AU702126B2

AU702126B2 - Improvements in cots

Info

Publication number: AU702126B2
Application number: AU74231/96A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Munro Joyce
Original assignee: JOYCE JANETTE LOIS
Current assignee: JOYCE JANETTE LOIS
Priority date: 1995-12-07
Filing date: 1996-12-09
Publication date: 1999-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 2016-12-09
Also published as: AU7423196A

Description

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,I4 P0001 1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1 990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT NAME OF APPLICANT: a a a a. act.

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ACTUAL INVENTOR(S): ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: JOHN MUNRO JOYCE and JANETTE LOIS JOYCE JOHN MUNRO JOYCE Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 IMPROVEMENTS IN COTS NO(S): AU PN 7037 07/12/95 INVENTION TITLE: OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:- 2 The present invention relates to cots for babies and young infants and, in particular, to a track assembly for a cot drop side.

Hitherto, the drop side of conventional cots has been designed to travel along upright metal rods located at opposite ends of the drop side.

The height to which the drop side may be raised is determined by pivotal catches located adjacent respective upper portions of the rods. Each pivotal catch is adapted to be pushed aside by the upper cross member of the drop side as it slides upwardly and then to pivot downwardly under its a own weight until it abuts against the adjacent rod. The drop side is thereby stopped from sliding downwardly after it has passed each pivotal catch by the physical impediment provided by the catch leaning on the adjacent rod.

Such an assembly, although widely used, suffers a number of serious o shortcomings. Most notably, persons operating the pivotal catches for the purpose of raising or lowering the drop side often catch their fingers or articles of cloth' ig between a pivotal catch and rod. The external nature of 0" the track and catch assembly often provides an inviting plaything for babies and young infants located within the cot that may lead to injury and gradual structural or functional deterioration that may compromise the safe operation of the drop side.

These and other disadvantages of the track and catch assembly of conventional cots have prompted the need for a cot drop side track assembly having both a generally concealed or non-projecting track and a safe catch mechanism that can be located therewithin.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cot comprising four legs, a fixed side, a drop side, two ends and four track members each having a track therein, a first pair of said track members

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26/11/98 7 f 2- 3 ilqt r T _b 1'1111. -11 1 11 I M IT I I I 1 1-17- 3 being located in respective upper parts of a pair of said legs located adjacent opposite ends of the drop side of the cot, and a second pair of said track members being located in respective lower parts of the said pair of legs, four track engaging members connected to the drop side of the cot, each of which is adapted to slide in a respective one of the tracks, each of the said first pair of track members defining a substantially linear

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vertical track having a circularly enlarged lower end access portion for A f enabling the passage therethrough of its respective track engaging member for assembly and disassembly of the drop side respectively to and fromhn the 10 pair of the said legs located adjacent opposite ends of the drop side, /and o:i each of the said second pair of track members defining a substantially linear vertical track portion extending upwardly to a curved track portion, the end of the curved track portion being so configured as to support its track engaging member when the drop side of the cot is in a raised °t o i 15 position, each of the said substantially linear vertical track portions having a circularly enlarged cut out access portion located intermediate the ends of the substantially linear vertical track portion for enabling the passage therethrough of its respective track engaging member for the said assembly and disassembly of the drop side, whereby the distance between the lower end access portion and the cut out access portion is less than the distance between the respective track engaging members which are passed therethrough for the said assembly and disassembly of the drop side, and spring bias means within each of said second pair of track members adapted to resist the release of the track engaging member from within the curved track portion.

i26119

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26/1 1198 A C L f-- 4 In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is an incomplete perspective view of a cot which includes a cot drop side track assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a track member and a track engaging member of the track assembly of Fig. 1, which S..O track member is adapted to be fitted to the lower 10 part of a cot drop side left leg of the cot of Fig. 1, 3 is a perspective view of a track member and a track i engaging member of the track assemhly of Fig. 1, which track member is adapted to be fitted to the lower part ofi o e~rr the cot drop side right leg of the cot of Fig. 1, *D C 15 Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a track member and a track engaging member of the track assembly of Fig. 1, which track member is adapted to be fitted to the uplower part of the cot drop side lefright leg of the cot of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a track member and a track engaging member of the track assembly of Fig. 1, which track member is adapted to be fitted to the upper part of the cot drop side rlefgt leg of the cot of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a track member and a track engaging member of the track assembly of Fig. 1, which track member is adapted to be fitted to the upper part of the cot drop side right leg of the cot of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a top elevational view of a curved portion of the track member of Fig. 3.

The cot 40 shown in Fig. 1 has four legs 41, 42, 43 and 44 which support opposed cot ends 45 and 46 and opposed cot sides 47 and 48.

