GB2172637A - A warning device for push chairs - Google Patents

Abstract

A warning device 10 for attaching to a push chair 12 comprises an arm 14 attachable at one end to the frame of the push chair and carrying an eye-catching element 16 such as a brightly coloured or reflective disc at the other end. The arm is telescopically extendable and in use the disc 16 is positioned above the push chair to alert motorists to the presence of the push chair. The arm 14 can be retracted and the device pivoted to a stowed position when not in use. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A warning device The present invention relates to a warning device for a push chair.

Perambulators are large objects and, consequently, when being pushed across a road they are fairly easily seen by motorists using the road.

Push chairs, being smaller, are less easy to see.

This is especially true of the lightweight folding push chairs commonly referred to as "baby buggies".

Because such push chairs are low at the front a motorist may not notice a push chair being pushed out from a crowded pavement until it is well into the road.

The present invention arises out of an appreciation of this problem and provides a device which is simple and convenient to use and warns motorists of the presence of a push chair.

According to-the present invention there is provided a warning device for attaching to a push chair to alert motorists to its presence, comprising an arm attachable at one end to the push chair and carrying an eye-catching element on its other end, the arm being extendible so that when the device is mounted on the push chair the eye-catching element may be positioned above the level of the front of the push chair where it will attract the attention of motorists and when not in use the arm may be shortened.

Preferably the arm comprises sections which telescope. The arm is then compact and tidy when shortened.

Preferably the eye catching element is prevented from rotating about the longitudinal axis of the arm relative to the section of the arm that is attached to the push chair. This prevents the eye-catching element, which may be flat, rotating to a position in which it is not easily visible when the push chair is crossing the road. In order to prevent rotation, the telescoping sections of the arm preferably have a non-circular cross-section, the eye-catching element being rigidly fixed to one of the sections to prevent the eye-catching element from rotating about the longitudinal axis of the arm relative to the sections.

Preferably, the arm is attachable to the push chair by means of a bracket, the arm being pivotable relative to the bracket about a first axis transverse to the arm, whereby, when the bracket is attached to the push chair the arm may be pivoted about the first axis to a stowed position in which it lies alongside a part of the push chair when the device is not in use.

The device can be stowed when it is not needed.

When the device is in the stowed position it should not hinder folding of the push chair.

The device preferably further comprises a detent mechanism which retains the arm in pre-set orientations about the first axis relative to the bracket, one of the pre-set orientations corresponding to the stowed position, and another pre-set orientation corresponding to the position of the arm in use. The detent mechanism prevents the arm being moved inadvertently once its orientation has been set.

Preferably the eye-catching element is reflective and/or has a fluorescent surface and/or is brightly coloured. The arm is preferably at least 600mm long in the extended condition.

One embodiment of a warning device according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a push chair to which is attached a warning device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the warning device shown in Figure 1 on an enlarged scale, seen from the opposite side of the push chair, and with the arm of the device in the shortened condition; Figure 3 is a view of the device of Figures 1 and 2 viewed from the right as seen in Figure 2; Figure 4 shows the mounting bracket of the device viewed in the direction IV-IV of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a view of the mounting bracket from the left as seen in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a cross-section of the arm along the line 6-6 in Figure 2.

The drawings show a warning device 10 for attaching to a push chair 12 (Figure 1). The device 10 comprises an arm 14 attachable at one end to the push chair 12 and carrying an eye-catching element 16 on its other end. The eye-catching element 16 is a brightly coloured, reflective disc. The arm 14 is telescopically extendable.

When the device is mounted on the push chair 12 and the arm is extended, the eye-catching disc 16 may be positioned above the front of the push-chair 12 at approximately car bonnet height to alert motorists to the presence of the push chair 12. When the device is not in use the arm can be shortened by collapsing it, and folded against the frame of the push chair to the position shown in the chain-dotted line in Figure 1.

