GB2232385A - Folding pushchairs - Google Patents

Abstract

The pushchair 10 includes a back rest which is preferably formed of a single sheet 26 of a resilient plastics material such as 3mm thick polycarbonate or 2mm thick ABS so that the back rest is supportive when the pushchair 10 is erected and is flexed when the pushchair 10 is collapsed into a compact form for storage; the resiliency of the sheet 26 is such that the back rest returns to its flat supportive condition when the pushchair is re erected. The sheet comprises flexible plastics or fabric covers 34 and 36 and a layer 32 of cushioning material. Apertures 28 are provided to receive a safety harness and slots 30 facilitate flexing. <IMAGE>

Description

Folding Pushchairs The present invention relates to folding pushchairs which are capable of use especially but not necessarily by infirm or disabled children whose postures need to be stabilised by back rests which are more supportive than the flexible fabric back rests found in typical folding pushchairs.

Hitherto, there have been three basic kinds of folding pushchairs with supportive back rests, all of which have been in some way unsatisfactory.

It is known for the supportive back rest to form part of a non-collapsible body support shell moulded to present seat, side and back portions formed integrally with one another. However, the body support shell must first be removed if the remainder of the pushchair is to be capable of being folded from an erected condition to a collapsed condition.

In an alternative, the supportive back rest is arranged to be folded over the seat whilst maintaining its shape, but the pushchair is still comparatively bulky even after having being collapsed.

A much more compact arrangement can be achieved if the supportive back rest is provided with a rigid board insert which is removed when the pushchair is to be folded to its collapsed condition. A particular disadvantage associated with this kind of folding pushchair, however, is that removal of the rigid board insert might also involve the removal of other attachments, such as a safety harness and posture stabilisation fittings. Removal of the rigid board insert can thus be time-consuming and can result in clinically important items being left off permanently for convenience.

An aim of the present invention has been to provide a folding pushchair which has a supportive back rest when erected or opened for posture stabilisation but can nevertheless be simply collapsed or closed into a compact form for storage.

A folding pushchair according to the present invention comprises a resilient back rest which is supportive when the pushchair is erected and is flexed when the pushchair is collapsed.

Preferably, the back rest includes a single sheet of a resilient material rather than a plurality of separate parallel strips of a resilient material. It is convenient for the resilient material to be a plastics material. The plastics sheet may be of a generally rectangular outline and may be arranged to flex about a line parallel to and nearer to one of its short sides.

To enhance the flexing, a plurality of parallel slots may extend longitudinally from said short side, which would advantageously be located at or near a junction of the back rest and a seat upon which the user is to sit. To enhance the comfort for the user, the back rest may be padded and more particularly the plastics sheet may be covered by foam cushioning on that face thereof to be leant against by the user. The exposed face of the foam cushioning and the exposed face of the plastics sheet may be hidden by respective front and rear layers of fabric or plastics covering which are secured to one another around their edges. If there are slots through the plastics sheet, the layers of the fabric or plastics covering may also be secured to one another along the slots.It should also be noted that the back rest may be capable of being tilted forwards and backwards and yet may retain a desired configuration relatively to the seat.

A folding pushchair according to the present invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of the folding pushchair when erected showing a longitudinal section through its unflexed back rest in enlarged detail; Figure 2 is a side view of the folding pushchair when collapsed showing a longitudinal section through its flexed back rest in enlarged detail; