Baby carrier with adjustable head support and buckle therefore

Abstract

The invention relates to a baby carrier comprising chest straps, which are arranged to extend around both shoulder regions of a wearer, a waist belt, and a baby-carrying pouch mounted on the chest straps and the waist belt, said baby-carrying pouch comprises at least a front piece having leg openings and a head support, respective lateral corner of the head support being detachably connected to corresponding nearby connecting point at respective chest strap by a first strap means having a detachable buckle. A second strap means is arranged between respective lateral corner of the head support and a buckle slidably arranged along respective first strap means, and that said second strap means is continuously adjustably connected said buckle.

Claims

1. A baby carrier comprising chest straps, which are arranged to extend around both shoulder regions of a wearer, a waist belt, and a baby-carrying pouch mounted on the chest straps and the waist belt, said baby-carrying pouch comprises at least a front piece defining leg openings and a head support, a respective lateral corner of the head support being detachably connected to a corresponding nearby connecting point at a respective chest strap by a first strap means having a detachable buckle, wherein a second strap means is arranged between a respective lateral corner of the head support and a buckle slidably arranged along the respective first strap means, and said second strap means is continuously adjustably connected to said buckle.

2. The baby carrier according to claim 1, wherein the second strap means is arranged between a border portion of the respective lateral corner of the head support and the buckle.

3. The baby carrier according to claim 1, wherein said first strap means is provided with a braid along an edge of said first strap means, and that the buckle is slidably arranged along said braid.

4. The baby carrier according to claim 3, wherein said buckle is provided with a locking tongue arranged to lock said buckle to the braid at any point along said braid.

5. The baby carrier according to claim 3, wherein said braid is arranged along said edge of said first strap means directed away from a central portion of the baby carrier.

6. The baby carrier according to claim 1, wherein, said first strap means is attached at its end opposite to a detachable buckle to the head support in such a way that at least an upper attachment point and a lower attachment point are formed.

7. The baby carrier according to claim 6, wherein said head support is provided with a stiffening means arranged between an upper border edge of the head support and an imaginary line formed normal to the longitudinal direction of the front piece and between the respective upper attachment points and the respective lower attachment points.

8. The baby carrier according to claim 1, the buckle is slidably arranged along an edge of the first strap means.

9. The baby carrier according to claim 8, wherein said buckle is provided with a locking tongue arranged to lock said buckle at any point along said first strap means.

10. The baby carrier according to claim 8, wherein said buckle is adapted to slide along said edge of said first strap means directed away from a central portion of the baby carrier.

11. A buckle for enabling adjustment of the head support of the baby carrier according to claim 1, comprising a body provided with a locking tongue having a key portion, a pin around which a second strap means is continuously adjustably threaded, and an open grove in which a braid is arranged run, wherein the locking tongue is springingly attached to the body by a spring means and adapted to lock the buckle to the braid in any position along said braid.

12. The buckle according to claim 11, wherein an end of the locking tongue opposite to a key portion of the same has a flat surface arranged in parallel with a first leg portion of the spring means, and that said end of said locking tongue is adapted to clamp up the braid within a recess formed between said first leg portion of said spring means and a protruding portion formed at said body.

13. The buckle according to claim 11, wherein a longitudinal direction of the pin forms an angle of about 20° to about 60°, preferably about 30° to about 50°, and more preferably about 35° to about 45° to the longitudinal direction of the open groove.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described by way of a non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a baby carrier with a front piece having a head support with adjustment means and with the head support shown in an upright position,

(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the adjustment means within the circle of FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the baby carrier shown in FIG. 1 showing the head support in a upright position with a buckle of a second strap means in an upper position,

(5) FIG. 4 is a view similar to the one shown in FIG. 3 showing the head support in a folded position with the buckle of the second strap means in a lower position,

(6) FIG. 5 is a view obliquely from above of a buckle for enabling adjustment of the head support,

(7) FIG. 6 is a front view of the buckle shown in FIG. 5, and

(8) FIG. 7 is a rear view of the buckle shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(9) In the description and claims below expressions such as upper, lower, downwardly etc. are to be understood in connection with the normal use of the baby carrier as carried by a wearer.

(10) It should be noted that the expression baby and child is interchangeable with each other throughout the description and claims.

(11) FIG. 1 shows a baby carrier 1 comprising chest straps 2, which are arranged to extend around both shoulder regions of a wearer (not shown), a waist belt 3, and a baby-carrying pouch 4 mounted on the chest straps and the waist belt. The baby-carrying pouch 4 comprises at least a front piece 5 having leg openings 6 and a head support 7. Respective lateral corner 8 of the head support 7 is detachably connected to corresponding nearby connecting point at respective chest strap 2 by a first strap means 9 (see FIG. 2) having a detachable buckle 10.

