Hook-on type baby seat

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6273503
  • Patent Number
    6,273,503
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, August 3, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 14, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Cranmer; Laurie K.
    Agents
    • Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton & Herbert LLP
Abstract
Disclosed is a hook-on type baby seat which primarily comprises a main body portion and a seat portion. The main body portion comprises a U-shaped arm assembly for supporting the baby seat on an upper surface of a gripped object, a pair of longitudinal arm members soldered to the U-shaped arm assembly, a pair of gripping arm members for gripping or releasing the gripped object, and a pair of elevation controlling and adjusting members for allowing the pair of gripping arm members to be upwardly and downwardly movable in the elevation direction of the longitudinal arm member. The seat portion comprises a seat cushion and a back portion hanged on the U-shaped arm member by sewing. By adjusting the position along the elevation direction of the longitudinal arm member, the holding ends of the U-shaped arm assembly cooperates with the gripping ends of the pair of the gripping arm members to tightly grip the gripped object while the pair of the elevation controlling and adjusting members are kept in a locking state for further tightly gripping the gripped object.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a baby seat and more particularly, to a hook-on type baby seat which is adapted to be used for gripped objects with various thicknesses. Such a hook-on type baby seat has an elevation adjusting and locking function and can be operated both in safety and in ease.




2. Description of the Related Art





FIG. 6

shows a conventional hook-on type baby seat


1


which comprises a seat portion


2


and a back portion


3


coupled to two forwardly projecting anchor members


4


and


5


. The anchor members


4


and


5


are adapted to overlie a table


8


. The conventional hook-on type baby seat


1


also comprises a grip means having a pair of free ends


6


and


7


below the anchor members


4


and


5


for gripping a bottom surface of the table


8


. The free ends


6


and


7


of the grip means are supported for movement toward and away from the elevation of the anchor members


4


and


5


. A latch means


9


extends between the grip means and the back portion of the baby seat


1


for latching the free ends


6


and


7


of the grip means in one of a plurality of positions.




However, the conventional hook-on type baby seat


1


cannot be securely hooked on the table. This is because that simply by the coordination between the free ends


6


and


7


of the grip means and the anchor members


4


and


5


, the resultant force generated therebetween is not sufficient to securely hold on the table due to a single-point contact. Therefore, the baby seat


1


is easily separate from the table by simply pulling the baby seat


1


in the horizontal direction.




In addition, since the conventional hook-on type baby seat does not have an elevation-adjusting function, the baby seat will be slanted in some angle. Consequently, the baby seat itself cannot be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the table.




To overcome the defects of the conventional hook-on type baby seat described above, the present invention provides an implemented hook-on type baby seat which is simple and labor-saving in operation, comfortable and convenient in use and pleasant to the eyes. In addition, such a hook-on type baby seat has the following advantages, for example, it is convenient in carry and portability due to the compact retracting size and functions of elevation adjustment and safe locking can be achieved.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present application is to provide a hook-on type baby seat which makes a further implementation with reference to the defects of the conventional hook-on type baby seat in order to produce a safer and more convenient hook-on type baby seat.




The present invention provides a hook-on type baby seat primarily comprising a main body portion and a seat portion, in which the main body portion comprises a U-shaped arm assembly for supporting the baby seat on an upper surface of a gripped object; a pair of longitudinal arm members and one end of each of the longitudinal arm members is soldered to the U-shaped arm assembly; a pair of gripping arm members for gripping or releasing the gripped object in which one end of each of the gripping arm members is formed to become a gripping end bent upwardly, and the other end thereof is formed to become a C-shaped member for attaching to the corresponding longitudinal arm member; and a pair of elevation controlling and adjusting members combined with the pair of longitudinal arm members and gripping arm members for allowing the pair of gripping arm members to be upwardly and downwardly movable in the elevation direction of the longitudinal arm member so as to adjust and lock an elevation position of the pair of gripping arm members, and the seat portion comprises a seat cushion and a back portion hanged on the U-shaped arm member by sewing, in which a safety belt is provided in the inner side of the seat portion for fastening a baby.




The present invention provides a hook-on type baby seat in which the U-shaped arm assembly substantially comprises a U-shaped arm member, a pair of straight arm members, and a pair of positioning flexible members.