The arm 14 shown comprises telescoping sections 14a, 14b and 14c of a square, cross-section. Alternatively a rectangular or other non-circular crosssection could be used. The eye-catching disc 16 is fixed to the telescoping section 14c and so, by virtue of the non-circular cross-sections of the sections 14a, 14b and 14c, the disc 16 cannot rotate about the longitudinal axis of the arm with respect to the lowermost section 14a. The disc 16 is therefore maintained in the position shown in Figure 1, in which it faces to the sides of the push chair, and is visible to a motorist when the push chair is pushed across the road.

The device 10 has a bracket assembly 18 for attaching it to the push chair 12.

A detent mechanism operates between the arm 14 and an intermediate bracket 20 whereby the arm 14 can assume a number of different orientations about the pivot axis 22 relative to the bracket 20 but can only be moved between the different orientations by force.

One of the orientations corresponds to a stowed portion of the device 10 in which the arm lies alongside the frame of the push chair. When the device is in use the arm is forcably rotated through 45" about the axis of the pivot pin 24. In this position the arm extends substantially vertically from the push chair (see Figure 1). When the device is not in use, the arm may be retracted and pivoted about the axis 22 to the stowed position.

To fix the device to the push chair, a bracket 26 of plastics material is placed around a bar 28 forming part of the framework of the push chair 12. A self-tapping screw 30 is inserted through the limb 32 of the L-shaped bracket 20 and limbs 34 and 36 of the U-shaped mounting bracket 26. The screw engages in a hole in the limb 34 and is tightened to clamp the bracket 26 in position.

The edge of a plate 38 has a set of detent faces 40 inclined relative to one another about the axis of the pivot pin 24. The faces 40 lie against a detent face 42 on the second limb of the intermediate bracket 20 in respective orientations of the arm 14. The faces 36, 38 form the detent mechanism which locates the arm.

The abutment of the face 42 with one of the faces 40 maintains the orientation of the arm 14 once it has been set. The arm 14 cannot accidentally be pivoted about the axis 22 to occupy a different orientation in which a different face 40 abuts the face 42. The plate 38 and the bracket 20 are made of resilient plastics material of sufficient elasticity that the bracket 20 and the corners of the plate 38 between the faces 40 can be deformed to allow the cornerto be squeezed past the face 42. Thus the arm can be forced through 45" into a different orientation in which the next face 40 engages the face 42.

Another degree of freedom in setting the orientation of the arm 14 is provided by the mounting ofthe intermediate member 20 on the mounting bracket 26. The member 20 may be mounted on the bracket 26 in any one of a number of orientations about the axis of the screw 30, determined by a projection 44 on the bracket 26 and a corresponding recess in the member 20. The projection is shown most clearly in Figures 4 and 5.

The projection 44 has radially directed teeth or splines 46 regularly spaced around its circumference. The member 20 has a correspondingly shaped recess 47 for receiving the projection 44. The splined projection and the recess permit the intermediate bracket and the mounting bracket to be fixed together in a number of orientations but prevent relative rotation about the screw axis once so fixed.

This enables the relative orientations of the axis 22, and the bar 28 to be set.

The eye-catching element 16 shown is disc-shaped and has, on both faces, a central, circular, reflective portion 48 surrounded by a brightly coloured annulax region 50. It could howevertake many different forms and it could be decorated in many other ways, so long as it is eye-catching and will attract the attention of motorists. For example the element could be brightly coloured or fluorescent over the whole of its face, or be reflective over the whole of its face. The disc could display or have the shape of symbols such as standard road signs indicating the presence of children, or could display an appropriate slogan. The eye-catching element need not be disc-shaped. A flat plate of any shape could be used in place of the disc shown. Indeed, the eye-catching element need not be flat.A brightly coloured, fluorescent or reflective ball or other 3-dimensional object could be used. The eye-catching element might, for example, be fashioned in the form of a windmill. For convenient storage the eye-catching element may be removable from the arm.

