WO2006107211A1

WO2006107211A1 - Snap lock

Info

Publication number: WO2006107211A1
Application number: PCT/NO2006/000117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hilde Angelfoss Øxseth
Original assignee: Stokke As
Priority date: 2005-04-06
Filing date: 2006-03-30
Publication date: 2006-10-12
Also published as: NO20051706D0; NO20051706L; AR055901A1; NO323877B1; TW200701901A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a snap lock comprising a male element (2), with at least two protruding locking springs (23, 24) with hooks (25, 26), and with a female element (1) with corresponding grooves (13, 14) to receive the hooks (25, 26), characterized in that the female element (1) makes up a first half of a lock housing, and that the male element (2) consists of a male snap element (2a) at least partly encapsulated in a second half of the lock housing (2b), wherein the housing, consisting of the female (1) and male (2) element, encapsulates the complete snap lock in a locked position.

Description

SNAP LOCK

The present invention relates to a snap lock with a protective housing suitable for harnesses, and particularly to children' s harnesses which for example can be employed for children's highchairs.

Background for the invention

It is a well-known fact that small children, such as children of the age from when they can sit up alone (app. 6 months) until they master sitting safely in a children's chair without falling out (app. 2 years), need harnesses that hinder them from falling out from children's chairs, prams, strollers and the like.

Until now, it has been customary to employ conventional harnesses, as those often accompanying prams or which may be bought separately, also in children' s chairs by anchoring straps on each side of the seat which in turn are fastened to the accompanying fastening arrangements such as eyes or loops on the side of the harness.

The harness usually consists of an abdominal section and shoulder straps on each shoulder. In newer harnesses, each of the front ends of the shoulder strap is often connected together with the corresponding front end of the abdominal section in a separate part of a snap lock piece each, i.e. a male and a female part. The snap lock is situated about on the middle of the child's stomach, such as by the navel. In order to prevent that the child itself releases the snap lock, the lock shall according to existing regulation in this field, in certain countries, be of the double grip type, which means that two points must be strained simultaneously in order to actuate the lock. Additionally, in certain countries' regulations, there might be a demand for a set minimum pressure load on each point. The problem with the conventional harnesses is that during use in children's chairs, the snap lock is particularly exposed to spills in connection with meals, which basically is the main activity of children sitting in children' s chairs. Besides, the meals of the above-mentioned age group usually consists of partly liquid food, such as porridges, purees, mashes of different sorts, which are partly spit out by the smallest children, and partly spilled by somewhat older children wanting to eat by themselves, or being fed by the parents. This type of food is particularly unfavourable for the conventional snap locks being relatively sensitive to particles and dirt that enter inside the lock and between the guiding and locking parts of the lock. Particularly unfavourable are sticky substances, such as saccharated products, resulting in the parts of the lock becoming sticky and porridge that stiffens and becomes hard and thereby physically prevents the lock from functioning as intended.

The result of food remains entering such snap locks can at worst lead to the child not being properly secured and can fall out of the chair in which she is sitting. Further, it is unhygienic to allow for such foods remains to accumulate. It is insufficient to wipe off the locks because of all the nooks and corners on the parts, which also can lead to the child squeezing or jamming her fingers. In order to avoid such malfunction, the lock should therefore regularly be rinsed and cleaned. However, this is inconvenient, as the harness must be dismantled. Besides, one risks that the strap parts, being preferably of fabric, become wet and thus that the harness is not ready for use at the next meal.

From US 6,507,982 it is known a buckle made up of a snap lock wherein the threading of the belt portions are hidden from view. From US patent no. 6,163,942 it is known a two piece lock with spring actuated connecting rods for enhanced security of a snap lock.

None of the above documents however, shields the locking elements in any significant way. Although they the esthetical and security issue as been improved, they still suffer from the same lacks as snap locks of prior art, regarding the suitability to remain functional in a baby environment as described above. All these locks remain open on the receiving side of the lock wherein the rods of the male side of the lock, comprising the engaging portions, still remain exposed.

Today, there also exits locks for children' s harnesses in cars that are more encapsulated than the existing snap locks. The disadvantage by these is that they consist of many parts, often of metal, which makes the lock even more sensitive to food spills, even though it is partially encapsulated. Furthermore, the locks of car harnesses are lumpy and are therefore not suitable for a child in a children' s chair, which additionally, often has an abdominal hoop on which the child can lean on. The strong construction of the car harness locks is adjusted to stand great strains for example in collisions, something which also makes them relatively expensive.

