MATERNITY NAPKIN
A maternity napkin comprising a larger than conventional fabric area with a shape-holding flexible band along one edge, the fabric extending from the band with a plurality of pleats, folds, gathers, ruffles and/or darts. The napkin may be provided along with a drawstring pouch to allow it to be easily carried in one's purse, pocket, briefcase, luggage, etc. when dirty without spreading the dirt to other objects in the purse, etc.
This application is based on, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/286,191, filed Dec. 14, 2009, the entire contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field
The present invention relates to napkins designed to accommodate the needs of pregnant women.
2. Background
When eating at a table at home or restaurants, pregnant women have to cope with several problems to which they are unaccustomed. These include the fact that, particularly during the later stages of pregnancy, they must sit further away from the table that they would normally be accustomed in order to provide clearance for their enlarged midsections. This makes it difficult to lean over one's plate, as is often done when eating foods that tend to drip and splash, such as soups and pasta dishes, requiring the spoon, fork or other eating utensil containing the dripping food to be brought over the woman's midsection between the plate and mouth. Furthermore, their enlarged midsections provide a much larger surface area on which they may drop food.
Most conventional napkins, whether paper or clothe are too small to adequately cover the midsection of a late-stage pregnant woman and, even if they are large enough, have a tendency to slide off of the rounded midsection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to a maternity napkin comprising a larger than conventional fabric area with a shape-holding flexible band along one edge, the fabric extending from the band with a plurality of pleats, folds, gathers, ruffles and/or darts.
The napkin may be provided along with a drawstring pouch to allow it to be easily carried in one's purse, pocket, briefcase, luggage, etc. when dirty without spreading the dirt to other objects in the purse, etc.
The expanse of fabric 102 in this embodiment forms a quadrilateral, but this is merely exemplary. The fabric expanse has a top edge 110, bottom edge 111, left side edge 112, and right side edge 113.
The top edge 110 of the expanse of fabric is attached to a band 104. The band 104 comprises a material that can be bent by hand and that will hold the shape to which it is bent after the bending force is released (as in the nature of a French curve). The band 104 can be imparted with this bendable, yet shape holding property in any number of ways. For instance it may be formed of a lead or alloy steel filled rubber encased within a cloth band. Alternately, one or more flexible wires may be embedded, such as by sewing, inside of a folded strip of fabric near an edge of the fabric. The wire(s) may, for instance, be 38 square 1008 low carbon steel wire. However, any other metal, or shape retaining natural or polymeric material would be acceptable. Alternately, the band 104 may comprise a thin strip of bendable metal, either bare or encased within fabric.
The fabric 102 may be sewn or adhered, such as by glue or epoxy, to the band 104. In the embodiment illustrated in
In use, the band 104 may be bent to any shape around the woman's belly to hold the napkin in place. For instance, it may be placed directly under the bra line or along the diaphragm (bottom of the rib cage area) and flexed to match the contour of the woman's belly. This will not only help the fabric drape over the woman's full belly, but can also help hold the napkin from sliding out of place.
While the napkin may be used disposably, it is envisioned that it will be washed and reused after each use. Therefore, the napkin may be provided with a pouch in which it may be stuffed after use in order to protect the napkin from coming into contact with other things in a purse, pocket, briefcase, etc after it has become soiled. Preferably, the pouch is sealable into a closed condition, such as by one or more of drawstrings, zippers, plastic zip locks, string ties, flaps, hook and loop closure mechanism, such as VELCRO™, or snap closures so that the napkin cannot inadvertently fall out of the pouch. The pouch may be formed of a liquid impermeable material or coating so as to prevent food stuffs and other dirt on the napkin from seeping through the pouch.
The napkin may be offered in several different sizes to accommodate different sized pregnant women. For instance, the napkin may be offered in small medium and large sizes. The band for the small size napkin may be 18-20 inches in length, the band for the medium size napkin may be 20-22 inches in length, and the band for the large size napkin may be 22-24 inches in length. The fabric may be rectangular (prior to being sewn or otherwise attached to the band) with a height between the top edge and the bottom edge of 18-20 inches for the small napkin, 20-22 inches for the medium napkin, and 22-24 inches for the large napkin.
