Bath towel for babies

Abstract: A bath towel for babies includes a body portion (11) which has a longitudinal length large enough to cover a baby when being folded upward and auxiliary portions (12) integral with the body portion (11) and having a size large enough to wipe the head and face of the baby.

Description: This invention relates to a bath towel for towelling off a baby or a child of up to about four years. Bath towels of this type generally have a length of about 120 cm and a width of about 60 cm. A baby cannot towel itself and after bathing tends to perspire profusely, particularly from the head. Therefore, its mother, for example, has to wipe the perspiration from its head. A typical conventional bath towel is shown in Figure 4 and designated by reference numeral 1. The baby is laid face up on the towel 1 and the lower half 2 of the towel is folded upward to cover the baby. For this reason, the triangular portions 3 of the towel 1 defined by the phantom lines in Figure 4 on the opposite sides of the head of the baby become the areas used for wiping the baby's head and face. The areas 3 have to be folded along the phantom lines when used to wipe the baby's head. This is troublesome and, moreover, the triangular areas 3 are too small for the job. US Patent 3,034,132 discloses an infant's blanket having a body portion and a head covering portion. This blanket is intended to offer protection from the elements. CH Patent application 630,517 discloses a bath towel for babies having a body portion for covering a baby and an auxiliary portion for locating the head of the baby thereon. This towel is intended to partially cover and keep the baby warm whilst giving him or her necessary after bath care. The body portion cannot be folded upward to cover the whole baby and the auxiliary portion is not suited to drying the baby's face and head. This invention has been proposed to solve this problem encountered by the prior art and has as its object to provide a bath towel enabling the head and face of a baby to be wiped free of perspiration. To attain the above object, according to the present invention there is provided a bath towel for babies, comprising a body portion which has a longitudinal length large enough to cover a baby when folded upward, and auxiliary portions integral with said body portion and having a size large enough for wiping the head and face of the baby, wherein said auxiliary portions extend from opposite sides of an upper part of said body portion so that said bath towel is T-shaped. The above and other objects, characteristic features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the invention given hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is an explanatory view showing how the bath towel according to this invention is used. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Figure 1. Figure 4 is an explanatory view showing a prior art bath towel in use. This invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in Figure 1, a bath towel according to this invention comprises a body portion 11 having a longitudinal length large enough to cover a baby when folded upward and a pair of auxiliary portions 12 extending integrally from the opposite sides of the upper part of the body portion 11 to form a T-shape as a whole. In this embodiment, the body portion 11 has a longitudinal length A of about 120 cm and a width W of about 60 cm, for example, and the auxiliary portions 12 have a longitudinal length B of about 30 cm and a lateral length C of about 30 cm. When the lower half 11' of the body portion 11 is folded upward, it can cover a baby from the feet to the neck. In the case of a three or four-year-old child, it suffices if the lower half 11' of the body portion 11 folded back between the legs to cover the child from the crotch to the middle of the stomach. In use, a baby is laid face up on the bath towel so that its head is positioned on the upper end side of the body portion 11, then the lower half 11' of the body portion 11 is folded upward to cover the baby, and the head and face are wiped with the pair of auxiliary portions 12. Since each of the pair of auxiliary portions 12 is connected to, but extends independently away from one side of the body portion 11, it can be folded at the boundary between itself and the body portion 11 and directed to the head and face of the baby without being interference from the body portion 11. Therefore, the head and face of the baby can be wiped thoroughly with the auxiliary portions 12. The body portion and auxiliary portions constituting a bath towel for children are made of the same towelling material. In the case of a bath towel for babies, however, these portions are desirably made of a soft smooth material which absorbs moisture well. Examples include gauze and silk cloth. Optionally, the bath towel may comprise a body portion made of towelling and auxiliary portions made of gauze or silk cloth and sewed to the body portion. As shown in Figure 3, in the embodiment described above, each of the auxiliary portions 12 may have its opposite surfaces covered by pieces of cloth 16 to form pockets 17 for insertion of the hand of the mother, for example. In this case, wiping of the head and face of the baby with the auxiliary portions 12 can be facilitated by utilizing the pockets 17 on the surface opposite the surface of the auxiliary portions 12 on which the baby lies. When the auxiliary portions 12 are made of towelling, the cloth 16 for the pockets 17 is desirably soft and smooth gauze or silk cloth. The auxiliary portions 12 and part of the body portion 11 between the auxiliary portions 12 may be made of gauze or silk cloth and attached by sewing or any other means to the remaining part of the body portion 11 made of towelling. As has been described in the foregoing, the bath towel according to this invention has a body portion for covering a baby and a pair of auxiliary portions for wiping the head and face of the baby and, since the auxiliary portions are connected to and independently extend from the body portion, they can readily be folded toward the baby's head so that their entire area can be used for thoroughly wiping the baby's head and face.

Claims: A bath towel for babies, comprising a body portion (11) which has a longitudinal length large enough to cover a baby when folded upward, and auxiliary portions (12) integral with said body portion (11) and having a size large enough for wiping the head and face of the baby, wherein said auxiliary portions (12) extend from opposite sides of an upper part of said body portion (11) so that said bath towel is T-shaped. A bath towel according to claim 1, characterised in that each auxiliary portion (12) has opposite surfaces thereof covered by pieces of cloth (16) to form pockets (17) on said opposite surfaces.

Inventors: HIRASAWA KEIKO, YAMAGUCHI SUMIKO, YAMAGUCHI TAKUMICHI, HIRASAWA, KEIKO, YAMAGUCHI, SUMIKO, YAMAGUCHI, TAKUMICHI
Applicants: MAMMY ART CO LTD, MAMMY ART CO., LTD.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A47K10
IPC codes: A47K10