Children's activity and entertainment enclosure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6178978
  • Patent Number
    6,178,978
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, June 22, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 30, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A children's activity and entertainment enclosure includes a housing a plurality of legs attached to the housing to support the housing at a selected elevation above a support surface and a flexible sheet material covering the housing and at least upper portions of the legs. A plurality of activity stations are present within the enclosure as are a seat for seating a child and a suspension mechanism for suspending the seat from the housing so that a child sitting in the seat with feet engaging the support surface can maneuver within the enclosure from one activity station to another.
Description




The present invention relates to a children's toy and more particularly to a play enclosure containing a movable seat for a small child which allows the child to move between a plurality of activity stations within the enclosure.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




There already exist a various play enclosures for small children. These run the gamut from a tent-like enclosure containing a multiplicity of balls to enclosed children's sandboxes and wading pools. These enclosures invariably have one or more openings to provide access to the enclosure. Thus, a child can enjoy the security of the enclosure without feeling isolated from other people in the vicinity of the enclosure. However, the same openings allow the child to leave the enclosure.




Children's walkers are also commonplace. A child sitting in one of these devices can propel him/herself along the floor in any direction. Therefore, a child using such a walker must be supervised at all times.




Another conventional child's activity toy is a swing, some of which are motorized so that a child can swing back and forth without any outside assistance. While the child on the swing requires minimal supervision, the child may become bored with this repetitive motion, particularly when there are no goals to be reached at the limits of that motion.




Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to provide a single children's toy which has the advantages of a play enclosure, walker and swing without the aforesaid disadvantages.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a child's activity and entertainment enclosure which constrains a small child to some extent, yet allows the child to move in three dimensions between a plurality of different activity stations within the enclosure.




Another object of the invention is to provide a children's activity enclosure which allows the child to walk to different activity stations and play with toys there while still maintaining some control over the child's movements.




Yet another object of the invention is to provide a children's activity and entertainment enclosure which can be adjusted to accommodate children of different height.




A further object of the invention is to provide an enclosure such as this which can be stored and shipped in a knock-down condition.




A further object of the invention is to provide an enclosure of this type which can be assembled easily by the purchaser.




A further object of the invention is to provide a children's activity enclosure which is safe to use.




An additional object of the invention is to provide a children's activity and entertainment enclosure which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture in quantity.




Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.




The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the following detailed description, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.




Briefly, the children's activity and entertainment enclosure comprises a relatively large housing which is supported at an elevated position above the floor or ground by a plurality of long legs whose upper ends are rotatably secured to the housing at spaced apart locations around the housing. When the enclosure is in use, the legs extend out from the housing and down to the ground more or less like the legs of a spider. However, the legs can be swung together so that the unit has a relatively small foot print for ease of storage.




Rotatably mounted within the housing is a rotor having a shaft which extends down through an opening in the bottom wall of the housing. That bottom wall and the rotor define a circular track for an array of ball bearings positioned between the rotor and the housing bottom wall so that the rotor can rotate freely relative to the housing about a generally vertical axis. The rotor shaft supports the upper end of an L-shaped rotor arm whose lower end is offset laterally from the rotary axis of the rotor.




Resiliently suspended by way of a spring from the lower end of the rotor arm is an elongated hanger which supports a bag-type seat for containing a small child. As we shall see, the connection between the hanger and the seat allows for vertical as well as angular adjustment of the seat to accommodate different size children. That is, the seat may be adjusted so that a child sitting in a seat can touch the floor with his/her feet so that the child can bounce up and down and walk along the floor. Since the seat is supported by the rotor which is free to revolve within the housing, the child sitting in the seat can follow a more or less circular path within the legs of the enclosure.




Preferably, different toys are attached to the legs of the enclosure. These toys constitute activity stations or destinations to which the child can move by properly manipulating the seat. These stations thus constitute goals for the child which hold his/her interest, encourage mobility and improve the child's limb/eye coordination.




Preferably, the housing and the upper ends of the legs are covered by a canopy which tends to make the space within the legs more cozy without visually isolating the child sitting in the seat. Also, when the toy is placed outside, the canopy protects the child from the sun and sudden rain.




