Patent Grant
8814756
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119 of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-282631 filed on Dec. 20, 2010, the entire contents of which, including the description, claims, drawings and abstract, are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a household jungle gym which is a playing tool with which infants play indoors and more particularly to a household jungle gym which incorporates a swing and a slide which can be dismounted so as to make the jungle gym compact for easy stowage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, household jungle gyms with which infants play indoors include those in which pipe members are joined together by joints so as to be assembled into a solid or three-dimensional grid-like structure. In addition, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 5-15968, which constitutes Patent Document 1, discloses a household jungle gym which includes a swing which is integrated therewith.
The household jungle gym disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a difficulty in finding a stowage space due to the jungle gym being a large playing tool. In addition, this jungle gym requires a length of time to be built up or stowed. Therefore, mothers having infants have had a difficulty in assembling components into the jungle gym for use or disassembling it to pieces for stowage.
The invention has been made in view of the problems inherent in the related art, and an object thereof is to provide a household jungle gym which can be simply stowed as a compact jungle gym when not in use and which can satisfy infants' interests in playing sufficiently when in use.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a household jungle gym which is a household jungle gym which can be played with indoors, including a three-dimensional grid-like frame structure which is built up by joining pipe members together with joints as a main body portion, a swing which can be dismounted, a swing space which is formed continuously with a lateral side of the frame structure as a swing suspension space, and a swing supporting shaft, strut pipes and telescopic pipes which define the swing space together, wherein the swing supporting shaft which is stretched to suspend the swing is mounted on the frame structure so as to be dismounted, wherein a triangular supporting portion which pivotally supports the swing supporting shaft is provided, wherein the triangular supporting portion is supported by the strut pipes, wherein the telescopic pipes are made up of two pipes which are connected to lower ends of the strut pipes, respectively, which are disposed parallel to each other on a floor surface and which each have a double rod construction so as to be telescopic, and wherein when the swing and the swing supporting shaft are dismounted for stowage, by causing the two telescopic pipes to slide, the triangular supporting portion and the strut pipes can be moved extremely close to the frame structure.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a household jungle gym as set forth in the first aspect, having a fixedly supporting portion which is placed on the frame structure in a position which faces the triangular supporting portion, wherein the swing supporting shaft is pivotally supported by the triangular supporting portion at one end and is pivotally supported by the fixedly supporting portion at the other end thereof.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a household jungle gym as set forth in the first aspect, wherein when dismounted, the swing is fixedly hooked on a pipe member of the frame structure.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a household jungle gym as set forth in the first aspect, wherein the telescopic pipes have locking mechanisms for fastening the telescopic pipes in in-use positions and non-in-use positions when the telescopic pipes are put in an in-use state and a non-in-use state.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a household jungle gym as set forth in the first aspect, further including a slide which is integrated with the frame structure and a staircase for the slide, wherein when the slide and the staircase are dismounted from in-use positions, the slide and the staircase can be fixedly hooked on pipe members of the frame structure.
According to the invention, the jungle gym can be made compact for stowage by the simple operation and can be deployed simply for use. Therefore, the household jungle gym can be provided which can be set up within a short period of time when an infant or child wants to play therewith so as to satisfy the infant's or child's interest in playing sufficiently at all times.
According to the household jungle gym of the invention, the swing supporting shaft which suspends the swing is fixed so as not to rotate by the triangular supporting portion and the fixedly supporting portion. Therefore, the swing can be swung safely.
In addition, according to the household jungle gym of the invention, the swing dismounted can be fixedly hooked on the pipe member of the frame structure. Thus, the swing can be stowed together with the frame structure, and therefore, the loss of the swing can be prevented.
Further, according to the household jungle gym of the invention, the telescopic pipes have the locking mechanisms which can fasten the telescopic pipes in the in-use positions and the non-in-use positions when the telescopic pipes are put in the in-use and non-in-use states. Therefore, there is caused no such situation that the telescopic pipes are caused to slide erroneously while in use, and hence, the jungle gym of the invention is safe.
Then, according to the household jungle gym of the invention, when dismounted from the in-use positions, the slide and the staircase can be fixedly hooked on the pipes of the frame structure, so that the jungle gym can be made compact in size. In addition, it is difficult to forget about where to stow the dismounted members, and hence, the loss of the members can be prevented.
