Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The presently disclosed subject matter is directed towards a portable baby bouncer, and more particularly towards an easily transportable, light weight, and collapsible baby bouncer. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Baby bouncers are a class of popular products for parents and their infants. Basically a baby bouncer is a device that holds an infant and provides them with gentle motion in a manner that can stimulate an infant when they are active, soothe them when they are not, enable an infant to exercise, all while enhancing free time for parents. Baby bouncers are typically used by infants between the ages of 4 months and 1 year, that weigh less than about 26 pounds, that are less than about 32 inches tall, and that can sit up by themselves. 
         [0003]    In general, a baby bouncer has a seat that cradles an infant and that is retained in a flexible manner on a stand. The seat and stand are beneficially dimensioned so that when the baby bouncer is located on a surface that an infant can jump, kick, and partially stand in a manner that allows the infant to exercise, entertain itself, and to burn off excess energy to enable the infant to sleep. When the infant moves the flexible seat gently bounces the infant in accord with the infant&#39;s movement. A baby bouncer may include any number of additional features such as rattles, bells, toy bars, and visual stimulators such as lights and mirrors to soothe and/or stimulate the baby. 
         [0004]    While baby bouncers have been highly successful, that success has itself created a problem. Baby bouncers are so popular and useful that both parents and babies want them readily available, even when traveling. However, prior art baby bouncers are typically not very portable. Thus, when parents and babies travel this has made it relatively difficult to bring a baby bouncer along, particularly with all of the other products a parent usually carries, such as diapers, baby wipes, powders, changes of cloths, etc. While there are some prior art baby bouncers that are relatively transportable, they are particularly not easy to use, small in size and/or lightweight. 
         [0005]    Because of their popularity and because of the desirability to bring them along when traveling, a lightweight baby bouncer that folds into a compact space is highly desirable. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The principles of the present invention provide for a lightweight baby bouncer that folds into a compact space. The baby bouncer includes a seat having two leg holes in a seat pocket, at least three support legs that form a tripod, the top end of each support leg extends through a spring to the seat, and structural arms for rigidly retaining the baby bouncer in an operating configuration. The baby bouncer includes at least one structural arm can be collapsed to allow said baby bounder to be formed into an elongated shape that can fit into a carry sleeve. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a baby bouncer that is in accord with the principles of the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates a seat for use in the baby bouncer illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates the baby bouncer of  FIG. 1  folded for travel and/or storage; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a section of a structural arm used in the baby bouncer illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    The presently disclosed subject matter will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments are shown. Indeed, this invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the specific embodiment set forth in  FIGS. 1 through 4 . In the drawings like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0013]    Referring now to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the principles of the present invention provide for a relatively lightweight, foldable and collapsible baby bouncer  10  that can be selectively expanded into an operating shape or collapsed into an elongated shape (see  FIG. 1  for a view of the baby bouncer  10  expanded into am operating state and  FIG. 3  for a view of the baby bouncer  10  in a collapsed state that is useful for portability and storage. Referring now specifically to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the baby bouncer  10  includes a seat  12  for retaining an infant within the baby bouncer  10 . The seat  12  includes two leg holes  14  in a seat pocket  16 . For infant protection the seat  12  also includes a high seat back  18  that extends up from the seat pocket  16 . The back  18  helps protect in infant within the baby bouncer from whiplash and other neck injuries. 
         [0014]    Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the seat  12  also includes a plurality of accessory holes  20  for assisting attachment of additional features such as rattles, bells, toy bars, and visual stimulators such as lights and mirrors to soothe and/or stimulate the baby. The seat  10  further includes a plurality of seat attachments  22  (shown generically as rings) that assist attaching the seat  12  to the remainder of the baby bouncer  10 . 
         [0015]    The seat  12  is beneficially removable from the remainder of the baby bouncer  10  via the seat attachments  22 . In practice, the seat  12  is preferably mostly comprised of a soft, flexible, and washable material (such as cotton) that is suitable for long-term contact with an infant. This makes for easy cleanup, proper sanitation, infant comfort, and, as subsequently described, portability. However, the seat back  18  may be made somewhat more rigid to provide infant protection while also assisting maintaining the general form of the seat  12 . Padding on the seat back  18  can be added to further protect an infant. 