The various parts of the toy are simple metal and molded plastic parts which can be manufactured in quantity at a relatively low cost. Also, the parts are designed so that the entire enclosure can be sold in a knock-down condition so that the product can be shipped and stored in a minimum amount of space. Yet, when it comes time to assemble the enclosure, that can be accomplished relatively easily using only a screwdriver and a small wrench.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view with parts broken away showing my children's activity and entertainment enclosure;





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view showing certain parts of the

FIG. 1

enclosure in greater detail;





FIG. 3

is a similar view showing other parts of the enclosure;





FIG. 4

is a vertical sectional view of the

FIG. 1

enclosure with some parts shown in elevation and other parts broken away, and





FIG. 5

is a similar view on a much larger scale showing the seat adjustment mechanism of the

FIG. 1

enclosure in greater detail.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIG. 1

of the drawings, the enclosure comprises a housing


12


supported above the ground or floor by a plurality, herein four, of identical long legs


14


. Movably suspended from housing


12


is a vertical hanger


16


which supports a seat


18


for containing a small child C. Preferably, a flexible canopy


22


covers housing


12


and the upper portions of legs


14


. The canopy is shaped and designed so as to shield the child C from the elements yet to provide ready access to the interior of the enclosure between the legs


14


. As shown in

FIG. 1

activity stations


24




a


to


24




d


are located at the different legs


14


at more or less the same elevation as seat


18


. These stations can contain various toys. As we shall see, the child C sitting in seat


18


, using a combination of leg and arm movements, can manipulate the seat and reach these stations which thus constitute play destinations which will hold the child's interest.




As will be apparent from

FIG. 1

, the child C is secure within the enclosure and protected from the elements, yet can still be observed by parents. Also, other children are free to walk in and out of the enclosure and interact with child C.




Referring now to

FIGS. 2 and 4

, housing


12


is comprised of a lower section


12




a


and an upper section or cover


12




b


. Section


12




a


is a molded plastic saucer-like part having a bottom wall


32


and upstanding sidewall


34


. Bottom wall


32


has a relatively large central opening


36


and encircling opening


36


is a groove or race


38


. The housing section


12




a


is formed with a multiplicity of upstanding intersecting walls


42


, many of which extend to sidewall


34


and all serve to rigidify section


12




a


. As shown in

FIG. 2

, a multiplicity of interiorly threaded screw-posts


44


are formed integrally with walls


42


at distributed locations between race


38


and sidewall


34


.




For attaching the legs


14


to the housing, a plurality, herein four, of slots


46


is provided in sidewall


34


and radially outer portions of bottom wall


32


. Slots


46


are distributed at equal angles about the circumference of section


12




a


, i.e., a 90° spacing. Also as best seen in

FIG. 2

, a notch


46




a


is provided in sidewall


34


adjacent each slot


46


for reasons that will become apparent.




As shown in

FIG. 2

, each slot


46


is bounded by vertical walls


42


and the wall


42


opposite each sidewall notch


46




a


contains the entrance to a leg support channel


48


which extends laterally from each slot


46


. In other words, there being four slots


46


, there are four leg support channels


48


spaced 90° around the axis of section


12




a


. Furthermore, the channels


48


on opposite sides of section


12




a


are parallel to one another. Thus, there are two pairs of parallel channels


48


, the pairs of channels being perpendicular to one another.




Referring to FIG. , each leg


14


comprises a shaped upper section


14




a


and a more or less straight lower section


14




b


. The upper end segment of each section


14




b


has a reduced diameter so that it can be telescoped into the lower end of leg section


14




a


as shown at the right side at FIG.


2


. Preferably, a conventional wire leg clip


52


is included at the joint between the two sections to prevent them from coming apart when the enclosure is being moved about.




Each upper leg section


14




a


comprises a relatively long main segment


54




a


and an upper segment


54




b


which is bent laterally at a right angle to segment


54




a


. Each leg section


14


also includes a relatively long lower end segment


54




c


which is bent at a right angle to main segment


54




a


but which also extends more or less perpendicular to segment


54




b


. Each leg section


14




a


is arranged to be attached to housing


12


by inserting the leg section


54




b


through a slot


46


in housing section


12




a


so that the corresponding leg segment


54




b


seats in the leg support channel


48


adjacent to that slot. Preferably, as shown in

FIG. 2

, the open upper end of each leg segment


54




b


is closed by a plug


56


and a coil compression spring


58


is inserted in each channel


48


between plug


56


and the closed end of the channel. The spring is under compression so that it tends to bias each leg segment


54




b


into the notch


46




a


adjacent to the slot


46


in which that leg section is placed. This helps to minimize unwanted relative movement between housing


12


and legs


14


when the toy is in use.