A mode for carrying out the invention will be described. A jungle gym 10 is a household jungle gym 10 which can be played with indoors. This jungle gym 10 is formed so that a three-dimensional grid-like frame structure 100 constitutes a main body portion, and the frame structure 100 is formed by joining pipes 12 which are pipe members together with jungle gym joints 11. Additionally, the jungle gym 10 includes a detachable swing 20 and a swing space 200 which is formed continuously with a lateral side of the frame structure 100 which is the main body of the jungle gym 10 as a suspension space for the swing 20.
Further, the jungle gym 10 includes a detachable swing supporting shaft 21 and a triangular supporting portion 40 which pivotally supports the swing supporting shaft 21. The swing supporting shaft 21 is stretched to suspend the swing 20 in the swing space 200. The jungle gym 10 includes strut pipes 41 which support the triangular supporting portion 40 and telescopic pipes 30. The strut pipes 41 are made up of two metallic pipes which are disposed so as to expand into an inverted V-like shape as they extend downwards from the triangular supporting portion 40. The telescopic pipes 30 are made up of two pipes which are integrated with strut supporting joints 44 which are provided at respective lower ends of the strut pipes 41 and which are disposed parallel to each other on a floor surface. The telescopic pipes 30 each have a double rod construction in which one rod is telescopically extendable from and contractible into the other rod.
In this jungle gym 100, when the swing 20 and the swing supporting shaft 21 are dismounted, by slidingly contracting the two telescopic pipes 30, the triangular supporting portion 40 and the strut pipes 41 can be moved to approach the frame structure 100.
The swing supporting shaft 21 is pivotally supported by the triangular supporting portion 40 at one end and is pivotally supported by the fixedly supporting portion 70 at the other end. The fixedly supporting portion 70 is placed on the frame structure 100 in a position which faces the triangular supporting portion 40.
Further, the swing 20 is dismounted from the position where the swing 20 is suspended for use and is fixedly hooked on a pipe member of the frame structure 100.
The jungle gym 10 also has locking mechanisms which fasten the corresponding telescopic pipes 30 in predetermined positions when the telescopic pipes 30 are in use and not in use, respectively.
Additionally, the jungle gym 10 includes a slide 50 and a staircase 51 for the slide 50. The slide 50 is integrated with the frame structure 100. When the slide 50 and the staircase 51 are not in used, the slide 50 and the staircase 51 are fixedly hooked on pipe members of the frame structure 100.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described by reference to the drawings.
A jungle gym 10 is a household jungle gym 10 which can be played with indoors. This jungle gym 10 is a jungle gym 10 for infants or children, including a frame structure 100. This frame structure 100 constitutes a main body portion which can be formed into various shapes by connecting pipes 12 which are a plurality of pipe members together with jungle gym joints 11 vertically and horizontally as required.
When front and rear are referred to with respect to the jungle gym 10 of the embodiment, a front side of a swing 20 in
The jungle gym 10 includes a swing 20, a slide 50, a staircase 51, a top step panel 52, a curtain 18, an independent cubical structure 60 and members for suspending the swing 20 in a swing space 200 which is a space for placing the swing 20.
Pipes 12 are made from synthetic resin and are all formed into a straight cylindrical shape which is about 285 mm long and about 32 mm thick in outside diameter. In this way, by forming the pipes 12 to the same length, the pipes 12 can be disposed freely in various positions in the jungle gym 10 so that the jungle gym 10 can be formed into arbitrary shapes. In addition, the jungle gym 10 also has pipes which are curved into an arc shape which is suitable to be used for a handrail and the like.
In addition, as is shown in
Specifically speaking, these four pipe holes 12a penetrate the pipe 12 from inside to outside in four directions which are at right angles to each other. In addition, in the straight pipe 12, a line connecting the center of the pipe hole 12a at one end and the center of the pipe hole 12a at the other end is disposed so as to be parallel to a central axis of the pipe 12.
Namely, when the jungle gym joint 11 is inserted into the pipe 12, the joint projecting portions 11a of the jungle gym joint 11 fit in the pipe holes 12a in the pipe 12, whereby the pipe 12 is attached to the jungle gym joint 11. By connecting the pipes 12 together horizontally and vertically with the jungle gym joints 11, the jungle gym 10 can be formed which has a well balanced main body portion.
The jungle gym joint 11 is made from a synthetic resin such as polypropylene which is relatively light in weight, which is strong and rigid and which is so soft as to have a superior flexural fatigue strength. Thus, the pipe 12 can detachably be attached to the jungle gym joint 11.
