Abstract:
The present disclosure provides a compact, lightweight, foldable, easy to use, low cost, portable car seat transport device and method of using the same. The car seat transport device may be adapted to carry any type of car seat. The device includes a harness having a lower strap and an upper strap, each strap having respective first and second ends. The lower strap may be adapted to extend through a lower slot in the car seat and the upper strap may be adapted to extend through an upper slot of the car seat. The upper strap may be attached to the lower strap and the first and second ends of the lower strap may be attached to each other. The harness may be a single piece with the upper strap being fixedly attached to the lower strap. The car seat transport device provides a remarkably easy to use and effective support system that permits hands-free carriage of the car seat from a person&#39;s body.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     Car seats are a commonly known safety device used to protect infants and small children in vehicles during transit. Car seats typically have a hard outer shell of a rigid polymeric material molded to surround the car sear resident on three sides, the interior of which is lined with padding. The padding may be formed or contoured to accommodate the child&#39;s head, neck, and body for increased impact protection. Cars seats also typically include two or more upper slots through which safety straps extend. The safety straps are extended over the child&#39;s shoulders and torso and are releasably secured to the car seat in order to immobilize the child during transit, similar to car seat belts, for example. Conventional car seats also include lower slots through which a vehicle strap (i.e., a car seat belt) may extend to secure the car seat to the vehicle.  
         [0002]     Advantages of conventional car seats include adaptability and portability. Car seats may be readily removed and installed between different cars, trucks, or minivans. Many car seats are modular and are adapted to fit into stroller-type apparatuses. Indeed, car seats are commonly used to transport small children in airplane, bus, and train seats. Car seats, however, have their practical limitations, particularly when it is desired to carry the car seat from the car to a different location. Car seats, by nature are unwieldy, awkward and difficult to handle due to their protective function. A single trek through a transportation terminal (such as an airport) is more than enough for one to appreciate the difficulty, frustration, and challenge involved with carrying the car seat, managing the child&#39;s travel necessities (i.e., diaper bag, toys, food), supervising the child, and negotiating the crowd.  
         [0003]     Previous attempts at overcoming the difficulties involved in carrying a car seat are lacking. Travel bag devices that encase the car seat are cumbersome to carry. Rigid backpack type carrying devices and/or wheeled pull-cart car seat carrying devices are bulky and only increase the number of equipment pieces for which the already overburdened traveling parent or child caretaker must account. A need therefore exists for a hands-free and compact car seat transport device that is lightweight and easy to use.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     The present disclosure provides a compact, lightweight, foldable, easy to use, portable car seat transport device adapted to carry any type of car seat. The device includes a harness having a lower strap and an upper strap, each strap having respective first and second ends. The lower strap may be adapted to extend through a lower slot in the car seat and the upper strap may be adapted to extend through an upper slot of the car seat. The upper strap may be attachable to the lower strap and the first and second ends of the lower strap may be attachable to each other. In an embodiment, the harness may be a single piece with an end of the upper strap being fixedly attached to the lower strap. The car seat transport device of the present disclosure thereby provides an innovative and simple, low cost support system that permits hands-free carriage of the car seat from a person&#39;s body.  
         [0005]     In an embodiment, the lower strap may be extended around a person&#39;s waist and the upper strap may be extended over a shoulder of a person. The first lower strap end may be releasably attachable to the second lower strap end. This enables the car seat to be supported with the device from a person&#39;s back, chest, or side.  
         [0006]     In an embodiment, the lower strap may be adapted to extend through a second lower slot of the car seat. The upper strap may be adapted to extend through a second upper slot of the car seat. In a further embodiment, the upper strap may extend over a first shoulder and a second shoulder of a person. Any of these arrangements may advantageously provide additional stability to the car seat and/or additional comfort to the person carrying the car seat when using the car seat transport device to support the car seat from the person&#39;s body.  
         [0007]     In a further embodiment, a car seat transport device is provided that includes a harness with a lower strap and an upper strap, each strap having respective first and second ends. The first end of the upper strap may be weaved through a first upper slot and a second upper slot of the car seat. The first and second ends of the upper strap may be attachable to the lower strap and the first and second ends of the lower strap may be attachable to each other.  
