A baby chair or support

Abstract

A baby chair or support comprises a support frame 12 and a covering 8 to form a seat for an infant. The frame 12 includes rearward and forward attachments 7, 8 for fastening to a seat of a highchair 2

Description

Background of the Invention 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a baby bouncing chair or bouncer, or baby support, and more particularly, to a baby bouncing chair which is height adjustable, having a user operable means of adjusting the height of the supporting seat. In a further embodiment of the invention the bouncing chair or support includes means for attachment to a highchair or booster chair frame. 2. Description of the Prior Art Baby bouncing chairs or bouncers are well known as a means of soothing occupying and entertaining young babies in a secure and safe manner. It is desirable to adjust the height and inclination of the baby supporting frame depending on the activity taking place and the age of the baby. An adjustable height mechanism is disclosed in US2018 / 0206649 involving a screw thread, a rotatable triangular bracket and a cranked part of the wire frame. Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to pro vide an adjustable baby bouncing seat with a simpler adjustment mechanism with fewer moving parts. It is a further objective of the invention to provide a baby bouncing chair or baby support that is adapted to attach to a highchair frame. 'Thus, the baby can be attended to at the level of a table, rather than on the floor. Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a baby seat or support comprising a support frame and a covering to forming the seat or support for the baby, the support frame comprising a rearward attachment and a forward attachment adapted for attachment to a seat of a highchair, characterised in that the rearward attachment includes engaging means which is adapted to engage with the seat back of the high chair and that the forward attachment includes releasable attachment means adapted for releasable engagement with an arm rest of the high chair. Preferably the baby seat or support is connected to a base to form a baby bouncer that may be used at table level. The baby seat or support my be adjustable in inclination in relation to the base. These and other objectives of the present invention are defined in the appended claims or will become obvious to those of ordinary'' skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. lisa perspective view of a baby bouncing chair or bouncer according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG.2 is a side view the baby bouncing chair or bouncer of FIG. 1, FIG.3 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first position, FIG.4 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a second position, FIG. 5 is a side view the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a third position, FIG.6 is a front view of the soft covering for the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1, FIG.7 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. I, FIG. 8a to 8e are views showing the steps for attachment and removal of the soft covering of FIG. 6, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of fixed chair attachment parts of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1, FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the frame of the of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 with the fixed chair attachment parts removed, FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the frame of the of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 showing the attachment, or removal of the fixed chair attachment, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair, FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a second stage of attachment to a highchair, FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in an attached position with the covering re-attached, FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the frame of a baby support with the base part removed from the bouncing chair of FIG. 1, FIG 16 is a perspective view of the frame of FIG. 11, FIG 17 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby support of FIG. 15 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair, FIG 18 is a perspective view of the frame of the baby support of FIG. 15 in a second stage of attachment to a. highchair, FIG 19 is a perspective view of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 15 attached to a highchair with the covering re-attached, FIG 20 is a perspective view of the incline adj ustment mechanism in a disengaged position with a housing cover removed, FIG 21 is a perspective view of the incline adjustment mechanism in an engaged position with a housing cover removed, FIG 22 is a side view of the incline adjustment mechanism in the disengaged position, FIG. 23 is a cross sectional view of releasable engaging means according to a further embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the releasable engaging means of FIG. 23. Detailed Description In FIG. 1 is shown a perspective view of a baby bouncing chair or bouncer 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The bouncer comprises a base 2, which is generally flat to provide a sound and stable support for the bouncing chair 1 on a floor and is in the form of a flat hoop with a central void 6. The bouncing chair 1 also includes a seat 3 which is attached to the base 2 at one end of the base 2 and the seat 3 respectively by a connector 4 such that the seat 3 can be resiliently deflected upwardly and downwardly so that a baby occupying the seat 3 may be gently rocked or bounced to sooth or entertain. Referring now to FIG.2 a side view7 the baby bouncing chair or bouncer of FIG. 