurality of pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39 as shown in
Although the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39 have been constructed into a single pocket panel 30, it is to be understood that the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39 may be formed by more than one rectangular piece of material positioned and fastened adjacent to each other. Likewise, it should be noted that additional pockets may be formed on the portable organizer carrying bag 10 within any one of the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39. Various fasteners (such as snaps or Velcro®) 28a, 28b may be attached within each of the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39.
It is also to be understood that the various edges of the portable organizer carrying bag 10 may be fastened to each other in a number of different ways, such as by sewing the various edges 22a, 22b, 23b, 24a, 24b, 25b together, using an adhesive, by welding and/or fusing various portions of the panels 18, 20, 30 to each other, or the like.
As shown in
Another aspect of this invention is to integrate a thermal insulating liner 21 into at least one of the pockets, as shown in
The portable organizer carrying bag 10 may be constructed of a flexible material allowing the portable organizer carrying bag 10 to be wrapped around the contours of the high chair 8, yet rigid enough to secure and support the weight of various articles stored therein while preventing the portable organizer carrying bag 10 from substantially sagging. Of various materials, the portable organizer carrying bag 10 may be constructed from a material fabric such as nylon, cotton, vinyl, and/or any other suitable flexible, albeit substantially rigid material.
As mentioned before, one object of this invention is to employ the use of a fabric that is sufficiently flexible, yet durable to hold the various article in the portable organizer carrying bag 10. One way to ensure that the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is sufficiently rigid is by building up the fabric at various locations to counteract any sag that may occur from the weight of the items in the portable organizer carrying bag 10.
For example, the upper edge 23a or lower edges 23b of the front panel 20 or back panel 18 may be built up by layering or overlapping the edges thereby creating a more rigid edge sufficient to overcome the weight of the items in the portable organizer carrying bag 10. Likewise, the upper edge 25a or lower edges 25b of the pocket panel 30 may be layered, or built up by overlapping its edges. Furthermore, any of the side edges 22a, 22b, 24a, 24b, and/or seams between the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, the upper edge 23a or lower edges 23b of the front panel 20 or back panel 18 may be materially built-up, or thickened, to create a rigid, substantially unbending structure for the portable organizer carrying bag 10.
In the alternative, a rigid rod-like material, such as a thin piece of metal, plastic, or the like, may be disposed and/or lined along the various edges, seams or pockets to enhance the rigidity of the portable organizer carrying bag 10. By implementing the rigid rod-like material, the portable organizer carrying bag 10 will be able to overcome sagging that would otherwise occur when the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is weighed down by various articles.
The portable organizer carrying bag 10 may include cover flaps 32 to prevent direct contact with and to secure the contents within any one of the various pockets 31, 33, 35, 37, 39. For example, where the cover flaps 32 prevent a user's fingers from being stuck by the sharp tines of a fork, such as shown in
Likewise, as shown in
As shown in
The adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d on the portable organizer carrying bag 10 are shown attached near the corners of the portable organizer carrying bag 10. However, the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d may be attached to the portable organizer carrying bag 10 in a variety of different ways. Although the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are shown attached at the seams along the edges 22a, 22b between the front panel 20 and the back panel 18, it is to be understood that the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d may be secured at various other locations on the portable organizer carrying bag 10 employing various other conventional methods.
For example, the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d may be attached to the inner or outer surface of the front panel 20. Likewise, the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d may be fastened to the back panel 18 of the portable organizer carrying bag 10. Although the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are shown horizontally disposed in
As shown in use in
Various mounting members 13 may be attached to the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d in order to securely fasten the portable organizer carrying bag 10 to the high chair 8. The mounting members 13 may be made from various types of materials, such as but not limited to, the hook and eye fastener known by the trade name Velcro®, plastic, metal, and/or any other suitable durable material. Although the mounting member 13 shown includes a first mounting member portion 13a and a mating second mounting member portion 13b, any type of mounting member may be used.
In
In use, a first adjustable strap 12a and a second adjustable strap 12b are placed on opposite sides of the portable organizer carrying bag 10. The position of the first mounting member 13a and the second mounting member 13b may be adjusted in position over the high chair 8 by carefully adjusting the adjustable straps 12a, 12b. A third adjustable strap 12c and a fourth adjustable strap 12d are also shown in
Upon completion of the meal, the various items such as the utensils, cups, pacifiers, napkins, rubbish, and/or other articles may be stored back in the various compartments of the portable organizer carrying bag 10 and removed as a single unit with the portable organizer carrying bag 10. Any pair of the adjustable straps 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d may be extended and/or connected to form a longer shoulder-like strap that the user may use to carry the portable organizer carrying bag 10 during transit.
It is to be understood that various articles are contemplated to be stored and/or carried within the portable organizer carrying bag 10 in accordance with this invention, such as shown in
The portable organizer carrying bag 10 may include various indicia, designs and/or other aesthetic logos. The portable organizer carrying bag 10 may be made of any color(s) or pattern(s) and of various shapes and sizes, including but not limited to the child's name, images/objects, whimsical designs, cartoon characters, numbers, geometric shapes, animals, birds, flowers, decorative embroidery, alphanumeric markings, and/or a combination thereof.
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. For example, the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is modular and compact and may be adapted for use with various chairs and/or other implements, such as a wheel chair, feeding boosters, booster seats, feeding chairs, a stroller, a car seat and the like. It is also to be understood that the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is convenient and may be used when a parent is away from the home, especially where a wash basin and/or other replacement supplies are not readily available. Unlike an inconveniently large and cumbersome conventional diaper bag, the portable organizer carrying bag 10 is compact and easy to transport for the parent or other person caring for the child.
It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes or modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It is understood therefore that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment which is described, but is intended to cover all modifications and changes within the scope and spirit of the invention.