Therefore, there is a need for a neat and flat snap lock for children's harnesses, without sharp edges, particularly for harnesses used during meals, which in a locked position hinders food from entering into the locking mechanism and which is easy to keep clean, and wherein the child can not pinch her fingers. Additionally, the lock should be reasonable to manufacture.

Description of the invention In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the applicant has attempted to develop a snap lock with integrated housing that protects the actual snap mechanism in the lock. A protective housing can protect the mechanism from food remains entering the lock and thereby physically prevent the parts from moving. The housing need not be watertight, but it is advantageous with good accuracy of the parts, so that the joints become as even and tight as possible so that as much liquid substance as possible is kept out of the housing. Should the house additionally have an even and smooth surface, it would be easy and swift to wipe off, for example with a paper towel or a moist cloth before the lock is opened, so that food does not enter into the locking elements.

However, it has proven difficult to manufacture such a type of lock. The elements of a snap lock are usually manufactured by moulding in plastic, which is the conventional and thereby the most economic favourable method of manufacture. In the attempt of partially covering the one half of the snap mechanism with a housing, the moulds become particularly complicated and the evacuation of heat becomes too poor, which leads to the housing becoming damaged during the moulding. It has thus proven very problematic to manufacture such a snap lock element, based on the current technique.

Thus, the solution to the above-mentioned problems has become a snap lock comprising a male part with at least two protruding lock springs with hooks and a female part with corresponding grooves for receiving the hooks, characterized in that the female part makes up a first half of a lock housing, and that the male part consists of a male snap element, at least partly encapsulated in a second half of the lock housing, wherein the lock housing comprising the female part and the male part encapsulates the complete snap lock in a closed housing in a locked position. Preferably, the male snap part is fastened in the pertaining second half of the lock housing during manufacture assembly after moulding.

The invention will in the following be described in greater detail by the help of examples of embodiments and the accompanying figures, none of which are meant to limit the scope of the invention which is only defined by the attached patent claims.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a front view of the snap lock according to the present invention in parts before assembly.

Figure 2 shows the snap lock in figure 1 in an open position.

Figure 3 shows the snap lock in figure 1 in closed position.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the snap lock in figure 2.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the snap lock in figure 3.

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the snap lock according to the present invention with the pertaining harness.

Detailed description of the invention

As can be seen from figure 1, the snap lock, according to the present invention, consists of three parts: a female element 1, comprising a female snap element constituting the first half of a lock housing, a male snap element 2a and a second half of a lock housing 2b. The male snap element 2a, has in this example in the one end a typical male snap lock element 21 or rod and in the opposite end a mounting device 22 for permanent fastening in the pertaining second half of the lock housing 2b. In this embodiment, the fastening device 22 is also a type of male element for a lock. The second half of the lock housing 2b in its turn comprises fitted fastening arrangements (not shown) , that locks the mounting device 22 practically permanently to the second half of the lock housing 2b. The fastening can optionally be performed by help of other types of locking mechanisms or some other way, such as for example by moulding.

The fastening of the male snap element 2a in the second half of the lock housing 2b is preferably performed in a production step, preferably automatically, such as for example by the assistance of robots. When assembled, the two elements 2a and 2b make up a second male element 2 for a snap lock with housing as shown in figure 2.

The typical male snap lock element 21 of the male element 2 usually comprises an upper and lower lock spring 23 and 24, with corresponding hooks 25 and 26 at the ends, as well as a pilot element 29 between the springs, which can be seen in figure 2. The female element 1 comprises corresponding grooves 13 and 14 in the upper and lower side edges respectively, to receive the catch springs 23 and 24, respectively.

After interconnection of the female and male elements 1 and 2, the elements are locked together in a conventional manner in that the hooks 25 and 26 of the lock springs 23 and 24, are clamped in the back edge of the edges 15 and 16 in the grooves 13 and 14, respectively.

In figure 3, the snap lock according to the present invention is shown in a locked position. As can be seen from the figure, the number and extent of openings in the lock is minimized in that the female and the male elements 1 and 2 with housing matches perfectly with each other. In addition, the grooves 13 and 14 are covered by covers 17 and 18 which cover large parts of the hooks 25 and 26. The covers 17 and 18 should, however, be flexible, so that they by depression towards the hooks 25 and 26 depress these under the edges 15 and 16 and thereby actuate the lock. In this embodiment, there is therefore an open slit groove between the side edges and front edge of the covers 17 and 18, and the rest of the housing of the female element 1, which gives a certain opening of the housing and access to the inner snap lock. Nevertheless, it has proven that these limited slits do not significantly influence the function of the lock as the snap lock according to the present invention, compared to conventional snap locks, is essentially closed. Should it be desirable to close the snap lock further, the covers 17 and 18 can naturally be equipped with or be replaced by more flexible elements, such as rubber or silicon linings which can close the slits completely or by entirely flexible covers.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the snap lock in an open position. As can be seen from the figure, the female element 1 includes internal guides 19 that control a pilot element 29 on the male element 2 into the housing in a correct manner.