There are a plurality of kinds of jungle gym joints 11, including a first joint, not shown, in which joint axes branch into three directions, a second joint in which joint axes branch into four direction, a third joint in which joint axes branch into five directions and a fourth joint in which joint axes branch into six directions.
This jungle gym 10 is sold as being disassembled into pieces or as a kit into which a predetermined number of jungle gym joints 11, a predetermined number of pipes 12, a removing tool 300 like pincers which is used to remove the pipe 12 from the jungle gym joint 11 as is shown in
The jungle gym 10 into which the constituent components listed above are assembled includes in the swing space 200, as shown in
The fixedly supporting portion 70 has in four locations along the circumference thereof an upper engagement portion 70a, a lower engagement portion 70d, a front engagement portion 70c and a rear engagement portion 70b at which the fixedly supporting portion 70 is fixed to the pipes 12 of the frame structure 100. Namely, the fixedly supporting portion 70 is held in predetermined positions on the frame structure 100 via the engagement portions disposed in the four locations along the circumference thereof.
The upper engagement portion 70a includes a pipe engagement portion into which a horizontal pipe 12 of the frame structure 100 which is positioned above the fixedly supporting portion 70 is inserted so that the fixedly supporting portion 70 is connected to the horizontal pipe 12. The lower engagement portion 70d includes an engagement portion having a circular recess portion which is brought into engagement with an upper circumferential surface of a horizontal pipe 12 of the frame structure 100 which is positioned below the fixedly supporting portion 70. The front engagement portion 70c includes a pipe engagement portion into which a vertical pipe 12 of the frame structure 100 which is positioned at the front of the fixedly supporting portion 70 is inserted so that the fixedly supporting portion 70 is connected to the vertical pipe 12. The rear engagement portion 70b includes a pipe engagement portion into which a vertical pipe of the frame structure 100 which is positioned at the rear of the fixedly supporting portion 70 is inserted so that the fixedly supporting portion 70 is fixed to the vertical pipe 12.
In addition, a swing supporting shaft 21 is stretched in an upper portion in the swing space 200 so as to be supported at the left- and right-hand supporting portions so that the swing 20 is suspended from the swing supporting shaft 21. Further, the two strut supporting joints 44 are connected together by a resin band 45 in a lower portion in the swing space 200.
The swing supporting shaft 21 is pivotally supported by the triangular supporting portion 40 at one end and is pivotally supported by the fixedly supporting portion 70 at the other end thereof. The swing supporting shaft 21 is pivotally supported at the triangular supporting portion 40 and the fixedly supporting portion 70 so as not to rotate by inserting rotation preventive pins 23 through predetermined holes which are provided in the swing supporting shaft 21.
A seat 20b of the swing 20 is formed from a resin material through one-piece molding. Wall portions are erected along left- and right-hand side portions and a rear side portion of a bottom plate of the seat 20b so that one infant or child can be seated in the seat 20b.
Seat suspension pipes 20a are fixedly screwed to the seat 20b with screws, not shown, at upper portions of the left- and right-hand wall portions of the seat 20b. In addition, upper ends of the seat suspension pipes are screwed to a swing suspension panel 20d into which the swing supporting shaft 21 is inserted with screws, not shown. A safety belt 20c is provided on the seat 20b.
Next, a process of dismounting the constituent components from the positions on the jungle gym 10 where they are located when in use for stowage will be described.
When stowing the jungle gym 10, firstly, the swing supporting shaft 21 and the swing 20 are dismounted. Further, the slide 50, the staircase 51 and the top step panel 52 are dismounted.
Then, in the jungle gym 10, in the swing space 200, as shown in
Next, for example, a cubical structure 60 which can be detachably attached to the frame structure 100 is dismounted from a position on the frame structure 100 where the cubical structure 60 is attached for use when the jungle gym 10 is played with and is then disposed in an L-shaped recess portion formed in an upper portion of the frame structure 100. Then, a pipe of pipes of the cubical structure 60 and a pipe 12 of the pipes 12 of the frame structure 100 which are disposed closest to each other are fastened together by detachable connecting members 62 which are detachable to fasten together a pipe of the pipes of the cubical structure 60 and a pipe 12 of the pipes of the frame structure 100 which are disposed closest to each other.
