EP0561670A1 - Play den - Google Patents

Abstract

Play pen consisting of four panels (1) comprising top rails (2) and bottom rails (3) joined by a plurality of vertical rails (4), said rails (2, 3) being hinged together by deformable tubes (5) with hollow ends which are fitted over the ends of the rails (2, 3),characterised in that a compression spring is placed inside the tube (5) such that at the point where the tube bends there is neither wear nor breakage and the pen takes shape automatically. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to playpens.

It is known to manufacture playpens consisting of four panels hinged to each other comprising twelve hinges at very precise locations. This park has the disadvantage of being complicated to manufacture because of the hinges which also represent a danger for the child who risks pinching his fingers.

French patent 2,422,367 has solved these various problems by connecting the four panels of a fleet to one another by deformable elements, said panels being held at 90 ° by mobile spacers.

When these deformable elements are pieces of hollow rubber tube which are fitted on the ends of the upper and lower bars which constitute the fleet, they end after a certain number of operations of shaping or folding the park by wearing out at the place of folding and the rubber ends up splitting. In addition, to block the panels at 90 ° to each other, it is necessary to use spacers arranged in each corner of the park, which represents a shaping and / or disassembly of the park relatively long since it is necessary to position or remove all the spacers in the park.

In addition, it turns out that some children, by dint of pulling and pushing said spacers in all directions, end up detaching them, which has the effect that the playpen is no longer rigid.

The last drawback lies in the fact that the bottom of the park rests directly on the ground, it is therefore necessary to remove the child from the park if we want to move said park from one room to another without dismantling it.

According to variant embodiments provided for in patent FR 2,422,367, the hollow tubes can be replaced by solid tubes of square or round section which are inserted into the ends of the upper and lower bars, or by flexible rectangular blades which are placed in mortises provided at the ends of the bars. This solves the problem of the life of the elastic elements but the operations of shaping or dismantling the park remain long due to the manipulation of the spacers.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improvement to the playpen described in said patent 2,422,367 and relates to a playpen for children having the advantage of being easy to handle, dismountable and easily movable while not risking being dismantled inopportune the child there.

This park consists of four panels, comprising upper and lower bars connected by a plurality of vertical bars, which are hinged to each other by deformable tubes whose ends are hollow and which are fitted on the ends of the lower and upper bars . According to the invention, there is a compression spring inside the tube so that at the point of bending the tube, there is no wear or breakage and that the elasticity of the means of panel bonding tends to keep the park in the unfolded form.

The four park panels are kept blocked at 90 ° to each other thanks to a floor that is placed at the bottom of the park. This floor is held at the bottom of the park by cleats or a molding suitably arranged along the lower bars. This floor is also made up of two equal parts hinged or not hinged to each other so that it suffices to remove it and bring the diagonally and horizontally opposite corners of the tubes together to fold up the park so that 'it only forms one panel.

The park floor is made of a rigid material, for example wood, so that it is not necessary to take the child out of the park to move the whole from one room to another.

Preferably, to avoid bending of the panel or panels constituting the floor, one or more shims are placed below said floor.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, there are bars in the corners of the park in order to reduce the space between the bars, which are generally wider at these places.

• la figure 1 est une vue de 3/4 de face du parc,
• la figure 2 est une vue partielle en perspective d'un coin du parc,
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe du tube déformable,
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective de dessus du parc,
• la figure 5 est une vue à plus grande échelle du fond du parc,
• les figures 6a et 6b illustrent le pliage du parc,
• la figure 7 est une vue semblable à la figure 3 représentant une variante de réalisation du tube déformable,
• la figure 8 représente l'extrémité d'un barreau d'angle,
• la figure 9 est une vue semblable à la figure 4 représentant le parc obtenu suivant la variante de réalisation.

The invention will be better understood from the description which follows given by way of nonlimiting example with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is a 3/4 front view of the park,
• FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a corner of the park,
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the deformable tube,
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view from above of the park,
• FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the bottom of the park,
• Figures 6a and 6b illustrate the folding of the playpen,
• FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing an alternative embodiment of the deformable tube,
• FIG. 8 represents the end of a corner bar,
• Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the fleet obtained according to the alternative embodiment.

According to Figure 1, the park consists of four panels 1 each comprising an upper bar 2 and a lower bar 3 of equal length and diameter. The bars 2 are connected to the bars 3 using a plurality of vertical bars 4 of diameter at most equal to said bars 2, 3.

The panels 1 are articulated to each other by deformable tubes 5, which are fitted at their ends to the bars 2, 3 according to a known method.

According to the invention, a compression spring 8 is arranged inside each deformable tube 5 (Figure 3). These compression springs 8 ensure the preservation of the tubular shape of each deformable tube 5 by preventing said tube from having a fold line when the park is folded.

By this arrangement, deformable elements are provided for connecting the panels which are not likely to split during the numerous folding and shaping operations of the fleet and thus to become unusable.

The tubes 5 and their internal spring 8 constitute the means by which the panels are articulated and assembled to each other and therefore form, when the park is unfolded, the four corners of said park.

The arrangement according to the invention of springs 8 inside each deformable tube 5 provides elastic joints tending to open in order to bring the deformable tube 5 back into a rectilinear arrangement. These elastic joints arranged at each corner of the playpen have the effect of firmly holding the playpen open in the shape it must have, which was not the case with the playpen described in patent 2,422,367.

However, these elastic joints alone are not sufficient to prevent any deformation of the open play when a force is applied to one of the four panels 1, for example a pressure exerted on one of the bars by a child shaking it.

So that the panels 1 remain positioned at 90 ° from each other while being blocked in this position, the present invention provides for depositing a floor 6 of wood or other rigid material at the bottom of the park.