         [0016]    It is extremely important that the seat  12 , the seat attachments  22 , and the leg holes  14  are configured so that a seated infant is protected from injury. For example, it should not be possible for the seat  12  to pinch or choke an infant or to allow an infant to fall from the seat. All materials used to make the seat must be safe for use by an infant, and thus a flame retardant material or coating may be used. The seat  12  can be color coded in accord with infant sex (i.e. pink for girls, blue for boys) or other attribute (i.e., national colors red, white, and blue), or it can be printed with a design. 
         [0017]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the seat  12  is retained by three support legs  26  that form a tripod. The top end  27  of each support leg  26  retains a spring  28  that connects to an associated seat attachment  22 . The spring  28  which provides a bias support for the seat  12 . For both aesthetics and safety reasons each spring  28  is beneficially enclosed within a fabric cover  30 . 
         [0018]    Still referring to  FIG. 1 , at the bottom end  32  of each support leg  26  is a foot  32  which beneficially forms a suction cup to firmly retain the baby bouncer  10  on a hard flat surface. The combination of the tripod arrangement of the support legs  26 , each having a foot  32  provides stability for the baby bouncer  10 . Also beneficially each foot is durable, provides a sufficiently large contract area to safely stabilize the baby bouncer  10  on other than hard flat surfaces and to reduce or eliminate sliding and tipping. 
         [0019]    Each support leg  26  is comprised of a sturdy, yet flexible material that can withstand the stresses of holding an active infant. Steel, aluminum, fiberglass, or various engineering plastics (such as glass reinforced Nylon) are suitable materials. It cannot be too highly stressed that the support legs  26 , springs  28 , seat attachments  22 , and fabric cover  30  are configured to protect seated infants from harm. 
         [0020]    Still referring to  FIG. 1 , when deployed the tripod form of the support legs  26  is retained by structural arms  34  that connect pairs of support legs  26 . The structural arms  34 , in combination with the configuration of the support legs  26 , springs  28 , and seat attachments  22  form a structurally sound support for the baby bouncer  10 . 
         [0021]    A feature of the baby bouncer  10  is that it is easily collapsible and foldable. This is achieved by making the structural arms  34  themselves collapsible. Collapsible structural arms  34  can be implemented in numerous ways, such as by using telescoping arms with locking arm assemblies, ratcheting mechanisms, spring loaded snaps that fit into holes or detents in a rail, and a wide range of other mechanisms. However, probably the simplest method is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a beneficially way to form a collapsible structural arm  34  is to form each structural arm  34  from two parts, shown as arm segments  34 A and  34 B in  FIG. 4 , which readily connect together. In  FIG. 4  arm segment  34 A includes a coupling  36  at one end. The coupling  36  is beneficially configured such that an end of structural arm  34 B fits snugly and securely into the coupling  36 . This type of construction is often done in tents and other structures that break down into component parts. Then, to assemble a structural arm  34  the two structural arm segments  34 A and  34 B are fit together. 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the baby bouncer  10  is collapsible into an elongated form to assist portability. To achieve this, the structural arms  34  are collapsed, which allows the support legs  26  to move. The structural arms  34  and support legs  26  are then aligned in a parallel fashion, the seat  12  is compressed, and the baby bouncer  10  is fit into a sleeve  40  having a handle  42 . The sleeve  40  and handle  42  are preferably comprised of a waterproof fabric such as Nylon. The handle  42  is preferably dimensioned to fit over a shoulder for easy carrying, while the sleeve  40  beneficially includes a drawstring  44  to close the sleeve  40 . 
         [0024]    While the foregoing describes a baby bouncer that is in accord with the principles of the present invention, it is to be understood that the figures and description are exemplary only. For example, it may be desirable to include any number of additional features such as rattles, bells, toy bars, and visual stimulators. Obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching, and thus others who are skilled in the applicable arts will recognize numerous modifications and adaptations that remain within the principles of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Technology Category: 1