Next, the slide 50 which has already been dismounted is placed on the jungle gym 10 so as to be suspended therealong by hooking a pipe hook portion of the slide 50 which has already been dismounted on, for example, onto an uppermost pipe 12 on a short-side lateral side of the frame structure 100 which is the main body portion of the jungle gym 10 as shown in
In addition, the staircase 51 which has already been dismounted is placed on the jungle gym 10 so as to be suspended therealong by hooking a pipe hook portion of the staircase 51 which has already been dismounted on, for example, onto an uppermost pipe 12 on a long-side lateral side of the frame structure 100 which is the main body portion of the jungle gym 10. The top step panel 52 is placed in a hooked fashion on any of horizontal planes which are formed in an interior of the frame structure 100 by four pipes 12.
Then, the swing 20 which has already been dismounted is placed on an uppermost surface of the frame structure 100 on which the slide 50, the staircase 51 and the top step panel 52 are hooked in the predetermined positions for stowage. Specifically speaking, the swing 20 is placed so as to lie on the uppermost surface of the frame structure 100. Then, a projecting portion on the swing suspension panel 20d which is positioned at an upper portion of the swing 20 is inserted into a rectangular hole formed in the slide 50 in the vicinity of the pipe hook portion of the slide 50 which is now hooked as is shown in
The jungle gym 10 is such that the pipes 12, which are pipe members, are joined together freely by the jungle gym joints 11 into the three-dimensional grid-like frame structure 100 which can be freely formed into various shapes. Thus, the shape of the frame structure 100 which constitutes the main body portion of the jungle gym 100 is not limited to the shapes shown in
Here, the configuration of the telescopic pipes 30 of the jungle gym 10 will be described in detail by use of the drawings.
The telescopic pipe 30 of the jungle gym 10 includes, as is shown in
The floor pipe lock 32 is placed at a distal end side (a right-hand side) of the stowing pipe 31 and has a hook portion which has a projection 32d (refer to
The slide stopper 33, which functions as a locking mechanism, is integrated with the frame structure 100 in the vicinity of a swing space joint 35, which will be described later, and has a stopper portion which can rotate through about 180 degrees. When the telescopic pipe 30 is deployed, the stopper portion is rotated to a rear end side of the stowing pipe 31 so as to be disposed in a position lying on an extension of a central axis of the stowing pipe 31 as is shown in
The stowing pipe connecting member 34 is disposed in the vicinity of the swing space joint 35 and has a substantially semi-cylindrical hook portion which can rotate as a connecting portion. The hook portion of the stowing pipe connecting member 34 locks a circumferential portion at a distal end of the stowing pipe 31 when stowed so that the stowing pipe 31 and the swing space joint 35 are connected together. On the other hand, when deployed, the hook portion of the stowing pipe connecting member 34 locks a circumferential portion at a rear end of the stowing pipe 31 so as to connect the stowing pipe 31 and the swing space joint 35 together.
The swing space joint 35 is a jungle gym joint which is disposed in a lower end corner portion of the left-hand supporting portion of the frame structure 100. Joint axes along which the pipes 12 are joined branch into three directions, so that the pipes are attached to the joint in three directions. In addition, the swing space joint 35 has a hollow cylindrical guide portion in front of the joint axis, so that the telescopic pipe 30 can be caused to slide in an axial direction by allowing the telescopic pipe 30 to be inserted into the hollow cylindrical guide portion.
Here, a series of steps of unlocking the locking mechanism of the telescopic pipe 30 will be described by use of the drawings.
In the telescopic pipe 30, firstly, the hook portion having the projection 32d provided inside the substantially semi-circular shape of the floor pipe lock 32 is opened as shown in
Consequently, the floor pipe 30a is slid towards the stowing pipe 31 so that the telescopic pipe 30 can be contracted. Then, the telescopic pipe 30 is caused to slide until the floor pipe 30a is stopped at the end of the stowing pipe 31 as shown in
In the telescopic pipe 30, in such a state that the floor pipe 30a is embedded in the stowing pipe 31, the hook portion of the floor pipe lock 32 having the substantially semi-circular projection 32d is brought into engagement with the notched engagement hole 32a at the distal end of the floor pipe 30a as shown in
Following this, in the telescopic pipe 30, the slide stopper 33 is rotated through 90 degrees upwards as shown in
In addition, the telescopic pipe 30 is caused to slide until it is stopped in the stowing direction as shown in
When the telescopic pipe 30 is stowed, the right-hand supporting portion is disposed so as to follow the frame structure 100. Then, with the telescopic pipe 30 so stowed, the floor pipe lock 32, which constitutes the aforesaid locking mechanism, and the stowing pipe connecting member 34 are brought into engagement with the stowing pipe 31 in the predetermined positions on the stowing pipe 31. Thus, the telescopic pipe 30 can be held in the stowed state.
