This presently disclosed subject matter relates to infant seats. More particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter is directed to infant seats convertible between several positions, and which can be used as infant cradles or rockers.
Some examples of convertible bouncers and cradles are disclosed in WO 1999/08572, US 2005/0241064 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,840.
According to the disclosed subject matter there is provided an infant seat comprising an upper torso support, a lower torso support pivotally articulated to the upper torso support, and a seat supporting structure; at least one of the upper torso support and the lower torso support is pivotally articulated to the seat supporting structure; the seat further comprising a converting mechanism for converting the seat between at least an angular position in which the upper torso support is inclined with respect to the lower torso support, and a planar position in which the upper torso support and the lower torso support are substantially co-planar.
The seat can constitute, for example, part of a bouncer, a chair, a car safe seat, a swing, a stroller, or a plane seat/bassinet, all can be stationary or portable.
The term ‘angular position’ refers to a position of the seat in which an angle between the upper torso support and the lower torso support is less than 180°, while the term ‘planar position’ refers to a position of the seat in which the upper torso support and the lower torso support extend substantially co-planar in a substantially horizontal plane or inclined with respect to the ground.
The seat supporting structure is a fixed structure, i.e. comprise elements which devoid of movement at least with respect to each other, while the upper torso support and the lower torso support are a non-stationary structure, i.e., configured for sliding displacement at least in one direction with respect to the seat supporting structure.
The term ‘sliding displacement’ refers to linear displacement, pivotal displacement or a combination thereof.
The upper torso support is configured for pivotal displacement with respect to the seat supporting structure causing thereby sliding of the lower torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure, due to the pivotal articulation between the upper torso support and the lower torso support.
The upper torso support can engage the lower torso support by pivotal articulation therebetween.
Due to the displacement of the lower torso support with respect to the upper torso support and the displacement of the upper torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure, the seat is relatively smoothly converted between its different positions. This is especially useful when an infant occupying the seat falls asleep and the seat has to be converted into its planar position without waking up the infant.
The converting mechanism can be at least partially embedded in a portion of the seat or can be a separate assembly associated with the seat.
The converting mechanism can be configured for defining a plurality of discrete positions each of which being associated with one of the positions of the seat. In particular, the converting mechanism can comprise a first portion associated with the upper torso support and a second portion fixed to the seat supporting structure, the first portion configured to be slidingly displaced with respect to the second portion when the seat is converted between its different positions.
More particularly, the first portion can be a handle lever slidingly received within the upper torso support, and the second portion can be a housing fixedly attached to the seat supporting structure. The upper torso support can be formed with a receiving channel extending longitudinally along at least a portion thereof and configured for slidingly receiving therein the handle lever. The handle lever can be associated with a locking mechanism configured for arresting the seat in one of its positions, preventing the seat from unintentionally converting to another position.
The locking mechanism can comprise a pair of locking pins and a plurality of pairs of recesses within the housing, each pair of recesses configured for arresting the pair of the locking pins, so that when the pins are spaced from the recesses the handle lever can be displaced along the receiving channel and the upper torso support can be slidingly displaced with respect to the seat supporting structure, and when the seat is brought to the desired position the pins are released to be arrested within a corresponding pair of recesses associated said desired position of the seat.
The above arrangement allows converting the seat between its different positions by first slidingly displacing the handle lever along the receiving channel of the upper torso support so as to release the locking mechanism and then pivotally/slidingly displacing the upper torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure so as to bring the seat to the desired position.
The upper torso support comprises two pivoting brackets articulated thereto and in turn pivotally attached to the seat supporting structure, so as to allow pivotal displacement of the upper torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure.
The upper torso support can be a rigid structure or can comprise a firm though flexible portion, comprising, for example, a plurality of flexible ribs. At least when comprising a flexible portion, the upper torso support can be provided with a back support, so that the upper torso support can be leaned against the back support when the seat is in its planar position, decreasing thereby the flexibility of the flexible support system and increasing the rigidity thereof.
The above arrangement, allows the seat according to the presently disclosed subject matter, to serve as a cradle in its planar position, as the upper torso support and the lower torso support constitute a co-extending firm, flat base. This position allowing a lie-flat position of the infant over the seat, known as aiding newborns development by promoting lung development, assisting breathing, aiding spine growth and strengthen muscle tone, providing neck control and in later stages enabling exploring his own hands and feet and encouraging movement following.
The lower torso support can be provided with a limiting arrangement configured for limiting the sliding displacement of the lower torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure.
