US2889560A - Crib and play pen unit - Google Patents

Description

June 9, 1959 A. L. CARMAN 2,889,560

- CRIB AND PLAY PEN UNIT Filed May 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 u INVENTOR. 8/ I ALGA L. CARMAN BY FIG 2 mmwm ATTYS.

June 9, 1959 Filed May 28, 19 57 A. L. ICARMAN CRIB AND PLAY PEN UNIT FIGS FIG.6

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ALGA L. CARMAN ATTY'SR The present invention relates to a portable crib and play pen construction, and especially to an article of infant furniture adapted to have the supporting leg means provided therefor of vertically adjustable heights.

When a family has small children or babies, it is normally necessary for the family to provide both a crib and a play pen for each child. Because of the fact that many families today live in relatively small homes with small floor space, it is desirable to provide a compact play pen and crib unit that can be readily moved from place to place and serve as both crib or play pen. Efforts have heretofore been made to provide combination crib and play pen structures. In a structure of this type, the article of furniture should provide relatively high positioning of the child when the article is to be used primarily as a crib. However, when the article of furniture is to be used as a play pen, normally it is desirable to place the child down near the level of the supporting floor. It also should be realized that when the article of furniture is to be used as a crib, it is placed in a bedroom, whereas when the furniture article is used as a play pen, it would be placed on a porch, or in the living room or other room other than the bedroom. Hence, it is very desirable that such type of a unit be readily movable to and from different rooms in the house.

Many people like to confine the child or infant in a play pen type of a structure when travelling in a car. Hence, the unit of furniture of the invention preferably should be designed so that it can be placed in a car and be operatively positioned therein.

The present invention has as a general object the provision of a combination crib-play pen unit characterized by the use of vertically adjustable support legs in the structure and with such support legs being adapted to be locked in either extended or retracted positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide extensible support legs in an article of furniture in the class mentioned, which extensible legs are made from a minimum of parts and which can be safely moved between two operative positions.

Yet a further object of the invention is to position a corner post in an article of furniture and a leg support in aligned, or operative relationship, but with the support leg being readily slidable longitudinally with relation to the corner post and being permanently retained aligned with the corner post.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a locking recess in the outer surface of the support leg for engagement with a locking washer and an anchor stud member extending through a slot in the support leg and secured to nut means carried by the corner post of the support leg-corner post assembly.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds.

In order to understand the present invention completely,

atent Q reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the combination portable crib-play pen unit of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the unit of Fig. 1 with the support legs being in their retracted positions;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 is an elevation view of a corner post-support leg assembly of the invention separated from the remainder of the item of furniture;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partially broken away and shown in vertical section, of the assembly of Fig. 4 when in its extended position;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the leg and comer post assembly of Figs. 4 and 5 only with the support leg being in its retracted poistion; and

Fig. 7 is an exploded view showing the lock or engaging components for securing a support leg to a corner post.

When referring to corresponding parts of the article of the invention shown in the drawings and referred to in the specification, corresponding numerals are used to facilitate comparison therebetween.

The present invention, in general, relates to a portable crib and play pen article of furniture and which comprises an enclosure structure including corner posts, side and end enclosure means connected to and extending between the corner posts to form an enclosure therewith, legs having elongate slots therein extending longitudinally thereof, tapped anchor means carried by the corner posts, pin means secured to the corner posts spaced from the anchor means and engaging the slots in the legs, and thumbscrew means extending through the slots and engaging the anchor means and the legs for securing the legs to the corner posts, but permitting relative longitudinal movement of the legs with relation to the corner posts and being adapted to secure the legs in either of two alternate relative positions on the corner posts.

Attention now is directed to the details of the construction shown in the accompanying drawings, and a portable crib and play pen unit is indicated as a whole by the numeral 1. This unit includes an enclosure structure made from a plurality of corner posts 2, and side enclosure means 3 are secured to and extend between pairs of the corner posts 2 to aid in providing an enclosure therewith, whereas end gates or enclosures 4 are hingedly secured to the associated or opposite end pairs of the corner posts 2 and extend therebetween for folding action, as hereinafter described. Conventional hinge members 5 may be secured between sections provided in the end gates 4 so that, if desired, these end members can be folded upon themselves to aid in collapsing the crib and play pen unit to a compact position for storage or for carrying purposes.