Still referring to

FIGS. 2 and 4

, housing


12


is designed to contain a rotor


62


having a tubular shaft


64


which extends down through the opening


36


in the housing bottom section


12




a


. Rotor


62


is formed with a radial flange


66


reinforced with a circular array of strut


68


which extend from the upper end of shaft


64


to the flange. Also, formed in the underside of flange


66


is a circular groove or race


72


which is the mirror-image of race


38


in housing bottom section


12




a


. When rotor


62


is seated in housing section


12




a


as shown in

FIG. 4

, the two races


38


and


72


form a track for a circular array of ball bearings


74


which separate the rotor from the housing section bottom wall


32


. Preferably, the ball bearings


74


are separated by small arcuate plastic spacers


76


(

FIG. 2

) to minimize the number of ball bearings required to enable rotor


62


to revolve freely within housing section


12




a.






As best seen in

FIG. 4

, a generally L-shaped rotor arm


78


is inserted up into the rotor shaft


64


and secured thereto by a bolt


82


which extends through aligned holes in the walls of shaft


64


and arm


78


. Bolt


82


is held in place by a nut


84


. When so secured, arm


78


can rotate freely relative to housing section


12




a


so that its lower or outer end sweeps out a circle around the axis of housing


12




a.






As shown in

FIG. 4

, legs


14


and rotor


62


are positively secured within housing section


12




a


by covering the open top of section


12




a


with the housing upper section


12




b


. Section


12




b


comprises an inverted saucer-shape part having a rounded top wall


88


and a short skirt or sidewall


92


. To facilitate centering housing section


12




b


on section


12




a


small tabs


92




a


(

FIG. 4

) extend from the outer surface of wall


92


so as to engage over the outer edge of housing section


12




a


. A small cylindrical boss


94


extends down from top wall


88


. When section


12




b


is seated on section


12




a


, that boss


94


extends into the open upper end of the rotor shaft


64


thereby journalling the upper end of that shaft. The underside of the top wall


88


is formed with semicylindrical leg support channels


96


which are more or less mirror-images of, and complement, the channels


48


in housing section


12




a


. Thus, when the housing section


12




b


is seated on section


12




a


, the various leg upper segments


54




b


are captured between the walls of corresponding channels


48


and


96


, but they are still free to rotate within the channels. Also, as with section


12




a


, housing section


12




b


is formed with intersecting vertical walls


98


which help to rigidify that section.




The two housing sections


12




a


and


12




b


are held together by a multiplicity of threaded fasteners


100


which extend down through holes


102


in cover section


12




b


and are screwed into the threaded posts


44


in housing section


12




a


. As seen from

FIG. 2

, the fasteners are distributed around the housing radially out from rotor


62


and there are fasteners on opposite sides of each channel pair


48


,


96


to capture the leg segment


54




b


seated in that channel pair. The leg segments


54




b


can all rotate within their respective channels


48


,


96


so that the legs


14


can be swung together when it becomes necessary to store the enclosure in small space.




Refer now to

FIGS. 3 and 4

which best illustrate the structure that suspends the hanger


16


and attached seat


18


depicted in

FIG. 1

from housing


12


. As shown in those figures, hanger


16


has an elongated more or less straight main segment


16




a


and an upper segment


16




b


extending at right angles to segment


16




a


. The flattened upper end of segment


16




b


is slightly upturned and connected to the lower end of a coil spring


110


whose lower end


110




a


is hooked through an eye


112


adjacent the upturned end of segment


16




b


. The upper end


110




b


of spring


110


is hooked to an eye bolt


114


secured to the lower or outer end of the rotor arm


78


by a nut


116


threaded onto the end of the eye bolt.