~As shown incompletely, each of the sides and ends 45 to 48 comprise a 26/11/98 I a #4 0 *r a o 0r a 0*4 o 9 tr *r t Cr a C.a a plurality of vertically arranged elongated members 49, such as wooden slats, that are held in place in conventional manner by upper and lower cross members.

The cot side 47 is adapted to serve as a cot drop side, whereas the other side and the two ends 48, 45 and 46 are immovable.

The cot drop side 47 is supported through a track assembly comprising four separate tracks defined by track members 10a, 10b, (as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and Leg 41 has located therewithin a pair of track members 10a, 10 and leg 42 has located therewithin a pair of track members 10b, 15b. The track members 10a and 10b are of identical mirror image structure and are at identical heights towards the lower part of the legs 41, 42 and the track members 15a and 15b are also of identical mirror image structure and are at identical heights towards the upper part of the legs 41, 42.

15 The track members 10a, 10b, 15a, 15b shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 each have a track 11 a, 11 b, 17a, 17b respectively, formed therewithin as a continuous groove. The track members 10a, 10b, may be made of any inert material from which a groove may be formed, such as glass filled nylon or other suitable polymer.

Each of the track members 10a, 10b are fitted by screws 50a, located through four screw holes 12a, 12b to a correspondingly shaped cavity formed vertically within the lower part of the legs 41, 42 of the cot so that the outer surfaces 18a, 18b of the track members 1Oa, 10b are flush or coplanar with the surfaces of the legs 41, 42.

Each of the two tracks 11 a, 11 b of the track members 10a, 10b are adapted to receive a track engaging member 13a, 13b, which comprises a threaded shank 14a, 14b and a socketed head 51a, 51b. The threaded 26/11198 6 shank 14a, 14b is drilled into one of the two vertical end faces of a lower horizontal cross member 52 or bottom rail of the cot drop side 47 (as shown in Fig. 1) so that the socketed head 51 a, 51 b, which emerges from the end face, may engage and slide within the adjacent track 11 a, 11 b.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, each of the track members 15a, 15b are fitted by screws 53a, 53b located through four screw holes 1 6a, 16b to a correspondingly shaped cavity formed vertically within the upper part of the legs 41, 42 of the cot The outer surfaces 19a, 19b of the track members 15a, 15b are 10 flush or coplanar with the surfaces of the legs 41, 42 so that the tracks

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•c 17a, 17b thereof may receive a socketed head 51a, 51 b of a track "engaging member 13a, 13b, the threaded shank 14a, 14b of which is drilled into one of the two vertical end faces of an upper horizontal cross ,.member 54 or top rail of the cot drop side 47.

15 The pair of tracks 11 a, 11 b are adapted to support the sliding movement of the lower end of the cot drop side 47 and the pair of tracks "1 7a, 17b are adapted to support the sliding movement of the upper end of the cot drop side 47 relative to the opposed legs 41, 42.

As shown in Fig. 6, the track 11 b, which is linear for most of its path (see Fig. has a curved portion 20 whereby the track engaging member 13b (shown in cross-section) may be supported within the curved portion 20 at the end of its upward sliding movement when the cot drop side 47 has been raised to its closed position. In this instance, the curved portion is generally semi-circular.

A spring bias means in the form of a flexible metallic strip 23 is located substantially within the track member 1 Ob and provides a flexible impediment to the free sliding movement of the track engaging member 26/198 26/11198 7 13b as it is being moved upwardly from the linear portion to the curved portion 20 of track 11 b. The metallic strip 23 is able to flex in a spring-like manner (as shown in broken outline in Fig. 6) in response to pressure being 14 applied against it by the head 51b of the track engaging member 13b and applies its own pressure bias to cause the neck 21 of the track engaging member 13b to ride on the curved surface 22 at the entry to the curved portion 20 and fall within the end of curved portion 20 where the track engaging member 13b and, therefore, the cot drop side 47, may be stably f "supported.

S 10 The track member 1Ob includes cut out portions 24 and 25 that receive therewithin the opposed ends of the metallic strip 23. A bent end portion 26 of the strip 23 is located within a recessed surface portion 27 (see also Fig. 3) of the track forming member 10 Ob so that, when the strip 23 is caused to flex, the end of the strip 23 adjacent the bent end portion 15 26 will remain generally stationary, apart from lateral movement that can Cbe accommodated by the generally triangular shape of the cut out portion 24, and the opposite end of the strip 23 will be drawn through the cut out portion 25 in a direction towards the sight of flexing. No part of the flexible metallic strip 23 projects from the outer surface 18b of the track member 1 Ob.