The lower torso support can be a rigid structure made of a material similar to that of the upper torso support. Alternatively, the upper torso support can be at least partially made of a material different from that of the lower torso support.
The seat can further comprise a fabric frame assembly, typically configured to be detachably attached thereto. In particular, the fabric frame assembly can comprise a front fabric frame configured to be displaced in correspondence to the displacement of the upper torso support with respect to the seat supporting structure and a rear fabric frame stationary with respect to the seat supporting structure.
The fabric frame assembly can be spaced from the upper and the lower torso support at least when the seat is in its planar position, so that when a fabric cover is fitted over the fabric frame assembly the fabric cover can constitute bassinet walls wrapping the seat.
The seat can be configured for converting into one or more distinct angular positions, each defined by a different angle between the upper torso support and a lower torso support.
The seat can be detachably attached to a base structure, said base structure configured for providing the seat with a motion effect and a mechanism for controlling such effect, which can be any kind of bouncing, rocking and sliding effect and combinations of such reciprocal motion.
Such a base structure can constitute part of a bouncer, a chair, a car safe seat, a swing, a stroller or a plane seat/bassinet, all can be stationary or portable.
In order to understand the presently disclosed subject matter and to see how it can be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Attention is first directed to
With reference to
The seat 10 (shown also in
It can be appreciated that the seat 10 comprises a non-stationary portion, i.e. elements that are linearly or pivotally displaceable with respect to the base structure 11, such as the upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23, and a stationary portion, i.e. elements that are stationary with respect to the base structure 11, such as the seat supporting structure 27.
As shown in
The back supporting frame 201 can be a single uniform element, or the transverse portion 203 and the rods 205 can be separate elements fixedly attached so as to constitute the back supporting frame 201.
As can be seen best in
The upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23 are made of a substantially rigid material and each have a substantially flat top surface 31 and 41 (
The upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23 can be fitted with a plurality of reinforcing elements both on the front surfaces 31 and 41 (e.g. ribs 39 shown for example in
The upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23 can be further fitted with annular fabric arresting members 34 and 44 (
The upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23 are pivotally articulated one to the other at a pair of coaxial joints 46 (marked by a dotted circle in
The upper torso support 21 is further provided with a pair of pivoting brackets 51 each extending upwards at respective ends of the base 37 of the upper torso support 21, as further described in detail with reference to
The arrangement is such that when an external force is applied to the upper torso support 21 (as detailed below) the upper torso support pivots with respect to the seat supporting structure 27 together with the pivoting brackets 51. Due to the pivoting articulation between the upper torso support 21 and the lower torso support 23, the lower torso support 21 correspondingly displaces pivotally with respect to the upper torso support 21 and slidingly with respect to the seat supporting structure 27, allowing relatively smooth conversion between different positions of the seat 10.
With reference to
The channel 61 is shaped so as to receive therein a handle lever 70 (
At the top surface 31 of the upper torso support 21 the positioning receptacle 65 of the channel 61 is covered by a cover plate 61′, (
Referring now to
It should be appreciated that the converting mechanism 25 can be configured for converting the seat 10 to assume more than the above three positions, i.e. more distinct angular positions.
As described below with reference to
The handle lever 70 (
The handle lever 70 is fitted with the spring opening 80 (
The handle lever 70 is configured to slide along the channel 61 between two end positions: a normal position (
With reference to
The lower portion 85 comprises a cavity 88 (enlarged in
The positioning mechanism 75 comprises two locking pins 74 and a positioning spring S2 fitted therebetween (
With reference to
In particular, each of the inner walls 96 of the bracket 95 comprises three pairs of opposite recesses 93a, 93b and 93c, shaped so as to arrest therein the outer portions 74b of the locking pins 74 of the positioning mechanism 75.
The side portions 93 of the housing 71 comprise two rod receiving channels 92 (
At their external ends 99 the side portions 93 are fixed to the side supports 207, as described below with reference to
The operation of the converting mechanism 25 will be now explained in detail. As detailed above, the converting mechanism 25 configured for converting the seat assembly 20 between its different positions, by means of the handle lever 70, the positioning mechanism 75 and a housing 71.
