BABY BLANKET

Abstract

An infant blanket provides soothing sounds and music so as to comfort and make quiet an infant. Within a head or face portion of the blanket, a pocket is provided into which a speaker is inserted. The speaker may connect by wire or wirelessly to a playback device. The speaker is padded by a foam pillow so as to not be noticed by an infant lying on the blanket. The playback device may have pre-programmed songs or sounds, but may also be programmable by the user. The blanket may be in the shape of a friendly animal.

Claims

1. A baby blanket for comforting an infant, comprising: an outer shell having a front side and a back side defining an inner pocket within the outer shell; a layer of batting uniformly disposed within the inner pocket of the outer shell; a pillow disposed within the inner pocket of the outer shell; a speaker disposed within the inner pocket of the outer shell; and a playback device operably connected to the speaker, wherein the playback device is capable of reading secure digital (SD) cards.

2. The baby blanket of claim 1, further comprising a closeable opening disposed through the backside of the outer shell so as to allow for access to the inner pocket.

3. The baby blanket of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of SD cards, wherein the SD cards are preprogrammed with soothing music and sounds.

4. The baby blanket of claim 3, wherein a portion of the plurality of SD cards are blank so as to be programmable by a user.

5. The baby blanket of claim 1, wherein the outer shell is designed to resemble a friendly animal.

6. The baby blanket of claim 1, wherein the pillow pads and masks the presence of the speaker.

7. The baby blanket of claim 1, wherein the speaker has a maximum volume just loud enough to be audible to an infant resting its head on the pillow.

8. The baby blanket of claim 1, wherein the playback device is wirelessly connected to the speaker.

9. The baby blanket of claim 1, wherein the playback device comprises selection buttons and volume buttons, wherein the selection buttons are used to switch between the songs or sounds on the SD card being read and the volume buttons increase or decrease the volume of the speaker.

10. A baby blanket for comforting an infant comprising: an outer shell having a front side and a back side defining a pocket within the outer shell; wherein the outer shell is designed to resemble a friendly animal; a layer of batting uniformly disposed within the pocket of the outer shell; a closeable opening disposed through the back side of the outer shell so as to allow for access to the inner pocket; a pillow disposed within the inner pocket of the outer shell; a speaker disposed beneath the pillow such that the pillow pads and masks the presence of the speaker, wherein the speaker has a maximum volume just loud enough to be audible to an infant resting its head on the pillow; and a playback device operably connected to the speaker, wherein the playback device is capable of reading SD cards.

11. The baby blanket of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of SD cards, wherein the SD cards are preprogrammed with soothing music and sounds.

12. The baby blanket of claim 11, wherein a portion of the plurality of SD cards are blank so as to be programmable by a user.

13. The baby blanket of claim 12, wherein the playback device is wirelessly connected to the speaker.

14. The baby blanket of claim 13, wherein the playback device comprises selection buttons and volume buttons, wherein the selection buttons are used to switch between the songs or sounds on the SD card being read and the volume buttons increase or decrease the volume of the speaker.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a baby blanket embodying the present invention in the shape of a cow;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a back plan view of the baby blanket of FIG. 1;

[0020] FIG. 3 is a front plan view of a baby blanket similar to FIG. 1 in the shape of a dog;

[0021] FIG. 4 is a cut-away fragmented perspective view of the head portion of the baby blanket of FIG. 1 illustrating a speaker located inside the blanket; and

[0022] FIG. 5 is an environmental view illustrating the speaker of the baby blanket being controlled by an MP3 player device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] As shown in the drawings and for purposes of illustration, the present invention is directed to a baby blanket generally referred to by the reference number 10. The baby blanket 10 is designed to comfort, sooth, and quiet an infant using the blanket 10. The blanket 10 may generally be comprised of a soft and warm material housing a speaker that is connected to an MP3 player. The MP3 player may contain preprogrammed sounds or songs, but is also programmable by the user.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the baby blanket 10 illustrating that the baby blanket 10 may be designed to be in the shape of a friendly animal generally having a head 12, face 13, ears 14, a torso 16, arms 18, legs 20, and a tail 22. The baby blanket 10 may be comprised of an outer shell 24, batting 26, a pillow 28, and a speaker 32 as best illustrated in FIG. 4.

