1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bottom bracket and, more particularly, to a bottom bracket of a playpen.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional playpen comprises a frame having a plurality of transverse rods and a plurality of upright rods, a plurality of joints mounted on an upper portion of the frame to expand and fold the upper portion of the frame, and a bottom bracket mounted on a lower portion of the frame to expand and fold the lower portion of the frame. However, the bottom bracket is not operated easily and conveniently, so that the lower portion of the frame cannot be folded easily and rapidly, thereby causing inconvenience to the user when folding the bottom bracket and the playpen. In addition, the mediate portion of the bottom bracket is easily sprung upward during the expanding process, so that the rods of the frame are folded unintentionally, thereby causing danger to the user when expanding the bottom bracket.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a bottom bracket of a playpen, comprising a support seat, and a rotation seat. The Support seat includes two covers combined with each other and each having a lower portion formed with a through hole, a slide slidably mounted between the two covers, a locking rod extended trough the slide and movable in a transverse manner between a first position where the locking rod is protruded outward from the through hole of a respective one of the two covers and a second position where the locking rod is retracted into the through hole of the respective cover, a drive rod movably mounted on the slide in an oblique manner and connected to the locking rod to move the locking rod in a transverse manner by movement of the slide. The rotation seat includes two pivot members each pivotally mounted on the covers of the support seat and each having a first side wall provided with a catch plate that is movable between a first position where the catch plate is stopped by the locking rod of the support seat when the locking rod is protruded outward from the through hole of the respective cover to stop pivot of the two pivot members and a second position where the catch plate is released from the locking rod of the support seat when the locking rod is retracted into the through hole of the respective cover so that the catch plates of the two pivot members are movable freely, and the two pivot members are pivotable freely.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a bottom bracket that is folded easily and conveniently.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a bottom bracket of a playpen, wherein the user only needs to pull the pull strap upward so to fold the bottom bracket, so that the bottom bracket is folded easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating the user folding the bottom bracket.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a bottom bracket of a playpen, wherein each of the two pivot members is locked by the locking rod exactly when the bottom bracket is expanded, thereby preventing the two pivot members from being pivoted unintentionally, so that the bottom bracket is positioned rigidly and stably without detachment.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a bottom bracket of a playpen, wherein the mediate portion of the bottom bracket will not be sprung upward during the expanding process, thereby facilitating the user expanding the bottom bracket.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings and initially to
The support seat 1 includes two covers 11 combined with each other and each having a lower portion formed with a through hole 116, a slide 13 slidably mounted between the two covers 11, a locking rod 138 extended trough the slide 13 and movable in a transverse manner between a first position where the locking rod 138 is protruded outward from the through hole 16 of a respective one of the two covers 11 and a second position where the locking rod 138 is retracted into the through hole 116 of the respective cover 11, a drive rod 136 movably mounted on the slide 13 in an oblique manner and connected to the locking rod 138 to move the locking rod 138 in a transverse manner by movement of the slide 13, an elastic member 134 biased between the two covers 11 and the slide 13 to push the slide 13 downward relative to the two covers 11, a pull handle 132 mounted on an upper end of the slide 13 to pull the slide 13 upward relative to the two covers 1, and a pull strap 133 mounted on the pull handle 132 to pull the pull handle 132 and partially protruded outward from the two covers 11 to facilitate a user gripping the pull strap 133.
The two covers 11 of the support seat 1 are combined with each other by a plurality of fixing rivets 1121. Each of the two covers 11 is substantially T-shaped and has periphery formed with a plurality of fixing holes 112 to allow passage of the fixing rivets 1121. Each of the two covers 11 has an upper portion formed with two pivot holes 114. Each of the two covers 11 has an inside formed with a receiving chamber 118 to receive the slide 13. The lower portion of one of the two covers 11 is provided with a protruding limit block 119 located under the through hole 116. The slide 13 of the support seat 1 has an inside formed with an elongated slide slot 137 mounted on the locking rod 138 and has a side formed with an elongated oblique guide slot 135 mounted on the drive rod 136. The locking rod 138 of the support seat 1 is perpendicular to the drive rod 136 and has a mediate portion formed with a passage 1381 to allow passage of the drive rod 136.
The rotation seat 2 includes two pivot members 21 each pivotally mounted on the covers 11 of the support seat 1 and each having a first side wall provided with a sector-shaped catch plate 216 that is movable between a first position where the catch plate 216 is stopped by the locking rod 138 of the support seat 1 when the locking rod 138 is protruded outward from the through hole 116 of the respective cover 11 to stop pivot of the two pivot members 21 and a second position where the catch plate 216 is released-from the locking rod 138 of the support seat 1 when the locking rod 138 is retracted into the through hole 116 of the respective cover 11 so that the catch plates 216 of the two pivot members 21 are movable freely, and the two pivot members 21 are pivotable freely.
Each of the two pivot members 21 is provided with two support rods 212 pivotally connected with each other by a pivot pin 214 which is extended through a pivot bore 215 of each of the pivot members 21 and a pivot bore 2121 of each of the support rods 212. Each of the two pivot members 21 has an inside formed with a receiving chamber 211 to receive the two support rods 212. The catch plate 216 of each of the two pivot members 21 has an upper portion formed with a pivot hole 2161 and a lower portion formed with a locking hole 2162 locked onto the locking rod 138 of the support seat 1 when the locking rod 138 is protruded outward from the through hole 116 of the respective cover 11.
Each of the two pivot members 21 has a second side wall provided with a geared plate 217, and the geared plates 217 of the two pivot members 21 mesh with each other so that the two pivot members 21 are pivotable synchronously. The geared plate 217 of each of the two pivot members 21 is formed with a pivot hole 2171, and the support seat 1 further includes two pivot shafts 1141 each extended through the pivot hole 2161 of the catch plate 216 of a respective one of the two pivot members 21, a respective one of the two pivot holes 114 of each of the two covers 11 and the pivot hole 2171 of the geared plate 217 of the respective pivot member 21, so that each of the two pivot members 21 is pivotally mounted on the covers 11 of the support seat 1.
The rotation seat 2 further includes a limit plate 23 mounted on the two pivot shafts 1141 and rested on the geared plate 217 of each of the two pivot members 21 to limit movement of the geared plate 217 of each of the two pivot members 21. The limit plate 23 has two ends each formed with a mounting hole 231 mounted on a respective one of the two pivot shafts 1141. The geared plate 217 of each of the two pivot members 21 is provided with a protruding limit portion 2172 that is rested on the limit plate 23 when the two pivot members 21 and the respective support rods. 212 are disposed at a horizontal state as shown in
In operation, referring to
When the user wishes to fold the bottom bracket, the pull strap 133 is pulled upward to pull the pull handle 132 which moves the slide 13 upward to overcome the elastic force of the elastic member 134 so as to move the drive rod 136 backward by guidance of the oblique guide slot 135 to drive the locking rod 138 to move backward from the position as shown in
Accordingly, the user only needs to pull the pull strap 133 upward so to fold the bottom bracket, so that the bottom bracket is folded easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating the user folding the bottom bracket. In addition, each of the two pivot members 21 is locked by the locking rod 138 exactly when the bottom bracket is expanded, thereby preventing the two pivot members 21 from being pivoted unintentionally, so that the bottom bracket is positioned rigidly and stably without detachment. Further, the mediate portion of the bottom bracket will not be sprung upward during the expanding process, thereby facilitating the user expanding the bottom bracket.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.