Referring back to
At the pulling stage, the handle lever 70 is outwardly pulled (i.e. by pulling the grip 83) against the biasing effect of the spring S1 along axis A1 (as shown by an arrow 101 in
In the positioning stage, while the handle lever 70 is held by pulling the grip 83 (
As indicated above, the inner walls 96 of the brackets 95 comprise three pairs of opposite recesses 93a, 93b and 93c (
With reference now being made to
The restricting path 114 is configured for slidingly receiving therein the transverse portion 203 of the seat supporting structure 27, so that the sliding thereof is limited by the path ends 118 and 120 (
The arrangement is such that when an external force is applied to the upper torso support 21, due to it being articulated to the lower torso support 23, the lower torso support 23 slides with respect to the transverse portion 203, when the latter is received within the path 114. In particular, the position of the restricting elements 110 of the upper torso support 21 with respect to the transverse portion 203 within the path 114 is associated with the position of the seat 10: when the seat 10 is in its planar position (
Reference is now being made to
Upwardly projecting from the edges 35 of the upper torso support 21 near its base 37, there are oppositely disposed a pair of pivoting brackets 51, each shaped and sized for pivotal coupling to a respective inner shell 202 of the side support 207.
It is noted that the pivoting brackets 51 can be integral with of fixedly attached to the upper torso support 21.
An outside face 58 of the pivoting bracket 51 is configured with a pivot hub 133a for pivotal arresting with a corresponding hub 135a formed at the inside face 212 of the shell 202, and a plurality of projections 133b and 133c are disposed about a path of rotation and configured for limited displacement within corresponding grooved 135b and 135c of the shell 202.
The brackets 51 are configured for pivoting with respect to the side supports 207 between two end positions associated with the end positions of the seat assembly 20. In particular, in the planar position, the bracket 51 is fully coaxial with the side support 207 (
The side supports 207 constitute part of the supporting structure 27 configured for being coupled, directly or indirectly to the base structure 11.
The inner shells 202 further comprise inwardly extending lower portions 214, shaped so as to fixedly support the external ends 99 of the side portions 93 of the housing 71.
The side supports 207 are further provided with a receptacle 143 configured for detachably receiving therein a rear fabric supporting frame 137 (
As shown in
In addition, the side supports 207 may be further configured for being fitted with a toy control mechanism 157, e.g. electric motor (not seen), received within a mechanism seat 216 (not seen) formed between the inner and the outer shells 202 and 204. In addition, the outer shell 204 is formed with an operating switch 159 of the control mechanism 157.
Referring back to
The front fabric supporting frame 131 is a U-shaped bar configured to be detachably received within the inner hollow channels 130 of the pivoting brackets 51, so as to pivot together with the brackets 51 with respect to the side support 207, when the seat assembly 20 is converted between its different positions.
The rear fabric supporting frame 137 is a U-shaped bar configured to be detachably received within the receptacles 143 of the side support 207 and, consequently, remains stationary when the seat assembly 20 is displaced between its different positions.
The fabric cover 160 (
The arrangement is such that at the planar position (
When the seat 10 is converted from the planar position to an angular position, the distance s between the upper torso support 21 and lower torso support 23 the corresponding front frame 131 and rear frame 137 shortens, thereby the fabric therebetween folds accordingly, enlarging thereby a field of view of the infant (
The fabric cover 160 is constructed such as to allow the conversion of the bouncer 100 between the different positions without limiting the motion of the seat 10, and to further allow a free access to parts that may have to be disassembled or disconnected.
Referring back to
The springy arched bars 305 provide the bouncer 100 with both bouncing and rocking effect. Both effects are controllable. In particular, the main frame 301 may be provided with stoppers 309 and/or 311 (
The base structure 11 may further comprises an additional front bar 306, extending between the springy bars 305 (
All the base structure elements and the fabric supporting frames are typically made of a lightweight plastic material, such as structural nylon. The stoppers 309 and 311 may constitute an integral part of the main frame or may be separate elements made of, for example, a synthetic rubber such as thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).
In accordance with the presently disclosed subject matter the seat 10 can constitute a part of any kind of bouncer, a chair, any kind of car safe seat, a swing, a stroller or a plane seat/bassinet, all can be stationary or portable. The other sub-assemblies, namely, a fabric assembly, a base structure and a toy assembly, can be detachably attached to the seat by means described above or other means, as long as the seat can be converted between different positions thereof.
With reference to
The bouncer 500 can be provided with different fixators 505, 507, 509, 511 and 513 arresting the upper torso support and/or the lower torso support to other sub-assemblies, i.e. the base structure or the frame assembly.
The fixator may be hook like elements and/or comprise attaching means such as Velcro strips, snaps etc.
Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate that numerous changes, variations, and modification can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, mutatis mutandis.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/452,415 filed on 14 Mar. 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference.
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