Safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6306066
  • Patent Number
    6,306,066
  • Date Filed
    Monday, June 19, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 23, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Crow; Stephen R.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker includes two opposite planks, a main body and a pressing board. The main body is provided with a lateral opening in the front wall for receiving an elastic article and a stopping button. In the top of the main body is provided with an upper room for the elastic article and the stopping button and an operating block to be placed in. The lower section of the operating block is placed in the hollow of the stopping button, and a fixing pin is used to penetrate through the passing holes of the main body and the long hole of the operating block so as to make the operating block be pivotally assembled with the main body. The operating block can be operated by one finger to make the stopping button be withdrawn inward for the pressing board to be moved by another finger at the same time so as for the pressing board and the main body as well as the supporting skeleton being shifted together to choose one of the ratchets on the two planks provided in the bottom of the upper plate for the catch portion to catch and fix. When the operating block being released, the stopping button will protrude outward by the elasticity of the elastic article to stop against the pressing board again.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker, more particularly to a safety-control device which can be conveniently operated by one hand to adjust the height and fix the position of the upper plate of a baby walker so as to prevent a baby in the baby walker from being hurt by the rapid fall of the upper plate.




2. Description of the Related Arts




Referring to

FIG. 1

, a baby walker is generally composed by a base frame


10


, a supporting skeleton


20


and an upper plate


30


. The height of the upper plate


30


can be adjusted according to the height of a baby carried in the baby walker. A conventional height-adjusting device for a baby walker is disposed between the bottom of the upper plate


30


and the supporting skeleton


20


. The conventional height-adjusting device includes a positioning board


40


, a slidable retaining member


50


and a pressing board


60


.




Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the positioning board


40


is provided to secure to the bottom of the upper plate


30


. The positioning board


40


is integrately made of plastic, and a reinforce board


401


is provided on the top surface of the positioning board


40


to add intensity. In both ends of the positioning board


40


are respectively provided with long holes


402


for screws to penetrate through so as to secure the positioning board


40


to the bottom of the upper plate


30


. Several hollow blocks


403


are provided in equal distances on the reinforce board


401


. In the top surface of each hollow block


403


is provided with a passing hole


404


for a screw


405


to penetrate through to screw each hollow block


403


to the bottom of the upper plate


30


so as to make the positioning board


40


be firmly secured to the bottom of the upper plate


30


, as shown in FIG.


3


. On the top surface of each hollow block


403


and in accordance with each passing hole


404


is provided with an annulus


406


so as to make each screw


405


be firmly screwed to the bottom of the upper plate


30


by the close attachment of each annulus


406


. A slant surface


407


is provided on one side of each hollow block


403


.




The slidable retaining member


50


is provided to mount on the supporting skeleton


20


, and the pressing board


60


is pivotally provided on the slidable retaining member


50


. When the pressing board


60


being pressed, the slidable retaining member


50


can be released to choose any one of the hollow blocks


403


to adjust the height of the supporting skeleton


20


as well as the upper plate


30


. After the pressing board


60


being released, the slidable retaining member


50


will be caught and fixed in the chosen hollow block


403


. When the pressing board


60


being pressed again, the slidable retaining member


50


can move out the hollow block


403


from the slant surface


407


to choose another hollow block


403


to be caught in so as to adjust the height of the supporting skeleton


20


as well as the upper plate


30


.




Although the height of the baby walker with the above-mentioned conventional height-adjusting device can be easily adjusted, it is easy for the baby carried in the walker or another baby to happen to press the pressing board


60


to make the slidable retaining member


50


depart from one of the hollow blocks


403


and loose the function of fixing. Consequently, the upper plate


30


will fall down rapidly, the baby in the baby walker will be frightened and even hurt.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In view of the drawback of the prior art mentioned above, an objective of this invention is to provide a safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker which can be easily operated by one hand to adjust the height and fix the position of the upper plate of the baby walker so as to prevent a baby from being frightened and hurt by the rapid fall of the upper plate.




