Outerwear Garments for Use with Child Safety Seats

Abstract

In some embodiments, a hood and outerwear garments with single attachment points for children wearing coats in car safety seats are disclosed. In some embodiments, the outerwear garment is comprised of a winter bonnet having an insulated lining and a single attachment point at the upper anterior portion of a coat. In some embodiments, the single anterior attachment prevents the hood from being inadvertently lodged behind a child—potentially limiting the safety seat's ability to secure the child. An object of some embodiments is to prevent a hood from interfering with car safety seat restraint systems.

I claim: 
     
         1 . An outer garment to be worn by a child to facilitate their safety in an automobile safety seat, the garment comprising:
 a hood for being worn on the child's head, the hood comprising a fastener for engaging with a mating fastener located on the front chest area of a coat;   wherein at least a portion of the rear area of the hood is configured to selectively engage with at least a portion of the rear collar area of the coat.   
     
     
         2 . The outer garment of  claim 1  wherein the fastener comprises a loop and the mating fastener comprises a button. 
     
     
         3 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the rear area of the hood is configured to selectively disengage with the at least a portion of the rear collar of the coat when the fastener is selectively engaged with the mating fastener. 
     
     
         4 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the rear area of the hood is configured to clear the uppermost area of the child's head when the fastener is selectively engaged with the mating fastener. 
     
     
         5 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the fastener is configured to apply a force sufficient to cause the at least a portion of the rear area of the hood to clear the uppermost area of the child's head when the fastener is selectively engaged with the mating fastener. 
     
     
         6 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the coat further comprises a rear shoulder fastener configured to selectively engage with a mating rear shoulder fastener disposed on the rear shoulder area of the coat, wherein the coat is configured to allow the child to be properly secured in the car seat while the coat is being worn and the rear shoulder fastener and the mating rear shoulder fastener are selectively disengaged. 
     
     
         7 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the fastener is configured to apply a force sufficient to cause the at least a portion of the rear area of the hood to clear the uppermost area of the child's head when the fastener is selectively engaged with the mating fastener and the child is properly secured in the car seat while the coat is being worn and the rear shoulder fastener and the mating rear shoulder fastener are selectively disengaged. 
     
     
         8 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the fastener and the mating fastener are selected from the group consisting of Velcro, magnets, buttons, and loops. 
     
     
         9 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the fastener comprises a unitary structure. 
     
     
         10 . An outer garment to be worn by a child to facilitate their safety in an automobile safety seat, the garment comprising:
 a body member comprising a longitudinal fastener disposed along a longitudinal edge of the body member, a shoulder fastener disposed along a shoulder region of the body member, and a first hood fastener;   a front panel comprising a mating longitudinal fastener disposed along a longitudinal edge of the front panel and a mating shoulder fastener disposed along a shoulder region of the front panel;   a hood coupled to the front panel and comprising a mating first hood fastener configured to selectively fasten to the first hood fastener;   wherein the longitudinal fastener is configured to selectively fasten to the mating longitudinal fastener and the shoulder fastener is configured to selectively fasten to the mating shoulder fastener;   wherein the front panel is configured to allow the longitudinal edge and shoulder region of the front panel to be separated from the longitudinal edge and shoulder region of the body when the longitudinal fastener, mating longitudinal fastener, shoulder fastener, and mating shoulder fastener are fully disengaged.   
     
     
         11 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the front panel further comprises a second hood fastener and the hood further comprises a mating second hood fastener. 
     
     
         12 . The outer garment of  claim 11 , wherein the hood and the front panel are separable. 
     
     
         13 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the front panel is configured to transfer to the hood force sufficient to disengage the first hood fastener from the mating first hood fastener when the longitudinal fastener, mating longitudinal fastener, shoulder fastener, and mating shoulder fastener are fully disengaged. 
     
     
         14 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the front panel is configured to transfer to the hood force sufficient to displaced the hood away from the head region of a child wearing the hood, when the longitudinal fastener, mating longitudinal fastener, shoulder fastener, and mating shoulder fastener are fully disengaged. 
     
     
         15 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the front panel is configured to transfer to the hood force sufficient to displace the hood away from the shoulder region of a child wearing the hood, when the longitudinal fastener, mating longitudinal fastener, shoulder fastener, and mating shoulder fastener are fully disengaged. 
     
     
         16 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal fastener is selected from a group consisting of Velcro, magnets, buttons, and loops. 
     
     
         17 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the first hood fastener comprises a plurality of fastening elements. 
     
     
         18 . The outer garment of  claim 1  wherein the longitudinal edge of the body is located on a second front panel. 
     
     
         19 . The outer garment of  claim 1 , wherein the outer garment permits a child to be properly restrained in an automobile safety seat without fully separating the hood from the outer garment. 
     
     
         20 . A coat and hood configuration comprising:
 a coat with a removable hood having an left hand side of the hood collar attached to the front chest of the coat through attachment means and a right side of the hood collar attached to the left font of the chest of the coat through attachment means.   
     
     
         21 . The coat and hood configuration of  claim 21  further comprising:
 both hood collar attachments attaching to the corresponding sides of the coat's front chest area and the back of the hood collar being attached to the back neck area of the coat when the hood is configured in the wearing position. 
 
     
     
         22 . The coat and hood configuration of  claim 21  further comprising:
 the right hand hood collar and the left hand hood color being both attached on the right hand side of the coats chest area. 
 
     
     
         23 . A method allowing a child to be safely and comfortably restrained in a car safety seat comprising:
 attaching through attaching means the left hand collar of a hood to the front chest area of a coat,   removing the right hand attachment of hoods collar,   removing the hood attachment from behind the child's head and neck area,   attaching through attaching means the right hand collar of a hood to the let hand collar's attachment location on the front of the coat,   draping the hood down the front of the coat.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  further comprising;
 attaching and draping the hood in on the front right side of the coat.