When the track engaging member 13b is located within the curved portion 20, the flexible metallic strip 23 is able to resist the release of the track engaging member 13b from within the end of curved portion Only force equal to or greater than that applied by a young adult or the like will be able to counter the resistance exerted by strip 23 and enable release Sof the track engaging means 13b from the curved portion 20 so as to allow 2/ 26/11/98

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1 8 the track engaging means 13b to slide down the track 11 b, thereby lowering the cot drop side 47 to its opened position.

The cot drop side 47 may be lowered from its closed position (as shown in Fig. in which the track engaging members 13a, 13b are stably supported within the end of curved portions 20 of track members 1 Oa, by a double action release procedure. Firstly, the user must slightly raise the cot drop side 47 by evenly lifting with his or her hands the upper cross member 54 or top rail so that the track engaging members 13a, 13b crare elevated from their supported positions in the end of curved portions W t 10 and press upwardly against the flexible metallic .trips 23. Secondly, the user, whilst maintaining this upward pressure, must push, typically with his "or her legs, against the lower cross-member 52 or bottom rail so that the track engaging members 13a, 13b are forced sideways and cause the flexible metallic strips 23 to be flexibly distorted, thereby allowing the track ;:tti, 15 eng3ging members 13a, 13b to ride over the curved surfaces 22 and slide into the linear portions of the tracks 11 a, 11 b.

Ir The track engaging members 13a, 1 3b are able to slide down the tracks 11 a, 11 b as far as the coil springs 28 (see Fig. 3) each of which are iocated vertically within the tracks 11 a, 11 b and are recessed fully within the track forming members 1 Oa, 1 Ob. Each coil spring 28 (as shown in Fig.

3) has a tail portion 29 that engages within a cut out portion 30 in order to anchor and orientate the coil spring 28. Each coil spring 28 is able to withstand substantial downward impact pressure provided by the track engaging member 13b.

The upper tracks 17a, 17b of the track members 1 5a, 15b shown in Figs. 4 and 5, are linear over their entire p;;h and have a circularly enlarged Slower end 32 for assembly and disassembly purposes only. The lower 26111198 L. 9 tracks 1 Oa, 1 Ob also have enlarged circular cut out portions 56 (as shown in Figs. 2 and 3) for assembly and disassembly purposes only.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope and ambit of the invention.

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Claims

1. A cot comprising four legs, a fixed side, a drop side, two ends and four track members each having a track therein, a first pair of said track members being located in respective upper parts of a pair of said legs located adjacent opposite ends of the drop side of the cot, and a second pair of said track members being located in respective lower parts of the said pair of legs, four track engaging members connected to the drop of the cot, each of which is adapted to slide in a respective one of the tracks, each of the said first pair of track memrbers defining a substantially linear vertical track having a circularly enlarged lower end access portion for enabling the passage therethrough of its respective track engaging member Soo for assembly and disassembly of the drop side respectively to and from the pair of the Laid legs located adjacent opposite ends of the drop side, and each of the said second pair of track members defining a substantially linear vertical track portion extending upwardly to a curved track portion, a a a the end of the curved track portion being so configured as to support its a track engaging member when the drop side of the cot is in a raised position, each of the said substantially linear vertical track portions having a circularly enlarged cut out access portion located intermediate the ends of the substantially linear vertical track portion for enabling the passage therethrough of its respective track engaging member for the said assembly and disassembly of the drop side, whtereby the distance between the lower end access portion and the cut out access portion is less than the distance between the respective track engaging members which are passed therethrough for the said assembly and disassembly of the drop side, and spring bias means within eactrof said second pair of track members 26111198 r i- 11 i adapted to resist the release of the track engaging member from within the curved track portion.

2. A cot according to claim 1 wherein the spring bias means is a flexible metallic strip.

3. A cot according to claim 2 wherein each of said second pair of track r,:>mbers includes spaced apart cut out portions on either side of the I curved track portion that receive therewithin opposed ends of the flexible metallic strip.

4. A cot according to claim 1 wherein the curved track portion is generally semi-circular with the end of the curved track portion being generally configured in a direction reverse to that of the substantially linear vertical track portion. 'io

5. A cot substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 26th day of November 1998 JOHN MUNRO JOYCE and JANETTE LOIS JOYCE Patent Attorneys for the applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES i !:ii s ABSTRACT A track assembly for the drop side (47) of a cot (40) includes at least one female track (11 b) located within a surface of a leg (42) of the cot a track engaging member (13b) connected to the drop side (47) and adapted to slide withirn the at least one female track (11 the at least one female track (11 b) including a slotted or curved portion (20) for supporting the track engaging member (13b) when the drop side (47) is in a raised position, and a spring bias means (23) adapted to resist the release of the track engaging member (1 3b) from within the slotted portion (20) of the track (1 Ib). '11i S r Sr I 'U