Conventional child carriers are used by adults to carry infants and young children. Child carriers are structured so that the child is fastened securely in the carrier, which in turn is fastened securely to the wearer, thus freeing the arms and hands of the wearer from the burdens of directly providing support to the child and not having free hands. The use of a child carrier allows parents or other adults to carry a child close to them, to be free from having to push around a stroller or awkwardly carry a car seat at their side, and to have their hands free to carry other objects or perform other functions.
Known child carriers include back child carriers and front child carriers. Back child carriers carry the child in a child-support pouch on the back of an adult. Front child carriers carry the child in a child-support pouch on the front of the adult. Some child-support pouches allow the child to be carried facing forward (i.e., in the same direction as the adult when the carrier is worn on the chest of the adult), and some child-support pouches allow the child to be carried facing rearward (i.e., facing towards the adult when the carrier is worn on the chest of the adult).
Typical front child carriers have a shoulder harness that has left and right shoulder straps which go over, respectively, the left and right shoulders of the adult who is carrying the child. Some child carriers have an additional strap in the form of a waist belt. The shoulder straps have ends which are attached to the child support pouch. It is also common for the left shoulder strap to extend from the upper left side to the lower right side of the pouch and the right shoulder strap to extend from the upper right side to the lower left side of the pouch where the one strap crosses over the other strap at the back of the adult wearing the front child carrier. The shoulder straps may be adjusted by changing a snap-attachment location of the shoulder straps to the pouch or by changing the working length of the shoulder straps using a buckle structure.
In many typical designs, as the wearer assembles the child carrier, the child is placed in the carrier and then the child support pouch is attached to the shoulder straps via a typical male/female connection wherein a “male” piece is inserted into a “female” piece. However, other connections such as, for example, ties and snaps may be used as well. Many times, the wearer or other person assembling the child carrier may be rushed, overwhelmed with other children, luggage or background noise and commotion, and unable to either hear the male and female connectors click into place or otherwise fail to determine that the male and female connectors are not fully mated, which can be very dangerous. Because child carriers are used to carry children, including fragile infants, it is extremely important that the connectors coupling the child support pouch to shoulder straps, e.g., the male/female connections are secure. If a connection were to become loose, the child support pouch could disassociate from the shoulder straps and open up, which could result in the child being carried therein to fall from the pouch and become injured.
In many typical designs, the child support pouch includes a front, bottom and back. The front of the support pouch is the portion that faces outwards when the wearer is wearing the child carrier on his or her chest. Thus, the front portion may cover the back or chest of the child placed therein, depending upon the orientation of the child. The bottom portion covers and supports the bottom of the child and, consequently, the majority of the weight of the child. The back portion of the child support pouch is positioned between the adult wearer and the carried child, and covers the back or chest of the child, again depending on the orientation of the child situated therein. Often the child support pouches are sized large enough to also cover a substantial portion of the head and/or arms of the child carried therein. Because so much of the child is engulfed in the child support pouch, the temperature in the interior of the pouch may be substantially higher than the temperature exterior to the pouch. Further, moisture may develop within the child support pouch due to the increased temperature and/or from a leaky diaper. Both the increased temperature and the moisture may create an unpleasant environment in the child support pouch.