Next, the mounting of the swing 20 in the jungle gym 10 will be described by reference to the drawings.
When mounting the swing 20 in the jungle gym 20, firstly, as shown in
With the swing supporting shaft 21 being inserted into the swing 20 and the stopper 22 being inserted into the swing supporting shaft 21, Distal ends of the swing supporting shaft 21 is respectively fitted in predetermined fitting portions in the triangular supporting portion 40 and the fixedly supporting portion 70 in the swing space 200 as is shown in
After the insertion of the rotation preventive pins 23, screws 24 and washers 25 as preventive stoppers for the rotation preventive pins 23 are respectively fastened to a predetermined position on each of the triangular supporting portion 40 and the fixedly supporting portion 70 so as to prevent the dislocation of the rotation preventive pin 23. This completes the mounting of the swing 20. When the swing 20 is dismounted, the screws 24 which are screwed into the predetermined positions and the washers 25 are dislocated, so that the rotation preventive pins 23 can be dislocated upwards, thereby making it possible to dismount the swing supporting shaft 21.
Next, the mounting and dismounting of the slide 50, the staircase 52 and the top step panel 52 in and from the jungle gym 10 will be described by reference to the drawing.
As has been described before, the jungle gym 10 includes the slide 50 which can detachably be mounted on the frame structure 100, the staircase 51 which can detachably be mounted on the frame structure 100 and the top step panel 52 which can detachably be mounted on the frame structure 100. As is shown in
The top step panel 52 is made from resin and has a quadrangular shape. The top step panel 52 functions as a stepping place where an infant or child stands waiting for him or her to slide down the slide 50 after he or she has climbed up the staircase 51. The top step panel 52 is hooked so as to be fitted in a quadrangular portion defined by four pipes 12 on a predetermined horizontal plane in the frame structure 100. By applying an upward tension thereto, the hooking of the top step panel 52 on the predetermined horizontal plane is released, thereby making it possible to dismount the top step panel 52.
Thus, as has been described heretofore, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, the jungle gym 10 can be stowed simply and compact, while when it is used, the jungle gym 10 can easily be deployed so as to form the swing space 200. Thus, when an infant or child wants to play therewith, the jungle gym 10 can be set up within a short period of time so as to satisfy the interest in playing of the infant or child sufficiently.
In addition, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, the swing supporting shaft 21 is fixed so as not to rotate by the triangular supporting portion 40 and the fixedly supporting portion 70. Therefore, the swing 20 can be swung safely.
Additionally, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, when the swing 20 and the swing supporting shaft 21 are dismounted so as to allow the telescopic pipes 30 to slide, the triangular supporting portion 40, the strut pipes 41 and the strut supporting joints 44 slide together with the telescopic pipes 30 and are then disposed so as to follow the circumferential edge of the frame structure 100. Thus, the household jungle gym 10 can be made compact in size so as to facilitate the stowage of the household jungle gym 10.
In addition, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, the dismounted swing 20 is fixedly hooked on the pipe member of the frame structure 100, so that the swing 20 can be stowed together with the frame structure 100, thereby making it possible to prevent the loss thereof.
Further, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, the respective telescopic pipes 30 include the locking mechanisms which lock the telescopic pipes 30 in the predetermined positions when they are deployed for use and are contracted for stowage. Therefore, there is caused no such situation in which the telescopic pipes 30 are caused to slide erroneously when in use, and thus, the jungle gym 10 is made safe.
Furthermore, according to the household jungle gym 10 of the invention, the slide 50 and the staircase 51 are fixedly hooked on the pipes 12 of the frame structure 100 when the jungle gym 10 is stowed. Therefore, the household jungle gym 10 can be made compact in size for stowage. In addition, the dismounted members are still placed on the jungle gym 10, and therefore, it is difficult to forget about where to stow the dismounted members, thereby making it possible to prevent the loss of the dismounted members.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment that has been described heretofore but can be altered, modified or improved freely without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-282631 | Dec 2010 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1914555 | Connelly | Jun 1933 | A |
| 3554540 | Green | Jan 1971 | A |
| 5031605 | Mills | Jul 1991 | A |
| 5306220 | Kearney | Apr 1994 | A |
| 6443406 | Frank | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6558295 | Araki et al. | May 2003 | B2 |
| 20020010054 | Araki et al. | Jan 2002 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120157266 A1 | Jun 2012 | US |
