Abstract:
A double occupancy baby stroller having a guiding handle and a generally stork shaped body having head and tail sections. The body is separable into an upper portion and a lower portion. A child&#39;s seat is removably mounted on the upper portion and wheeled legs are attached to the lower portion. An infant carrier is detachably mounted inside the head of the body. Both child&#39;s seat and infant carrier can be effectively used in a vehicle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to child and baby strollers. More specifically, the present invention is a baby stroller in the shape of a stork having a baby carrier in the beak and a seat for a toddler on the back of the stork. In other embodiments the baby carrier and child seat can be used as car seats for the infant and the toddler either joined together or separated. Another embodiment adds a false bottom in the carrier for a bassinet. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     The related art of interest describes various baby carriers, but none discloses the present invention. There is a need for a bird-like stroller apparatus, which accommodates a child and an infant, and provides separation of various parts. Swan carriages and multi-purpose baby carriers are known in the patent literature, as exemplified by the following patents, but none discloses the safe carrying of a child and an infant on one stroller with the advantages of either (1) placing an upper half of the stroller in a car as the child&#39;s car seat, and disengaging the infant carrier to place the carrier in the car as a second car seat, or (2) removing the child&#39;s seat from the upper half and removing the infant carrier to place both in the vehicle as safety seats, and (3) storing the remaining parts of the infant stroller in the rear storage area of the vehicle. An additional embodiment converts the stroller to a bassinet with a false bottom. 
     U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 6,657 issued on Sep. 28, 1875, to A. W. Daby describes a children&#39;s carriage having a shape of a swan with a canopy and rear handle supported by sills resting on a pair of ornate springs attached to the axles. The carriage is distinguishable for its requirement for spring action. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,236 issued on Jan. 23, 1952, to Evelyn Dore describes a bird-shaped baby carriage with two folding seats, which face each other in the body cavity. The carriage has a bird head with a hollow neck for storing items, large wings, a rear handle decorated with small birds, and angularly bent legs resting on the chassis frame supported by four wheels. The carriage is distinguishable for its required folding opposed seats. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,833 issued on Jul. 6, 1976, to Henry Fleischer describes a portable baby holding device which may take the form of a combination baby carriage, stroller, infant seat, car seat, car bed, bassinet, and high chair. The device has a canopy completely covering the baby and a collapsible frame comprising a horizontal primary tubular support having hook-like members angling upward and rearward, i.e., push handle, and supported by an upper cross member and extendible cross members supporting the rear wheels. Front caster wheels support the front portion of the primary tubular support. The device is distinguishable for its required horizontal primary tubular support. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,196 issued on Jul. 7, 1987, to Kip Van Steenberg describes a child car seat superstructure apparatus convertible into a stroller comprising a super-structure shell having a pair of longitudinally extending arms, a U-frame rear pusher bar rotatable forward by a rack type positioner, a base frame with four wheels supporting the removable seat and adjustable chair back. The apparatus is distinguishable for requiring a superstructure to accommodate only a single infant. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,281 issued on May 9, 1989, to David K. Sanchas describes a convertible car seat to a stroller apparatus comprising a latched together two-piece hollow seat structure having a seat belt on the upper portion across the wings, and openings in the lower portion for the vehicle&#39;s seat belt. For forming the stroller, the lower portion is removed to lower the folded perimeter framework supporting four wheels via an inner and outer scissors link. An enclosed U-shaped handle is pivoted upward in the rear. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to accommodate one infant and requiring a perimeter frame for the wheels. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,680 issued on Nov. 9, 1989, to Terrence O. Molnar describes a convertible car seat and stroller combination apparatus comprising a padded child&#39;s seat having a telescopic U-shaped handle extending upward from behind the back of the seat, and a perimeter frame having four wheels extendible downward. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one occupant and requiring a perimeter frame for the wheels. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,894 issued on Jan. 30, 1990, to David L. Singletary describes a stroller car seat apparatus comprising a conventional infant seat having a safety harness, a U-shaped padded front guard bar, a U-shaped telescoping handle in the rear, a pivoting front footrest, and a folding rectangular scissors framework with four wheels. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one child and requiring an obtrusive lower framework. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,134 issued on Apr. 14, 1992, to Richard E. Cone describes a convertible child&#39;s combination car seat and stroller apparatus comprising a molded plastic shell with lower door panels for including a four-wheel assembly on front and rear pivoting legs. The two front wheels can rotate, but the rear wheels are doubled. A telescopic handle is mounted in the shell. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one child and can only be placed on a vehicle seat backwards. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,311 issued on Jun. 7, 1994, to Julio A. Bofill describes a combination child vehicle seat and stroller apparatus comprising a hollow chair shaped shell having two telescopic handles with bent handle grips on top of the seatback, two side portions having notches to position the vehicle&#39;s seatbelt, and retractable wheel assemblies which form a smooth bottom surface of the apparatus. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to a child and requiring retractable wheel assemblies and a pair of telescopic handles. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,221 issued on Nov. 1, 1994, to Yoon S. Chai describes a baby carriage convertible to a safety car seat with a harness comprising a body assembly including a seat, a back, a footrest, and side plates. A wheel assembly is pivotally mounted on the body assembly and adapted to be folded back. A handle assembly is pivotally mounted on the body assembly and adapted to be rotated into a horizontal position. A locking assembly locks and releases the wheel assembly. When the carriage is converted into a safety seat, the wheel assembly is released and folded back, and the handle assembly is rotated into a horizontal position to be used as an arm rest plate. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one baby, and requiring the rotation of the handle assembly to serve as an arm rest. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,951 issued on Mar. 21, 1995, to Choon W. Ryu describes a convertible child car seat and stroller apparatus comprising a molded plastic safety seat with a forwardly rotatable U-shaped handle, and a collapsible wheel assembly positioned outside the safety seat. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one child and having an exposed folded wheel assembly. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,096 issued on Dec. 26, 1995, to Chien Ting describes a collapsible multi-use baby carriage having a structure transformable into a dining chair, a safety seat in a car, a cradle, and a bed comprising a seat, a backrest pivotally connected with the seat to change the angle of the backrest, a U-shaped hand rest pivotally connected with the backrest. The structure has a pushing handle, two opposite telescopic side tubes with a windable support plate between the side tubes, and windable on a winding tubular shaft housed in a front tube of the hand rest for pulling out for supporting food. Two front and rear casters are pivotally connected with the bottom of the seat and foldable to the seat bottom. The carriage is distinguishable for being limited to one infant, and requiring a windable support plate and two opposite side tubes. U.K. Patent Application No. GB 2 211 08 2A published on Jun. 28, 1989, describes an interchangeable infant&#39;s seat used as either a car seat or a pram seat comprising a rigid right-angled lightweight chassis left in the car and a pram chassis which accommodates the interchangeable right-angled seat by the car seat belt and clips in the car and by clips in the pram. The device is distinguishable for being limited to one infant and requiring separate car seat and pram supports. 
     U.K. Patent Application No. GB 2 254 587 A published on Oct. 14, 1992, describes a child seat convertible into a pushchair comprising a seat in a supporting frame adapted to be mounted in a vehicle and on a wheeled frame having releasably mounting parts on each side of the seat and the frame. The carrier is distinguishable for being limited to one infant. 
     U.K. Patent Application No. GB 2 262 914 A published on Jul. 7, 1993, describes a molded child seat for a vehicle and convertible into a pushchair comprising a supporting frame having two triangular lateral sub-frames interconnected by cross rails. Each sub-frame is equipped with a pair of mounting pins adapted to engage with appropriately shaped and positioned slots on the wheeled pushchair frame. The apparatus is distinguishable for being limited to one infant and requiring a supporting frame. 
     None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a stork-shaped stroller apparatus for carrying an infant and a toddler. The preferred embodiment has a baby stroller having four separable parts, including an upper body portion, a removable child&#39;s seat, a wheeled lower body portion, and a removable infant carrier. The upper body portion comprises a stork&#39;s head, upper beak, part of the lower beak, a fixed U-shaped handle behind the stork&#39;s head, a seat and a non-folding T-shaped or a U-shaped folding guiding handle for directing the stroller. A pair of footrests is positioned on the sides of the lower body portion for the riding child. Adjacent to a footrest is an aperture for passing a seat belt through the lower body portion to secure the sitting child. The removable infant carrier with a carrying handle is seated within the open stork&#39;s beak. The bottom of the carrier is removably secured to the stork&#39;s beak by bolts passing through lugs of the infant carrier. The stroller has swiveling doubled front wheels and larger rear wheels with rear wheel brakes for operation by the adult. 
     Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a double occupancy stork-shaped stroller. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a double occupancy stork-shaped stroller, which has a detachable infant carrier and a detachable child&#39;s car seat. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a stork-shaped double occupancy stroller, which can function as two separable parts with the upper part serving as car seats. 
     It is still another object of the invention to provide a double occupancy stroller, which has a novel braking device. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a baby carriage for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes. 
     These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a left side perspective view of a double occupancy baby stroller according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the toddler car seat on a top portion of the stroller of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the  FIG. 1  baby stroller. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the  FIG. 1  baby stroller with the top portion detached, and having an alternative triangular shaped guide handle. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the infant carrier. 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the infant carrier. 
         FIG. 7  is a top plan view of a braking mechanism on a rear leg in the retracted position. 
         FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the braking mechanism of  FIG. 7  in an extended position penetrating the spoked rear wheel. 
         FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of a simplified single baby carriage containing a bassinet. 
         FIG. 10  is a front elevational view of the  FIG. 9  carriage. 
         FIG. 11A  is a top plan view of the carriage having four hinged floor panels of a false floor in the open position. 
         FIG. 11B  is an exploded top plan view of the  FIG. 11A  carriage with the four hinged panels down to form a false floor and including a pillow and a mat. 
         FIG. 11C  is a top plan view of an alternative second embodiment of the  FIGS. 9 and 10  baby carriage having a single element for a false floor. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  (side view) and  FIG. 2  (exploded view) illustrate a double occupancy baby stroller according to the present invention having a combined car seat and a stork-shaped stroller apparatus  10  including an upper body portion  12  having a head portion  14  and a tail portion  16 . The upper body portion  12  has a U-shaped handle  18  adjacent the head portion  14  which the first child (not shown) can hold while sitting on a removable padded plastic seat  20  and leaning back on the ergonomically shaped padded seat back  22  in front of the tail portion  16 . A regular buckled seat belt  24  and a Y-shaped three-piece buckled seat belt  64  are available for the first child fastened on the seat back  22 . The seat  20  has elongated apertures  19  on each side of the seat back  22  for fastening the removed seat  20  inside a vehicle with its seat belt. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the seat  20  has a pair of elongated lugs  21  along its outside bottom sides having a pair of apertures  23  each for fasteners  25  ( FIG. 1 ) to secure the seat  20  to the seat back  22  with aligned lugs  29  ( FIG. 2 ) positioned on the back of the upper body portion  12 . 
     A footrest  26  with a foot strap  28  is positioned on each side of the lower body portion  30  as seen in  FIG. 3 . A folding U-shaped guide handle  32  having links  34  and a padded handle bar  36  can be folded down as shown in the shadowed position  38  adjacent the pivot pin  40  mounted on the upper body  12  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) for placement of the upper body  12  in either the passenger compartment or in the trunk compartment of the vehicle. The body portions  12  and  30  are fastened together by a pair of projecting apertured lugs  46  depending from the bottom edges of both sides of the upper body portion  12  and secured by a pair of fasteners such as bolts  44  to the pair of projecting apertured lugs  42  aligned on the upper edges of the lower body portion  30  between the lugs  46 . The separation of the upper body portion  12  from the lower body portion  30  permits an alternate use in a vehicle as mentioned above. 
     The upper body portion  12  and lower body portion  30  are preferably covered with a stain-resistant fabric or plastic layer over a layer of dense foam padding based on a metal or plastic shell. The lower body portion  30  has a rectangular, box-shaped base  48  supporting the smaller front pair of seven-inch diameter swiveling double wheels  50  on front legs  52 . A pair of larger eight- to nine-inch diameter rear wheels  54  with spokes  55  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) are supported by back legs  56  having brake units  58  (to be explained fully in  FIGS. 7 and 8 ) for both wheels  54  positioned on the rearward facing outside surfaces of the legs  56 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 3 , a fixed padded baby seat  60  is positioned in a seat carrier  70  (discussed more fully below) in the open beak of the head portion  14 , wherein an infant (not shown) can be securely confined by a Y-shaped harness  64  having an adjustable buckle  66 . The harness  64  is attached to the top and bottom portions of the seat  60 . An additional buckled seat belt  24  is added. 