         [0008]     In an embodiment, the upper strap may extend over the shoulders of a person so that harness supports the car seat from the person&#39;s body. The car seat may be supported by the harness from the person&#39;s back, the person&#39;s chest, or the person&#39;s side. In an embodiment, the lower strap may extend around the waist of a person and may or may not extend through a lower slot in of the car seat.  
         [0009]     The present disclosure also provides a method for transporting a car seat. The method includes providing a harness having a lower strap and an upper strap, each strap having respective first and second ends. The method entails extending the first end of the upper strap through an upper slot of the car seat and over a person&#39;s shoulder, extending the lower strap around the person&#39;s waist, attaching the first and second ends of the upper strap to the lower strap, attaching the first and second ends of the lower strap to each other, and supporting with the straps the car seat from the person&#39;s body. The method may further include suspending with the straps the car seat from the back of the person, the chest of the person, or the side of the person.  
         [0010]     In an embodiment, the method may include extending an end of the lower strap through a lower slot of the car seat. This may advantageously provide more stability and support when the car seat is supported with the harness from the person&#39;s back.  
         [0011]     In an embodiment, the method may include weaving the first end of the upper strap through a second upper slot of the car seat and extending the upper strap over a second shoulder of the person. The first end of the upper strap may be extended over an upper portion of the car seat. The weaving advantageously secures the car seat to the upper strap and the harness. The weaving of the upper strap advantageously provides a simple, low cost, and easy method by which to secure the car seat to harness and permits hands-free support of the car seat from the person&#39;s body with minimal equipment.  
         [0012]     Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the Figures.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device in accordance with the present disclosure.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a car seat transport device configured about a car seat in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a person carrying a car seat with the car seat transport device in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.  
         [0022]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the car seat transport device in a stowed configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]     Referring to the Figures generally, where like reference numerals denote like structure and elements, and in particular to  FIG. 1 , a car seat transport device  10  is shown. Car seat  10  includes a harness  12  with an upper strap  14  and a lower strap  16 . Straps  14  and  16  each have respective strap ends, first end  18  of upper strap  14 , second end  20  of upper strap  14 , first end  22  of lower strap  16  and second end  24  of lower strap  16 .  FIG. 1  shows a fragmentary perspective view of upper strap  12 . It is understood that the length of upper strap  14  may be varied as desired. Straps  14  and  16  may be made of any flexible material with adequate strength to support a car seat as commonly known in the art. Nonlimiting examples of suitable materials for straps  14  and  16  include fabric, textile material, cloth, polymer mesh, nylon webbing, polypropylene webbing, nylike webbing and the like.  
         [0024]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , straps  14  and  16  are adapted to extend through respective slots of a car seat  26 . Car seat  26  may be any vehicle safety seat, typically used for the protection of children and infants, that is utilized during transit in a car, a truck, a train, a bus, a ship or an airplane, as is commonly known in the art. Car seat  26  typically has a hard outer shell made of a molded plastic or polymeric material, the interior of which is lined or otherwise covered with padding. Nonlimiting examples of car seat  26  may include a child seat, an infant seat, a booster seat, a forward or rear facing safety seat, and the like.  
         [0025]     Car seat  26  includes holes or upper slots  28  and  30  in the molded plastic and padding material through which a safety strap  31  extends to secure a child or infant within the car seat as is commonly known in the art. Car seat  26  also includes lower slots  32  and  34  in the molded plastic back through which a vehicle (i.e., car, truck, bus, airplane, etc.) seatbelt or similar safety strap may be extended in order to secure the car seat to the vehicle or a seat of the vehicle. The skilled artisan will appreciate that the size, number, and shape of slots  28 ,  30 ,  32 , and  34  may vary based on the size, shape, design and model of car seat  26 .  
