Soft infant carrier

An infant carrier comprising a fabric support for the lower portion of a child. The support has an interior component and an exterior component. The support has a closed lower end with leg holes and an open upper end. The support further has vertical openings along the lateral side thereof extending between the upper edges of the leg holes and the open upper end with associated separable fasteners to selectively open and close the vertical openings. A pair of laterally disposed fasteners are provided on the exterior component of the carrier. Each fastener extends from a lower position adjacent to an upper edge of an associated leg hole to a location at the upper opening. A pair of shoulder straps have exterior ends and interior ends secured to the rear face of the support. The straps extend upwardly and outwardly from the carrier and are positionable over the shoulders of a child care provider with an inverted essentially trapezoidal-shaped yoke which has an upper wide end secured to the exterior ends of the straps and with a lower narrow end having a fastener with an associated backstrap secured at its free ends to the rear portion of the carrier and a short strap coupled at its lower end to a central extent of the horizontal strap and with its upper end threadedly received in the bracket on the yoke.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a soft infant carrier and more 
particularly pertains to supporting a child on the front or back of a 
child care provider either facing inwardly or outwardly through various 
methods and apparatuses. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of infant carriers is known in the prior art. More specifically, 
devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of carrying small 
juveniles, children and infants are known to consist basically of 
familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding 
the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been 
developed. 
By way of example, the prior art discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,687 to 
Nunemacher, discloses a baby pouch. U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,591 to Case, 
discloses a baby backpack sack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,440 to Purtzer et al., 
discloses an infant carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,514 to Elf, discloses an 
infant carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,945 to Schaapveld, discloses a baby 
carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,259 to Krich et al., discloses a baby 
carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,326 to Storm, discloses a sling-type infant 
carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,264 to Napolitano, discloses a baby carrying 
device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,988 to Tucker, discloses an infant carrier. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,873 to Poole et al., discloses an infant carrier for 
use in an aqueous environment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,458 to Linday, 
discloses an infant carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,709 to Hoaglan, discloses 
a convertible child carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,102 to Tracy discloses a 
pet carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,309 to Bicheler et al., discloses an 
infant carrier and harness combination. U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,450 to 
Derosier, discloses a child carrier. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 357,800 to Roan et 
al., discloses a soft baby carrier. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,764 to 
Almosnino et al., discloses a child carrier. 
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for 
new and improved soft infant carrier which can be used for supporting a 
child on the front or back of a child care provider either facing inwardly 
or outwardly. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills 
this need. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of various disadvantages inherent in the known types of infant 
carriers now present, the present invention provides an improvement. As 
such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be 
described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved 
soft infant carrier which maintains the advantages of the prior art and 
provides improvements thereover. 
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a new and 
improved soft infant carrier for supporting a child on the front or back 
of a child care provider either facing inwardly or outwardly comprising, 
in combination, a flexible fabric support for the lower portion of a 
child. The support has an interior component and an exterior component and 
an integrally formed upper backrest extending upwardly from the interior 
component. The support has a closed lower end with leg holes and an open 
upper end for the passage of the child to and from the support. The 
support has vertical openings along the lateral side thereof extending 
between the upper edges of the leg holes and the open upper end with 
associated separable fasteners to selectively open and close the vertical 
openings. A pair of laterally disposed zippers on the exterior component 
of the carrier are provided. Each zipper extends from a lower position 
adjacent to an upper edge of an associated leg hole to a location on the 
upper periphery thereof at the upper opening. The zippers are oriented at 
a diagonal with their upper ends closer together and their lower ends 
spaced greater adjacent to the vertical openings. A waist belt has two 
portions. Each portion has an inner end secured to the rear face of the 
support adjacent to the lower ends of the vertical openings and with 
exterior ends having co-actable fasteners. The waist belt is adapted to be 
received around the waist of a child care provider supporting the carrier. 
A pair of shoulder straps have interior ends secured to the rear face of 
the support adjacent to a central extent thereof. The straps extend 
upwardly and outwardly from the carrier and positionable over the 
shoulders of a child care presenter with an inverted essentially 
trapezoidal-shaped yoke having its wide end secured to the outboard ends 
of the straps and with a lower end having a fastener with an associated 
backstrap secured at its free ends to the rear portion of the carrier 
adjacent to the upper ends of the vertical openings and short strap 
coupled at its lower end to a central extent of the horizontal strap and 
its upper end threadedly received in the bracket on the yoke for 
adjustment purposes. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, 
additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter 
and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
It is an object of the present invention to support a small juvenile, child 
or infant on a parent or other child care provider in a more safe, 
comfortable and convenient manner. 
It is a further object of the present invention to facilitate a child care 
provider to support an infant or other occupant in a carrier on the back 
or front of the child care provider with the child facing either inwardly 
or outwardly. 
It is a further object of the present invention to simplify and strengthen 
the shoulder strap arrangement of a soft infant carrier through the use of 
an inverted trapezoidal shape yoke with the upper end coupled to the 
shoulder straps and the lower end coupled formed with a single buckle for 
adjustable attachment to a lower single strap. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pair of 
sliding fasteners on the exterior surface of the fabric support of an 
infant carrier, with the sliding fasteners being angled with respect to a 
center line to facilitate the entrance or exit of the infant from the 
support. 
