Abstract:
The present disclosure provides a cover that can be removably applied to an infant or children&#39;s car seat. The seat cover is integral with a carry pouch that the car cover can be folded into and stored in when not in use. When the cover is thus stored in the pouch, it takes on the shape and feel of a cushion and can be used as such. The waterproof pouch can also facilitate the handling of a soiled seat cover.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The current disclosure relates to removable slipcovers for children&#39;s car seats. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Each year thousands of infants and young children are killed or injured in car crashes. Frequently, this can be prevented by always using infant or toddler car safety seats correctly. Many States have now passed laws requiring the use of car seats that are secured to the vehicle when transporting a child, depending on their weight and age. 
         [0003]    Traditionally, child car seats are secured to a vehicle by means of the vehicle&#39;s built-in safety belts. Child passenger safety experts have developed several ways to make car safety seat installation safer, including LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children), an attachment system that makes installing a car safety seat easier by eliminating the need to use seat belts to secure the car safety seat. It includes 2 sets of small bars, called anchors, located in the back seat where the cushions meet. Car safety seats that come with LATCH have a set of attachments that fasten to these vehicle anchors. However, unless both your vehicle and the car safety seat have this anchor system, you will still need to use seat belts to secure the car safety seat. Similarly, a tether is a strap that attaches a car safety seat to an anchor located on the rear window ledge, the back of the vehicle seat, or on the floor or ceiling of the vehicle. Tethers give extra protection by keeping the car safety seat and the child&#39;s head from moving too far forward in a crash or sudden stop. Tethers should not be confused with LATCH attachments, the tether is a longer strap at the top of the seat and LATCH attachments are located at or near the base of the seat. All new cars, minivans, and light trucks have been required to have tether anchors since September 2000. Most new forward-facing car safety seats and a few rear-facing car safety seats come with tethers. 
         [0004]    No matter which method discussed above is used to secure a car seat to the vehicle, it can take ten to fifteen minutes to remove and the same amount of time to re-install the car seat. Further, great care must be given to inspect the installation to ensure the car seat is secured properly. Since children can have “accidents” in the car seat and make a mess while traveling, it becomes a frequent chore to remove the seat to clean it, and then perform the installation and inspection again. Frequent removal and re-installation of a car seat can greatly increase the chance of improper installation of the car seat, defeating its safety purpose. 
         [0005]    Car seat covers have been made available to alleviate this messy problem. For example, car seat covers are available from Covered in Love, Inc. (www.coveredinlove.com) that cover infant and toddler seats. However, the toddler covers require the user to remove the car seat from the vehicle, turn the seat over, take the straps that come out of the back and pull them through the slots. Then the user has to slip the cover over the existing padded cover, and finally put straps back through the slots Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,359 B2 to Runk discloses a child seat cover in the form of a pad with slots through the pad that facilitate removal and reinstallation of the cover. Some of the slots accommodate the seat safety harness and merge with side slots that are held closed by mating separable fastening elements. The side slots extend at least partially along the junction between the backrest portion and the side bolster portions of the pad. A pair of back slots extend from respective strap anchoring locations in the backrest region to respective side slots. A release slot is included at each side of the pad, extending from the respective side slot to the adjacent outer side edge of the cover. The Runk seat cover is over-complicated and can present a real challenge in applying to a car seat quickly. 
         [0006]    Furthermore, there is one major drawback to having one single car seat cover only. When the child makes a mess in the seat, he or she would have to sit in the mess for the remainder of the excursion or risk soiling the seat directly if the seat cover is removed. While it is possible to carry a spare seat cover, the prior art covers are unwieldy and oddly shaped, requiring a separate bag or pouch to carry and takes up valuable space in the vehicle until it would be needed. 
         [0007]    A solution is therefore desired for a car seat cover that can be easily applied to and removed from a children&#39;s car seat. It is also desired that this cover be compact and self-contained, and can serve an auxiliary function when it is not attached to the child seat. The car seat cover, when not in use, can become a small cushion that the child or any adult traveling in the vehicle can use for comfort. This facilitates keeping a spare car seat cover, or multiple covers, in the vehicle. When the occasion arises that a spare cover is needed, the soiled cover can be easily removed without removal of the car seat and the spare cover quickly applied. It is further desired that the soiled cover can be sealed into a waterproof self-contained pouch. The seat cover should be durable enough to be washed and dried in a household washing machine and dryer. The cover should be able to accommodate the different positioning of the shoulder and crotch harnesses, to be usable with children as they become older. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present disclosure provides a cover that can be removably applied to a infant or children&#39;s car seat. The seat cover is integral with a carry pouch that the car cover can be folded into and stored in when not in use. When the cover is thus stored in the pouch, it takes on the shape and feel of a cushion and can be used as such. The waterproof pouch can also facilitates the handling of a soiled seat cover. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  depicts a common children&#39;s car seat with a 5-point harness. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  depicts a front planar view of the car seat cover laid out on a flat surface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  depicts a back planar view of the car seat cover, laid spread out on a flat surface. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  depicts a view of the car seat in its cushion form. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  depicts a close-up view of Quick-fit flap of the seat cover as the cover is applied to a car seat. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  depicts a close up view of the crotch belt openings as the cover is applied to a car seat. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]      FIG. 1  depicts a generic children&#39;s car seat  100  with a 5-point harness. The car seat has a seat back  101  in the top and a seat at the bottom  102 . The 5-point harness has a webbing strap over each shoulder  104 , a lap strap on each side of the pelvis  105 , and one between the legs  106 , with all five coming together at a common buckle  107 . The shoulder harnesses pass through sets of guide apertures  108  situated in the seat back  101 . The guide apertures  108  allow the shoulder straps  104  to be adjusted to different heights as a child grows older. Infant car seats (not shown) are also equipped with a similar 5-point harness. The harness assembly can be tightened and released with harness release strap  109 . The novel car seat cover discussed herein is able to be universally applied to such standard, generic children&#39;s car seats as depicted in  FIG. 1 , with no regard to the manufacturer, model, or size of the seat. The car seat cover can also be manufactured to fit custom car seats if such seats have a shape or size that differs significantly from the norm. The children&#39;s car seat as depicted in  FIG. 1  is shown here for illustration purposes only and is not meant to be limiting. In a similar vein, the car seat cover disclosed herein is also suitable for use with infant car seats. 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  depicts a planar front view of an embodiment of the car seat cover  200  as it is laid out on a flat surface. The car seat cover  200  can be constructed of any soft cloth material convenient or known. The material can be imprinted with any design that is pleasing to the eye, and/or is attractive to children. The material chosen should be washable in a common household washer. It can further be coated with a water-resistant coating such as 3M Corporation&#39;s Scotchgard™ to enhance it soil-repellent characteristics. In one embodiment of the car seat cover, the material chosen has a soft padding so as to enhance the comfort of the child while using the car seat, and also to enhance the softness when the car seat is folded into a cushion form. 