         [0026]     In an embodiment, an end, such as first end  18  of upper strap  14  is adapted to extend or otherwise extends through either upper slot  28  or  30 . Upper strap  14  further extends over upper portion  36  of car seat  26  and is attached to lower strap  16 . Second end  20  of upper strap  14  is also attached to lower strap  16 . Ends  22  and  24  are similarly attached to each other to provide a harness configuration about the car seat that thereby enables a person the ability to transport or otherwise carry car seat  26  from the person&#39;s body. In an embodiment, upper strap  14  may extend over a person&#39;s shoulder once first end  18  is threaded through slot  28  or  30 . End  18  may then be attached to lower strap  16 . Lower strap  16  may then be placed or otherwise extended around the person&#39;s waist. This configuration of harness  12  about car seat  26  enables the body or the torso of the person to support car seat  26  with the threading of a single upper slot. Car seat  26  may be supported from the front, side or back or the person&#39;s body as desired. In an embodiment, car seat  26  is supported from the person&#39;s back. Car seat transport device  10  thereby advantageously provides hands-free transport of car seat  26 .  
         [0027]     Shown in  FIG. 1 , each strap  14  and  16  has a length that may be adjusted, either increased or decreased, as is commonly known in the art. Nonlimiting examples of suitable length adjustment mechanisms include tri-glide type buckles and hook-and-loop closures. In an embodiment, upper strap  14  may be about 8 feet long and may be adjustable in length from about 1 foot to about 8 feet. In a further embodiment, lower strap  16  may be about 4 feet in length and may be adjustable from about six inches to about 4 feet in length. In a further embodiment, upper strap ends  18  and  20  may be releasably attachable to lower strap  16 . Similarly, lower strap ends  22  and  24  may be releasably attachable to each other.  
         [0028]     In an embodiment, one or both upper strap ends  18  and  20  may include an attachment member  38  for releasably attaching to lower strap  16 . Correspondingly, lower strap  16  may include a reciprocal attachment member that operates in cooperation with attachment member  38  to provide releasable attachment between upper strap ends  18 ,  20  and lower strap  16 . Nonlimiting examples of attachment member  38  and reciprocal attachment member may include a loop, hook and loop material (VELCRO®), a button, a slot, a snap, a zipper, a buckle, male-female attachment, and combinations thereof. In an embodiment, ends  18  and  20  attach to lower strap  16  proximate to ends  22  and  24 . In further embodiment, first upper strap end  18  includes attachment member  38  that is a loop  40  as shown in  FIGS. 1-10 . In yet a further embodiment, harness  12  is a single strap with second upper strap end  20  fixedly attached to lower strap  16 .  
         [0029]     In an embodiment, first and second ends  22 ,  24  of lower strap  16  may be releasably attached to each other. Nonlimiting examples of the receasable attachment between ends  22  and  24  may include hook and loop material (VELCRO®), a button and a slot, a snap, a zipper, a buckle, male-female attachment, tongue and slot arrangement (i.e., a belt buckle) and combinations thereof. In an embodiment, end  22  is a male attachment and end  24  is a female attachment to provide belt-buckle type releasable attachment between ends  22  and  24 .  
         [0030]     In an embodiment, upper strap end  18  extends through or is otherwise threaded through one of slots  28 ,  30  and extends over the person&#39;s shoulder as previously discussed. One of lower strap ends  22 ,  24  is adapted to extend or otherwise extends through one or both of lower slots  32 ,  34 . Upper strap ends  18  and  20  are then attached to lower strap  16  and lower strap ends  22 ,  24  are attached to each other, enabling harness  12  to support car seat  26  from the person&#39;s body. Lower strap  16  threaded through one or both lower slots  32 ,  34  advantageously provides stability to car seat  26  suspended from the person&#39;s torso. Thus, device  10  may be used to support car seat  26  from a person&#39;s back or chest.  
