Infant high chair assembly

Abstract

An infant high chair assembly includes a high-chair seat, a high-chair tray, transversely-spaced-apart first and second front legs, and a bracing front-leg strut. The bracing front-leg strut has a first portion attached to the first front leg, has a second portion attached to the second front leg, and has a third portion positioned transversely between, and less forward than, the first and second portions. In one construction, the bracing front-leg strut has a substantially arcuate shape including a forward-facing concave portion, an opposing rearward-facing convex portion, a first end attached to the first front leg, and a second end attached to the second front leg. sp CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/234,276 filed Sep. 21, 2000 , the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An infant high chair assembly comprising: 
 a) a high-chair seat having a seat bottom;    b) a high-chair tray disposable above the seat bottom;    c) transversely-spaced-apart first and second front legs each partially supporting the weight of the seat; and    d) a bracing front-leg strut having a first portion attached to the first front leg, having a second portion attached to the second front leg, and having a third portion disposed transversely between, and less forward than, the first and second portions.    
     
     
         2 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the third portion is disposed transversely substantially equidistant between the first and second portions.  
     
     
         3 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the third portion is disposed between generally one inch and generally twelve inches less forward than the first and second portions.  
     
     
         4 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the third portion is disposed between generally one inch and generally six inches less forward than the first and second portions.  
     
     
         5 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the third portion is disposed generally three and one-quarter inches less forward than the first and second portions.  
     
     
         6 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first portion defines a first end of the front-leg strut, and wherein the second portion defines a second end of the front-leg strut.  
     
     
         7 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second front legs each have a floor-most end, and wherein the front-leg strut is disposed closer to the floor-most ends of the first and second front legs than to the seat bottom.  
     
     
         8 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the front-leg strut is disposed above the floor-most ends of the first and second front legs.  
     
     
         9 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the front-leg strut is disposed substantially horizontally when the floor-most ends of the first and second front legs are disposed on a horizontal surface.  
     
     
         10 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 9 , also including a first wheel attached to the floor-most end of the first front leg and a second wheel attached to the floor-most end of the second front leg.  
     
     
         11 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 1 , also including transversely spaced-apart first and second rear legs each partially supporting the weight of the seat and also including a bracing rear-leg strut having a first end attached to the first rear leg and having a second end attached to the second rear leg.  
     
     
         12 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the first front leg and the first rear leg are free of any interconnecting and bracing leg strut, and wherein the second front leg and the second rear leg are free of any interconnecting and bracing leg strut.  
     
     
         13 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the first front leg and the first rear leg are pivotally connected together for rotation about a first pivot axis, and wherein the second front leg and the second rear leg are pivotally connected together for rotation substantially about the first pivot axis.  
     
     
         14 . An infant high chair assembly comprising: 
 a) a high-chair seat having a seat bottom;    b) a high-chair tray disposable above the seat bottom;    c) transversely-spaced-apart first and second legs each partially supporting the weight of the seat; and    d) a bracing front-leg strut having a substantially arcuate shape including a forward-facing concave portion, an opposing rearward-facing convex portion, a first end attached to the first front leg, and a second end attached to the second front leg.    
     
     
         15 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the front-leg strut is aligned substantially horizontally when the first and second front legs are disposed on a horizontal surface.  
     
     
         16 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the concave portion has a middle point disposed transversely equidistant between the first and second ends.  
     
     
         17 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the middle point is disposed between generally one inch and generally twelve inches rearward of a forward-most straight line drawn between the first and second ends.  
     
     
         18 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the middle point is disposed between generally one inch and generally six inches rearward of the straight line.  
     
     
         19 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the middle point is disposed generally three and one-quarter inches rearward of the straight line.  
     
     
         20 . The infant high chair assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the straight line has a length of between generally fourteen and generally twenty-four inches.