The present application is related to a seat cushion, and more specifically to methods and systems that enable safe and comfortable seating of a child in a shopping cart.
Caregivers can place children of various ages from 1-year-old to a pre-schooler, in a seat of a shopping cart while browsing in a store. The children can get uncomfortable, fidgety, try to sit sideways in the seat, and can even stand up in the attempt to climb out of the shopping cart seat. The shopping cart can move, and the child can fall over. An infant can fall from the cart and go head first to the pavement.
Introduced here is a lightweight, foldable seat cushion which can be placed in the shopping cart seat to support a child's legs, and prevent the hard surfaces of the shopping card, such as bars, from causing discomfort to the child and causing the child to try to get out of the cart. The seat cushion can attach to the cart using an attachment mechanism such as magnets and/or clasping protrusions, thus preventing the movement of the seat within the cart. The seat cushion can fold for easy storage in a diaper bag. The lightweight, and the compact size of the seat cushion makes the carrying of the seat cushion convenient and effortless.
Seat Cushion
Introduced here is a lightweight, foldable seat cushion which can be placed in the shopping cart seat to support a child's legs, and prevent the hard surfaces of the shopping card, such as bars, from causing discomfort to the child and causing the child to try to get out of the cart. The seat cushion can attach to the cart using an attachment mechanism such as magnets and/or clasping protrusions, thus preventing the movement of the seat within the cart. The seat cushion can fold for easy storage in a diaper bag. The lightweight, and the compact size of the seat cushion makes the carrying of the seat cushion convenient and effortless.
The backrest 120 can lean against a first support member, i.e. the backrest 150, of the shopping cart seat 110. The backrest can have a proximal end 122 and a distal end 124, where the distal end 124 includes a headrest 160. The headrest 160 can have an enlarged thickness, larger than the thickness of the backrest 120. Both the backrest 120 and the headrest 160 can include a cushioning layer such as high-density foam, gel cushion, ethyl vinyl acetate, etc.
The seat 130 can lean against a second support member, i.e. the seat 170, of the shopping cart. The seats 130 can include a back portion 132 hingedly joined to the proximal end 122 of the backrest 120 and a front portion formed into two prongs 134 defining a gap surrounding a leg separator 180 of the shopping cart seat 110. The two prongs 134 can support legs of a user, such as a child, as shown in
The attachment mechanism can be attached to the backrest 120 and/or the seat 130 coupled to the backrest. The attachment mechanism can secure the seat cushion 100 to the shopping cart seat 110.
In
In
Strap 510 can serve multiple functions. Strap 510, or strap 520, can secure a child sitting in the seat cushion 500. Also, strap 510 can detachably secure the seat cushion 500 to the backrest 550 of the shopping cart, by strapping around the backrest 550. Strap 510 can also detachably secure the backrest 530 to the seat 540 when the seat cushion 500 is folded. Securing the backrest 530 the seat 540 ensures that the folded seat cushion 500 is compact and easy to carry.
Strap 520 can be used in addition to or instead of strap 510. Strap 520 can be attached to the backrest 530 (front side 532, or backside) and can be used as a shoulder strap to further secure the child sitting in the seat cushion 500. Strap 520 can include two bands 522, 524 and buckle 526, 528, which can connect to the buckle 516 of the strap 510. Similar to strap 510, strap 520 can secure the seat cushion 500 to the backrest 550 of the shopping cart by strapping around the backrest 550. Strap 520 can also secure the backrest 532 the seat 540 when the seat cushion 500 is folded.
The protrusions 630, 640 have a width that can fit between bars 672, 674 (only two labeled for brevity) of the backrest 680 of the shopping cart seat 610 and/or the seat 670 of the shopping cart seat 610. The protrusion 630, 640 can include two or more directional protrusions 632, 634, 642, 644. The directional protrusion 632, 634, 642, 644 can retract when the backrest 650 is pushed against the backrest 680 of the shopping cart seat 610. Once the directional protrusions 632, 634, 642, 644 have passed between the bars 672, 674 of the shopping cart seat 610, the directional protrusions 632, 634, 642, 644 can extend from the retracted position, and can lock to the bars 672, 674 of the backrest 680 of the shopping cart seat 610. When the directional protrusions 632, 634, 642, 644 are locked, the directional protrusions 632, 634, 642, 644 can resist separating the backrest 650 from the backrest 680 of the shopping cart seat 610.
Locking the seat cushion 600 to the shopping cart seat 610 is easy because the protrusion 630, 640 fits in the large gaps between bars 672, 674 of the shopping cart seat 610. As a result, a person can lock the seat cushion 600 onto the shopping cart seat 610 by placing the seat cushion 600 onto the shopping cart seat 610 and slightly pressing and moving the seat cushion 600 left or right until the protrusion 630, 640 passes through the bars 672, 674 and the directional protrusion 632, 634, 642, 644 locks on to the bars 672, 674.
The directional protrusion 632, 634, 642, 644 can be rectangular, rectangular with rounded corners, or can be shaped like a hook, as shown in
A person placing the seat cushion 840 into the shopping cart seat needs to unfold the seat cushion 840, and slightly move the seat cushion to the left and to the right while pressing, to force the shopping cart bars 820, 830 to go through the openings 805, 815.