Comparatively, cloth napkins are normally square and of a standard size 14, 16, or 20 inches per side.
However, the fabric need not be rectangular and can be of other shapes, including, but not limited to, tulip triangular, trapezoidal, triangular, and hexagonal.
The form fitting/accommodating maternity napkin of the present invention will provide enough protection from spills and untidiness that often occur while eating, especially during the last trimester (oversize belly). Of note is the fact that the relative space between a pregnant woman's mouth and the table is further than the space once had prior to pregnancy. The present invention is ecologically friendly as compared to paper napkins.
Having thus described a few particular embodiments of the invention, various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications and improvements as are made obvious by this disclosure are intended to be part of this description though not expressly stated herein, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only, and not limiting. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and equivalents thereto.
Claims
1. A maternity napkin comprising:
- an expanse of fabric; and
- an elastically deformable band that retains its shape when bent, the expanse of fabric attached to the band.
2. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the expanse of fabric has an edge and the fabric is attached to the band adjacent at least a portion of the edge of the fabric.
3. The maternity napkin of claim 2 wherein the expanse of fabric is sewn around the band so as to form one or more of pleats, gathers, and folds in the expanse of fabric.
4. The maternity napkin of claim 2 wherein a portion of the expanse of fabric is folded over on itself forming a pocket at an edge of the expanse of fabric and wherein the band is disposed within the pocket.
5. The maternity napkin of claim 4 wherein the expanse of fabric is gathered at the pocket so as to form one or more of pleats, gathers, and folds in the expanse of fabric.
6. The maternity napkin of claim 5 wherein the expanse of fabric is rectangular in shape when laid flat without pleats or darts, comprising a top edge adjacent the band, a bottom edge opposite and parallel the top edge, and first and second, parallel side edges orthogonal to the top and bottom edges, and wherein a length of the expanse of fabric between the top edge and the bottom edge is between 18 and 24 inches.
7. The maternity napkin of claim 5 wherein the expanse of fabric has a top edge and a bottom edge, the bottom edge generally opposite the top edge, and wherein the expanse of fabric is attached to the band adjacent the top edge of the expanse of fabric, and wherein the bottom edge is radiused.
8. The maternity napkin of claim 7 wherein a cuff is formed in the bottom edge of the expanse of fabric.
9. The maternity napkin of claim 2 wherein the expanse of fabric is adhered to the band.
10. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the band is formed of an alloy steel filled rubber.
11. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the band is formed of at least one flexible wire.
12. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the expanse of fabric is washable and the maternity napkin is reusable after washing.
13. The maternity napkin of claim 1 further comprising:
- a pouch for receiving the expanse of fabric and band therein.
14. The maternity napkin of claim 13 wherein the pouch is sealable into a closed condition.
15. The maternity napkin of claim 14 wherein the pouch comprises a hook and loop closure mechanism for sealing the pouch in the closed condition.
16. The maternity napkin of claim 14 wherein the pouch is formed of a liquid impermeable material.
17. The maternity napkin of claim 1 further comprising a string for attaching the maternity napkin around a wearer.
18. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the expanse of fabric has a top edge and a bottom edge, the bottom edge generally opposite the top edge, and wherein the expanse of fabric is attached to the band adjacent the top edge of the expanse of fabric and wherein a cuff is formed in the bottom edge of the expanse of fabric.
19. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the expanse of fabric has a top edge and a bottom edge, the bottom edge generally opposite the top edge, and wherein the expanse of fabric is attached to the band adjacent the top edge of the expanse of fabric, and wherein the bottom edge is radiused.
20. The maternity napkin of claim 1 wherein the maternity napkin is disposable.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 14, 2010
Publication Date: Jun 16, 2011
Inventor: Jan V. Slack (Royersford, PA)
Application Number: 12/967,384
International Classification: A41D 13/05 (20060101);