GB2363425A

GB2363425A - Foldable mechanism for a playpen

Info

Publication number: GB2363425A
Application number: GB0014711A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenny Cheng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-15
Filing date: 2000-06-15
Publication date: 2001-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-15
Also published as: GB2363425B; GB0014711D0; DE20010659U1

Abstract

A folding mechanism for a playpen has two rods 40 received in connection element 20 of U shaped cross-section and normally held in their extended position by the engagement between blocks 42 on the rods and an element 30. To release the mechanism the element 30 is depressed by means of a protrusion 32 against the force of a spring 33 so as to disengage from the blocks 42 and allow the rod to be folded. The element 30 and blocks 42 may have sloping engagement faces to oppose accidental release of the mechanism.

Description

.1. 2363425 FOLDABLE MECHANISM FOR PLAWARD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

5 Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a foldable mechanism, and more specifically, to a foldable mechanism for playyard.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ARTS

A wide variety of playyards, Which are also referred to as playpens, have been designed, developed, and commercialized for many years. In city life, the living space is crowded. If a playyard can not be stored in small size, it will be troublesome. For solving the storage problem, playyards are usually designed to be foldable for storage.

A well known foldable playyard, as shown in Fig. 1, uses a foldable structure 1, 15 comprising a coupling element 2 having a substantially U-shaped cross section; a pair of hollow rods 3 each having therein an engaging element 4 which may extend or retract with respect to the rods by using a spring 5, and pivotally screwed to the coupling element 2 by a screw 6; a fixed block 7 secured in the coupling element 2, having a cutout 8 for engaging with the engaging element 4; and a pressed-down element 9 positioned below and sildably 20 connected to the fixed block 7 for disengaging the engagement between the engaging element 4 and the fixed block 7 when the pressed-down element 9 is pressed down with respect to the fixed block 7 by an external force. When the playyards is in an unfolded condition for operation and use, the rods 3 are in horizontal orientation with the engaging element 4 being engaged with the cutout 8 of the fixed block 7, while the playyards is in a folded condition for 25 storage, the pressed-down element 9 is pressed to disengage the engagement between the engaging element 4 and the fixed block 7, such that the rods 3 may pivot to a vertical orientation.

In the prior art stated above, the foldable structure uses many parts, which not only complicate the structure but also increase the cost thereof.

30 In the foldable mechanism for playyard assigned to the inventor, i.e., US patent 1 application No. 09/437,654, as shown in Fig.2, a single element 100 corresponding to the fixed block and the pressed-down elements shown in Fig.1 is used, and a reed spring 200 is used instead of the engaging element. Therefore, the number of elements of the foldable mechanism of the playyard can be reduced, the structure thereof is simple, and the costs 5 thereof can also be reduced.

In view of the business of the playyard field is increased sharply, how to design a easier rather complicated structure for the foldable mechanism of playyard is still a very important subject for the playyard field.

10 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is aimed at overcoming the problems existing in the prior arL It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a foldable mechanism which can simplify the structure of the foldable mechanism and reduce the number of parts used therein.

To accomplish the above objects, according to the invention, there is provided a foldable 15 mechanism for a playyard comprising: a connection element having substantially an U-shaped cross section with two opening side faces, one front face, and one rear face, the front and rear faces being provided with a plurality of openings; a press-down element having two wings and a protrusion block integrally formed, the protrusion block passing through the opening in front face of the connection element, the press-down element further having a blind hole in its 20 center for accommodating a spring to abut against an inner surface of the back face of the connection element, and a plurality of through holes for rivets to pass and fix to the connection element, thereby the press- down element may move longitudinally; and a pair of hollow rods each having therein an cylindrical block, and openings, a cooperating protrusion being integrally formed on a front end of the cylindrical block outside the hollow rod, and a 25 through hole being provided in the cylindrical block for a rivet to pass the openings of the hollow rod and the connection element and fix the hollow rod and the connection element, thereby the hollow rods may clockwise/counterclockwise rotate with respect to the connection element. Therefore, when the press-down element is pressed down, the cooperating protrusions escape from the two wings of the press-down element, and the hollow rods may 30 rotate for storage, and when the playyard is used, the hollow rods are rotated to horizontal 2 status, the protrusion block is Pressed outward by the restoring force of the spring, and the cooperating protrusion are pre ssed against the two wings of the press- down element.

In the foldable mechanism, the thickness of the cooperating protrusion is preferably the same as that of the wing, and slightly less than the radius of the hollow rod.

5 In the foldable mechanism, a pressing face of the protrusion block is sized to be appropriately pressed by users.

In the foldable mechanism, side faces of the press-down element 30 and the cooperating protrusion are slanting contacted. When an unintentional force is applied to the pair of ho Ilow rods, owing to slanting restraint between the press-down element and the cooperating 10 protrusion, the press-down element can not escape from the cooperating protrusion, and thus the unintentional folding of the hollow rods, i.e., the unintentional storage of the playyard can be prevented.

Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the 15 conception and the disclosed specific embodiment may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the invention.