Mounted to the main section


16




a


of hanger


16


is a rack


118


. The rack is secured to the hanger by threaded fasteners


122


which extend through holes


124


in the rack and through aligned holes


126


in the opposite walls of hanger section


16




a


. The fasteners


122


are held in place by nuts


128


screwed onto the ends of fasteners


122


projecting through the hanger section


16




a


. As shown in

FIGS. 3 and 5

, rack


118


is formed with a vertical series of lateral slots or keepers


132


for reasons to be described later.




Preferably, a pleated flexible tube


134


or a tubular pad is provided to cover eye bolt


114


, spring


110


and hanger


16


above rack


118


.




Seat


18


is adjustably secured to rack


118


by a bracket assembly shown generally


133


in

FIGS. 4 and 5

. The bracket assembly


133


comprises a pair of more or less mirror image side plates


134


and


136


which bracket rack


118


. Each side plate


134


,


136


has upper and lower walls with notches


138


adjacent to one end of the side plate for accepting the adjacent sides of rack


118


and a small sector of hanger


16


so that the two side plates can be brought together from opposite sides of the rack. Also, each side plate


134


,


136


is provided with a raised post


142


having an axial holes


144


. When the two side plates brought together, the posts


142


and holes


144


therethrough are collinear so the two side plates can be clamped together by a threaded fastener


146


extending through holes


144


and held in place by a nut


148


screwed onto the exposed threaded end of fastener


146


.




However, before securing the two side plates


134


and


136


together, an adjustment button or latch


152


is installed between the two side plates opposite rack


118


. The adjustment button or latch


152


is basically a rocker arm having a pair of laterally spaced-apart ears


154


extending toward rack


118


. Aligned holes


155


are present in those ears. Also a tab


156


extends out from the lower end of button


152


more or less parallel to ears


154


and a lateral boss


158


extends in the same direction from the opposite or upper end of button


152


. Preferably, the portion of button


152


opposite boss


158


is raised or rounded as shown at


152




a


in

FIGS. 4 and 5

.




Before the two side plates


134


and


136


of bracket


133


are clamped together, one end of a coil spring


160


is engaged on the button boss


158


and the button is inserted between the two side plates so that the holes


155


in ears


154


are in alignment with holes


162


formed in the side plates. Then, a threaded fastener


164


is inserted through all of the holes


155


and


162


and held in place but a nut


166


(

FIG. 3

) threaded onto the exposed end of the fastener


164


. Thus, fastener


164


along with fastener


146


securely clamps the two side plates


134


and


136


together on opposite sides of rack


118


. Additional fastener


164


, nut


166


pairs may be used as shown in

FIG. 3

to further strengthen bracket


133


. However, the bracket


133


is slidable vertically along the rack


118


to adjust the height of seat


16


above the floor. The bracket is held in various positions of adjustment by the engagement of the button tab


156


in one of the slots or keepers


132


in rack


118


. As shown in

FIG. 5

, the button is biased by spring


160


so that the button tab


156


is urged toward rack


118


. Thus, when the bracket is positioned so that the tab is opposite one of the slots


132


, the tab will engage in that slot fixing the vertical position of the bracket relative to rack


118


. The bracket may be released simply by pushing on the button knob


152




a


which pivots the button in opposition to the bias of spring


160


so that the button tab


156


is withdrawn from slot


132


thereby allowing the bracket to be slid along the rack.




Referring to

FIGS. 3-5

, the seat


18


comprises a rigid molded plastic support ring


170


having an upwardly-outwardly extending ear


172


which is engaged between the bracket side plates


134


and


136


before those two side plates are secured together as described above. Ear


172


has a lateral passage


176


which may be aligned with passages


144


in the bracket side plates so that when the fastener


146


is inserted through the side plates and secured by nut


148


, it automatically pivotally connects the support ring ear


172


to the bracket. Thus, the support ring


170


may be oriented at different angles relative to hanger


16


by loosening fastener


146


. Preferably, the opposing surfaces of the side plates and ear are knurled as shown to prevent unwanted pivotal movement of the ring


170


when fastener


146


is tightened.




As shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the seat support ring


170


supports a more or less conventional flexible bag seat


182


having leg openings


184


. The upper edge margin


182




a


of the bag seat


182


extends up within ring


170


and is looped around to the ring and suitably fastened to itself or to the ring by suitable snap fasteners or the like. Thus, the bag seat


182


is firmly secured to ring


170


. Yet it can be removed easily when necessary for cleaning, replacement, etc. Preferably, seat


18


includes a seat strap


190


(

FIG. 1

) attached to the ring


170


to hold the child C in the seat


182


.