The present invention provides a hook-on type baby seat in which each of said pairs of elevation controlling and adjusting members comprises an elevation adjusting and locking portion, a release-or-grip control portion, a right cover and a left cover, and each of said elevation adjusting and locking portion comprises an adjusting button, a first spring, a locking button, a second spring, a stop strip and a joint block, and each of said release-or-grip control portion comprises a handle bar, a C-shaped movable component, a casing and a third spring. Each of said handle bar is further provided with a rubber pad, and a force is applied to said handle bar by the third spring so that the baby seat is further gripped the gripped object when said handle bar is pulled to a locking position, and the rubber pad on said handle bar is released from the bottom surface of the table to facilitate the separation of the baby seat and the table when said handle bar is pulled to a releasing position.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the embodiment given below, serve to explain the principle of the invention, in which





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application;





FIG. 2

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a locking button and an adjusting button is pressed down;





FIG. 3

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a handle bar is in a gripping state;





FIG. 4

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a handle bar is in a releasing state;





FIG. 5

is an explosive view for showing the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application; and





FIG. 6

is perspective view showing a conventional hook-on type baby seat attached to a table.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




An embodiment in accordance with the present application will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings by exemplifying a hook-on type baby seat.





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application.




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a hook-on type baby seat


1


in accordance with the present application primarily comprises a main body portion


10


and a seat portion


70


. The main body portion


10


is comprised of a U-shaped arm assembly


20


, a pair of longitudinal arm members


30


and


35


, a pair of gripping arm members


40


and


45


, and a pair of elevation controlling and adjusting members


50


and


60


. The main body portion


10


can be integrally regarded as a U-shaped arm member with a right and a left clamping portions. For the convenience of illustration, the left clamping portion is exemplarily described.





FIG. 2

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a locking button and an adjusting button are pressed.

FIG. 3

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a handle bar is in a gripping state.

FIG. 4

is a side view of showing the structure of the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application, in which a handle bar is in a releasing state.

FIG. 5

is an explosive view for showing the left clamping portion of the main body portion of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present application.




With reference to

FIG. 1

to

FIG. 5

, the U-shaped arm assembly


20


is comprised of a U-shaped arm member


21


, a pair of straight arm members


22


and


23


, and a pair of positioning flexible members


24


(only one is shown in FIG.


5


). The inner diameter of the U-shaped arm member


21


is slightly larger than the outer diameter of each of the straight arm members


22


and


23


. A pair of holes


25


and


26


are respectively formed on one end of each of the straight arm members


22


and


23


while only one hole (not shown) is formed on each of two ends of the U-shaped arm member


21


, and two positioning pins


25


′ and


26


′ are provided on each of the positioning flexible members


24


. The other end of each of the straight arm members


22


and


23


is covered with a rubber sleeve so as to form holding ends


27


and


28


which are adapted to overlie a gripped object, for example, a table and the like. With reference to

FIG. 5

, the positioning flexible member


24


is disposed in the straight arm member


22


with the two holes


25


and


26


on the straight arm member


22


being aligned with the two positioning pins


25


′ and


26


′ on the positioning flexible member


24


. Then, the straight arm member


22


is inserted into a corresponding end of the U-shaped arm member


21


. Subsequently, the two positioning pins


25


′ and


26


′ of the positioning flexible member


24


are pressed down to allow the outer hole


26


on the straight arm member


22


to be aligned with the hole on the corresponding end of the U-shaped arm member


21


. And then, the straight arm member


22


is combined with the U-shaped arm member


21


after the two positioning pins


25


′ and


26


′ are released.




In

FIG. 1

, one end of each of the longitudinal arm members


30


and


35


is respectively soldered to each of the straight arm members


22


and


23


of the U-shaped arm assembly


20


. With reference to

FIG. 2

, the longitudinal arm member


30


is soldered to a position between the holding ends


27


and the inner hole


25


of the straight arm members


22


of the U-shaped arm assembly


20


. One end of each of the gripping arm members


40


and


45


is covered with a rubber sleeve so as to form gripping ends


41


and


42


which are bent upwardly while the other end is formed to become a C-shaped member


43


(only one is shown in

FIG. 2

) for attaching to the corresponding longitudinal arm member


30


.




With reference to

FIGS. 2 and 5

, the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


includes an elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


, a release-or-grip control portion


61


, a right cover


52


and a left cover


53


. The elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


is composed of an adjusting button


54


, a first spring


55


, a locking button


56


, a second spring


57


, a stop strip


58


and a joint block


59


. A first through hole


67


is formed in the middle of the joint block


59


for allowing the longitudinal arm member


30


to penetrate therethrough, and a cavity


68


is disposed in the vicinity of the through hole


67


in the joint block


59


. Also, a second through hole


69


is formed in the middle of the stop strip


58


for allowing the longitudinal arm member


30


to penetrate therethrough.




The assembly of the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


is as follows. First, the joint block


59


is jointed with the C-shaped member


43


of the gripping arm member


40


. And then, the longitudinal arm member


30


sequentially penetrates through the first and second through holes


67


and


69


of the joint block


59


and the stop strip


58


, respectively. The first spring


55


is disposed in the cavity


68


and depressed by one end of the stop strip


58


while the other end thereof is scarf-jointed into a groove of the joint block


59


. The second spring


57


is disposed in the locking button


56


and covered with the adjusting button


54


so as to be sandwiched between the adjusting button


54


and the locking button


56


.




