US3546721A - Baby crib canopy - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 15,1970 M, p., CLEARY 3,546,721

1' BABYCRIB cANoPY l Filed May 15, 196s INVENTOR. I 40 MICHAEL MORENCY CLEARY ATTORN YS United States Patent 3,546,721 BABY CRIB CANOPY Michal-l Morency Cleary, 15309 Depauw, Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272 Filed May 15, 1968, Ser. No. 729,247 Int. Cl. A47d 15/00 U.S. Cl. -97 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A canopy is provided in the form of a covering attachable at its edges to the top of a baby crib for securely and safely conning the baby within the crib. Located at an inner region of the covering is a pair of complementary curved edges which can be mutually connected and disconnected by a zipper. When the edges are disconnected, a substantially crescent shaped passageway is formed in the covering for access into the crib and when the edges are connected, the passageway is tightly closed to conne the baby within the crib.

The present invention relates to a canopy for covering the top of a baby crib and more specifically to a canopy formed at its inner region with an access passageway that can be quickly opened and closed to service the baby.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When babies are enclosed in cribs and left unattended it is desirable that they be allowed freedom of movement within the crib but prevented from escaping from the crib. Unsupervised babies often attempt to climb out of their cribs and when this happens they become exposed to the risk of injury either from falling from the crib or getting into subsequent mischief. With an aim towards eliminating these injuries, various types of canopies have been proposed.

Prior art crib canopies are generally of rectangular shape to t over or within the rectangular shaped top sections of conventional baby cribs. The canopies are usually secured along their four edges to the crib top by conventional attachment means such as straps and buckles, screws, zipper connectors, snap fasteners, etc. Access is ordinarily gained to the interior of the crib by either 1) disconnecting three of the canopy edges and using the remaining edge as a hinge to swing the canopy away from the top or (2) disconnecting all four canopy edges and removing the entire canopy from the crib top. In both situations, manipulation of the attachment means to free the canopy from the crib is cumbersome and time consuming. When the canopy is constructed of flexible material loosened portions may droop into the crib and harm or interfere with the baby.

To enable relatively swift access into the crib, the edges of conventional canopies are often loosely attached to the crib top and therefore the babys efforts to unloosen the attachment means and escape from the crib are also greatly facilitated. To avoid the above disadvantage, the crib top and canonpy may be more tightly attached together in a semipermanent arrangement in which case swift access into the crib is unattainable. When the baby is in need of immediate aid, quick access is crucial.

Another drawback of some prior art crib canopies is that they are made of stiff material or are made rigid by solid members in which case the baby may become bruised `by bumping into the stiff material or solid members. In other canopies, the attachment means is positioned within reach of the baby who can then loosen the attachment means to either ultimately free himself from the crib or create constricted spaces which may cause him to be pinched.

3,546,721 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Briey, the present invention contemplates a canopy dimensioned to lit over the top of a baby crib, play pen, or other type of baby enclosure. The canopy is in the form of a covering of flexible material having on a portion of its margin attachment means for tightly securing the covering to the crib top. Positioned interior of the covering margins, is a pair of complementary curved edges that define an access passageway through which the baby can be lowered into or withdrawn from the crib. The edges are mutually connected and disconnected by connection means to close and open the access passageway. Preferably the connection means is a Zipper whose pulltab can be used in a rapid single sweeping motion to quickly open or close the passageway. When a Zipper is employed, a patch of material is secured to the under surface of the covering at a location so as to shield the Zipper pull-tab from the baby when the access passageway is fully closed and prevent the baby from opening the access passageway.

The edges are contoured such that when the passageway is fully opened, a segment of covering material adjacent one edge constitutes a flap that depends into the crib interior. The projected lengthwise and widthwise distances of the curved edges exceed, respectively, one-half and one-sixth the lengthwise and widthwise dimensions of the covering to assure that the access passageway is of adequate size for removing the baby. The widthwise distance of the curved edges is less than one-half the width of the covering so that the flap will not contact the crib interior. The latter feature is aimed at preventing the flap, which may be of crescent shape, from harming or interfering with the baby as the attendant is putting the baby into or removing the baby from the crib.

In one embodiment, the attachment means, which is separate from the access passageway connection means, may include a pair of cords dimensioned to be secured to upper head corners of the crib and laced through perforations in opposite lengthwise margins of the covering and top post sections of the crib sides. The cords may be pulled tight and their other ends tied to the upper foot corners of the crib to hold the covering taut on the crib top. The widthwise marginal portions of the covering may be formed with retaining loops for receiving stiffening rods that function to assist in maintaining the covering in generally planar shape on the crib top.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the canopy positioned on a baby crib, showing the canopy with its access passageway entirely closed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the canopy separated from the crib showing how a crescent shaped ap is formed when the access passageway is fully opened; and,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional fragmentary view taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 1 showing how the zipper pulltab is shielded from the baby when the access passageway is completely closed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring iirst to FIG. 1, there is shown a canopy 10 securely positioned on the top of a conventional baby crib 11. Crfib 11 includes four corner posts 12, 13, 14 and 1-5 and a drop side 16 which is mounted for Vertical sliding movement between lowered and raised positions on space guide rods 17. Drop side 16 has horizontally aligned upper and lower railings ylit and 19 between which is vertically arranged a series of spaced posts 20.