1 is shown including three alternative seat inclination positions and therefore baby height positions of the seat 3 in relation to the base 2. Connector 4 includes means of adjusting the height of the seat 3, which is controllable by the user by operating the button 5. FIG.3 to FIG 5 shows how the user may adjust the seat height between the three alternative positions. By means of a spring and rachet mechanism located within the connector 4, starting from a first highest position A as shown in FIG. 3 the user may press downwardly in the direction of the arrow against the resilient action of a spring within the connector 4 until the desired second middle position is reached. The seat will click into the second middle position B automatically due to the rachet mechanism within the connector 4. The user may push further in the direction of the arrow' in FIG.4 to achieve the third lower position C as shown in FIG.5. In the third lower position the button 5 may be pressed by the user which releases the seat from the third lower position and returns it to the first highest position as shown in FIG. 3. The user may control this return to the second middle position. In this way the user may adjust the seat to the desired height of the three available positions. Furter detail s of the spring and ratchet mechanism 31 are shown in FIGs 20-22. The connector 4 includes a housing cover 34 which covers the ratchet mechanism 31. and is slid to one side in FIGs 20-22 for the purposes of this explanation of ho w the ratchet mechanism 31 works. The spring and ratchet mechanism 31 includes a generally triangular shaped engaging plate 32 which is attached at one end to the support frame 12 and at the opposite end comprises first and second plate holes 33a, 33b. A U-shaped bracket 35 is secured to the base plate 36 and comprises bracket holes 37 in adjacent wing plates 38 which align with the first plate hole 33a in a first inclined position and. the second plate holes 33b in a second inclined position. A U-shaped carrier 39 is attached at one end to the button 5 and at the opposite end to a spring 40 such that the spring exerts a returning force against the pressing in of the button 5. The U-shaped earner 39 also includes a pin 41 adapted to extend through the bracket holes 37 and one of the first and second plates holes 33a, 33b to hold the engaging plates and thus the support frame 12 in the desired position. When it is desired to the adjust the inclination of the support frame the user presses in the button 5 which releases the pin from the first plate hole 33a which frees the support frame so that it may be moved to the second desired position in which when the button 5 is released the spring 40 urges the carrier 39 back and the pin automatically back into the second plate hole 33b which corresponds to the support frame in the alternative desired position. The user may release the button 5 and adjust the support frame until the second plate hole 33b is aligned at which point the pin 40 engages automatically and the user can detect by hearing the pin click back into the plate hole 33b. The third position with the support frame lying nearly flat is achieved by an outer edge of the plate 32 passing the bracket holes 37 so the pin 41 returns to the locked position under the force of the spring 40. This is a safe position for the flat folded position of the support frame. It can be seen that further positions can be provide by dimensioning the plate 32 accordingly and providing additional plate holes. In FIG 3 to FIG 5 forward and rearward fixed attachment means 7, 8 are shown which are adapted to attach the bouncing chair to a fixed support such as a highchair. Referring now' to FIG. 6 and FIG 7 it can be seen that the seat 3 comprises a support frame 12 and a covering 9. The covering 9 includes shoulders straps 11 and a lap strap 10 for safely securing the baby to the seat 3. In FIG.7 of the frame of the child’s seat is shown of the bouncing chair of FIG. 1, but with the forward and rearward attachment means 7, 8 removed. These attachment means 7, 8 are removable and supplied to the customer as separate attachable parts. FIG. 8a to 8d are views of the underside of the seat 3 showing the steps for attachment and removal of the soft covering 9. Starting from Fig 8a with the covering 9 attached to the support frame 12 and a first step is to release the hook and loop attachment 13 to reveal buckle 14 which secures the covering 9 around the support frame 12. The user releases this buckle 14 as shown in FIG 8b. The covering 9 includes a shaped section 15 to fit around the support frame 12 and this needs to be released by the user as shown in FIG. 8c. The covering 9 also includes side panels 16 which are secured by hook and loop attachment and may be released by the user as shown in FIG 8d. Finally, the covering 9 can then be completely removed from the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. 8e of a front view of the seat 3. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of forward attachment 8 and rearward attachment 7 which may be supplied already' fixed to the support frame 12, but which may al so be supplied separately for the user to fix to the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. 