Patent Application
20070199150
This invention relates in general to devices designed for the purpose of carrying items necessary for the care of infants, and in particular to an improvement on the design, organization, ease of carrying, and usefulness of changing pads.
Generic changing pads are well known in the art. In general, a changing pad is acts as a barrier between a child and another surface, the goal being to protect the child from a potentially rough surface or from any irritants or infectious agents that may exist on the surface, or conversely, protecting the surface from any potential runoff from the infant.
Some changing pads incorporate multiple types of materials on different surfaces in order to achieve these different uses. For example, the interior surface may comprise a soft, flexible, but waterproof material which overlays a thin piece of padding, while the exterior surface may comprise a heavy tear-resistant waterproof membrane.
The singular characteristic of all of the prior types of changing pads is the fact that they are not designed to hold or carry anything. These older styles of changing pads are stand-alone items, which by necessity require that be carried within a large item, such as a diaper bag. This diaper bag is further designed to hold not only the changing pad, but all of the other essentials for changing the diapers of a child, such as the diapers, wipes, lotions, etc. In addition to this, most diaper bags further allow for the a carrying of changes of clothing, bottles, food, toys and other items of interest to the child. As such, these diaper bags become overly large and cumbersome.
Thus, what is required is a changing pad that can be augmented with additional sections which will allow a care giver access to only those items which are required in order to change the diaper and/or clothing of a child. In this fashion, the changing pad, even including these additional sections, remains a more simple, compact structure, more easily transported, by itself or inside of a larger container, while insuring that the essential components for changing the child are always readily available.
The invention comprises several general aspects. Each of those can if desired be combined with additional features, including features disclosed and/or not disclosed herein, the resultant combinations representing more detailed optional embodiments of these aspects.
A first aspect of the invention is an apparatus useful for both changing a child's garments and for transporting items essential or useful for changing a child's garments, comprising a user-expandable changing pad wherein said changing pad is of a size suitable for containing a child while in the act of changing the attire of the child, and wherein at least one additional section may be removably attached to said changing pad. Said additional section(s) may contain diapers, clothes, washing material, etc., or may be used by the parent to carry other items such as a cell phone, wallet, etc.
In various embodiments of this aspect at least one first and at least one other removably attachable sections may be removably attached. Said at least one first and at least one other removably attachable sections may be attached to said changing pad at the same time or in sequence. Further, said first and said other section(s) may be independently attached and detached from said changing pad. In various forms of these embodiments, said first and said other section(s) may be different or may be the same. In other forms of these embodiments, the removably attachable sections may have at least one segment or may have at least two segments.
In another embodiment, the user-expandable changing pad may comprise at least one area of padding. In certain forms of this embodiment, the padded area is configured to support the child's head.
In still other embodiments, at least one segment of said removably attachable section may have at least one pocket. In various forms of this embodiment, the pocket may be either internal to said section or secured to an external surface of said section. In various other forms, at least one portion of said pocket may comprise mesh or a solid, opaque material. In still other forms, said pocket may be releasable sealed. In yet other forms, said pocket may comprise means for securing articles within said pocket.
In another embodiment, said at least one removably attachable section may be affixed via at least one zipper, at least one Velcro segment, and/or at least one snap, or some combination of zipper(s), Velcro segment(s) and/or snap(s).
In various embodiments, the user-expandable changing pad, including its padded section, may have a thickness of approximately one inch when folded. In related embodiments, at least one removably attachable section may have a thickness between one and two inches when folded. In still other related embodiments, the combination of a user-expandable changing pad and at least one removably attachable section may have an overall thickness of between two inches and four inches when folded. In certain forms of these embodiments, the folded thickness further includes materials contained within the removably attachable sections.
In yet other embodiments, the user-expandable changing pad may be securely closed without attaching any removably attachable sections, or with at least one removably attachable section affixed. In some related embodiments, a set of at least two removably attachable sections, affixed to one another, can be securely closed without requiring said set to be affixed to said changing pad.
A second aspect of the invention is an apparatus useful for changing a child's inner and/or outer garments comprising a changing pad wherein only at least one area of at least one portion includes padding. In one embodiment of this aspect, the padded area is positioned so as to support a child's head.
A third aspect of the invention is an apparatus useful for changing a child's inner and/or outer garments comprising a changing pad and at least one section permanently attached to said changing pad, wherein said at least one section has at least one segment, and said at least one segment has at least one pocket, and said changing pad comprises a top portion, a center portion, a bottom portion, and left and right side portions, wherein said device when folded in such a fashion as to have at least one of its folded dimensions being approximately ⅓ the longest dimension of said changing pad's central portion, may have an overall thickness of between two and four inches. In one embodiment of this third aspect at least one of said pockets may be configured to contain at least one container for holding elements essential for changing the garments of a child and/or said elements themselves without a container. In another embodiment only at least one area of at least one portion of said changing pad may include padding. In a related embodiment, the padded area may be positioned so as to support a child's head.
The following discussion of advantages is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, nor to suggest that every form of the invention will have all of the following advantages. As will be seen from the remainder of this disclosure, the present invention provides a variety of features. These can be used in different combinations. The different combinations are referred to as embodiments. Most embodiments will not include all of the disclosed features. Some simple embodiments can include a very limited selection of these features. Those embodiments may have only one or a few of the advantages described below. Other preferred embodiments will combine more of these features, and will reflect more of the following advantages. Particularly preferred embodiments, that incorporate many of these features, will have most if not all of these advantages. Moreover, additional advantages, not disclosed herein, that are inherent in certain embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to those who practice or carefully consider the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are achieved by the apparatus described herein which overcome problems inherent in traditional changing pads and associated carrying devices. Those problems include either no padding or too much padding, no seamless assembly for carrying items necessary for changing the child, and no way to conveniently vary the amount of or type of items able to be carried along with the changing pad.
Thus, when compared to other changing pads the user-expandable changing pad offers several new and important advantages. The advantages offered by the various embodiments of this invention include:
6.1
In
It should be noted that several other combinations and/or variations on these basic patterns will be obvious to those skilled in the art.
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
In
In
In
6.6
6.7
In
In
In
6.8
