Snugabed

Abstract

An infant sleeping pad, which is provided with a floor panel and a padded head bolster said padded head bolster being formed by a filling material, which is received in a bolster head sleeve and two padded side bolsters said padded side bolsters being formed by a filling material, which are received in their respective bolster side sleeves such that each of the padded side bolsters can be removed therefrom for the purpose of easy cleaning, packing and transport. Additionally, the infant sleeping pad has a continuous body wrap bolster which is contiguous with the padded floor panel and flexible to fold over and cover the padded side bolsters and capable of releasable attachment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

U.S. provisional application No. 61/105,489 dated Oct. 15, 2008 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to collapsible structures, and in particular to a collapsible infant sleeping pad which is simple, efficient and safe, and which may be folded to reduce the overall size of the assembly to facilitate convenient transportation and storage.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Mobile electronic products have recently become popular with both adults and children. Examples of other mobile products are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,812 (Norman), U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,794 (Zheng) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,385 (Zheng) in the form of collapsible structures. These structures may be twisted and folded to reduce the overall size of the structures to facilitate convenient storage and use. As such, these structures are being enjoyed by many people in many different applications. This and all other referenced patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.

Another example of a collapsible object is a beach blanket as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,333 (Kaiser et al.). The beach blanket has a large springy hoop that is retained inside a blanket. The hoop is inserted into the blanket via a slit provided in an edge of the blanket. The beach blanket can be twisted and folded into a reduced configuration.

Another example of an infant sleeping pad, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,402. The known infant sleeping pad consists of a sort of tension sheet mounted on a floor panel defined by a mattress. Along the edges of said tension sheet, strips of a textile material are sewed on in such a way that they define essentially semicircular tunnels into which rolls of foam material can be introduced. The strips have their two longitudinal edges sewed on the tension sheet in spaced relationship with each other, the distance between said longitudinal edges being equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the rolls of foam material. The inserted rolls of foam material will thus be secured in position relative to the tension sheet and, consequently, relative to the mattress. This, however, means that the available resting area of the infant sleeping pad has a fixed size, which cannot be varied. Further, there is no means of securing an infant to or within the pad.

Although various infant pads are known to the art, all, or almost all of them suffer from one or more than one disadvantage. Therefore, there is a need to provide improved infant sleeping pads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Parents are entering the mobile era where mobile cellular phones, mobile laptops, and PDA's are no longer accessories, but are required to stay connected to society. These parents will also have to have simple, efficient, and safe tools to carry their children into the mobile era.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that can be folded and collapsed into a smaller configuration for convenient transportation and storage.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that offers multiple uses.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad whose components can be separated for different uses.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad can be used as a mat.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that provides a covering that can be used as a conventional blanket.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that allows the user to conveniently wash and maintain.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that can be folded more quickly than a conventional blanket or mat.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an infant sleeping pad that can secure an infant.

In order to accomplish an object of the present invention, the infant sleeping pad according to the present invention may include at least three receiving spaces for holding a padded head bolster and padded side bolsters that are removable from a floor panel, the floor panel having a continuous body wrap bolster that can be folded and secured to the padded side bolsters to hold an infant. When the infant sleeping pad is in the unfolded orientation, it may be used as a flat pad on the floor or as a blanket to cover the infant. The covering and the panel can be twisted and folded to the folded orientation of the floor panel to reduce the overall size of the covering and the panel.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the bolster sleeves are sized to hold the padded bolsters via static friction. The padded bolsters are compressible for insertion into the receiving spaces but expand into complete apposition of the bolster sleeve upon insertion.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the contiguous body wrap bolster can be quickly attached to the padded side bolster.

The infant sleeping pad according to the present invention is convenient for use since it can be easily and quickly folded and collapsed into a smaller size for transportation and storage. In addition, the floor panel can be removed from the padded bolsters to allow cleaning or to substitute another floor panel having a different pattern and/or color design. The floor panel can be used as a mat separate from the padded bolsters or it can be used as a conventional blanket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail on the basis of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention with contiguous body wrap with the padded bolsters removed.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention with contiguous body wrap with the bolster sleeves expanded.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention with contiguous body wrap unfolded, with a child.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an infant sleep pad 1, which is provided with a rectangular floor panel D consisting of a cloth type material. Three of the four straight sides of the floor panel D have arranged thereon bolster sleeves A,B,C that form the hollow reception space for receiving the padded side bolsters F, G. The bolster sleeves A,B are formed by turning extension flaps, which consist of the material of the floor panel D, at the respective edge upwards and inwards or downwards and outwards and by sewing them then on to the floor panel D by means of an attachment seam H. The bolster side sleeves A,B thus define the length of the attachment seam H of the floor panel D. The attachment seam H may be of any length that is long enough to support an infant. Padded side bolsters F are introduced into the hollow bolster sleeves A,B. The length of each of said padded side bolster F corresponds to that of the bolster sleeves A,B. It is possible to place several shorter padded bolsters such that the continuous bolster sleeves are partially or completely filled. The floor panel D further comprises a body wrap portion E that extends beyond the attachment seam H. The body wrap portion E can be made of the same material as the floor panel D and be contiguous or alternatively can be sewn on separately and made of a different material. The body wrap portion E further comprises attachment means J that can be used to attach the body wrap portion E to the side bolster sleeves A,B. The attachment means J can be made of any conventional means commonly used in clothing such as, Velcro® or snaps or buttons or clips. The filling material of the padded bolsters F,G can be any conventional batting material, cotton, polymer, synthetic fiber, foam rubber, or other compatible material or blend thereof. The floor panel D cloth type material may be made of any conventional cotton, cotton polyester blend, polymer, or other commonly available commercial material.

The attachment seams H may be constructed as predetermined bending boundaries so that each of the side bolster sleeves A,B can be folded inwards onto the floor panel D, whereupon the side bolster sleeves A,B and the padded head bolster G can touch each other and form a padded rim surrounding the attachment seams H that can keep the infant safe from rolling out the sides of the infant sleep pad 1. In FIG. 3 the body wrap portion E is in the unattached position. When the body wrap portion E is in the attached position via attaching means J the infant sleep pad 1 forms a cocoon to hold the infant securely. Further, the body wrap portion E can insulate the infant like a blanket and protect the infant from windy conditions.

FIG. 3 shows the infant sleep pad 1 with the body wrap portion E so that the infant sleep pad 1 can be placed conveniently in to any preexisting crib or space without covering the infant such as in warm weather conditions. In such a case, the padded side bolsters F will protect the infant from rolling.

FIG. 1 shows the infant sleep pad 1 with the padded side bolsters F removed so that the infant sleep pad 1 can be used as a nursery pad for changing the infant, or a play mat, or even laid over the infant as a blanket.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments and examples thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure.

Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An infant sleeping pad, having a floor panel connected to a padded head bolster and two padded side bolsters forming a perimeter for bracing an infant and a body wrap portion capable of releasably attaching to the padded side bolsters.

2. An infant sleeping pad as defined in claim 1, wherein the bolster sleeves are shaped as cylinders.

3. An infant sleeping pad as defined in claim 2, wherein the bolster sleeves are made with a single seam.

4. An infant sleeping pad as defined in claim 2, wherein the bolster sleeves are made of loops with multiple seams.