GB1560299A

GB1560299A - Pushchairs

Info

Publication number: GB1560299A
Application number: GB53229/76A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: JANE CABAGNERO R
Current assignee: JANE CABAGNERO R
Priority date: 1975-12-30
Filing date: 1976-12-21
Publication date: 1980-02-06
Also published as: ES217944Y; DE2658663A1; CA1073795A; NL184044C; CH595804A5; FR2336900A1; BE849946A; DE2658663C3; NL7614224A; ES217944U; FR2336900B1; IT1107710B; DE2658663B2; NL184044B

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN PUSHCHAIRS (71) 1, Rabn6N JANÉ CABAGNERO, a Spanish citizen, of 203 Cartagena Street, Barcelona, Spain, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a Patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to pushchairs for infants, of the stick kind in which the frame is folded by bringing together its side members and is more particularly concerned with seat backs for such pushchairs.

As those skilled in the art will be aware, the backs of the seats used in pushchairs of the stick type are usually constituted by a flexible sheet of canvas, plastics or the like, and this is unsuitable for supporting a child's back due to the fact that it is insufficiently stiff and tends to sag so that the child's back acquires a bowed posture.

The present invention aims to overcome this drawback in the seat backs of such pushchairs.

According to the invention, there is provided a pushchair of the stick kind in which the frame is folded by bringing together its side members and in which the seat comprises a sheet of pliable material secured to the frame and forming the seat proper and a seat back extending upwardly from one edge of the seat, wherein the seat back is provided with a plurality of substantially flat rigid elongate memhers, said members being covered by respective front and rear sheets of pliable material which are attached to one another and are arranged to hold said components in spaced relationship in such a manner that,-in the erected position of the pushchair, the elongate members are substantially co-planar and, during folding of the pushchair, the spaces between said elongate members permit said members to be displaced from said plane to permit a side folding action of the seat back to take place.

Preferably, a sheet of foam material is provided between at least one side of the elongate members and the sheet of pliable material on that side of said elongate members.

The front and rear sheets are desirably made of plastics material. Plates may be provided at the side edges of said seat back, which plates are covered by said sheets to form wings extending from the seat back. The sheets of pliable material may be extended at the lower edge of the back seat to form the seat of the pushchair.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a seat back for a pushchair according to the invention in the unfolded condition; Figure 2 illustrates a cross-sectional detail of the seat back again in the unfolded condition; and Figure 3 illustrates the seat back in plan view in the folded condition.

Referring to the drawings, the seat back consists of a laminar assembly having a certain rigidity, comprising a series of elongate members in the form of rectangular slats or plates 1 of a material of suitable stiffness such as plastics, wood, alu- minium or some other convenient material. These elongate members 1 are arranged side by side and in the erected condition of the pushchair are substantially co-planar as shown in Figs. -1 and 2. On the rear face of said members a flexible sheet 2 of plastics material is applied, whilst the front face of the elongate members 1 is provided with a moulded sheet of foam material 3 on top of which is secured a flexible plastics sheet 4. The flexible plastics sheets 2 and 4 are connected together around their edges by a heat-sealing operation so that they completely cover the elongate members 1 and the moulded sheet 3.In fact, the said sheets, at the zones corresponding to the sides of the seat back, are extended to cover two rigid plates and corresponding moulded sheets to form protective wings 5, the said sheets 2 and 4 continuing at the botom end to form a seat portion 6.

The flexible sheets 2 and 4 are attached by a heat-sealing operation to the moulded sheet 3 at the zones of separation between the elongate members 1, in the manner shown in Figure 2, that is to say along linear zones 7 where the laminar assembly is reduced in thickness to enable the said members to articulate in relation to one another so that the seat back can be folded laterally by bending at said thinned zones, the folding taking place in zig-zag fashion in the manner shown in Figure 3.

The folding in fact takes place when a pushchair on which the seat is mounted is itself folded by the moving together of the opposite side members of the frame, these members incorporating sections 8 of the handles or the back support, the wheel stubs etc., in the usual fashion.