10. The forward and rearward attachments 8, 7 are each elongate and dimensioned to extend from each side of the support frame 12. The support frame 12 is made of round, tube which corresponds dimensionally with open U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b and 8a, 8b at each end of the rearward and forward attachments. Protruding tongues 17 are provided on the support frame 12 which correspond with holes 18 (not shown) in the U-shaped sockets to locate the U-shaped sockets in the desired position on the tubular side frame 12 as shown in FIG. 11. Grooves 19 are provided at each of the U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b which correspond with elongate tongues 20 provided on each side of bracket covers 21 which slide into position securing the U-shaped sockets to the support frame 12 as shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 is a perspective vi ew of the frame of the baby bouncing chair of FIG. 1 in a first stage of attachment to a highchair 22. The highchair comprises a seat back 23 and an arm rest 24. The void 6 is large enough to fit around the highchair 22 so that the rearward attachment 7 and the forward attachment 8 can be brought to bear directly against the seat back 23 and ami rest 24 respectively. The rearward attachment 7 comprises an engaging surface 27 which is shaped and dimensioned to correspond with the shape and. dimensions of the seat back 23. The forward attachment 8 comprises releasable attachment means 25 located at each side thereof, 8b which releasably engage with each side arm 26 of the arm rest 24 such that when the seat frame is pressed down against the arm rest 24, the releasable attachment means 25 automatically engages the side arm 26 securing the seat frame to the high chair as shown in FIG. 13. In this embodiment the releasable attachment means 25 is pivotally mounted against a spring (not shown) and automatically engages the underside of the side arm 26 of the high chair 22 to securely attach the baby seat or support 1 to the high chair 22. A further embodiment of an attachment means or latch 42 is shown in more detail in figures 23 and 24. The latch 42 includes a slider 44 that is slidably movable against a spring 43 such that the slider is biassed by the spring 43 to move to a locked position in which the slider engages behind a mounting lip 46 on the undersi de of the arm rest 24. The slider 44 includes a. curved cam surface 47 on its underside that engages with the mounting lip 46 when the chair or support is presented to the high chair 22 such that the slider 44 is caused to automatically move sideways against the spring 43 until the mounting lip 46 is passed at which point the slider 44 springs back into a locked position under the mounting lip 46 securely locking the baby chair or support in place. The slider 44 also includes a lever 45 which the user engages to release the attaching means or latch 42 from the locked position by manually sliding back the slider 44 against the spring 43 until the slider 44 extends back beyond the mounting lip 46 thus allowing the baby seat or support 1 from being attached to tire high chair 22. The engaging surface 27 engages underneath the seat back 23 so that inadvertent release by upward movement of a rearward end of the support frame 12 is prevented. The engaging surface 27 is also preferably dimensioned and shaped so that a resilient engagement is achieved by elastic deformation of the engaging surface so that it clicks into engagement with the seat back 23 in such a way that is releasable by upward movement of a forward end of the support frame 12 when the user wishes to remove the seat 1 from the highchair 22 by releasing the spring biased releasable attaching means 25. The user then re-attaches the covering 9 as shown in FIG. 14. The bouncer is now available for use, not as a bouncer, but is at the height of a table as a baby support, which allows the baby to be engaged with the rest of the family at mealtimes, and also allows an adult carer to perform other activities at a table whilst engaging with the baby. The support frame 12 is safely fixed to the high chair 22. In an alternative aspect of the invention seat 3 is removable from the base 2 as shown in FIG. 15 to form a support frame 30, which is shown without a covering 29, to enable attachment to a highchair 22 as described above. The support frame 30 may be supplied to a customer separately or may be removable from the bouncer 1 by separation from the base 2. As shown in FIG 17 the support frame 30 of FIG. 15 is brought to bear against the seat back 23 first by engaging the engaging means 27 with the seat back 23 before in a first stage of attachment to a highchair 22, before pressing down the attachment means 25 to fix the child’s support 30 to the highchair 22 as shown in FIG 18, and as 5 described above for the bouncer 1. As shown in FIG 19 the covering 29 is then re-fitted, to the support frame 30 to form the completed child support 28 ready for use at the level of a table. io Comparing to the prior art, the baby bouncer or baby support is able to be safely secured to a highchair to enable the carer to be at a table height adjacent the baby, rather than bending over to reach the baby at floor level. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and 15 alterations of the device and method may be made wh ile retaining the teachings of the invention. Component List 1. Bouncer 2. Base 3. Seat 4. Connector 5. Button 6. Void 7. Rearward attachment 7a, 7b. U-shaped sockets 8. Forward attachment 8a, 8b. U-shaped sockets 9. Covering 10. Lap snap 11. Shoulder strap 12. Support frame 13. Hook and loop attachment 14. Buckle 15. Fitted section 16. Side panels 17. Protruding tongues 18. Holes 19. Elongate grooves 20. Elongate tongues 21. Bracket covers 22. High chair 23. Seat back 24. Arm rest 25. Releasable attachment means 26. Side arm 27. Engaging surface 28. Baby support 29. Covering 30. Support frame 31. Ratchet mechanism 32. Engaging plate 33. a, 33 b, First and second plate holes 34. Cover 35. U-shaped bracket 36. Base plate 37. Bracket holes 38. Wing plates 39. Carrier 40. Spring 41. Pin 42. Latch or releasable engaging means 43. Spring 44. Slider 45. Lever 46. Mounting lip 47. Curved cam surface