According to Figure 4, this floor 6 consists of two equal parts 6a, 6b hinged or not hinged to each other, which allows to deposit or remove it easily.

In FIG. 5, it can be seen that the floor 6 is held at the bottom of the playpen by means of cleats 7 arranged along the bars 3, on which it rests. The tabs 7 are arranged against the bottom wall of the bars 3, a housing is thus created generally in the form of a wedge between the rounding of the bar 3 and the cleat in which the edge of the floor can be positioned. The floor is thus held in place, which makes it entirely advantageous to move the playpen from one room to another, leaving the child there.

Preferably, instead of the cleats 7 of FIG. 5 arranged from place to place, a molding or strip 9 is provided over the entire length of each of the four lower bars 3 as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 5. The floor thus being able to support over its entire perimeter, it is possible to use a floor that is thinner and therefore lighter than when using separate cleats.

In addition, because the panels are thus supported over the entire length of their edge it is no longer necessary to articulate them to one another by a hinge, this saves weight and reduces the price of park according to the invention.

In this case, it is preferable to provide shims below the floor (not shown) to prevent it from bending in the middle.

As shown in Figure 6, it is enough to fold the park to bring the tubes 5 closer to each other than the corners which are diagonally opposite; the park will then only consist of two panels 1 (Figure 6a); by continuing the same operation, that is to say by bringing the tubes 5 closer to the two corners which are horizontally opposite, there is then obtained only one panel (FIG. 6b) which is maintained by attaching the bars together . In order for the park to resume its shape, it will then suffice to let go of the bars held between them, to allow the springs 8 positioned in the deformable tubes 5 to act.

The advantage of the park according to the invention is that it can be folded or unfolded without risk of wear of the corners thanks to the compression springs 8 contained in the tubes 5, and that moreover the folding of the park in a single panel is made quickly which allows the park to be transported without difficulty or bulk, the shaping of the park being done automatically by the return effect caused by the springs 8.

As will have been understood, the invention makes it possible to provide a park of very simple use and not presenting a danger for the young children for whom it is intended. In addition, this park can be completely made up of parts with a round section, therefore very little aggressive towards children and to which they can easily hang on.

In the alternative embodiment shown in Figures 7 to 9 is put in place a vertical bar 40 in the corners of the park. This bar 40 generally has the same shape as the bars 4 but is adapted to be fixed to the deformable tubes constituting said corners.

This arrangement makes it possible to solve the problem occurring in a good number of parks, which is that constituted by the fact that the space between the two bars 4 framing the corner of the park is generally wider than that provided between two consecutive bars 4 of each panels. This large space can be dangerous for the child who risks passing his head through it.

The bar intended to be positioned in a corner therefore fixed to a deformable tube has, as shown in Figure 8, a nozzle 43 formed of a foot 41 and a flattened head 42. The deformable tubes 50 in which must be fixed such corner bars 40 are generally similar to the deformable tubes 5 previously described, the only difference consists in the fact that an opening 51 arranged at half their length is formed in their wall.

The opening 51 and the foot 41 of the endpiece 43 have similar diameters while the flattened head 42 is wider. Said opening 51 and the end piece 43 are cylindrical and can have any desired section, for example circular, square ...

The tube 50 being provided deformable and therefore made of a flexible material such as rubber, the head 42 of the nozzle 43 is inserted into the tube 50 through the opening 51 by deforming said tube 50 in order to enlarge the opening . The bar 40 is then made integral with the tube 50 with the foot 41 of the nozzle positioned in the opening 51 and the flattened head 42 in abutment against the internal face of the tube.

The bars 40 of course have a tip 43 at each of their ends.

Advantageously, the installation of such bars 40 in the corners is thus very easily and makes it possible to propose a park in which all the free spaces between the bars are of sufficiently small size so that a child cannot pass their head between bars. In addition, this ability to reduce the free space in the corners allows to provide longer deformable tubes therefore more flexible and even less fragile during folding.

Claims (9)

Playpen consisting of four panels (1) comprising upper bars (2) and lower bars (3) connected together by a plurality of vertical bars (4, 40), said bars (2, 3) being hinged together to the others by deformable tubes (5, 50) whose ends are hollow and which are fitted on the ends of the bars (2, 3), characterized in that inside the tube (5, 50) is arranged a compression spring (8) in such a way that there is no wear or breakage at the point where the tube is folded and the park is automatically shaped. Playpen according to claim 1, characterized in that the four panels (1) are kept blocked at 90 ° during the shaping of the playpen by means of a floor (6) placed at the bottom of the playpen. Playpen according to claim 2, characterized in that the floor (6) is held at the bottom of the playpen by means of cleats (7) arranged along the edges (3). Playpen according to claim 2, characterized in that the floor (6) is held at the bottom of the playpen by a molding or strip (9). Playpen according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the floor (6) is formed by two equal parts (6a, 6b) hinged or not hinged to each other so that it suffices to remove said floor (6) and bring the tubes (5, 50) first of the diagonally opposite corners and then the tubes (5, 50) of the horizontally opposite corners to fold the park so that it only forms a single panel (1). Playpen according to any one of Claims 2 to 5, characterized in that wedges thick are arranged below the floor (6) so as to prevent it from sagging. Playpen according to any one of Claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the floor (6) consists of a rigid material, for example wood, so that it is no longer necessary to take out the child of the park to move the whole from one room to another. Playpen according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that bars (40) are fixed to the deformable tubes (50). Playpen according to Claim 8, characterized in that the said bars (40) have an end piece (43) formed by a foot (41) and a flattened head (42) and in that an opening (51) disposed at half their length, is formed in the wall of the deformable tubes (50).

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