       FIG. 4  shows the double occupancy stroller  10  with its top body portion  12  removed from its bottom body portion  30 . The top portion  12  is connected by a pair of bolts  44  attached to the bottom portion  30  which thread through a pair of lugs  46  attached to the top portion. It is well within the ability of one skilled in the art to substitute additional attachment devices including, straps, snaps or buckles. Once the top portion  12  has been removed, the seat carrier  70  can be easily accessed and removed. An optional triangular handle  80  is attached to the top body portion  12 . 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  show the removable infant carrier  70 . The carrier  70  is depicted having an adjustable Y-shaped harness  64  having two shoulder straps and an adjustable buckle  66 . A looped carrying handle  88  has a pair of two-position locking dials  90  to secure the handle  88  either in a folded or upright carrying position.  FIG. 5  also shows a pair of apertures  92  on each side of the infant seat carrier  70  for inserting the vehicle&#39;s seat belt according to the infant&#39;s size. Threaded apertures  94  in the lug portions  96  extending from the carrier  70  ( FIG. 5 ) are placed in registry with the apertures defined by a plurality of threaded stroller lugs  98  ( FIG. 6 ) extending from the lower body  30  to accept threaded bolts  100  to secure the carrier  70  to the lower body  30 . 
     In  FIGS. 7 and 8 , one of the two brake units  58  (the brake unit on the opposite side of the stroller being a mirror image) is illustrated in the non-braking mode and braking mode, respectively. The brake unit  58  is located on the outside surface of the rear leg  56 . A rubberized foot operated pedal  102  is held by a set screw  104  onto the end of a cylindrical metal shaft  106  slidable and rotatable in tubular housing  108  which is secured by welding to the metal rear leg  56 , or more particularly, to U-shaped brackets  112 . The shaft  106  has a length sufficiently adequate to penetrate and hold one of the open portions of the rear wheel  54 . An elongated metal ridge  110  for aiming and guiding the pedal  102 , and hence the shaft  106 , is welded in a forward position. A stop  114  is positioned opposite the ridge  110  and adjacent the pedal  102  to support the shaft  106  when in the retracted position, and to prevent rod  106  from accidentally sliding to the extended position and applying the brake prematurely. When the pedal  102  is pushed and rotated forward by the operator&#39;s foot, the shaft  106  can be forced through one of the openings between the spokes in the rear wheel  54  as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . One or both brake units  58  can be actuated by preference of the operator to prevent the stroller  10  from moving. 
       FIGS. 9 ,  10 , and  11 A to  11 C are directed to a simplified baby carriage  116  having a removable hood  118  by unfastening the fastener  120  on both sides of the carriage  116 . The hood  118  is decorated with large false eyes  122  on both sides. A loop handle  124  is attached on the rear of the carriage  116  rolling on four wheels  126 . A swan wing design  128  is added to each side of the carriage  116 . A pair of foot bars  129  are located on the sides of the carriage to enable children to climb into the carriage when the hood  118  is removed.  FIG. 10  reveals a child&#39;s car seat and carrier  130  with a safety harness  132  which is firmly attached to a segmented false floor  134  shown in  FIGS. 11A  (opened) and  11 B (closed) or an integral false floor  136  shown in  FIG. 1C . The segmented false floor  134  comprises two longitudinal panels or flaps  138  and two front and rear panels or flaps  140  having a pair of hinges  142  on each panel for opening the panels upward. In  FIG. 11B , a pillow  144  and a padded mat  146  are added for comfort. 
     The carriage  116  thus serves as a play wagon and a bed. The flaps or panels  138  and  140  are preferably made of either rigid plastic, fiberglass, or steel. 
     Thus, several embodiments have been shown for enabling the use of the carriage as a car seat and as a bed. 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.