Claims

1. A baby chair or support 1, 28 comprising a support frame 12, 30 and a covering 8, 9, to form a seat 3 for the baby, the support frame 12, 30 comprising a rearward attachment 7 and a forward attachment 8 adapted for attachment to a seat of a high chair 22, characterised in that the rearward attachment 7 includes engaging means 27 which is adapted to engage with the seat back 23 of the high chair 22 and that the forward attachment 8 includes releasable attachment means 25 adapted for releasable engagement with an aim rest 24 of the high chair 22.

2. A baby chair or support 1., 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that support frame 12, 30 is attached to a base 2, which is generally flat to provide a sound and stable support to form a bouncing chair 1 that may be also utilised on a floor.

3. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 2, characterised in that the base 2 is in the form, of a flat hoop with a central void 6.

4. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the seat 3 which is attached to the base 2 at one end o f the base 2 and the seat 3 respectively by a. connector 4 such that the seat 3 can be resiHeutly deflected upwardly and downwardly so that a baby occupying the seat 3 may be gently-rocked or bounced.

5. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the seat 3 may be inclined in relation to the base 2 at least two alternative height positions.

6. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 5, characterised in that the connector 4 includes means of adjusting the height of the seat 3, by means of a spring and rachet mechanism 31 located within the connector 4, which is controllable by the user by operating a. button 5.

7. A baby chair or support L 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the covering 9 includes shoulders straps 11 and a lap strap 10 for safely securing the baby to the seat 3, and is reieasably attached, to the support frame 12, 30 by means of a releasable buckle and hook and loop attachments.

8. . A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the forward and rearward attachment means 7, 8 are removable and supplied to the customer as separate attachable parts.

9. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the forward and rearward attachments 8, 7 are each, elongate and dimensioned to extend from each side of the support frame 12.

10. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the support frame 12, 30 is made of round tube which corresponds dimensionally with open U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b and 8a, 8b provided at each, end of the rearward and forward attachments.

11. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim .10, characterised in that protruding tongues 17 are provided on the support frame 12 which correspond with holes 18 in the U-shaped sockets to locate the U-shaped sockets in the desired position on the tabular support frame 12.

12. A baby chair or support 1,28 according to claim 10, characterised in that grooves 19 are provided at each of the U-shaped sockets 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b which correspond with elongate tongues 20 provided on each side of bracket covers 21 which slide into position securing the U-shaped sockets to the support frame 12, 30.

13. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 2, characterised in that the void 6 is large enough to fit around the highchair so that the rearward attachment 7 and the forward attachment 8 can be brought to bear directly against the seat back 23 and ami rest 24 respectively.

14. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the releasable attachment means 25 is in the form of a pair of spring biassed latches 25, 42 located on each side of the fonvard attachment 8 which releasably engage with each side ami 26 of the arm rest 24 such that when the seat frame is pressed down against the arm rest 24, the releasable attachment means 25, 42 automatically engages the side ami 26 securing the seat frame to the high chair.

15. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 14, characterised in that tire latch 42 includes a slider 44 that is slidably movable against a spring 43 such that the slider is biassed by the spring 43 to move to a locked position in which the slider engages behind a mounting lip 46 on the underside of the arm rest 24.

16. A baby chair or support 1, 28, according to claim 15, characterised in that the slider 44 includes a curved, cam surface 47 on its underside that engages with the mounting lip 46 when the chair or support is presented to the high chair 22 such that the slider 44 is caused to automatically move sideways against the spring 43 until the mounting lip 46 is passed at which point the slider 44 springs back into a locked position under the mounting lip 46 securely locking the baby chair or support in place.

17. A baby chair or support!, 28, according to claim 16, characterised in that the slider 44 also includes a lever 45 which the user engages to release the attaching means or latch 42 from the locked position by manually sliding back the slider 44 against the spring 43 until the slider 44 extends back beyond the mounting lip 46 thus allowing the baby seat or support 1 from being attached to the hieh chair 22.

18. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that tire engaging surface 27 engages underneath the seat back 23 so that inadvertent release by upward movement of a rearward end of the support frame 12 is prevented.

19. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 1, characterised in that the engaging surface 27 is dimensioned and shaped so that a resilient engagement is achieved by elastic deformation of the engaging surface so that it clicks into engagement with the seat back 23 in such a way that is releasable by upward movement of a forward end of the support frame 12 when the user wishes to remove the seat 1 from the high chair 22.

20. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 6, characterised in that the spring and ratchet mechanism 31 includes a generally triangular shaped engaging plate 32 which is attached at one end to the support frame 12 and at the opposite end comprises first and second plate holes 33a, 33b, through which a spring biased pin selectively passes to secure the support frame in the alternative positions.

21. A baby chair or support 1, 28 according to claim 17, characterised in that a U-shaped bracket 35 is secured to the base plate 36 and comprises bracket holes 37 in adjacent wing plates 38 which align with the first plate hole 33a in a first inclined position and the second plate holes 33b in a second inclined position.

22. A baby chair or support 1,28 according to claim 17, characterised in that a U-shaped earner 39 is attached at one end to the button 5 and at the opposite end to a spring 40 such that the spring exerts a returning force against the pressing in of the button 5, the U-shaped earner 39 also including the pin 41 adapted to extend through the bracket holes 37 and one of the first and second plates holes 33a, 33b to hold the engaging plates and thus the support frame 12 in the desired position.Application No: GB2417244.7Examiner: Mr Patrick LucasClaims searched: 1-22Date of search: 22 May 2025Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X 1-12, 18, 19 (ZIZA) Ziza, September 2023, "Home", Ziza-baby.com, [online], Previously available from: https: / / ziza-baby.com / [Accessed 22 May 2024], See images “Ziza Newborn Set 01” (middle image in third row below heading “Sit Down, the Chaos Will Come All By Itself’) and “Ziza Bouncer 03” (bottom left image below heading “Clever. Classic. Danish.”) A,P n / a WO 2024 / 236076 Al (MAMAS &PAPAS HOLDINGS LTD) See figures 1-5 and 9a-d, p6 In 10-16 and pl5 In 7-24. A n / a US 2013 / 0214571 Al (OPSVIK et al.) See figures. A n / a CN 101999808 A (GOODBABY GROUP CORP) See figuresCategories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive step A Document indicating technological background and / or state of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:International Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From A47D 0001 / 10 01 / 01 / 2006 A47D 0001 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 A47D 0013 / 10 01 / 01 / 2006

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