Patent Application
20050148278
Amusement devices for use with infant cribs or the like that provide light, music, and rotating articles are well known. Such devices are frequently modular, and can be mounted on various different styles of infant cribs.
Typically, devices of this type include a mechanism for rotating articles that are chosen to stimulate the interest of, and are typically arranged to be readily viewed by, an infant. The articles may be of varying size, color, or shape and often look like animals, clowns, cartoon characters, geometric figures etc. The infant views the rotating articles, but for safety reasons, the articles may be located out of reach of a curious child's hands. Such devices often provide additional features such as lights, music, or sounds in conjunction with the mechanism for rotation of the articles.
The amusement device is advantageous for use with an infant crib or the like. The device selectively plays music, projects timed light pulses, and rotates one or more novelty items in the vicinity of an infant placement area. The device also includes structure for providing vibration to the infant placement area.
In a preferred embodiment the amusement device includes an arm having a rotatable member positioned at one end and a support member, which is driven by the rotatable member. A mounting bracket is provided for mounting the arm to a fixed member. A drive motor is housed in the arm for driving the rotatable member. An array of lights is arranged along the arm, and provisions for energizing the lights in a predetermined pattern are provided. The amusement device also includes a speaker. A controller is included for selectively operating at least one of the speaker, light array, and drive motor.
The amusement device 12 includes a support arm 16 mounted to a top rail 14 of a child support, such as the infant crib 10. An attachment bracket 18 comprises two bracket halves 18a, 18b which together receive the top rail 14 in a notch 90, see
At the other end of the arm 16, a snap-on fitting 40 rotates. The snap-on fitting 40 is rotatably driven by a drive motor 42 and is releasably coupled to support member 44. More particularly, the fitting is inserted into an opening 46 in support member 44 and locks in place when hooks 40b (best seen in
Arm 16 also includes a light array 66, seen in
As shown in
The vibration motor 60 and the battery containment portion 62 may be integrally joined to platform 56 or be provided separately and independently of the platform 56. Providing the battery containment portion 62 and vibration motor 60 in a housing mounted beneath the platform reduces the size weight and complexity of the unit mounted to the rail 14. The battery containment portion may also be provided integrally with the arm 16, or omitted completely, and power would be provided to the amusement device 12 with a power supply cord which receives external low-voltage DC power that is safe for use around infants.
The cable 36 connects the power supply/vibration unit to the arm 16. The cable 36 carries power to the processor 72 from the battery containment portion 62. The cable 36 also carries power from the processor 72 to the vibration motor 60.
In a preferred embodiment, the arm 16 includes a plurality of conveniently arranged switches/controls and a processor 72 for controlling the various functions of the amusement device 12. A power switch 74 selectively couples power from the power supply/vibration unit 58 to all of the electronic components in arm 16 through cable 36. A mobile rotation push button switch 76 provides a switching signal to the processor to supply power to the drive motor 42 to rotate member 44. A pulsing light array push button switch 78 provides a switching signal to the processor 72 to energize the pulsing light array 66. The processor provides power pulses to each light in the light array 66 to produce a predetermined light pattern. Any suitable light pattern such as sequential, random, two-on, two-off, etc. can be provided by the processor. Each push button switch has two stable states, pushing the push button once turns the switch on and pushing the push button again turns the associated function off. In addition, the processor is preferably programmed to turn off any function in operation after a given time interval.
In a preferred embodiment, a music push button switch 80 provides a switching signal to the processor 72 which simultaneously activates the speaker 68, the pulsing light array 66, and the drive motor 42. Preferably, a music signal is sent to the speaker 68, and the light array 66 pulses with a rhythm of the music signal. The processor 72 preferably provides a plurality of tunes (stored in a memory) which may be selected by continually depressing the music push button switch 80. Alternatively, the music switch 80, when activated, may provide only music, and the drive motor 42 and pulsing light array 66 may be activated concurrently by pressing their respective associated switches 76,78. A volume adjustment control 82, is preferably a rotatable member to raise or lower the amplitude of a speaker amplifier (not shown) to respectively raise or lower the volume of the sound produced by the speaker. Alternatively, instead of music, the processor may provide any other suitable signals to the speaker, including a human voice recording.
A vibration switch 84 provides a switching signal to the processor 72 to energize the vibration motor 60 to impart vibration to the reinforced platform 56. A vibration rate adjustment switch 86, which is preferably a rotatable member, is configured to raise or lower the current supplied to the vibration motor 60 and thereby raise or lower the frequency of vibration imparted to the reinforced platform 56. By mounting the vibration unit beneath the platform 56, the platform 56, and thus the infant are vibrated.
A night light switch 88 provides a switching signal to the processor 72 to energize the night light. The arrangement of the operating push buttons may be arranged in any suitable pattern from that shown in
Referring now to