         [0017]    The cover  200  comprises a top portion  201  that is attachable to a seat back  101  of a children&#39;s car seat  100 , and a bottom portion  202  that is attached to the seat portion  102  of the car seat  100 . A “Quick-fit” flap  203  with sets of slits  204 ,  205  is located in the top portion  201  of the cover. The Quick-fit flap  203  is integral with the top portion  201  of the car seat cover, and opens and closes by folding the flap  203  along a cloth hinge  206 . The cloth hinge  206  can be formed simply by thread stitches on the material. Alternatively, the Quick-fit flap can be made from a separate piece of material and attached to the top portion of the car seat cover by any means convenient or known. Opening  207  in the bottom portion  202  allows the harness common buckle  107  and the strap between the legs  106  to pass through. Similarly, opening  208  allows the harness release strap  109  to pass through. 
         [0018]      FIG. 3  depicts the back side of the car seat cover  200 . The back side of the material used has a soft padding or quilted material  301  to enhance the softness of the car seat cover. The shape of the top  201  and bottom portions  202  of the car seat cover  200  conform to and can be fitted on a standard car seat  100 . The car seat cover is lined with a bias tape  302  so that it can be slipped onto a car seat quickly and easily. In alternate embodiments of the car seat cover, an elastic band can be used in place of the bias tape. Loops  303  can also optionally be made available for sliding onto arm carriers of infant car seats to help hold the car seat cover  200  in place. The Quick-fit flap  203  can be seen through a harness opening  306  through the top portion of the car seat cover. The opening  306  is for easy assess to the car seat shoulder belts  104  in the front. Lap straps flap  307  is partially covered by Quick-fit flap  203  at the front of the car seat cover, and is held shut by means of mating with Velcro® strips or other similar means known or convenient on the Quick-fit flap. The lap straps flap  307  is accessible at the front by lifting the Quick-fit flap, and allows easy access to the lap straps  105 . 
         [0019]    The back of the car seat cover is integral with a carrying pouch  304 . The pouch has a longitudinal opening flap  305  that runs along the length of one side of the pouch. The entire car seat cover  200  can be packed away by turning the pouch  304  inside out and folding the car seat cover into it. Refer to  FIG. 4 . When the car seat cover  200  is packed into the pouch  304 , it becomes a small cushion  400  and can be used as such. The pouch can be lined with a waterproof and odor-resistant material, so that a soiled seat cover can be packed and sealed into the pouch to await cleaning after the excursion. The opening flap  305  can be lined with Velcro® or similar means known or convenient to hold it shut. 
         [0020]      FIG. 5  depicts a close-up view of Quick-fit flap  203  of the seat cover in the open position, after the seat cover has been applied to a car seat. When the Quick-fit flap  203  is lifted up along the cloth hinge  206  and folded up along axis  5011  the car seat harness assembly can be easily assessed through the opening  306  in the car seat cover  201 . The sets of slits  204 ,  205  correspond to the positioning of the shoulder strap guide apertures  108  on the car seat back  101 . The shoulder belts  104  are passed through either slits  204  or  205  in the Quick-fit flap  203  depending on which set of guide apertures  108  were being used. The Quick-fit flap can then be folded down and closed. Velcro® strips  502   a  on the Quick-fit flap mate with matching strips  502   b  surrounding the harness opening  303  to hold the Quick-fit flap closed when the car seat cover  200  is applied to a car seat  100 . The Quick-fit flap partially covers the lap strap flap  307  when closed and mates to a corresponding Velcro® strip  502   b  on the lap strap flap  307 . In alternate embodiments of the car seat cover, buttons, straps, or similar means known or convenient can be used instead to close the Quick-fit flap. 
         [0021]      FIG. 6  depicts in detailed view an area just below that shown in  FIG. 5 . Openings  207  in the bottom portion  202  allow the harness common buckle  107  and the strap between the legs  106  to pass through. Similarly, opening  208  allow access to the harness release strap  109 . 
         [0022]    Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the apparatus as described and hereinafter claimed is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.