The devices could be used in pairs, one mounted on either side of the push chair with the discs facing out to the sides of the push chair. Only the outward- ly-facing sides of the discs would then need to be eye-catching. The inwardly-facing faces could be decorated in a way which would amuse a child seated in the push chair.

Other arrangements for connecting the arm to the mounting bracket may be used. For example the provision for adjusting the orientation of the intermediate bracket relative to the mounting bracket may be omitted. In another arrangement the mounting bracket may be connected to the arm by a shaft of the type that can be bent into various shapes and retain their shape when left.

The length of the arm when extended is chosen so that the disc 16 can be positioned where it will be easily visible to a motorist. Preferably, the disc will be positioned substantially at bonnet level or at eye level for a car driver. Preferably the arm length (when extended) should be at least 600mm. The arm length chosen will also depend on the position on the push chair of the point to which it is intended to attach the device. An arm length of between 800mm and 1.1m isthoughtto besufficientto allowthedisc to be positioned at drivers eye level when the device is attached near the front of the push chair, as shown in Figure 1. The arm could be made of a different number of telescopic sections, for example four. The arm could be folding, as an alternative to being telescopic.

Claims (17)

1. Awarning deviceforattaching to a push chair to alert motorists to its presence, comprising an arm attachable at one end to the push chair and carrying an eye-catching element on its other end, the arm being extendible so that when the device is mounted on the push chair the eye-catching element may be positioned above the level of the front of the push chair where it will attract the attention of motorists and when not in use the arm may be shortened.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the arm comprises sections which telescope.

3. A device according to claim 2 in which the eye catching element is prevented from rotating about the longitudinal axis of the arm relative to the section of the arm that is attached to the push chair.

4. A device according to claim 3, in which telescoping sections of the arm have a non-circular cross-section, and wherein the eye-catching element is rigidly fixed to one of the sections to prevent the eye-catching element rotating about the longitudinal axis of the arm relative to the sections.

5. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the arm is attachable to the push chair by means of a bracket, the arm being pivotable relative to the bracket about a first axis transverse to the arm, whereby, when the bracket is attached to the push chair the arm may be pivoted about the first axis to a stowed position in which it lies alongside a part of the push chair when the device is not in use.

6. A device according to claim 5, further comprising a detent mechanism which retains the arm in pre-set orientations about the first axis relative to the bracket, one of the pre-set orientations corresponding to the stowed position, and another pre-set orientation corresponding to the position of the arm in use.

7. A device according to claim 6 in which the detent mechanism comprises first and second detent members, one of which is pivotable with the arm and the other of which is fixed against rotation about the pivot axis, a portion of the first detent member seating on different portions of the second member so as to locate the arm about the pivot axis in the different pre-set orientations, one or both detent members being resilient or resiliently mounted so that the detent members can be forcibly moved relative to one another between the positions corresponding to the stowed orientations and the orientation of the arm in use.

8. A device according to claim 7 in which the different portions of the second member comprise faces inclined relative to one another about the pivot axis.

9. A device according to any of claims 5,6,7 or 8 in which the arm is mounted on an intermediate member to pivot about the first axis, and wherein the intermediate member is attachable to the bracket in any of a set of predetermined orientations about a second axis, whereby the orientation of the first axis may be set relative to the push chair.

10. A device according to claim 9, wherein the bracket or the intermediate member carries a noncircular projection which mates with a corresponding recess in the intermediate member or bracket respectively when the member and bracket are in each of the predetermined orientations about the second axis, to prevent relative rotation about the second axis.

11. A device according to claim 10, wherein the projection is a splined projection.

12. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the eye-catching element is reflective.

13. A device according to any of the preceding claims in which the eye-catching device has a fluorescent surface.

14. A device according to any of the preceding claims in which the arm is at least 600mm long in the extended condition.

15. A device according to any preceding claim in which the eye-catching element is a disc.

16. A push chair having a warning device according to any preceding claim attached thereto.

17. A warning device substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.