Canopy 10 comprises a rectangular shaped covering 21 fabricated from any suitable flexible material such as muslin or nylon mesh fabric. Lengthwise miargins 22 and 23 of covering 21 abut the inner faces of the crib top railings such as the railing 18. Alternatively, the lengthwise margins could be lengthened to fold over the top railings. A plurality of perforations 24 preferably strengthened by eyelets or grommets are spaced along margins 22 and 23. Covering 21 is tightly and semipermanently secured to crib 11 by attachment means such as a cord 25 alternately looped in a laced configuration through perforaitions 24 and woven around the top portions of the posts at their connection points to the upper railings of crib 11. Covering 21 is sized so that it will be fully spread across the rectangular top opening of crib 11. First ends of the cords may be tied to the head corner posts 14 and 15. The other ends may then he pulled tight to make covering 21 taut and tied to the foot corner posts 12 and 13.

With reference now to FIG. 2, the widthwise margins of covering 21 are shown at 26 and 27 and are folded back and stitched at 28 and 29 respectively to define retaining loops 30 and 31. To further assure that covering 21 will be maintained in taut and substantially planar shape, stiffening rods 32 and 33 are disposed in loops 30 and 31. The ends of rods 32 and 33 extend beyond the ends of loops 30 and 31 and may rest on the top railings of the crib adjacent to the guide rods 17 as shown in FIG. 1. These extending ends are suitably tied to adjacent corner posts by the ends of the cords 25 to hold the rods firmly yin position.

As shown in both FIGS. 1 and 2, connection means in the form of a zipper fastener 34 having a customary zipper pull-tab 35 is disposed at a central portion of covering 21 intenior of its lengthwise and widthwise margins. Pull-tab 35 may be quickly manipulated in a rapid single sweep motion to mutually connect and disconnect zipper mating sections or edges 36 and 37. Edges 36 and 37 are of complementary curved configurations, preferably describing an arc less than 180.

When concave edge 36 and convex edge 37 are mutually connected as shown in FIG. 1, the baby can be safely and securely confined inside crib 11. When they are completely disconnected, as shown 1n FIG. 2, an access passageway 38 is defined through which the baby may be put into and removed from the crib. The section of covering material terminating in the convex edge 37 forms a substantially crescent shaped fiap 39 that depends into the crib interior to enlarge access passageway 38. Since the covering material lis flexible, flap 39 is easily rearranged into coplanar relationship with the rest of the covering material when edges 36 and 37 are zippered together again.

Passageway `38 and flap 39 are sized to assure that the baby wont be scraped by the zipper teeth of edges 36 and 37. If the edges merely define a straight line slit, then either the baby could not fit through the slit passageway or he would probably become harmed. Flap 39 is additionally sized to hang into crib 11 only to a height sufficient to not contact an average sized baby or any interior portion of the crib. To accomplish these advantages, and with specific reference to FIG. 2, the projected lengthwise distance B of curved edges 36 and 37 exceeds one-half the covering length L, and, the projected widthwise distance A of edges 36 and 37 falls between onesixth and one-half the covering Width W.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a patch 40 is secured to the under surface of covering 21, patch 40 being of a size sui'licient to fully cover zipper pull-tab 35 when edges 36 4 and 37 are completely connected together to close the access passageway. Patch 40 serves to shield zipper pulltab 35 and other terminal portions of zipper 34 from the baby who is then effectively prevented from opening the access passageway and escaping from the crib.

OPERATION Keeping the above construction in mind, it can be understood how many of the previously described disadvantages of prior art canopies are overcome or substantially eliminated by the present invention.

Initially, the covering is attached by the cords in the manner described to effect a semiperm-anent joining of the canopy and crib top so the baby is prevented from loosening the attachment means to free himself from the crib. The connection means `in the form of the zipper is totally separated from.- the attachment means and, is thus unreachable by the baby, but can be swiftly manipulated by an adult in a rapid single sweeping movement to open the conveniently located access passageway. The flexible flap which hangs into the crib when the access passageway is open is shaped to not contact the crfib interior and preferably terminates at a height spaced from the baby. After a baby is serviced, the access opening can be easily closed by a reverse movement.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention has provided a canopy in which all of the various advantages are fully realized.

What is claimed is:

1. A baby crib and canopy for covering a crib combination comprising: a rectangular shaped covering of ilexible material capable of being positioned on the top of the Crip; attachment means located on the margin of the covering for attaching the covering to the crib, a portion of the covering interior of its margins including complementary curved edges that define, when separated, a vsubstantially crescent shaped access passageway into the interior of the crib, a zipper for mutually connecting and disconnecting the edges so that when the edges are disconnected the access passageway is opened and when the edges are connected the passageway is closed, the edges being contoured so that when they are disconnected covering material adjacent one edge constitutes a flap that depends into but is lincapable of contacting the interior of the crib; a patch secured to the under surface of the covering so as to shield the zipper pull-tab from the baby when the access passageway is completely closed and prevent the baby from opening the access passageway; and, a baby crib having a top portion coupled to the baby crib cover.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,557,382 10/1925 Sundback 135-15CF 1,871,101 8/1932 Waltz 135-15CF 2,391,871 l/l946 Benson 135-14UX 2,586,247 2/1952 Mover 5-97 2,883,678 4/1959 Heffernan et al 5-93 2,927,331 3/1960 Ruiz 5-97 2,699,794 l/l955 Potter 13S-5.1 2,913,029 11/1959 Paton 135-1UX KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 13S-5.1

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