Locking device for a detachable handrest of a stroller

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6478503
  • Patent Number
    6,478,503
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, June 26, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 12, 2002
    21 years ago
Abstract
A locking device for a handrest of a stroller includes two connecting tubes secured to the front of the stroller and two pairs of locking members. The pairs of locking members are movably received in a respective one of the tubes; the locking members have lower button parts passing through lateral holes of the tubes to show, and are pivoted to the tubes from middle portions with upper engaging portions being movably received in recesses of inner sides of the tubes. An elastic member is disposed between lower parts of each pair of locking members to bias the upper engaging portions towards the center of the tube. Thus, a handrest having engaging protrusions at two ends can be locked with the tubes by means of passing the engaging protrusions into the tube to engage the upper engaging portions of the locking members. The handrest becomes removable from the tubes when the lower button parts are pressed inwardly of the tubes to disengage the upper engaging portions from the engaging protrusions of the handrest.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a locking device for a detachable handrest of a stroller, which can be operated very easily for the handrest to be removed so that the stroller can be folded to a compact size for storage and transportation.




Many strollers are provided with handrests at the fronts of the seats for preventing the babies sitting in them from falling out of the strollers from the fronts, and for the babies to rest its hands on.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, a handrest is fixedly connected to the support rod of a stroller for the above mentioned purposes. However, it is found to have a drawback that it can't be removed when the stroller is folded for storage and transportation, i.e. when the stroller is folded, the handrest still fitted to it will make it unable to be folded to an ideal size. And, the handrest is likely to cause inconvenience to the user when she doesn't need it in using the stroller.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a locking device for a handrest of a stroller so that the handrest can be removed and put back.




The handrest locking device of the present invention includes two connecting tubes, and two pairs of locking members. The connecting tubes are formed ate two ends of front portion of the stroller.




The pairs of the locking members are movably received in a respective one of the tubes. The locking members have lower button parts passing through lateral holes of the tubes to show, and are pivoted to the tubes from middle portions. The locking members further have upper engaging portions movably received in recesses of inner sides of the connecting tubes. An elastic member is disposed between lower parts of each pair of locking members to bias the upper engaging portions towards the center of the connecting tube.




Thus, a handrest having engaging protrusions at two ends can be locked with the tubes by means of passing the engaging protrusions into the tubes to engage the upper engaging portions of the locking members. The handrest becomes removable when the lower button parts are pressed inwardly of the tubes for the upper engaging portions to move towards edges of the receiving recesses to disengage the engaging protrusions of the handrest.




So, the handrest can be easily removed if need be, e.g. when the stroller needs to be folded to a compact size for storage and transportation.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:




FIG.


1


. is an exploded perspective view of the locking device for a stroller handrest according to the present invention.




FIG.


2


. is a cross-sectional view of the locking device of the present invention in a locking position.




FIG.


3


. is a side view of a stroller provided with the handrest and the locking device of the present invention.




FIG.


4


. is a cross-sectional view of the locking device of the present invention in the unlocking position.




FIG.


5


. is a perspective view of a stroller with a handrest fixedly connected to it.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 3

, a locking device for a detachable handrest of a stroller according to the present invention includes two connecting tubes


41


, which are formed between front end portions of two lateral walls


47


of connecting members


4


of the stroller, and which each has two locking members


5


movably received therein. The connecting members


4


are each pivoted to a front support rod


1


, a rear support rod


2


and a handle support rod


3


at one side of the stroller as shown in FIG.


3


.




The handrest


7


has engaging protrusions


71


at two ends thereof each of the engaging protrusions


71


has an annular recess


72


on the upper end portion. The connecting tubes


41


each has two through holes


48


facing each other.




The connecting tubes


41


each has two receiving recesses


42


, and a connecting part, which includes a screw hole


43


, and two pivotal gaps


46


on two sides of the screw hole


43


. The receiving recesses


42


are formed on the inner sides of the walls of the connecting tubes


41


, facing each other. The connecting tubes


41


have stopping parts


49


on the upper ends of the receiving recesses


42


.




The connecting part is formed at a middle of the connecting tube


41


so that the screw hole


43


of the connecting part is at the center of the tube


41


.




