CA2774860C - Combined baby entertainment centre and reversible infant table - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention concerns a combination baby entertainment centre and infant's table. A baby/infant's seat, through which the child's legs pass and which secures the child up to his or her chest, is situated within a circular void found in the centre of a flat, rigid larger circular surface/play space, supported by wooden legs extending downward and outward. The seat is attached to the play space by means of a turntable bearing, which allows a baby or infant seated therein to turnabout by means of either hand or foot action. The play space is occupied by any number of baby or infant toys or implements, allowing for variation in the location and type of toys or implements selected. Located between the play space and lower surface is another flat plane, the height of which may be adjusted by means of inserting attachment members for the flat plane into any of three alternate attachment holes prepared into the supporting wooden legs, which serves as an adjustable surface reached by the legs of the child. The entire design is capable of being inverted thereby causing the lower space to become a tabletop. In so doing, the previous play space is detached by means of disengaging a custom bracket system. The result is an infant's table with three styled legs. The in between space may be kept and used as a shelf.

Description

. , COMBINED BABY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE AND REVERSIBLE INFANT TABLE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technical Field The present invention relates to a dual baby entertainment centre and infant table. More specifically, the invention relates to an entertainment centre with a support base that is designed to be inverted and thereby transformed into a tabletop.
Description of the Related Prior Art Infant exercisers have been innovated over the course of more than the past century. Early designs, such as U.S. Patent No. 839681, issued to Voight Sr., on December 25, 1906, generally described an early baby walker. Following a number of updates, that invention was further refined in U.S. Patent No. 2,665,742, issued to Starysky, on January 12, 1954, whereby a baby walker was combined with a high chair that would allow an infant to eat or play with anything placed on an attached shelf.
U.S. Patent No. 4,743,008, which issued to Fermaglich et al., on May 10, 1988, generally included a frame adapted for stationary placement on a floor or other support surface and a seat and treadmill assembly revolvably mounted on the frame. The treadmill is suspended beneath the seat so that an infant supported in the seat can exercise his or her legs by walking on the treadmill without moving the frame.

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2 U.S. Patent No. 5,302,163, which issued to Fermaglich et al., on April 12, 1994, generally included an infant seat within the exerciser capable of rotating about its own axis of rotation, whereby an infant in the seat can walk along a circular path and/or turn in place.
U.S. Patent No. 5,518,475, which issued to Garland on May 21, 1996, generally included an infant seat within an exerciser surrounded by a track located along the perimeter of the play space that permits the attachment of preset toys.
U.S. Patent No. 6,817,864, which issued to Martinez on November 16, 2004, generally included an infant motor skill developmental aid apparatus that utilized the traditional play space and support base setup. In a variation to the design, the support base could be curved to permit rocking or to remove the rocking feature, the support base could be detached and discarded, if desired.
Canada Patent No. 2,454,100, which issued to Refsum et al., on October 27, 2009, generally included a baby changing table that could be reconfigured or set to various heights so that it could potentially function as a desk.

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3 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Existing baby/infant activity centres and exercisers are all comprised of a lower base and an upper tray with an opening for the child. The lifespan of current devices is limited by their usefulness in their singular purpose. The herein invention significantly extends the usefulness of the centre by permitting it to be transformed from an entertainment centre to a table. The achieved transformation involves inverting the device and detaching the original play space, a transformation technique and innovation that does not presently exist in any related product.

4 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 depicts a perspective view of the combination activity centre in its initial configuration, with the stationary play surface appearing at the top.
Figure 2 depicts a perspective view of the inversed combination activity centre with the stationary play surface being detached from the activity centre.
Figure 3 depicts a perspective view of the final table and shelf configuration of the activity centre, following detachment of the stationary play surface.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the drawings, in its original configuration as an entertainment centre (Fig.
1/3), a baby/infant 1 is placed into a seat 4, which is situated within a circular void found in the centre of a flat, rigid larger circular surface/play space 3, supported by wooden legs extending downward and outward 2. The seat is attached to the circular surface/play space by means of a turntable bearing 9, which allows a baby or infant seated therein to turnabout by means of either hand or foot action. The play space is occupied by any number of baby or infant toys or implements. Located between the play space and lower surface 8, is another flat shelf plane 5, the height of which may be adjusted by means of inserting attachment members 6 for the flat plane into any of three alternate attachment holes 7 prepared into the supporting wooden legs, which serves as an adjustable surface reached by the legs of the child. By inverting the entire . .
design (Fig. 2/3), the lower space becomes a tabletop 8. In so doing, the previous play space 3 is detached by means of disengaging a custom bracket system 10. The resulting configuration (Fig. 3/3) is now a children's table with an optional shelf 5, at which a child 11 may choose to sit or stand.

Claims

A combination activity centre for use, initially, as an infant entertainment centre, in which an infant is situated in a leather seat attached to a void in the centre of a play surface by means of a turntable bearing, supported by three wooden legs that extend down to a lower, flat surface that serves as a shelf above a base, which subsequently may be inverted, and by detaching the initial top play surface, what remains is a children's table, with the previous base becoming the tabletop.