SAFETY CARRIER GARMENT

Abstract

A safety carrier garment for carrying an infant. The safety carrier garment includes a main body including a first pocket, a second pocket, and at least one non-slip marking. The first pocket and the second pocket are placed above or underneath of a section of the main body designed to be placed on an arm region of an user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/380,069 filed Sep. 03, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a safety carrier garment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a garment to be worn by a child to be safely held by an adult.

Holding an infant is often an arduous and daunting task because of the unpredictability of the infant's movements. The prior art has developed a plurality of infant holders that facilitate holding the infant using a series of straps and slings to tie the infant to the front or back of the carriers body. The prolonged and repeated lifting and carrying of a child may cause a variety of musculoskeletal discomfort and inflammation related pathologies to the user. It has been estimated the number of infants dropped annually greatly exceeds the number of drops reported. This is in addition to the unacceptably high number of traumatic brain injuries that occur annually from infants being dropped or mishandled.

In addition, there is an inversely proportional relationship between the coefficients of friction between the contacting surfaces of a child and the carrier of the child and the amount of compressive forces needed to be placed on a child to prevent the child from slipping on the carrier. Increased friction between the contacting surfaces of the child and the carrier means decreased compressive forces on the child being held.

As can be seen, there is a need for an infant holder that allows the user to securely hold the infant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a safety carrier garment for holding a user including a main body having a first pocket and a second pocket, at least one non-slip marking located on the main body, the first pocket and the second pocket are placed above or underneath of a section of the main body designed to be placed on an arm region of the user.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for safety carrying an infant includes the steps of placing a garment on the infant, the garment includes a main body having a first pocket and a second pocket; at least one non-slip marking located on the main body; the first pocket and the second pocket are placed underneath of a section of the main body designed to be placed under an arm region of the infant and holding the infant by inserting a first hand of a user into the first pocket and a second hand of the user into the second pocket.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective front view of a safety carrier garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention showing the safety carrier garment being used;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective front view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective rear view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates a rear view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 illustrates a front view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1 showing the user's hands introduced inside pockets located on the front section of the safety carrier garment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the safety carrier garment of FIG. 1 showing the user's hands introduced inside pockets located on the side section of the safety carrier garment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the safety carrier garment taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the safety carrier garment taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the safety carrier garment taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.

Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide a safety carrier garment for an infant that includes pockets and non-slip markings to securely hold an infant.

FIGS. 1-11 illustrate a safety carrier garment 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to allow a user 14 to securely hold an infant 12. The safety carrier garment 10 may be worn by the infant 12. The safety carrier garment 10 may include a main body 16 including at least one pocket 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30. In addition, the main body 16 may include at least one non-slip marking 26.

The main body 16 may be made of a flexible material. In some embodiments, the main body 16 may be made of cotton, fabric, cloth, or terry. The main body 16 may be underwear, a bodysuit, a snapsuit, a diaper shirt, a dress, a romper, a footsie, or a shirt and pants. The main body 16 may be a sleeveless main body. The main body 16 may be closed in the front, back, side or on the bottom. The main body 16 may include fasteners such as buttons, snaps, a zipper, hook and loop system, clips, or clasp.

The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be strategically placed on the main body 16 on a number of locations to provide a plurality of options for the user 14 to carry the infant 12. The user 14 may introduce the hands inside the pockets to hold the infant 12. By inserting the hands inside the strategically located pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30, the user 14 may be safely holding the infant 12 and at the same time that may provide the infant 12 with a direct contact with the user 14. The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be placed on the leg sections, arm sections, torso section, abdomen section, or back section of the main body 16.

The strategic location of the pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be based on the fact that the infant's center of mass is anatomically located on the upper side of the body due to the proportions of head size in relation to body and leg size in an infant 12 in comparison to an adult. In addition, the pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be placed at locations on the main body 16 that allow the user 14 to insert his/her hands into the pockets on areas that offer more support, balance, and comfort for the infant 12 being held. The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be located on a section of the main body 16 designed to be placed under the arm, hips, front torso, back torso, and lower torso of the infant 12.

The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be placed internally or externally on the main body 16. The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be pouches, standard pockets, straps, or combination thereof. The pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may be oriented vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, depending on the number of hands being used to hold the infant 12. The size of the pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may depend on the size of the hands of the user 14.

