IMPROVED COT BUMPERThis invention relates to cot bumpers.
It is desirable to protect a child from damaging itself on the hard surfaces of a cot. It is also desirable to attempt to prevent a child passing one or more of its limbs between the bars of a cot in order to avoid injury to the limb or limbs.
Many solutions to these problems have been proposed. Perhaps the most common solution is the provision of a so-called"cot bumper". This consists of padded material which is secured to the bars of a cot along one short side of the cot and along a short length of the two adjoining long sides of the cot. Usually, such a cot bumper is secured to the bars using ties attached to the upper edge of the bumper. This type of cot bumper is unsatisfactory since the securing method allows a child to pull the cot bumper away from the bars so that it is no longer effective. Furthermore, the loose cot bumper may cause injury, for example, by smothering the child.
In accordance with the invention, a cot bumper comprises at least four generally rectangular, resilient panels, the shorter sides of each panel being flexibly coupled to a respective shorter side of another of the panels to form a continuous loop of panels.
A cot bumper embodying the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawing in which:Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cot bumper; andFigure 2 is a schematic sectional view along line II-II of Figure 1.
With reference to the drawing, the bumper has four resilient panels 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D which are interconnected at their short sides to form a continuous loop of panels having a generally rectangular configuration in plan view.
The dimensions of the panels are chosen so that the outer dimensions of the bumper correspond generally to the inner dimensions of the sides of the cot. The bumper may then be slid down inside the sides of the cot to form a padded area within the bars of the cot at the lower ends of the bars.
Typical dimensions for the panels are 2 to 3cms thick, 30cms high and a total length of 3-400cms (this total length figure is for all four panels and each individual panel would be approximately a quarter of that length usually with two longer lengths).
A flange 12 extends from the bottom of each of the panels 10 generally towards the centre of the loop formed by the panels.
In use, a cot mattress (not shown) rests on the upper surface of the flange 12 and thereby holds the cot bumper in place.
Furthermore, since the cot bumper has four interconnected sides, it is inherently more stable than the prior art 3-sided construction. Thus, the problems with the prior art cot bumper are overcome. Additionally the ties of the prior art bumper are no longer required.
With particular reference to Figure 2, each of the panels is formed from a sheet of foamed, fire retardant material 14 which is enclosed in a fire retardant textile covering 16. The flange 12 is formed by an extension 18 of the textile covering 16 which extends approximately 15cms beyond the lower edge of the form 14.
A loop of elastic material 20 is attached to the inner periphery of the flange 12 (for example by sewing into a hem of the flange). The elastic material pulls the extensions 18 of the textile ccvering together and generally towards the centre of the loop formed by the panels 10. The elastic 20 thus ensures that the flange 12 is located appropriately as a cot mattress is laid on top of the flange and furthermore pulls the panels 10 against the vertical sides of the mattress which further secures the cot bumper.
The flange 12 need not be constructed in the continuous form shown in Figure 1. Instead, it may be formed as a plurality of "castellations"or formed as respective projections from opposite pairs of the panels or any variation inbetween these two alternatives.
The panels 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D are joined at the corners of the cot bumper by the textile covering which covers the inner and outer radius of the corners. The covering may as a further enhancement, allow the foam 14 to be separated to a predetermined amount at the corners to allow the bumper to fit a larger cot, for example, by ai owing the covering to fold in a concertina fashion. Thus a single size of cot bumper may be used to accommodate a range of sizes of cot. Similarly, the flange 12 will include sufficient additional material to accommodate the "stretching"effect at the corners.
Furthermore, the bumper may have more than four panels. Also, the foam pieces 14 may be more or less in number than the number of panels. If the foam pieces are less in number than the number of panels, the foam material is folded at the corners of the cot bumper as necessary.