Foldable mechanism for playyard

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6729791
  • Patent Number
    6,729,791
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, October 10, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 4, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Original Assignees
  • Examiners
    • Cottingham; John R.
    Agents
    • Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Abstract
The present invention discloses a foldable mechanism for playard, comprising a connection element for connecting a pair of hollow rods, having an U-shaped cross section, two pairs of guiding grooves and a plurality of through holes for rivets being provided at both sides of the connection element; a pair of hollow rods in which a spring and a latching block are accommodated respectively, a through hole for rivet and a groove being provided at both sides of the hollow rods respectively; and a press-down element having two ramps, for pressing the latching block literally to disengage the engaged status between the connection element and the hollow rod, wherein the press-down element, hollow rod and latching block are fixed on the connection element by rivets, when a user presses the press-down element, the ramps of the press-down element would push the latching block to move literally so as to disengage the engaged status between the connection element and the hollow rod to achieve the effect of collapsing the playyard.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a foldable mechanism for playyard, and more particular, to a foldable mechanism for playyard, which is easy to be folded, simple in structure and solid in support strength.




DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART




As time changes, there is a need of providing an easy-to-operate foldable mechanism with high safety for different varieties of playyards. For example, in the prior art, there is disclosed a foldable mechanism for playyard, as shown in

FIG. 1

, comprising a coupling element


2


having a substantially U-shaped cross section; a pair of hollow rods


3


having therein an engaging element


4


; a spring


5


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 press-down element


9


positioned below the fixed block


7


for disengaging the engaged status between the engaging element


4


and the fixed block


7


. When a user is intended to collapse the playyard, all he or she has to do is to press down the press-down element


9


and the engaged status between the engaging element


4


and the fixed block


7


would be disengaged.




In the conventional foldable mechanism mentioned above, redundant parts are used so that the whole structure is very complicate and the cost is increased. In addition, the engaged status of the foldable mechanism for playyard relies on a fixed block


7


made of plastic and an engaging element


4


made of plastic so that the support strength thereof is not good enough. After a long period of use, the foldable mechanism is adt to malfunction due to long time wear, even infants, toddlers or children would get hurt due to the destruction of foldable mechanism in structure.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In view of the above drawbacks of conventional foldable mechanisms for playyard, the present invention simplifies the whole structure of a foldable mechanism and improves the support strength thereof.




According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable mechanism for playyard, comprising:




a connection element for connecting a pair of hollow rods, having an U-shaped cross section, two pairs of guiding grooves and a plurality of through holes for rivets being provided at both sides of the connection element;




a pair of hollow rods in which a spring and a latching block are accommodated respectively, a through hole for rivet and a groove being provided at both sides of the hollow rods respectively; and




a press-down element having two ramps, for pressing the latching block literally to disengage the engaged status between the connection element and the hollow rod,




wherein the press-down element, hollow rod and latching block are fixed on the connection element by rivets, when a user presses the press-down element, the ramps of the press-down element would push the latching block to move literally so as to disengage the engaged status between the connection element and the hollow rod to achieve the effect of collapsing the playyard.




According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable mechanism for playyard, wherein the guiding groove consists of a straight line part and an arch part.




According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable mechanism for playyard, wherein the press-down element is mounted below the connection element.




According to further another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable mechanism for playyard, wherein the press-down element is mounted at the literal side of the connection element.




The present invention has a merit that the engaged status of the whole foldable mechanism for playyard relies on the latching block, rivets and connection element made of metal so that the support strength is higher than that relies on the fixed block made of plastic and the engaging element made of plastic in a conventional foldable mechanism. Further, since the foldable mechanism of the present invention uses less parts so that the manufacture cost would be reduced and the foldable mechanism is easy to be produced due to simple structure.




Additional features and other merits of the present invention will be described hereinafter together with the drawings which form a part of the specification.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a section view of a conventional foldable mechanism for playyard;





FIG. 2

is a partial exploded view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a partial cut-out view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a section view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a detailed perspective view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and





FIG. 6

is a section view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




With reference to

FIG. 2

, a foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the foldable mechanism


100


for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention comprises: a connection element


110


for connecting a pair of hollow rods


120


, having an U-shaped cross section, two pairs of guiding grooves


111




a


and


111




b


and a plurality of through holes for rivets being provided at both sides of the connection element


110


; a pair of hollow rods


120


in which a spring


122


and a latching block


121


are accommodated respectively, a through hole


120




a


for rivet and a groove


120




b


being provided at both sides of the hollow rods


120


respectively; and a press-down element


130


having two ramps


131


, for pressing the latching block


121


literally to disengage the engaged status between the connection element


110


and the hollow rod


120


.