Accordingly, a safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker in the present invention includes two opposite planks, a main body and a pressing board. The main body is provided with a lateral opening in the front wall for receiving an elastic article and a stopping button. In the top of the main body is provided with an upper room for the elastic article and the stopping button and an operating block to be placed in. The lower section of the operating block is placed in the hollow of the stopping button, and a fixing pin is used to penetrate through the passing holes of the main body and the long hole of the operating block so as to make the operating block be pivotally assembled with the main body. The operating block can be operated by one finger to make the stopping button be withdrawn inward for the pressing board to be moved by another finger at the same time so as for the pressing board and the main body as well as the supporting skeleton being shifted together to choose one of the ratchets on the two planks provided in the bottom of the upper plate for the catch portion to catch and fix. When the operating block being released, the stopping button will protrude outward by the elasticity of the elastic article to stop against the pressing board again. Thus, the safety-control device can adjust the height and fix the position of the upper plate so as to prevent the upper plate from rapidly falling down by the accident press of the pressing board.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a baby walker;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of a positioning board of a conventional height-adjusting device for a baby walker;





FIG. 3

is a side sectional view of a conventional height-adjusting device being operated;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of a baby walker being provided with the safety-control device of height adjustment in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 5

is an assembled perspective view of the safety-control device of height adjustment in the present invention;





FIG. 6

is an exploded perspective view of the main body of the safety-control device of height adjustment in the present invention;





FIG. 7

is an assembled perspective view of the main body in the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a side sectional view showing the pressing board being stopped by the stopping button in accordance with the present invention; and,





FIG. 9

is a schematic side sectional view showing the safety-control device being operated by one hand in accordance with the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIG. 4

, a baby walker is composed by a base frame


10


, a supporting skeleton


20


and an upper plate


30


. A safety-control device of height adjustment in the present invention is disposed between the upper plate


30


and the supporting skeleton


20


. The safety-control device of height adjustment is assembled by two opposite planks


1


, a main body


2


and a pressing board


3


. The opposite planks


1


are provided to secure to the bottom of the upper plate


30


. One lateral rod of the supporting skeleton


20


successively penetrates through the pressing board


3


and the main body


2


.




Referring to FIGS.


5


,


6


and


7


, each of the two planks


1


is provided with several ratchets


11


and a groove


12


. The main body


2


is provided with two flanged boards


21


on both sides so as to respectively protrude into the groove


12


of each plank


1


. Thus, the main body


2


and the pressing board


3


can move straight together. The main body


2


and the pressing board


3


are connected because of being respectively hooked by one end of a spring. The pressing board


3


can move and restore to the original position because of being pivotally mounted on the lateral rod of the supporting skeleton


20


and the elasticity of the spring. A catch portion


31


on the bottom of the pressing board


3


is provided for catching and fixing any one of the ratchets


11


so as to adjust the height of the supporting skeleton


20


as well as the upper plate


30


.




The characteristic improvement of the safety-control device in the present invention lies in the main body


2


. Referring to

FIGS. 6 and 7

, the main body


2


is provided with two flanged boards


21


on both sides so as to respectively protrude into the groove


12


of each plank


1


, and the main body


2


is provided with a lateral opening


22


in the front wall for receiving an elastic article and a stopping button


24


. In the top of the main body


2


is provided with an upper room


23


for the elastic article, the stopping button


24


and an operating block


25


to be placed in. On the inner rear wall of the upper room


23


is provided with a flange


231


for the stopping flange


252


of the operating block


25


to rest on, and a hole


232


is provided in the inner rear wall of the upper room


23


for receiving one end of the elastic article. The stopping button


24


is provided with a hole


241


in the outer rear wall to receive one end of the elastic article and is provided with a hollow


242


for receiving the lower section of the operating block


25


. On the bottom of the operating block


25


is provided with a catching flange


251


, a long hole


253


is provided in the lower section of the operating block


25


, and the stopping flange


252


is provided on the rear wall of the operating block


25


. After the elastic article and the stopping button


24


being inserted into the lateral opening and secured in the upper room


23


, the lower section of the operating block


25


is placed in the hollow


242


of the stopping button


24


, and a fixing pin is used to penetrate through the passing holes of the main body


2


and the long hole


251


of the operating block


25


so as to make the operating block


25


be pivotally assembled with the main body


2


. Therefore, the stopping button


24


can be moved out of the lateral opening


22


or withdrawn in the upper room


23


because of the operation of the operating block


25


and the elasticity of the elastic article.




