Upper corner element of a baby bed

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6721971
  • Patent Number
    6,721,971
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, February 5, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 20, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Luu; Teri Pham
    • Conley; Fredrick
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A baby bed has four upper corner elements joined to horizontal and vertical rods. Each upper corner element includes a main body, and an ornamental cover detachably fitted over the main body; the main body has a connecting hole on a bottom extension, and the ornamental cover has a hook for engaging the connecting hole of the main body. Two ends of the main body are formed with narrow slots, and two ends of each horizontal support rods are formed with thin and flat shape; the horizontal support rods are inserted into the slots of the main body at the plate-shaped end portions, and pivotally connected to the main body with pivotal pins. Dimensions of the baby bed can be reduced when it is in a folded position because the slots of the main body occupy relatively little space as compared with a round hole.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an upper corner element of a baby bed, more particularly one, which consists of a main body for connection to horizontal and vertical support rods of the baby bed, and an ornamental cover detachably fitted over the main body; the main body is formed with narrow slots, and the horizontal support rods are formed with plate-shaped ends so that the upper corner element can be reduced in width.




2. Brief Description of the Prior Art




Upper corner elements, which usually have a right angle in the middle, are provided to baby beds for connecting horizontal support rods to vertical support rods of the baby beds. Conventional upper corner elements are made with a single part and a single color therefore they don't have additional functions, e.g. being ornamental, besides connecting horizontal support rods to vertical support rods of baby beds. And, conventional upper corner elements are made with round connecting rooms at two ends for cylindrical horizontal support rods to be inserted into therefore they are relatively wide, and in turn, baby beds can't be reduced to satisfactorily compact size when they are in the folded position owing to the size of the upper corner elements.




Another form of upper corner elements are provided to baby bed, which consist of an inner main body and an ornamental cover securely fitted over the main body; the ornamental cover and the main body are formed of different colors and with more curvatures between the joints so that the upper corner elements are more attractive. However, such upper corner elements are still relatively wide for the same reasons described above, and in turn, baby beds equipped with them can't be reduced to satisfactorily compact size when they are in the folded position. And, the ornamental cover can't be detached from the main body therefore the users have to replace a whole upper corner element with a new one even if only one of the parts is damaged, causing waste of money.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to provide an upper corner element to a baby bed, which includes an inner main body for connection to upper horizontal support rods of a baby bed; the main body is formed with narrow slots, and the horizontal support rods are formed with plate-shaped ends so that the upper corner element can be reduced in width, not causing problems to providing a baby bed that is compact in the folded position.




It is another object of the present invention to provide an upper corner element to a baby bed, which includes an inner main body, and an ornamental cover, which easily separably fitted over the main body for allowing the upper corner element to be maintained easily.




It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an upper corner element to a baby bed, which has a cover separably fitted over an inner main body; the cover is tightly pressed against the main body at the edges of lateral walls thereof to have no apertures left at the joints therefore babies or children can't insert objects between the cover and the main body to cause damage to the corner element. And, the holding cloth part of the baby bed always covers the horizontal support rods even though the baby bed is in the folded position because the present upper corner element is used for fixing the upper corners of the holding cloth part in position.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a baby bed of the present invention,





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of the upper corner element of a baby bed according to the present invention,





FIG. 3

is a perspective view of the upper corner element of a baby bed according to the present invention,





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view of the upper corner element of a baby bed according to the present invention,





FIG. 5

is a side view of the upper corner element of the present invention,





FIG. 6

is another cross-sectional view of the upper corner element of a baby bed according to the present invention; and,





FIG. 7

is a view showing the way the upper corner element of the present invention is disassembled.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIGS. 1

to


4


, an upper corner element


1


of a baby bed according to the present invention includes an inner main body


11


, and an ornamental cover


12


;




The main body


11


is formed with a single part, and has an angle at a middle thereof, an insertion hole


111


in the middle, two lateral walls


112


, a bottom joined to the lower ends of the lateral walls


112


, slots


113


between first ends of the lateral walls


112


as well as between second ends of the lateral walls


112


, strengthening ribs


114


projecting from the lateral walls


113


, aligned holes


115


on the first ends and the second ends of the lateral walls


112


, an inward extension portion


116


projecting from the bottom thereof, a connecting hole


117


formed on the inward extension portion


116


of the bottom, and an outer extension portion


118


also projecting from the bottom thereof; the bottom is also formed with slots for allowing insertion of plate-shaped objects into between the lateral walls


112


; the strengthening ribs


114


are provided for increasing the strength of the main body


11


; the insertion hole


111


is provided for connection to an upper end of a vertical support rod


2


of a baby bed.