FIG. 3

is a partially cut-out view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in

FIG. 3

, the hollow rods


120


are mounted on the connection element


110


by two rivets, wherein the first rivet


141


passes through the through hole for rivet of hollow rod


120


and the through hole for rivet of connection element


110


, and the second rivet


142


passes through the through hole for rivet of connection element


110


, the through hole for rivet of latching block


121


and the groove of hollow rod


120


. The spring


122


is accommodated in the hollow rod


120


and fixed between two rivets. The press-down element


130


is mounted on the connection element


110


by a rivet passing through the through hole for rivet of connection element


110


and the sliding groove


132


of press-down element


130


.





FIG. 4

shows a section view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In operation, if a user pushes the press-down element


130


upward, then the press-down element


130


will be moved upward along the sliding groove


132


. When the ramp


131


of press-down element


130


abuts against the latching block


121


, the upward movement of press-down element


130


would urge the latching block


121


to move literally. Once the second rivet


142


for fixing latching block


121


is moved to the arch part of guiding groove


111




a


of connection element


110


, the hollow rod


120


can be rotated around the first rivet


141


, and the latching block


121


and second rivet


142


are moved along the arch part of guiding groove


111




a


. By means of the above operation, a user can disengage the engaged status between the hollow rod


120


and connection element


110


to collapse the playyard.





FIG. 5

is a detailed perspective view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG. 6

is a section view of the foldable mechanism for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5 and 6

show a foldable mechanism for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which is substantially the same as that shown in the first embodiment except that the design of press-down element is different. As shown in

FIG. 5

, the press-down element


230


is mounted on the side of connection element. The press-down element


230


has a recessed push button


232


.




As shown in

FIG. 6

, the foldable mechanism


200


for playyard according to the second embodiment of the present invention comprises: a connection element


210


having two guiding grooves


211


at both sides; a pair of hollow rods


220


; and a press-down element


230


. A spring


222


and a latching block


221


are accommodated in the hollow rod


220


. The operation principle of the second embodiment is similar to that of first embodiment. When a user pushes the press-down element


230


, the ramp


231


of press-down element


230


would abut against the latching block


221


to urge the latching block


221


to move literally. Once the latching block


221


is moved to the arch part of guiding groove


211


, the engaged status between the connection element


210


and the hollow rod


220


can be disengaged.




The foldable mechanism for playyard according to the present invention has merits that the foldable mechanism is easy to be collapsed, the structure thereof is simple and easy to be manufactured, and the support strength thereof is more solid. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention. It is intended that the scope of the present invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.



Claims
  • 1. A foldable mechanism for playyard, comprising:a connection element for connecting a pair of hollow rods, having an U-shaped cross section, two pairs of guiding grooves and a plurality of through holes for rivets being provided at both sides of said connection element; a pair of hollow rods in which a spring and a latching block are accommodated respectively, a through hole for rivet and a groove being provided at both sides of said hollow rods respectively; and a press-down element having two ramps, for pressing said latching block literally to disengage the engaged status between said connection element and said hollow rod, wherein said press-down element, hollow rod and latching block are fixed on said connection element by rivets, when a user presses said press-down element, said ramps of press-down element would push said latching block to move literally so as to disengage the engaged status between said connection element and said hollow rod to achieve the effect of collapsing the playyard.
  • 2. The foldable mechanism for playyard as defined in claim 1, wherein said guiding groove consists of a straight line part and an arch part.
  • 3. The foldable mechanism for playyard as defined in claim 1, wherein said press-down element is mounted below said connection element.
  • 4. The foldable mechanism for playyard as defined in claim 1, wherein said press-down element is mounted at the literal side of said connection element.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
5964545 Cheng Oct 1999 A
6018846 Huang Feb 2000 A
6223366 Cheng May 2001 B1
6363550 Wang Apr 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
2 260 570 Apr 1993 GB
2 363 425 Dec 2001 GB