The main body 16 may include at least one back pocket 18 and a thumb pocket 24 located on the section designed to be placed on the back torso of the infant 12. At least one front pocket 30 may be located on the section designed to be placed on the front torso of the infant 12. The back pocket 18 and the front pocket 30 may be placed below the section of the main body 16 designed to be placed on the arms of the infant 12; thus, the hands of the user 14 may not slip upward with the movement of the infant 12, preventing an uncomfortable and potentially harmful position. The thumb pocket 24 may be placed underneath of the back pocket 18.

The main body 16 may also include at least one hip pocket 20 located on the section of the main body 16 designed to be placed on the hips of the infant 12. A lower pocket 22 may be located on the section of the main body 16 designed to be placed on the lower back torso of the infant 12. An upper pocket 28 may be located on the section of the main body 16 designed to be placed on the upper back torso of the infant 12.

The non-slip marking 26 may be placed at the point of contact between the user 14 and the infant 12. The user 14 may insert his/her fingers into the pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 while aligning the area of contact between the infant 12 and the user 14 with the non-slip marking 26. The non-slip marking 26 may be located on the section of the main body 16 designed to be placed on the front and/or back pelvic region at the base of the trunk of the infant 12. The non-slip marking 26 may be patches of a non-slip material. The non-slip material may be rubber, silicone, latex and or any combination of these things. The non-slip marking 26 may serve to increase the friction between the two users. When the infant 12 may be held facing the user 14 or facing away from the user 14, the user 14 may position the hands inside the front pockets 30 by placing the forefingers inside the front pockets 30 under the arms and the thumb fingers inserted into the pockets under the arm in the back with the pockets 24 (See FIG. 7).

In addition, when the infant 12 may be held facing the user 14, the user 14 may position the forefingers inside the hip pockets 20 from the front of the main body 16 and the thumb fingers on the front pocket 30. (See FIG. 8). Furthermore, when the infant 12 may be held facing the user 14, the user 14 may position the forefingers inside the hip pockets 20 from the back of the main body 16 and the thumb fingers on the back pocket 18 or thumb pocket 24, depending on the size of the hand of the user 14.

When the infant 12 may be held facing the user 14 on a horizontal position resting the head near the elbow, the fingers of the user 14 may be placed inside the lower pocket 22 to provide a more secure grip of the infant 12.

Although the safety carrier garment 10 has been described by using a specific combination for placing the hands of the user 14 inside the different pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30, it should be stated, as known by those in the art, that the totality of the possible combinations for placing the hands inside pockets 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 may depend on the specific situation.

In some embodiments, the main body 16 may be a pet garment. In some embodiments, the main body 16 may be a carrier for bowling balls or water containers.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A safety carrier garment for holding a user comprising:

a main body including a first pocket and a second pocket;

at least one non-slip marking located on the main body;

wherein the first pocket and the second pocket are placed above or underneath of a section of the main body designed to be placed under an arm region of the user.

2. The safety carrier garment according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes a front upper torso section, a back upper torso section, a hip section, a lower torso section;

wherein the first pocket is located on the front upper torso section; and

wherein the second pocket is located on the back upper torso section.

3. The safety carrier garment according to claim 1, wherein the main body is a bodysuit, a snapsuit, a diaper shirt, a dress, a romper, a footsie, or a shirt and/or pants.

4. The safety carrier garment according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pockets are pouches, standard pockets, straps, or combination thereof.

5. The safety carrier garment according to claim 2, further including a third pocket located on the hip section and a fourth pocket located on the lower torso section.

6. The safety carrier garment according to claim 1, further including a fifth pocket located underneath of the second pocket.

7. The safety carrier garment according to claim 1, wherein the at least one non-slip marking is located on a section of the main body designed to be placed on the front and/or back pelvic region of a user.

8. The safety carrier garment according to claim 7, wherein the non-slip material is rubber, silicone, latex or any combination of these

9. A method for safety carrying an infant, the method comprising the steps of:

placing a garment on the infant, the garment includes a main body having a first pocket and a second pocket; at least one non-slip marking located on or undeneath the main body; wherein the first pocket and the second pocket are placed underneath of a section of the main body designed to be placed on an arm region of the infant; and

holding the infant by placing a first hand of a user into the first pocket and a second hand of the user on the second pocket.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the garment further includes a third pocket located underneath of the second pocket, wherein the user holds the infant by placing a thumb finger on the third pocket and forefingers inside the first pocket or the second pocket.