GB2223717A

GB2223717A - A pushchair provided with means to facilitate the negotiation of obstacles

Info

Publication number: GB2223717A
Application number: GB8817213A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Simon Colin Powell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-07-20
Filing date: 1988-07-20
Publication date: 1990-04-18
Also published as: GB8817213D0

Abstract

A foldable pushchair has an extra pair of wheels between the front and rear wheels, the extra pair of wheels being pivotable into contact with the ground to aid climbing kerbs. The child sits in a removable pad 6 which can also be used as a car seat, feeding seat or as part of a baby bouncer. <IMAGE>

Description

Integrated Infant Transport System This invention relates to the field of infant transport and security in a variety of situations.

Situation. Traditional prams and pushchairs do not fit in with the modern lifestyle, being bulky and hard to store.

Lightweight alternatives tend to suffer from a number of drawbacks. Storage of shopping etc. is very hard, resulting in parents hanging bags on the pushing handles. This causes the buggy to tip over. Where sufficient stability is provided against this event, the pushchair then becomes very hard to tip up to climb kerbs, and the small wheels can get trapped in the gutter.

After use, pushchairs are folded down and the infant is then disturbed whilst it is relocated in a car seat. The pushchair then has to be collapsed, which usually involves considerable manipulation, with the construction method of rivetted tubes offering many traps for unwary fingers.

When the very small infant is removed to the home environment it is often placed in a baby bouncer, which should offer adequate lumbar support, but usually does not. As the infant grows, it becomes necessary to also carry a high chair when visiting friends and relatives, for feeding purposes.

According to the present invention there is a seating podcontaining a seat and rigid frame which may firstly be fitted to an articulated chassis. Referring to Figure 1 this chassis consists of two sections with a pivot (1). During normal use this pivot is locked by a detent mechanism, and operates as a normal frame with four wheels. Operation of the release mechanism allows the pivot (1) to swing free and the pivot axle (2) to come into contact with the ground. Figure 2 shows the chassis in this position (2i) and being raised over a kerb (2ii) . The rear portion of the chassis (3) is sprung to return to the normal position, and the detent is self locking. The release mechanism is operated from the control handle (4). The rear wheels (5) are preferably pivoted with a castor angle, to allow easier manouevering.

When the chassis has negotiated the obstacle, the chassis returns to its normal operationg position (2iii). The seating pod (6) is demountable by the operation of a lever (7), which locks onto four locating dowels (8). These dowels are preferably in a square to allow location at 90 degree intervals.

The seating Pod (6) consists of a seat (9), an angular adjustment mechnaism (10) and a rigid subframe (11), which contains the locking mechanism. Any method of locking to the dowels may be used. The wheelbase of the chassis can be made longer than normal, thereby preventing overtipping when force is applied to the pushing handle (4). Releasing the seating pod (6) allows the chassis to. be 'folded into a neat package as; shown in Figure 3. The Seating pod can then be fitted into vehicle, secured by strong fabric straps, terminating in metal clips which locate onto the subframe (11) Figure 4 shows that the seating pod (6) can also be fixed to a feeding chair frame (12) for mounting on a table or into a baby bouncer (13).

Figure 5 shows that the seating pod subframe (11) can be detached from the seat and used to carry a pram body (14)

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An integrated system for the transport of infants in a variety of situations comprising a seating module with a flexible chassis able to pivot upon a secondary axle in such a manner as to alter the wheelbase of the mechanism and so gain mechanical advantage.
2. A seating pod able to be fitted to the chassis as claimed in Claim 1 and thence directly into a car seat.
3. A flexible chassis as claimed in Claim 1 which is sprung to return to a locked position after operation of the flexible section.
4. A carrier as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the pivotally-secured, arm-mounted trailing wheel set is spring loaded into its ''normal'' endposition.

4. A flexible chassis as claimed in Claim 1 which is released from the locked position and bent by operation of the control handle acting upon the forward part of the chassis.

5. A system as claimed in Claim 1 with components to convert the seating pod into a feeding chair.

6. A system as claimed in Claim 1 with components to convert the seating pod into a baby bouncer.

7. A seating pod as claimed in any preceding claim which can be carried by an adult by the use of a fabric strap.

8. An integrated infant transport system utilising a flexible chassis substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1-5 of the accompanying drawings Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1 X wheeLed-load carrier-which incucles-a- chassis.. comprising a bed mounted on three sets o-fwBeels there being a leading wheel set, an arm mounted trailing wheel set pivotally secured to the bed with the pivot axis parallel to the wheel axles, whereby the chassis can articulate around the pivot axis between two end positions, and an intermediate wheel set secured relative to the bed at a position intermediate the leading and trailing wheel sets, such that chassis articulation causes the intermediate wheel set to pass through a tangent drawn between the leading and trailing wheels; whereby in use with the chassis articulated at one end position the leading and trailing wheel sets support the bed, while with the chassis articulated in the other end position the intermediate and trailing wheel sets can support the bed.

2. A carrier as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each wheel set has two wheels.

3. A carrier as claimed in either of the preceding Claims, wherein the leading wheel set is arm-mounted.