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved infant carrier comprising a fabric support for the lower portion 
of a child. The support has an interior component and an exterior 
component. The support has a closed lower end with leg holes and an open 
upper end. The support further has vertical openings along the lateral 
side thereof extending between the upper edges of the leg holes and the 
open upper end with associated separable fasteners to selectively open and 
close the vertical openings. A pair of laterally disposed fasteners are 
provided on the exterior component of the carrier. Each fastener extends 
from a lower position adjacent to an upper edge of an associated leg hole 
to a location at the upper opening. A pair of shoulder straps have 
exterior ends and interior ends secured to the rear face of the support. 
The straps extend upwardly and outwardly from the carrier and are 
positionable over the shoulders of a child care provider with an inverted 
essentially trapezoidal-shaped yoke which has an upper wide end secured to 
the exterior ends of the straps and with a lower narrow end having a 
fastener with an associated backstrap secured at its free ends to the rear 
portion of the carrier and a short strap coupled at its lower end to a 
central extent of the horizontal strap and with its upper end threadedly 
received in the bracket on the yoke. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several 
views of the drawings. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 thereof, a 
new and improved soft infant carrier embodying the principles and concepts 
of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral 
10 will be described. 
The present invention, the new and improved soft infant carrier is 
comprised of a plurality of components. Such components in their broadest 
context include a flexible fabric support, a pair of laterally disposed 
zippers, a waist belt and a pair of shoulder straps. Such components are 
individually configured and correlated with respect to each other so as to 
attain the desired objective. 
More specifically, the present invention is in effect a carrier system 10. 
It is configured to be worn on the front or back of a child care provider. 
In either orientation, the supported infant may be facing inwardly toward 
the child care provider or outwardly away from the child care provider. 
The central component of the system 10 of the present invention is a 
flexible fabric support 12. Such support is for receiving and supporting 
the lower portion of an infant, child or small juvenile. Such support is 
formed to have an interior component 14 and an exterior component 16. In 
addition, the support has an integrally formed upper backrest 18. Such 
backrest extends upwardly from the interior component. The support is 
configured to have a closed lower end 20. Within the lower end are a pair 
of leg holes 22. In addition, the support is formed with an open upper end 
24. Such upper end is for the passage of a child to or from the support. 
To assist in placing or removing a child with respect to the support, the 
support is formed to have a pair of parallel vertical openings 26. Such 
openings are of a similar configuration and are located along the lateral 
side of the support. They extend between the upper edges of the leg holes 
and the open upper end. Separable fasteners 28 are located with respect to 
each vertical opening. Such fasteners function to selectively open and 
close the vertical opening. 
Additional utility is provided to the fabric support through the use of a 
pair of laterally disposed fasteners, preferably sliding fasteners such as 
zippers 30. Such zippers are located on the exterior component of the 
carrier. Each zipper extends from a lower position adjacent to an upper 
edge of an associated leg hole to a location on the upper periphery of the 
support. Such is located at the upper opening. The zippers form an angle 
between about 10 degrees and 30 degrees with respect to the vertical 
centerline of the carrier. This arrangement greatly facilitates the 
putting in or taking out of the infant with respect to the support. 
The zippers are preferably oriented on a diagonal. Their upper ends are 
closer together at the center of the open upper end. Their lower ends are 
spaced greater than the upper end adjacent to their vertical openings. 
The next component of the system are short shoulder straps 32. Each such 
shoulder strap has an interior end 34 secured to the front face of the 
support adjacent to the lower ends of the vertical openings. The exterior 
ends 36 of the belt portions have co-actable lower fasteners 38. The 
fasteners may be directed forwardly or rearwardly as a function of the 
desired orientation, forwardly or rearwardly, of the carried child. 
Lastly provided as a component of the system are a pair of long shoulder 
straps 44. Such shoulder straps have interior ends 46. The interior ends 
are secured to the rear face of the support. Such securement is at a 
location adjacent to the central extent of the rear interior component. 
The straps then extend upwardly and outwardly from the carrier and are 
positioned over the shoulders of the child care provider. At such points, 
the outboard ends of the straps are coupled to a larger essentially 
inverted trapezoidal-shaped yoke 48. Such yoke has its wide end secured to 
the outboard ends of the shoulder straps. The lower end of the yoke 
coupled to a trapezoidal shaped yoke 50. Intermediate straps 52 depend 
from the smaller trapezoidal yoke with upper fasteners 54 at the lower 
ends thereof. When the lower fasteners are located over the front of the 
seat and child, the child will face the child care provider. Note FIG. 5. 
When the lower fasteners are located over the back of the seat and child, 
the child will face away from the child care provider. Note FIG. 10. Such 
an arrangement allows for greater simplicity and with increased strength 
and stability due to its arrangement of straps and connectors. 
As to the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same 
should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further 
discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.