Activity and entertainment stations


24




a


-


24




d


indicated in

FIG. 1

may contain any one of a number of toys. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the station


24




a


includes a vertical array of different-colored plastic blocks


192


pivotally mounted to leg


14


. The blocks have aligned vertical openings so that they can be slid onto leg


14


from the lower end of the leg and supported at a selected elevation on the leg by a pin or collar (not shown) engaged to the leg below the lowest block.




The illustrated activity station


24




b


includes a decorative mirror


194


with a padded frame clipped to leg


14


. The activity station


24




c


may be a tray


196


clipped to leg


14


and which may contain a variety of different objects (not shown) to amuse the child C. Station


24




d


may contain another toy.




It will be apparent from the foregoing that a child sitting in the seat


18


may move from one activity station


24




a


to


24




c


to the other by moving the seat along the circular path within legs


14


allowed by the rotation of rotor


62


. The connection of the seat


18


to the rotor allows the child to bounce up and down and swivel on spring


110


to achieve motion in three dimensions to optimize the child's enjoyment. Thus the child can proceed from one activity station to another so that the enclosure gives the child a maximum amount of freedom of movement while still confining the child to the enclosure.




It will thus be seen that the object set forth above among those made apparent from the preceding description are officially attained. Also, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description as shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.




It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention described herein.



Claims
  • 1. A children's activity and entertainment enclosure comprisinga housing; a plurality of legs attached to the housing to support the housing at a selected elevation above a support surface; a flexible sheet material covering the housing and at least upper portions of the legs; a plurality of different toys attached to the different legs within the enclosure; seat means for seating a child, and suspension means for suspending the seat means from the housing so that a child sitting in the seat means with feet engaging the support surface can maneuver within the enclosure from one leg to another and touch each toy attached thereto.
  • 2. The enclosure defined in claim 1 wherein each activity station includes a different toy.
  • 3. The enclosure defined in claim 2 wherein the toys are attached to said legs.
  • 4. The enclosure defined in claim 1 wherein the legs are pivotally attached to the housing so that the legs can be swung together.
  • 5. A children's activity and entertainment enclosure comprisinga housing; a plurality of legs attached to the housing to support the housing at a selected elevation above a support surface; a flexible sheet material covering the housing and at least upper portions of the legs; a plurality of activity stations within the enclosure; seat means for seating a child, and suspension means for suspending the seat means from the housing so that a child sitting in the seat means with feet engaging the support surface can maneuver within the enclosure from one activity station to another, said suspension means including a rotor rotatably mounted within the housing for rotation about a generally vertical axis; a rotor arm attached to the rotor and having a lower end extending below the housing; an elongated hanger having an upper end attached to the lower end of the rotor arm, and connecting means connecting the seat means to the hanger.
  • 6. The enclosure defined in claim 5 wherein the lower end of the rotor arm is offset laterally from said axis.
  • 7. The enclosure defined in claim 6 wherein the upper end of the hanger is resiliently attached to the lower end of the rotor arm.
  • 8. The enclosure defined in claim 5 wherein the connecting means include a height adjuster for adjusting the distance between the seat means and the upper end of the hanger.
  • 9. The enclosure defined in claim 8 wherein the height adjuster includesa vertical series of keepers on the hanger, and a latching mechanism on the seat means for latching to one or another of the keepers.
  • 10. The enclosure defined in claim 9 whereinthe seat means includes a rigid ring and a flexible bag seat suspended from the ring, and the latching mechanism includes a bracket rotatably coupled to the ring and a fastener for fixing the orientation of the ring relative to the bracket.
  • 11. A children's activity and entertainment enclosure comprisinga housing; a plurality of legs attached to the housing to support the housing at a selected elevation above a support surface; a flexible sheet material covering the housing and at least upper portions of the legs; a plurality of different toys attached to the different legs within the enclosure; seat means for seating a child, and suspension means including an extensible hanger for suspending the seat means from the housing so that a child sitting in the seat means with feet engaging the support surface can maneuver within the enclosure from one leg to another and touch each toy attached thereto, and means for adjusting the extension of said hanger.
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