The seat back, once folded, occupies a very much reduced amount of space and when unfolded has sufficient rigidity to comfortably support the back of a child seated on the seat portion 6.

The arrangement of the elongate members 1 and their numbers, may vary, and the zig-zag folding formation may acquire some other configuration which differs from that illustrated in Figure 3. Also, the seat back may have lateral wings having a different shape from that illustrated, and it is of course possible for no such wings to be present at all.

In its essentials, the invention may be put into effect in other embodiments differing purely in terms of detail from that indicated here by way of example, and the protection sought for the invention extends equally to such other embodiments.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A pushchair of the stick kind in which the frame is folded by bringing together its side members and in which the seat comprises a sheet of pliable material secured to the frame and forming the seat proper and a seat back extending upwardly from one edge of the seat, wherein the seat back is provided with a plurality of substantially flat rigid elongate members, said members being covered by respective front and rear sheets of pliable material which are attached to one another and are arranged to hold said components in spaced relationship in such a manner that, in the erected position of the pushchair, the elongate members are substantially coplanar and, during folding of the pusE- chair, the spaces between said elongate members permit said members to be displaced from said plane to permit a side folding action of the seat back to take place.

2. A pushchair according to claim 1, wherein a sheet of foam material is provided between at least one side of the elongate members and the sheet of pliable material on that side of said elongate members.

3. A pushchair according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said front and rear sheets are made of plastics material.

4. A pushchair according to any preceding claim, wherein plates are provided at the edges of said seat back which plates are covered by said sheets to form wings.

5. A pushchair according to any preceding claim, wherein the sheets of pliable material are extended at the lower edge of the seat back to form th seat of the pushchair.

6. A pushchair of the stick kind having a seat back substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. of foam material 3 on top of which is secured a flexible plastics sheet 4. The flexible plastics sheets 2 and 4 are connected together around their edges by a heat-sealing operation so that they completely cover the elongate members 1 and the moulded sheet 3. In fact, the said sheets, at the zones corresponding to the sides of the seat back, are extended to cover two rigid plates and corresponding moulded sheets to form protective wings 5, the said sheets 2 and 4 continuing at the botom end to form a seat portion 6. The flexible sheets 2 and 4 are attached by a heat-sealing operation to the moulded sheet 3 at the zones of separation between the elongate members 1, in the manner shown in Figure 2, that is to say along linear zones 7 where the laminar assembly is reduced in thickness to enable the said members to articulate in relation to one another so that the seat back can be folded laterally by bending at said thinned zones, the folding taking place in zig-zag fashion in the manner shown in Figure 3. The folding in fact takes place when a pushchair on which the seat is mounted is itself folded by the moving together of the opposite side members of the frame, these members incorporating sections 8 of the handles or the back support, the wheel stubs etc., in the usual fashion. The seat back, once folded, occupies a very much reduced amount of space and when unfolded has sufficient rigidity to comfortably support the back of a child seated on the seat portion 6. The arrangement of the elongate members 1 and their numbers, may vary, and the zig-zag folding formation may acquire some other configuration which differs from that illustrated in Figure 3. Also, the seat back may have lateral wings having a different shape from that illustrated, and it is of course possible for no such wings to be present at all. In its essentials, the invention may be put into effect in other embodiments differing purely in terms of detail from that indicated here by way of example, and the protection sought for the invention extends equally to such other embodiments. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A pushchair of the stick kind in which the frame is folded by bringing together its side members and in which the seat comprises a sheet of pliable material secured to the frame and forming the seat proper and a seat back extending upwardly from one edge of the seat, wherein the seat back is provided with a plurality of substantially flat rigid elongate members, said members being covered by respective front and rear sheets of pliable material which are attached to one another and are arranged to hold said components in spaced relationship in such a manner that, in the erected position of the pushchair, the elongate members are substantially coplanar and, during folding of the pusE- chair, the spaces between said elongate members permit said members to be displaced from said plane to permit a side folding action of the seat back to take place.