The locking members


5


each has a pivotal part


51


, an engaging end portion


52


, a button part


53


and a positioning protrusion


54


. The locking members


5


are disposed in the connecting tubes


41


with the button parts


53


being passed through a corresponding one of the through holes


48


on the lateral walls


47


to show, and with the positioning protrusions


54


in each of the connecting tubes


41


facing each other. The positioning protrusions


54


in each of the connecting tubes


41


are passed through two ends of an elastic member


6


. The pivotal parts


51


are received in the pivotal gaps


46


of the middle connecting parts in the connecting tubes


41


; a confining element


45


is fixedly connected to the middle connecting part by a screw


44


screwed into the screw hole


43


so that the pivotal parts


51


are confined in the pivotal gaps


46


by the confining element


45


.




The parts of the locking members


5


above the pivotal parts


51


are movably received in the receiving recesses


42


of the connecting tubes


41


with the engaging end portions


52


being disposed under, and very close to, the stopping parts


49


.




Referring to

FIG. 2

, to lock the handrest


7


onto the connecting members


4


of the stroller, the engaging protrusions


71


are passed into a respective one of the upper portions of the connecting tubes


41


; the button parts


53


of the locking members


5


can be pressed at the same time to move the engaging end portions


52


towards the edge of the connecting tubes


41


for permitting the engaging protrusions


71


to be easily inserted into between the engaging portions


52


After the engaging protrusions


71


are inserted into between the engaging end portions


52


and the pressure on the buttons


53


are removed, the elastic members


6


will pivot the locking members


5


on the pivotal gaps


46


for the engaging ends


52


to move towards the center of the connecting tubes


41


to pass onto the annular recesses


72


to engage the engaging protrusions


71


of the handrest


7


. Thus, the handrest


7


is firmly attached to the connecting members


4


of the stroller. Furthermore, the stopping parts


49


can abut the engaging end portions


52


to stop the locking members


5


from moving up when the handrest


7


is lifted in the locking position, preventing the locking members


5


from getting damaged by sudden upward movement of the handrest


7


.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, to make the handrest


7


become removable from the stroller, the button parts


53


are pressed for the engaging end portions


52


to disengage the engaging protrusions


71


.




From the above description, the locking device for a handrest of a stroller of the present invention permits the handrest to be easily removed so that the stroller can be folded to an ideal compact size for saving the space of storage and the cost of transportation.



Claims
  • 1. A locking device for a handrest of a stroller, comprisingtwo connecting tubes fixedly disposed at a front portion of a stroller; two pairs of locking members, each pair of said locking members being received in a respective one of said connecting tubes; said locking members having lower button parts passing through through holes of said connecting tubes with lower positioning protrusions on other sides of said button parts being received in said connecting tubes; said locking members being pivoted to connecting parts formed in said connecting tubes from middle portions with upper portions of said locking members being movably received in a respective one of receiving recesses on inner sides of said connecting tubes; said locking member upper portions having engaging end portions; two elastic members, said elastic members being connected to lower inner sides of a respective pair of said locking members for biasing said lower button parts of said locking members outwardly of said connecting tubes, and biasing said top engaging end portions towards a center of a respective one of said connecting tubes to keep said locking members at a locking position; whereby a handrest having engaging protrusions at two ends can be detachably locked with said connecting tubes by means of passing said engaging protrusions into said tubes to engage said top engaging end portions of said locking members; said handrest being capable of being removed from said tubes when said button parts of said locking members are pressed inwardly of said tubes for moving said top engaging end portions towards edges of said receiving recesses to disengage said engaging protrusions.
  • 2. The locking device for a handrest of a stroller as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connecting tubes each have a screw hole formed in the bottom, the screw passes through a confining element and threaded into the connecting tube to stably position locking members by confining element.
  • 3. The locking device for a handrest of a stroller as claimed in claim 1, wherein pivotal gaps are formed in two lateral walls of a bottom of said connecting tube for, for pivotal parts to pivot.
  • 4. The locking device for a handrest of a stroller as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connecting tubes have a stopping part on an upper end of each of said receiving recesses to abut said top engaging end portions for stopping said locking members from moving up when said handrest is lifted under said locked position.
  • 5. The locking device for a handrest of a stroller as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower inner sides of said locking members each has a positioning protrusion sticking out therefrom, and said positioning protrusions are each passed into one of two ends of said elastic members.
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Number Name Date Kind
1851843 Inman Mar 1932 A
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4679806 Gingline Jul 1987 A
4867595 Hoffman Sep 1989 A
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5123767 Ishikura et al. Jun 1992 A
5803535 Cabagnero Sep 1998 A
6267404 Yang et al. Jul 2001 B1