The invention relates to a children's bag as stated in the introductory part of claim 1. The term "children's bag" means a thermally insulated textile object, which is or can be made bag shaped to cover a child and keep it warm and is suitable for a newly born child and up to the age of about 6 years.

A great variety of children's bag, with flaps and wings which can be folded together children of different ages are known. It is difficult to provide children's bags which can be used over a long time, i.e. over a growth period in which the child grows from a length of about 50 centimeters to a length of 100 centimeters and more. Generally, it is desirable that such equipment can be used by the child for as long as possible, e.g. to allow for the children's bag to be used as a sleeping bag after the infant period. A proposal is found in Norwegian Design Registration 65570, where flaps and cords allow for an adaption of the bag to different sizes.

From Norwegian Design Registration 56832, a combined children's bag and thermal jacket is known, but this design has not been suitable for providing a children's bag of flexible size.

From Norwegian Design Registration 61260, a similar combination of an anorak and a sleeping bag is known, which is also not suitable for providing a children's bag of flexible size.

US 5.722.094 discloses an infant swaddling apparatus, where the infant swaddling apparatus is formed of a back panel presenting an upper edge, a lover edge of and opposed side edges that are tapered towards each other between the upper and lower edges, and a front panel presenting a lover edge and opposed lower edges that extend along and are secured to the lower and side edges of the back panel to define a pocket that is closed on the sides and bottom. The length of the product is adjustable to accommodate infants of various sizes, and a pair of pieces of hook-and-loop material provided for this purpose.

US 5.062.168 discloses a wrap for young infants. A middle section of the wrap has a shape of an elongated oblong. Two rectangular single thickness flats are sewn to the sides of the middle section. To cover the infant, the lower part of the middle section is folded over the infant's body, and the two flaps are folded across it and tied together to hold it in place.

In US-patent specification 4.989.282 (Goldstein 1991) an extendable children's bag is described. When the bag is to be extended, a part is removed and replaced with two separate parts which are connected to the bag with two zippers. Further multiple cord systems are opened and the bag is stretched for connecting of the new parts. The extension is limited, since only the part enclosing the head (in extended position), is added.

This prior art bag is closed by lacing up the open end when it is used in its short version. With children's bags for infants, a cord system is undesirable because the cords can end up around the neck or other parts of the child's body. The bag according to this patent relies on a cord system for providing the shortened version. Additionally, the opening for the head has a cord for adjustment.

US-patent specification 5960492 (Byrne 1999) and 6216290 (Zemitis and Scott 2001) disclose sleeping bags having extendable width. Both describe how a normally closed zipper can be opened and a separate part can be inserted to enlarge the width of the bag, over the length or only in the upper part.

Norwegian patent specification 317,771 (Korshamn 2003) discloses a children's bag with a bottom part which at its free edge is extended to provide an upper end or a hood which is connected to an auxiliary part, to provide a closed lower part of the bag, said auxiliary part restricting a head opening against the upper end wall or the hood part, and wherein a zipper is provided for replacing a part of the sleeping bag with a differently sized part, to adjust the size of the children's bag. The additional part is removably to the main part by a zipper. It comprises an alternative, second supplementary part with a bag shaped main part and a protruding end part. A part of a zipper corresponding to the zipper on the bottom part, extends around the mouth of the bag-formed extension and along the sides of the tongue, in a way that the second supplementary part may be fastened to the bottom part.

This children's bag has the drawback that an additional element is needed and which has to be stored separately when the bag is to be used for an infant.

The main object of the invention is to provide a children's bag with more flexibility of size, than prior art children's bags. Particularly, it is an object to provide a children's bag which can be extended lengthwise, to be used as sleeping bag for larger children and thus for an older child than prior art children's bags. It is a particular object to provide a children's bag without loose parts and which can be used by children with different size. It is important that the novel children's bag is convenient to use and charge from one size to another.

The novel children's bag is described in claim 1. Further features are stated in claims 2 to 5.

The invention allows for an extension of length in the proportion of substantially 1 to 2. The children's bag according to the invention will appear as a complete, normal children's bag in all sizes.

Details of the invention are described in the following example.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, wherein

• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention, wherein a children's bag is extended to maximum size, while
• Figure 2 shows the children's bag of Figure 1, folded together and tied in to a minimum size.

Figure 1 shows a children's bag with a relatively long bag shaped main part 11, which at an upper end is extended by a head underlay 12, the upper part 13 of which is double layered from the upper end and downward. The upper part 13 can be used as a hood top or as an additional head underlay. The free edge of the upper part 13 has a cord in a passage, the ends of the cord being concealed in a central pocket, for hiding the ends of the cord.

The main part 11 is assembled of two layers of thermally insulating and absorbing laminated textile material. From an upper edge 14 of the bag shaped main part 11 and for about 1/3 of the length, the children's bag is provided with two flaps or wings 15 and 16. The wings 15 and 16 have a sloped and rounded transition 17 to the lower part of the main part 11.

The head underlay 12 and the upper part 13 extend to the extremes of the wings 15 and 16 on both sides.

At the edge of one wing 15 three buckles 18, 19 and 20 are located, and at the edge of the opposite wing 16 three ribbons 21, 22, 23 are attached, for tying to the buckles 18-20. The purpose will be apparent from the drawings and the accompanying description.

Figure 2 shows how the children's bag according to the invention can be used for an infant. At the back of the lower part 24 of the main part 11 a ribbon 25 is arranged with attachment to the main part 11 at the ends and at three locations 28 there between. When folding the children's bag the wings 15 and 16 are wrapped together over the folded back of the lower part 24 of the main part 11. The ribbons 21-23 are connected with the buckles 18-20 under the ribbon 25. In this way, the size can be adjusted to an infant. The connection of the upper ribbon 21 with corresponding buckle 18 will tie together the upper part of the bag, to provide a restricted opening 29. The size of the opening 29 can be adjusted with a cord. This is known from prior art children's bags. The double layering of the children's bag according to the invention will provide additional support and warmth as a pillow, or the upper part 13 may be used as a hood and 12 as a head underlay.

The design of the wings 15 and 16 as a part of the bag provides advantages, particularly by providing more room for the user at the mouth of the bag. However, the children's bag can also be made with a bag shaped main part provided with wings in a single layer structure.

Integrating the wings 15 and 16 with the head underlay 12 and the hood shaped upper part 13 provides advantages or support and warming of the head and the upper body of small users. However, it is also possible to have the parts 12 and 13 as an extension of a restricted main part 11. A lower part 14 has two protruding wings or flaps 15 and 16 extending along the upper half of the bag, while an upper part 17 is U-shaped and attached to the lower part 14 along the edge, and along the bottom edge of each wing 15 and 16. The wings 15 and 16 have rounded edges and each is provided with a pair of ribbons 20 and 21, 22, 23 respectively, at the free edge.

It is possible to use only one large wing or flap 15, which then would cover the main part 11 of the bag.

The buckles 18-20 and the ribbons 21-23 can be replaced by cords.

The children's bag according to the invention can also be manufactured of one-layer material, without a particular thermal insulation. In this case, an additional thermal insulating lining will be needed in cold periods of use.