         [0031]     In yet another embodiment, second end  20  is attached to lower strap  16 . Second end  20  may be releasably attached or fixedly attached to lower strap  16  as desired. First end  18  of upper strap  14  may be moved proximate to upper portion  36  of car seat  26  as shown by arrow A in  FIG. 4 . First end  18  may then be inserted through first upper slot  28  from seat side  42  of the car seat to shell side  44  of the car seat as shown by arrows B and B′ in  FIG. 5 . First end  18  may then be subsequently moved along shell side  44  to second upper slot  30 . First end  18  may then be inserted or otherwise threaded through upper slot  30  from shell side  44  out to seat side  42  as shown by arrow C in  FIG. 6 . First end  18  of upper strap  14  may then be moved upward along seat side  42  to extend along and over upper portion  36  as shown by arrows D and D′ in  FIG. 7 . First end  18  may then be moved or otherwise pulled downward as shown by arrow E in  FIG. 8  moving upper strap  14  through slots  28  and  30 . First end  18  may then be attached to lower strap  16 . This oscillating or alternating threading movement of first end  18  through upper slots  28  and  30  results in upper strap  14  being weaved through upper slots  28  and  30 . This opposing threading movement of first end  18  in and out of slots  28  and  30  from the seat side to the shell side and back, interlaces, loops, winds, intertwines, wraps, or otherwise weaves upper strap  14  about car seat  26  to securely fasten the car seat to upper strap  14 . In addition, this weaving of upper strap  14  from seat side  42  to shell side  44  through slot  28  and back through slot  30  advantageously forms two shoulder straps as shown in  FIG. 8 . Thus a single strap, upper strap  14 , provides two shoulder straps as a result of the weaving procedure previously described. Lower strap  16  may or may not extend through lower slots  32  and  34 .  
         [0032]     A person  46  may then secure end  18  to lower strap  16 , insert an arm through each formed shoulder strap and secure lower strap  16  about the waist to support or otherwise suspend car seat  26  from the person&#39;s body as shown in  FIG. 9 . In an embodiment, an end, such as second end  24  of lower strap  16  may be inserted through one or both lower slots  32 ,  34  as shown by arrow F in  FIG. 8 . Threading or extending lower strap  16  through one or both lower slots  32 ,  34  provides additional stability when car seat  26  is suspended from the person&#39;s body. Thus, device  10  enables hands-free transport of car seat  26  with shell side  44  contacting the back of person  46  as shown in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0033]     In an embodiment, car seat transport device  10  further includes shoulder pads  48  and  50 , back pad  52  and chest strap  54  for additional comfort and stability to person  46  when carrying car seat  26 . Pads  48 ,  50  and  52  may be made of any resilient compressible material as commonly known in the art. The material of shoulder pads  48 ,  50  and back pad  52  may be the same or different. In an embodiment, shoulder pads  48  and  50  may be adjustable and may be placed on the rear shoulder, mid-shoulder, or front shoulder as desired. Chest strap  54  may be releasably attachable to upper strap  14 , such as by way of a clip-on attachment member or hoop and loop material, for example. Chest strap  54  may also include ends  56  and  58  that may be releasably attachable to each other. The length of chest strap may also be adjustable as is commonly known in the art. In an embodiment, chest strap  54  may be looped around the two substantially vertical upper strap portions of strap  14  that extend from the person&#39;s shoulder to lower strap  16  as shown in  FIG. 9 . The inward tension imparted by chest strap  54  onto the front vertical portions of upper strap  14  advantageously maintains upper strap  14  on the shoulders of person  46 .  
         [0034]     In an embodiment, device  10  includes harness  12  that has only upper strap  14  and lower strap  16  as support elements for car seat  26 . Back and shoulder pads may optionally be added as desired. Device  10  thereby advantageously provides just a single strap for supporting the car seat from the person&#39;s body.  
         [0035]     Car seat transport device  10  provides a compact, portable, lightweight, foldable, easy to use, support system that may be adapted to carry any type of car seat. Device  10  advantageously allows for hands-free transport of car seat  26  allowing person  46  to escort child  47  by hand, for example. Device  10  is compact and may be folded down to a size dimension of about 2 inches by about 4 inches by about 8 inches, and readily fits into a person&#39;s hand  60  as shown in  FIG. 10 . This compactness enables device  10  to be readily stored or stowed in a suitcase, a glove box, a travel carry-on bag, a diaper bag, a fanny pack, a purse, or the like. Device  10  may even be stowed in a small pouch that may be attached to the car seat itself.  
         [0036]     It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.