The operation of the elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


will be explained with reference to FIG.


2


. When the elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


is in a normal state, the stop strip


58


is kept to be at its operation position based on the elastic force of the first spring


55


in the cavity


68


of the joint block


59


to thereby hold the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


in a certain position. When it is intended to move the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


in a direction along the elevation of the longitudinal arm member


30


, the first spring


55


is depressed by simultaneously pressing the adjusting button


54


and the locking button


56


so that the longitudinal arm member


30


is released from the stop strip


58


for allowing the gripping arm member


40


to be upwardly and downwardly movable in the elevation direction of the longitudinal arm member


30


.




With reference to

FIGS. 2 and 5

, the release-or-grip control portion


61


is composed of a handle bar


62


, a C-shaped movable component


63


, a casing


64


and a third spring


65


. A rubber pad


66


is provided on the top of the handle bar


62


. The assembly of the release-or-grip control portion


61


is as follows. The third spring


65


is disposed in the C-shaped movable component


63


and subsequently covered with the casing


64


, and the handle bar


62


is held against the rear side of the c-shaped movable component


63


so as to be pivotally connected to the casing


64


.




The operation of the release-or-grip control portion


61


will be explained with reference to

FIGS. 3 and 4

. When the handle bar


62


is pulled to a locking position, a force is applied to the handle bar


62


by the third spring


65


and the rubber pad


66


on the handle bar


62


is supported against a bottom surface of the table so that the baby seat are further fastened to the table. When the handle bar


62


is pulled to a releasing position, the handle bar


62


is maintained in a releasing state by the elastic force of the third spring


65


while the rubber pad


66


on the handle bar


62


is released from the bottom surface of the table to facilitate the separation of the baby seat and the table.




With reference to

FIG. 1

, the seat portion


70


includes a seat cushion


71


and a back portion


72


. The seat portion


70


is made of a soft cloth material and the back portion


72


is hanged on the U-shaped arm member


21


by sewing. Two ends of the back portion


72


passing over the soldered portions of the two ends of the longitudinal arm members


30


and


35


and the straight arm members


22


and


23


are fastened to the back portion


72


by buttons so that the seat portion


70


is secured to the U-shaped arm assembly


20


so as to prevent the seat portion


70


from sliding due to the action of a baby. A safety belt


73


is provided in the inner side of the seat portion


70


for fastening the baby so as to prevent the baby from falling to ground, which results in a dangerous situation. The rear side of the seat portion


70


is provided with a bag for a convenient purpose.




Such a baby seat achieves the following functions.




(1) An elevation adjusting function can be obtained for allowing the baby seat to be suitable for gripped objects with various thicknesses. This function can be carried out by using a self-lock action induced from the friction between the stop strip


58


and the longitudinal arm member


30


. When the elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


is in a normal state, the stop strip


58


is maintained at its operating position through the elastic force of the first spring


55


so that the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


is fixed at a certain position. When the baby seat needs to be adjusted, the adjusting button


54


and the locking button


56


of the elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


are simultaneously pressed so that the longitudinal arm member


30


is released from the stop strip


58


and the elevation controlling and adjusting member


50


is allowed to be upwardly and downwardly movable in the elevation direction of the longitudinal arm member


30


.




(2) A function of securely locking the baby seat to prevent from misoperation is obtained so that the use of the baby seat is safer and more reliable. This function can be carried out by an allied operation of the adjusting button


54


and the locking button


56


of the elevation adjusting and locking portion


51


. When the locking button


56


is not pressed, the longitudinal arm member


30


cannot be released from the stop strip


58


by pressing only the adjusting button


54


, and the relative position between the locking button


56


and the adjusting button


54


is maintained by the second spring


57


.




(3) Functions of gripping, locking and releasing of the release-or-grip control portion


61


is obtained by applying a self-lock principle to keep the handle bar


62


more reliably tightly locked. When the handle bar


62


is in a locking state and the baby seat is tightly gripped and locked, a pre-pressing force is applied to the handle bar


62


by the third spring


65


. At this time, if the baby seat is pulled outside, the baby seat will be more tightly gripped since the relation between the handle bar


62


and the gripped object is in a self-lock state due to the friction therebetween. When the handle bar


62


is in a releasing state, the handle bar


62


is separated from the gripped object and will be kept in the releasing state due to the elastic force of the third spring


65


.




Therefore, as compared with the conventional baby seat, the operation of the hook-on type baby seat in accordance with the present invention is simple and labor-saving. The baby seat can be adjusted so as to be suitable for gripped objects with various thicknesses, as long as the adjusting button and the locking button are pressed at the same time. The gripping and releasing operations of the baby seat can be realized by only pulling the handle bar forwardly and backwardly. In addition, the baby seat is comfortable in use and pleasant to the eyes since the baby seat is made of soft cloth. Further, the additional bag makes the use of the baby seat more convenient, and the compact retracting size is in favor of the carry and the portability of the baby seat.