It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

20 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference may be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. I is a partial exploded view of the foldable structure of a prior art;

25 Fig.2 is a partial exploded view of the foldable structure of another prior art;

Figs.3a and 3b are front and side sectional views of the foldable mechanism of the invention respectively, wherein the hollow rods are in horizontal status (unfolded condition); Figs.4a and 4b are front and side sectional views of the foldable mechanism of the invention respectively, wherein the hollow rods are in vertical status (folded condition); and 30 Fig. 5 shows a decomposition of the elements of the foldable mechanism of the 3 invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described hereinbelow with 5 reference to the drawings.

As shown in Fig.5, the foldable mechanism 10 of the playyard of the invention comprises a connection element 20, a press-down element 30, and a pair of hollow rods 40.

The connection element 20 has an U-shaped cross section in longitudinal direction, two opening side faces, and a plurality of openings 21 provided on the front and rear surfaces.

10 The press-down element 30 has two wings 31 and a protrusion block 32 integrally form with the two wings 3 1. The protrusion block 32 is protruded outward the front face of the connection element20. In a center portion of the protrusion block 30, a blind hole is provided for accommodating a spring 33, so that the spring 33 may abut against the inner surface of the back face of the connection element 20. Further, the press- down element 30 15 has a plurality of openings for rivets 35 to pass through and fix to the connection element 20.

Therefore, the press-down element 30 may longitudinal move along the rivets through the action of the spring 33.

The pair of hollow rods 40 each having an cylindrical block 41 and a cooperating protrusion 42 integrally formed on a front end of the cylindrical block 41 outside the hollow 20 rod 40. The hollow rods 40 and the cylindrical blocks 41 each has an opening for a rivet 43 to pass and rotatably fix to the connection element 20.

Follows are the detail of the operation of the foldable mechariism 10 of the invention.

Under the unfolded condition of the foldable mechanism of the playyard for use, as shown in Figs. 3a and 3b, each hollow rod 30 is pivotally rotated fo horizontal orientation by 25 using the rivet 43 as fulcrum, the press-down element 30 is pushed out by the restoring force of the spring 33, the protrusion block 32 is protruded outward the front face of the connection element 20, and the side face of the cooperating protrusion 42 abuts against the side face of the wing 31 of the press-down element 30, and thus the hollow rods 40 may be horizontal supported.

30 On the other side, when the playyard is not used and needs to be stored, as shown in Figs.

4 4a and 4b, the protrusion block 32 is pressed down first, then the side face abutment between the cooperating protrusion 42 and the wing 31 is disengaged, and thus the hollow rod 40 may clockwise/counterclockwise rotate using the rivet 43 as fulcrum to a vertical direction for storage.

5 In a preferred embodiment, the thickness of the cooperating protrusion 42 is preferred the same as that of the wing 3 1, and slightly less than the radius of the hollow rod 40. Therefore, not only the side face abutment but also the face abutment between the cooperating protrusion 42 and the wing 31 is strong enough to prevent them from being broken.

In a preferred embodiment, a pressing face of the protrusion block 32 is preferred sized 10 to be appropriately pressed by users, such that the user may easy to press the protrusion block 32.

In a preferred embodiment, side faces of the press-down element 30 and the cooperating protrusion 42 are slanting contacted, as shown in Fig.3a. When an unintentional force is applied to the pair of hollow rods 30, owing to slanting restraint between the press-down 15 element 30 and the cooperating protrusion 42, the press-down element 30 can not escape from the cooperating protrusion 42, and thus the unintentional folding of the hollow rods, i.e., the unintentional storage of the playyard can be prevented.

The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred forms

20 with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forin has been made only by way of example and numerous changes in the details of the construction and combination of arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable mechanism for a playyard comprising:

a connection element having substantially an U-shaped cross section with two opening side faces, one front face, and one rear face, the front and rear faces being provided with a 5 plurality of openings; a press-down element having two wings and a protrusion block integrally fonned, the protrusion block passing through the opening in front face of the connection element, the press-down element further having a blind hole in its center for accommodating a spring to abut against an inner surface of the back face of the connection element, and a plurality of 10 through holes for rivets to pass and fix to the connection element, thereby the press-down element may move longitudinally; and a pair of hollow rods each having therein an cylindrical block, and openings, a cooperating protrusion being integrally formed on a front end of the cylindrical block outside the hollow rod, and a through hole being provided in the cylindrical block for a rivet to pass 15 the openings of the hollow rod and the connection element and fix the hollow rod and the connection element, thereby the hollow rods may clockwise/counterclockwise rotate with respect to the connection element, wherein, when the press-down element is pressed down, the cooperating protrusions escape from the two wings of the press-down element, and the hollow rods may rotate for 20 storage, and when the playyard is used, the hollow rods are rotated to horizontal status, the protrusion block is pressed outward by the restoring force of the spring, and the cooperating protrusion are pressed against the two wings of the press-down element.

2. The foldable mechanism of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the cooperating protrusion is the same as that of the wing, and slightly less than the radius of the hollow rod.

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3. The foldable mechanism of claim 1, wherein a pressing face of the protrusion block is sized to be appropriately pressed by users.

4. The foldable mechanism of claim 1, wherein side faces of the pressdown element and the cooperating protrusion are slanting contacted, so that the press- down element can not escape from the cooperating protrusion even under an unintentional force is applied to the pair 30 of hollow rods.

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