The seat cushion 900 can include one or more magnets 930, 940, 950 in the backrest 910 of the seat cushion 900 and/or in the seat 920 of the seat cushion 900. The magnet 930, 940, 950 can take various shapes such as a rectangle, the ellipsoid, etc. The magnet 930, 940, 950 can detachably secure the seat cushion 900 to a ferromagnetic material contained in the shopping cart seat 960. In addition, the magnets 930, 940, 950 can have opposite polarity, and when the backrest 910 and the seat 920 are close to each other, the magnets 930, 940, 950 can attract, thus securing the backrest 910 to the seat 920. As a result, the seat cushion 900 takes on a compact shape and can be easily carried and stored, for example, in a diaper bag.
The headrest 1060 can have an enlarged thickness comprising the cushioning layer and disposed on the backrest opposite the back portion of the seat. The headrest 1060 can extend between 0.5 and 2 inches above the backrest 1010. The headrest at its thickest can be up to 3 inches in thickness. The headrest 1060 can be detachable from the seat cushion 1000.
The covering layer 1130 can form a juncture 1135 between the seat 1120 and the backrest 1110. The juncture can be thinner than either the backrest 1110 or the seat 1120, thus enabling the backrest 1110 and the seat 1120 to fold and contact each other. The covering layer 1130 can contain stitching 1134, 1136 to separate and contain the backrest 1110 and the seat 1120, respectively. The covering layer 1130 can be water and stain resistant and can be made of vinyl coating.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the backrest 1110 can include a cushioning layer 1150 at most half an inch in thickness disposed above the firm layer and shaped into the seating area having the two prongs. The backrest 1110 can optionally include a firm layer 1140.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the seat 1120 can include a firm layer 1140 and a cushioning layer 1150. The firm layer can be at most quarter inch in thickness, and shaped into a seating area having the two prongs. The cushioning layer 1150 can be at most half an inch in thickness disposed above the firm layer and shaped into the seating area having the two prongs.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the headrest 1160 can include a cushioning layer 1150 having at most 3 inches in thickness.
The cushioning layer 1150 can include at least one of a cushion high density foam, such as the foam found in yoga mats, ethyl vinyl acetate, or a gel cushion. The firm layer can include at least one of a polyethylene structural foam, polyurethane structural foam, an ethyl vinyl acetate, HDPE, etc. As described in this application, the firm layer 1140 can include an optional medial region 1145 having different thickness and/or different material.
The covering layer 1130 can form a juncture 1135 between the seat 1120 and the backrest 1110. The juncture can be thinner than either the backrest 1110 or the seat 1120, thus enabling the backrest 1110 and the seat 1120 to fold and contact each other. The covering layer 1130 can contain stitching 1134, 1136 to contain the backrest 1110 and the seat 1120, respectively. The covering layer 1130 can be water and stain resistant and can be made of vinyl coating.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the backrest 1110 can include a cushioning layer 1150 at most half an inch in thickness disposed above the firm layer and shaped into the seating area having the two prongs. The backrest 1110 can optionally include a firm layer 1140.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the seat 1120 can include the firm layer 1140 at most quarter inch in thickness shaped into a seating area having the two prongs, and a cushioning layer 1150 at most half an inch in thickness disposed above the firm layer and shaped into the seating area having the two prongs.
In addition to the covering layer 1130, the headrest 1160 can include a cushioning layer 1150 having at most 3 inches in thickness.
The cushioning layer 1150 can include at least one of a cushion high density foam, such as the foam found in yoga mats, ethyl vinyl acetate, or a gel cushion. The firm layer can include at least one of a polyethylene structural foam, polyurethane structural foam, an ethyl vinyl acetate, HDPE, etc. As described in this application, the firm layer 1140 can include an optional medial region 1145 having different thickness and/or different material.
To create the backrest, and sometimes to create the seat portion, a firm layer at most quarter inch in thickness can be combined with a cushioning layer at most half an inch in thickness. The combination can be covered by a covering layer resistant to water and staining to obtain the seat. The firm layer, the cushioning layer and the covering layer can be made of various materials as described in this application.
The firm layer can be made of two materials, where a softer material forms a medial region corresponding to location of the child's knees. The first material can be injected into a mold comprising the back portion and the front portion formed into the two prongs having the medial region. The second material can be injected into the medial region of with the two prongs. The second material can be softer than the first material. The first material can be a polyethylene structural foam, polyurethane structural foam, an ethyl vinyl acetate, etc. The second material can be a softer material such as low-density polyethylene structural foam, low density polyurethane structural foam, low density ethyl vinyl acetate, cushion high density foam, ethyl vinyl acetate, or a gel cushion, etc. Finally, the mold can be removed to obtain the firm layer shaped as a seat having two prongs, where the firm layer is made of two different materials.
The attachment mechanism can be added to the seat cushion. A first protrusion configured to fit between two bars of a backrest of a shopping cart seat can be provided. The first protrusion can include two or more directional protrusions, which retract when the backrest is pushed against the backrest of the shopping cart seat. The directional protrusions can extend from the retracted position when the pressure on the directional protrusions reduces, such as when the directional protrusions are pushed past the bars of the backrest. Once the directional protrusions are pushed past the bars of the backrest they can lock to the bars and can resist separating the backrest of the seat cushion from the backrest of the shopping cart when in the locked position.
Remarks
The language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this Detailed Description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of various embodiments is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the embodiments, which is set forth in the following claims.
This application is a continuation of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/684,934 filed Nov. 15, 2019, which is a continuation of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/043,605 filed Jul. 24, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,518,795, both of which are incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210046966 A1 | Feb 2021 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16684934 | Nov 2019 | US |
Child | 17087298 | US | |
Parent | 16043605 | Jul 2018 | US |
Child | 16684934 | US |