Any suitable hinge means (not shown) can be used for securing the end members or gates 4 to the corner posts 2.

A suitable bottom closure or cover is provided in the crib and play pen unit by, for example, a floor board 6 that usually is secured by hinges (not shown) to the side means 3 in the unit 1. Usually such floor board 6 is formed in two sections to facilitate collapsing the crib and play pen unit 1 to a compact unit.

One of the side means 3a may be of reduced height in the unit 1 and it has a top section 7 hingedly secured thereto. The top section 7 can be swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 to facilitate placing an infant in, or removing the infant from the unit 1.

As a feature of the invention, a plurality of legs 8are provided for the crib and play pen unit 1. These legs 8 have longitudinally extending slots 9 therein and are adapted to be secured to the corner posts 2 in vertically adjustable relationship therebetween so as to provide a raised operative position for such unit, or to lower the unit for other use, as desired. Some suitable type of an anchor member, usually a tapped tubular anchor rivet or stud 10 is provided on each of the corner posts 2 and preferably on the inner surface thereof. Such tubular anchor stud in all events is so positioned as to be accessible for engagement with a bolt, thumbscrew, or other conventional belt or screw means, that is used for clamping the legs to their associated corner posts. Each of the corner posts 2 also has a locater member, or pin 11 secured thereto and extending therefrom in spaced relationship to each of the anchor means 10.

- .Figs 5 and 6 of the drawings best show that the slots 2 have sections in which they extend completely through the legs 8 and with the slots normally also having sections, or half slots 90, which extend only approximately half way through the legs 8, for example, and are adapted to receive the pins 11 therein when the corner posts 2 and legs 8 are in their generally superimposed positions, as shown in Fig. 6.

Figs. 5 through 7 of'the drawings best bring out that some suitable type of bolt or screw means, such as a thumbscrew 12, is provided for extending through the slots 9 in the legs for clamping the legs to the corner posts 2 by engaging the anchor means 10 therein.

As an important feature of the present invention, each of the legs 8 has at least a pair of annular upper and lower recesses l3 and 14, respectively, provided therein usually immediately adjacent the vertical margins of the sections of the slots 9 that extend completely through such legs. These annular recesses 13 and 14 are adapted to receive a lock washer therein to provide a good bearing engagement between the thumbscrew 12 and the leg 8, and also to aid in locking the legs 8 in a given position. Thus the lock washer 15 seats in one of the annular recesses 13 or 14 so that the thumbscrew 12 can extend through the slot 9 for engaging the anchor means 10. It is a feature of the invention that the pins 11 and the thumbscrews 12, or equivalent means used in the invention, are engaged with vertically spaced portions of the corner posts and legs 8 to maintain a fixed load carrying relationship between such members and to aid in holding them in axial alignment.

Preferably each of the thumbscrews 12 carries a coil spring 16 thereon and this constantly urges a washer 15 to its outermost position. Hence, as a person loosens any one of the thumbscrews 12, the associated spring 16 will urge the washer 15 outwardly to lift it from the seat in the recess 13 or 14 and facilitate releasing of the legs 8 for vertical movement to a desired new position. It will be realized that any number of vertical positions can be provided at which the legs 8 can be locked in engagement with the corner posts 2.

Fig. 7 of the drawings clearly shows that the anchor means or studs 10 can be completely embedded within the corner posts 2 to provide a smooth, attractive connection and finished appearance in the unit 1 of the invention. Normally the springs 16 urge the washers 15 out against the head or wing portion of the thumbscrews 12.

Any suitable support member, such as a caster 18, can be provided for legs 8 so that such unit can be readily rolled around on the support floor, but other conventional support means may be provided, if desired.

Any conventional lock means may be used on the end members of the crib to retain them in opened, operative positions.