Additionally, the female and male elements 1 and 2 can comprise slits 30 and 31 for fastening of harness straps to the housing, preferably on the inside of the housing, as can also be seen in figure 5 and 6. The slits 30 and 31 are, in this example, situated on the upper and outer side edges of the snap lock, respectively, to receive the shoulder straps 40 and abdominal straps 41, as shown in figure 6. Optionally, the slits in the snap lock elements can be made as separate parts of the housing, such as in fastening elements 50, which during manufacturing or later, are fastened to the rest of the housing. In the present example, the assembled housing of the snap lock is designed as a "Teddy bear's face", and the outer elements of the ears of the face can consist of fastening elements 50 that are practically permanently fastened to the housing. This solution makes it possible to thread the fastening elements 50 onto the straps 40 and/or 41 during the assembly of the harness, for subsequent fastening these in the lock itself at a later stage of production. This leads to a maximum open design of the main housing elements, which is advantageous for manufacturing reasons as previously mentioned, i.e. heat evacuation during moulding. This also provides a solution to a demand for so-called "clamp zones" or fastening zones for the straps, which thereby can be placed on the fastening elements 50, and which can be hidden on the inside of the housing after fastening to the lock housing. The fastening of the fastening elements 50 to the female and male elements 1 and 2 can be effectuated by snap locks or lock mechanisms or in other ways, for example by moulding.

Naturally, the female and male elements 1 and 2 can comprise several slits for further straps, such as a crouch strap that runs between the child's legs. Further, the slits can be situated in any angle on the snap lock elements. Thus, by help of the fastening elements 50 of different design and angle on the slits, snap locks for various employments may easily be produced for different use, where the main elements are common irrespective of the end use of the lock, which is an advantage in order to achieve reasonable manufacturing.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A snap lock comprising a male element (2), with at least two protruding locking springs (23, 24) with hooks (25,26), and with a female element (1) with corresponding grooves (13, 14) for receiving the hooks (25, 26), c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the female element (1) makes up a first half of a lock housing, and that the male element (2) consists of a male snap element (2a) at least partly encapsulated in a second half of the lock housing (2b) , wherein the housing, consisting of the female (1) and male (2) elements, encapsulates the complete snap lock when in a locked position.

2. A snap lock according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the male snap element (2a) and the second half of the lock housing, (2b) are two separate elements, preferably being practically permanently mounted together during manufacture.

3. A snap lock according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the male snap element (2a) and the second half of the lock housing (2b) are connected by moulding or by corresponding snap mechanisms that preferably are moulded in each of the elements during manufacture.

4. A snap lock according to any of the claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the female element (1) comprises flexible covers (17, 18) which partly cover the grooves (13, 14) in the female element (1), wherein the covers (17, 18) for example are moulded or slit into the female element, preferably as an integrated part.

5. A snap lock according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the covers (17, 18) consist of, and/or that the openings between the covers (17, 18) and the grooves (13, 14) are sealed with a flexible material, such as rubber or silicon.

6. A snap lock according to any of the claims 1-5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t each of the female element (1) and the male element (2) comprises one or more slits (30, 31) for the fastening of one or more straps (40, 41), such as for a harness, possibly in different angles.

7. A snap lock according to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the straps (40,41) are fastened and hidden on the inside of the housing.

8. A snap lock according to claim 6 or 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t the straps (40,41) are fastened to the male and the female element

(1,2) by separate fastening elements (50), which preferably are connected by the male and the female element (1,2), for example by moulding or by corresponding snap mechanisms that preferably are moulded into each of the elements (1,2,50) during manufacture.

9. A harness for children's chair, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n t h a t it comprises a snap lock according to any of the claims 1 to 8.

10. The use of a snap lock according to any of the claims 1 to 8, or a harness according to claim 9, for the fastening of a child to a children's chair, pram, stroller, rocking chair, kicksled, bicycle or a shopping cart.