Referring to

FIG. 8

, when the operating block


25


is not operated (in released condition), the stopping button


24


can stop against the pressing board


3


so as to make the catch portion


31


of the pressing board


3


firmly catch one of the ratchets


11


and thus to fix the position of the upper plate


30


. If it is necessary to adjust the height of the upper plate


30


, referring to

FIG. 9

, the operating block


25


is operated by one finger to make the stopping button


24


be withdrawn inward for the pressing board


3


to be moved by another finger at the same time. After the pressing board


3


and the main body


2


as well as the supporting skeleton


20


being shifted together to choose one of the ratchets


11


for the catch portion


31


to catch and fix, the operating block


25


is released to let the stopping button


24


protrude outward by the elasticity of the elastic article to stop against the pressing board


3


again. Accordingly, the height of the upper plate


30


can be adjusted, and the position of the upper plate


30


is also firmly fixed.




Therefore, the device in the present invention is provided with a safety control because the operating block


25


and the pressing board


3


must be operated at the same time to adjust the height of the upper plate


30


. Besides, the position of the upper plate


30


can be effectively and firmly fixed so as to prevent the upper plate


30


from rapidly falling down by the accident press of the pressing board


3


.




While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A safety-control device of height adjustment for a baby walker comprising:two opposite planks being provided to secure to the bottom of the upper plate of a baby walker, each of said opposite planks being provided with several ratchets and a groove; a main body being provided with two flanged boards on both sides so as to respectively protrude into said groove of each plank, a lateral opening being provided in the front wall of said main body for receiving an elastic article and a stopping button, in the top of said main body being provided with an upper room for said elastic article and said stopping button and an operating block to be placed in, on the inner rear wall of said upper room being provided with a flange for the stopping flange of said operating block to rest on, in the inner rear wall of said upper room being provided with a hole for receiving one end of said elastic article, said stopping button being provided with a hollow for receiving the lower section of said operating block and being provided with a hole in the outer rear wall to receive one end of said elastic article, a catching flange being provided on the bottom of said operating block, in the lower section of said operating block being provided with a long hole, a stopping flange being provided on the rear wall of said operating block, after said elastic article and said stopping button being inserted into said lateral opening and secured in said upper room, the lower section of said operating block being placed in said hollow of said stopping button, a fixing pin being used to penetrate through passing holes of said main body and said long hole of said operating block so as to make said operating block pivotally assembled with said main body, and said stopping button able to be moved out of said lateral opening or withdrawn in said upper room because of the operation of said operating block and the elasticity of said elastic article; and, a pressing board being connected with said main body by being respectively hooked by one end of a spring, said pressing board and said main body being successively penetrated through by one lateral rod of the supporting skeleton of a baby walker, said pressing board able to move and restore to the original position by being pivotally mounted on said lateral rod of the supporting skeleton and the elasticity of said spring, a catch portion on the bottom of said pressing board being provided for catching and fixing any one of said ratchets, when said operating block is operated by one finger to make said stopping button withdraw inward, said pressing board is moved by another finger at the same time as said pressing board and said main body as well as the supporting skeleton being shifted together to choose one of said ratchets on said two planks for said catch portion to catch and fix, when said operating block being released, said stopping button protruding outward by the elasticity of said elastic article to stop against said pressing board again.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
4759541 Chen Jul 1988
5324064 Sumser et al. Jun 1994
5351978 Chen Oct 1994
5447319 Huang Sep 1995
5820527 Lai Oct 1998