As another feature of the invention, washable, smooth surfaced plastic cover strips 17 can be provided for the top portions of the side and end means of the unit 1. Such plastic strips usually have inwardly extending edge flanges 17a that are received in complementary shaped slots provided in the side and end means of the unit 1. In all events, an easily washable, attractive ql ter surface is provided for the top portion of the unit 1 and this aids in obtaining a long service life from the unit 1 while maintaining it of attractive appearance.

The pins 11 are of slightly smaller diameters than the width of the slots 9 to retain the legs against lateral movement. The recesses 13 and 14 preferably are formed at the ends of the slots 9 so that the thumbscrews 12 may abut on the ends of the main slot sections and aid in holding the legs 8 in given positions. The pins 11 may also abut on the lower ends of the half slots 9a in the lowered leg portions.

The legs 8 can be easily raised and lowered to operative positions, as desired, by means of only one lock member in each leg and yet a sturdy, safe crib and play pen unit has been provided. Note that the unit 1 of the invention can be used in a car, be readily transported, can be stored easily and have other useful features so that the objects of the invention have been achieved.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of this particular embodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A portable crib and play pen comprising an enclosure structure including corner posts, side and end enclosure means connected to and extending between said corner posts to form an enclosure therewith, bottom closure means operatively secured to said enclosure structure, legs having elongate slots therein extending longitudinally thereof, a tapped anchor member carried by each of said corner posts, pin means secured to said corner posts spaced from and below said anchor member and engaging said slots in said legs, screw means extending through said slots and engaging said anchor member and said legs to secure said legs to said corner posts, a lock washer carried by each of said screw means, and a spring engaged with each of said screw means and compressed between a said corner post and a said lock washer to urge said lock washer towards the head of such screw means, each of said legs having an arcuate recess of more than degrees in extent in the exposed surface of each of said legs at the upper end of each of said slots for receiving a said washer to lock said legs to said corner posts in fixed relative positions by tightening said screw means, said spring urging said washer out of said recess, said corner posts each having a said leg positioned in overlapped aligned relation therewith and being retained in such relative positions by a single one of said screw means and a single one of said pin means engaged with a said slot in a said leg, each of said legs being movable relative to the one of said corner posts on which it is positioned only by loosening a said screw means and releasing a said lock washer from a said arcuate recess in which it is received whereby a said leg then can be slid along its corner post.

2. A portable crib and play pen comprising an enclosure structure including corner posts, side end end enclosure means connected to and extending between said corner posts to form an enclosure therewith, bottom closure means operatively secured to said enclosure structure, legs having elongate slots therein extending longitudinally thereof, a tapped anchor member carried by each of said corner posts, pin means secured to said corner posts spaced from and below said anchor member and engaging said slots in said legs, screw means extending through said slots and engaging said anchor member and said legs to secure said legs to said corner posts, a lock washer carried by each of said screw means, and a spring engaged with each of said screw means and compressed between a said corner post and a said lock washer to urge said lock washer towards the head of such screw means, each of said legs having an annular recess in the exposed surface of each of said legs at the ends of and intersecting each of said slots for receiving a said washer to lock said legs to said corner posts in fixed relative positions by tightening said screw means, said spring urging said washer out of said recess, said corner posts each having a said leg positioned in overlapped aligned relation therewith and being retained in such relative positions by a single one of said screw means and a single one of said pin means engaged with a said slot in a said leg, each of said legs being movable relative to the one of said corner posts only by loosening a said screw means and releasing a said lock Washer from a said arcuate recess in which it is received whereby a said leg then can be slid along its corner post.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 445,951 Hine Feb. 3, 1891 McMaster June 6, 1882 1 6 Walker Apr. 12, 1892 Perry Oct. 25, 1892 Wood Aug. 9, 1898 Brunton Jan. 21, 1913 Hoogner Nov. 18, 1924 Kroll May 2, 1933 Overpeck Aug. 23, 1938 Bohlen July 1, 1941 Klazkin Nov. 28, 1950 Webb Aug. 14,1951 Graf Nov. 13, 1951 Ball May 25, 1954 Derby Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 28, 1919 Great Britain July 6, 1922

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