While the present invention has been described in detail and pictorially in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited to such details since many changes and modifications recognizable to those skilled in the art may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and the scope thereof.



Claims
  • 1. A hook-on type baby seat, comprising:a seat portion, and a main body portion; said main body portion including: a U-shaped arm assembly to support said seat portion on an upper surface of a gripped object, said U-shaped arm assembly comprising a U-shaped arm member, a pair of straight arm members, a rubber sleeve to cover an end of each of said straight arm members to form a holding end adapted to overlie said gripped object, and a pair of positioning flexible members; a pair of longitudinal arm members, each of said members being attached to said U-shaped arm assembly; a pair of gripping arm members to grip or release said gripped object, wherein one end of each of the gripping arm members is formed to bend upwardly, and a second end thereof is formed as a C-shaped member for attachment to a corresponding longitudinal arm member; and a pair of elevation controlling and adjusting members combined with said pair of longitudinal arm members and gripping arm members to allow said pair of gripping arm members to be upwardly and downwardly movable in an elevation direction of said longitudinal arm member so as to adjust and lock an elevation position of said pair of gripping arm members; wherein each of said elevation controlling and adjusting members comprises an elevation adjusting a locking portion, a release-or-grip control portion, a right cover and a left cover, and each of said elevation adjusting and locking portions comprises an adjusting button, a first spring, a locking button, a second spring, a stop strip, and a joint block, and each of said release-or-grip control portions comprises a handle bar, a C-shaped movable component, a casing and a third spring.
  • 2. A hook-on type baby seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said handle bars is further provided with a rubber pad;wherein in a locking position, force is applied by said third spring to said handle bar such that said baby seat further grips said gripped object, and in a releasing position said rubber pad on said handle is moved away from a bottom surface of said gripped object to facilitate separation of said baby seat from said gripped object.
  • 3. A hook-on type baby seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said seat portion includes at least one of (a) a seat cushion, (b) a back portion attached to said U-shaped arm assembly, and (c) a safety belt disposed in an inner portion of said seat portion.
  • 4. A hook-on type baby seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gripped object is a table top.
  • 5. A hook-on type baby seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said longitudinal arm members is soldered to said U-shaped arm assembly.
  • 6. A hook-on type baby seat, comprising:a seat portion; and a main body portion that includes: a U-shaped arm assembly to support said baby seat from an upper surface of a gripped object; first and second longitudinal arm members each having an end attached to said U-shaped arm assembly; first and second gripping arm members to release-or-grip said gripped object, each of said arm members having a first end curved upwardly, and having a second end attached to one of said longitudinal arm members; and a pair of elevation controlling and adjusting members each comprising an elevation adjusting and locking portion that includes a stop strip and a joint block and a first spring disposed therebetween, an adjustment button and a locking button and a second spring disposed therebetween, and further comprising a release-or-grip control portion including a handle bar pivotally coupled to a casing, a C-shaped movable member, and a third spring disposed to urge said movable member away from said casing; said elevation controlling and adjusting members coupled to said longitudinal arm members and said gripping arm members to facilitate upward and downward movement of said gripping arm members in an elevation direction of said longitudinal arm member so as to adjust and lock an elevation position of said gripping arm members.
  • 7. The baby seat of claim 6, wherein said seat portion includes at least one of (a) a seat cushion, (b) a back portion attached to said U-shaped arm assembly, and (c) a safety belt disposed in an inner portion of said seat portion.
  • 8. The baby seat of claim 6, wherein said U-shaped arm assembly comprises a U-shaped arm member, a pair of straight arm members, and a pair of positioning flexible members.
  • 9. The baby seat of claim 6, further including at least one friction-enhancing sleeve attached to said U-shaped arm assembly to enhance friction with said gripped object.
  • 10. The baby seat of claim 6, wherein each said handle bar includes a rubber pad, and said handle bar is movable between in a locking position and a releasing position;wherein in said locking position, each said third spring urges an associated said handle bar to cause said baby seat to enhance gripping of said gripped object; and in said releasing position each said rubber pad is moved away from a lower surface of said gripped object.
  • 11. The baby seat of claim 6, wherein said gripped object includes a table top.
  • 12. The baby seat of claim 6, wherein each said end of a longitudinal arm member is attached to said U-shaped arm assembly with solder.
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Number Name Date Kind
2493187 Ducey Jan 1950
3133760 Robinson May 1964
4586746 Day et al. May 1986
4863216 Prescott Sep 1989
5415456 Hart et al. May 1995
5470127 Kassai et al. Nov 1995
5480211 Douglas et al. Jan 1996