The ornamental cover


12


is made with a single part, and has an angle in a middle thereof like the main body


11


, and outward and inward lateral walls


121


, which define holding rooms (not numbered) between first ends thereof and between second ends thereof. The ornamental cover


12


further has a hook


122


on a lower end of an inner one of the lateral walls


121


.




An upper frame part


3


of a baby bed has to be provided with such horizontal support rods


31


as are shown in the figures in order for allowing the upper corner element.


1


of the present invention to be used; each horizontal support rod


31


has insertion end portions


311


at two ends, which are in the form of a plate, and are relatively thin as compared with the middle cylindrical portions of the rods


31


; each insertion end portion


311


has a through hole


312


.




In combination, first, two horizontal support rods


31


, including the insertion end portions


311


, are inserted into respective upper tube-shaped portions of a holding cloth part


4


. Then, the horizontal support rods


31


are inserted into respective ones of the slots


113


of the main body


11


at insertion end portions


311


thereof, and pivotal pins


110


are passed through the through holes


312


and the holes


115


so that the horizontal support rods


31


can pivot on the upper corner element


1


; the upper tube-shaped portions of the holding cloth part


4


and a small portion of the holding cloth part


4


adjacent to them will be also inserted into the slots


113


therefore they cannot separate from the upper corner element


1


. Finally, the ornamental cover


12


is fitted over the main body


11


with the hook


122


engaging the connecting hole


117


of the main body


11


; the inward lateral wall


121


of the cover


12


will be tightly pressed against the extension portion


116


of the main body


11


while the outward lateral wall


121


will be tightly pressed against the extension portion


118


of the main body


11


.




To detach the ornamental cover


12


from the main body


11


, the hook


122


is first pressed for the cover


12


to be disengaged from the connecting hole


117


.




From the above description, it can be easily understood that the upper corner element of a baby bed of the present invention has advantages as followings:




1. The ornamental cover


12


can be easily separated from the main body


11


therefore the former can be replaced with a new one if it is damaged, i.e. the present upper corner element is more economical to use.




2. The consumers can choose among different color ornamental covers to match the main body and the baby bed.




3. Because the upper tube-shaped portions of the holding cloth part


4


are inserted into the slots


113


of the main body


11


, the holding cloth part


4


can cover the horizontal support rods


31


even though the baby bed is in the folded position. In other words, the horizontal support rods


31


won't show to affect the appearance of the baby bed badly.




4. The upper corner element occupies smaller space than the prior art one because the main body


11


is formed with narrow slots


113


for the plate-shaped ends


311


of the horizontal support rods


31


to be inserted, not causing problems to providing a baby bed that is compact in the folded position.




5. The cover


12


is tightly pressed against the main body


11


at the edges of the lateral walls


121


to have no apertures left at the joint therefore the present upper corner element can emit the feeling of solidity.



Claims
  • 1. An improvement on an upper corner element of a baby bed, comprisinga main body joined to an upper end of a vertical support rod of a baby bed at a middle portion; the main body being shaped to have a right angle at the middle portion; the main body including juxtaposed inward and outward lateral walls, a bottom joined to the lower ends of the lateral walls, and slots between first ends of the lateral walls as well as between second ends of the lateral walls; the bottom having inward and outward extension portions projecting from it; the inward extension portion of the bottom having a connecting hole; the bottom having slots right under the slots between the lateral walls; and, an ornamental cover detachably fitted over the main body; the ornamental cover being shaped to have a right angle in a middle portion; the ornamental cover having juxtaposed inward and outward lateral walls defining holding rooms at first ends thereof and at second ends thereof for receiving the main body therein; the ornamental cover having a hook on a lower end of an inner one of the lateral walls for engaging the connecting hole of the main body; horizontal support rods of the baby bed being inserted into the slots of the main body at plate-shaped end portions thereof, and pivotally connected to the main body with pivotal pins; a holding cloth part, which is hung on the horizontal support rods, being inserted into the slots of the main body at upper ends of edges thereof together with the plate-shaped end portions of the horizontal support rods so that it is secured to the main body; lower ends of the lateral walls of the ornamental cover being tightly pressed against respective extension portions of the bottom of the main body.
  • 2. The upper corner element of a baby bed as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lateral walls have strengthening ribs projecting from them.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
5752283 Arens May 1998 A
6430762 Cheng Aug 2002 B1
6467108 Wang Oct 2002 B1