[0025] More specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates a cow embodiment of the baby blanket 10. The cow embodiment of the baby blanket 10 has horns 11 on top of the head 12 and hoofs 17 on the ends of the arms 18 and legs 20. The torso 18, hoofs 17, and inner ears 14a may be the same color and also may be made from a different material than the rest of the baby blanket 10 for design purposes. A large portion of the outer shell 24 may be white with black spots, as illustrated, to resemble a dairy cow.

[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates the backside of the baby blanket 10. An opening 30 is located at the head portion 12 of the backside of the baby blanket 10. The opening 30 allows access to a speaker 32 (shown in FIG. 4) that is contained in the head 12 of the baby blanket 10. The opening 30 may preferably be closed by a zipper 34, but may alternatively be closed by a button, snaps, Velcro, etc.

[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the baby blanket 10 resembling a dog. This dog embodiment similarly has a head 12, face 13, ears 14, a torso 16, arms 18, legs 20, and a tail 22. The dog baby blanket 10 also has paw pads 19 on the ends of the arms 18 and legs 20. Similar to the cow embodiment, the paw pads 19, torso 16 and inner ears 14a may be of a different color and material from the rest of the baby blanket 10 as illustrated. The figure is meant to further illustrate that the baby blanket 10 is not limited to a cow embodiment, but may resemble a dog, a cat, a bear, or any other friendly animal.

[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates a cut-away fragmented portion of the head 12 of the baby blanket 10. The figure shows that a speaker 32 may be located at the superior portion of the head 12 of the baby blanket 10. The speaker preferably is capable of connecting wirelessly to an external play back device such as an MP3 player 36. The speaker 32 may softly emit comforting music or sounds to comfort and quiet an infant using the baby blanket 10.

[0029] FIG. 4 further illustrates the general make up of the baby blanket 10. The baby blanket 10 may be composed of an outer shell 24 designed to resemble a friendly animal. The outer shell 24 may be made of cotton, fleece, cashmere, satin, or other material that is warm and soft. The outer shell 24 may be composed completely of one material or may be composed of a combination of different materials. For example, the torso 16 and parts of the head 12 may be made of satin, while the rest of the baby blanket 10 is made of a soft cotton material. A layer of batting 26 is enclosed within the outer shell 24 to provide padding for an infant lying on top of the baby blanket 10. The batting 26 may be made of cotton, polyester, wool, or other similarly padded material. A pillow 28 is also enclosed within the outer shell 24 on top of the batting 26, and is preferably confined to the head 12 of the baby blanket 10. The pillow 28 provides a cushion to support an infant's head and also to prevent discomfort by padding and masking the presence of the speaker 32. The pillow 28 may be made of foam, polyester, or other material that will support and provide a cushion for an infant's head.

[0030] FIG. 5 is an environmental view of the baby blanket 10 illustrating how the speaker 32 is connected to and controlled by the MP3 player 36. The speaker 32 preferably connects to the MP3 player 36 though a wireless connection 42, but may also connect to the MP3 player 36 by a wire. The MP3 player 36 has selection buttons 38 to select the desired song or sound. The MP3 player 36 also has volume control buttons 40 to allow the user to adjust the volume of the speaker 32. The maximum volume should be loud enough to be audible to one pressing their ear to the face 13 of the baby blanket 10 and preferably a little louder so that one's ear adjacent to the head 12 of the blanket 10 will notice the sound. The volume range of the speaker 32 is limited in this manner so as to not cause damage to an infant's ears. The MP3 player 36 preferably has an SD card slot in which pre-programmed or programmable SD cards may be inserted. The baby blanket 10 may include pre-programmed SD cards with royalty free or royalty tunes in every genre including religions, sounds, educational material, etc. The user may also program blank SD cards with desired sounds or music for use in the MP3 player 36. The MP3 player 36 may also contain lithium batteries that may be charged through connection to a power outlet or computer by means of a USB cable.

[0031] To use the baby blanket 10, a parent or guardian may place the blanket 10 on a flat surface or floor as illustrated. An infant may then be placed on the blanket with the head of the infant on the head 12 of the baby blanket 10. The parent or guardian may then select which song or sound they would like to be played by the controls on the MP3 player 36. As the infant becomes comfortable with the environment, the infant will notice the songs and sounds coming from the baby blanket 10 and be comforted and lulled to sleep.

[0032] Although several embodiments have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.