(12) As seen in more detail in FIG. 2, a second strap means 20 is arranged between a border portion 8a of respective lateral corner 8 of the head support 7 and a buckle 30 slidably arranged along respective first strap means 9. The second strap means 20 is continuously adjustably connected to said buckle 30.

(13) More particularly, the first strap means 9 is preferably formed as a rectangular padded strap and provided with a braid 11 along an edge 12 of the first strap means 9. The braid 11 is arranged along the edge 12 of the first strap means 9 directed away from a central portion of the baby carrier 1, i.e. on the outside edge 12 of respective first strap means 9.

(14) As seen in FIG. 3, the first strap means 9 is attached at its end 9a opposite to said detachable buckle 10 to the head support 7 in such a way that at least an upper attachment point 13 and a lower attachment point 14 are formed, and the braid 11 stretches along the edge 12 of the first strap means 9 all the way from the detachable buckle 10 to the lower attachment point 14. Thus, the buckle 30 can slide from the detachable buckle 10 to the lower attachment point 14 or vice versa and may by arrested at any point along the braid 11.

(15) The attachment of the end 9a of the respective first strap means 9 to the inside of the front piece 5 can be made in any suitable way as long as the buckle 30 can slide along the braid 11 from the detachable buckle 10 to the lower attachment point 14 of the first strap means 9 or vice versa.

(16) Of the front piece 5 at least the head support 7 is formed of a padded material, and the head support 7 is provided with a stiffening means (not shown) arranged between an upper border edge 7a of the head support 7 and an imaginary line 40 formed normal to the longitudinal direction of the front piece 5 and positioned in line with the respective upper attachment points 13 or between the respective upper attachment points 13 and the respective lower attachment points 14 and acting as a line along which the head support 7 may be folded to its folded position. See FIG. 4.

(17) To increase the possibilities of adjustment of the head support 7 the buckle 30 is provided with a locking tongue 32 (see FIG. 5) arranged to lock the buckle 30 at any point along the braid 11, and also the second strap means 20 is continuously adjustably connected said buckle 30. This means that an adjustment of the head support 7 can be made in three dimensions.

(18) The buckle 30 with its locking tongue 32 will be described in more detail below.

(19) As shown in FIGS. 5-7, the buckle 30 comprises a body 31 provided with a locking tongue 32 having a key portion 32a, a pin 50 around which the second strap means 20 is threaded (see FIG. 3, for instance) and which enables continuous adjustment of the length of the second strap means 20, and an open grove 33 in which the braid 11 is arranged to run. The locking tongue 32 is springingly attached to the body 31 by a spring means 34 having three interconnected leg portions, a first leg portion 34a, a second leg portion 34b, and a third leg portion 34c, arranged perpendicular relative to each other in such a way the first leg portion 34a and the third leg portion 34c is arranged parallel to each other.

(20) More particularly, a first end 35a of the first leg portion 34a is attached to the body 31 and a second end 35b of the first leg portion 34a is attached to a first end 36a of the second leg portion 34b. A second end 36b of the second leg portion 34b is attached to a first end 37a of the third leg portion 34c and a second end 37b of the third leg portion 34c is attached to the locking tongue 32, preferably at a middle portion thereof.

(21) An end 32b of the locking tongue 32 opposite to the key portion 32a has a flat surface 32c preferably arranged in parallel with the first leg portion 34a. The end 32b of the locking tongue 32 is adapted to clamp up the braid 11 within a recess 38 formed between the first leg portion 34a of the spring means 34 and a protruding portion 39 of the body 31. The protruding portion 39 has a surface 39a which inclines towards the first leg portion 34a so as to increase the clamping force exerted by the end 32b of the locking tongue 32 on the braid 11. One end 33a of the open groove 33 runs into the recess 38. The braid 11 will thus be clamped between the protruding portion 39 and the end 32b of the locking tongue 32. It is therefore possible to arrest the buckle 30 at any desired position along the braid 11 and thus to adjust the length of the second strap means 20 at any position along the braid 11.

(22) When the respective buckle 30 is at or near the lower attachment point 14 of the first strap means 9 it is possible to securely position the head support 7 in the downwardly folded position by tightening the respective second strap means 20.

(23) To make the adjustment of the length of the second strap means 20 more easy the longitudinal direction of the pin 50 forms an angle α of about 20° to about 60°, preferably about 30° to about 50°, and more preferably about 35° to about 45°, to the longitudinal direction of the open groove 33. By forming the pin 50 at such an angle to the open groove 33 the longitudinal direction of the pin 50 will be roughly normal to the longitudinal direction of the second strap means 20.

(24) It should be noted that the buckle 30 also exists in a mirror-inverted form to the one shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.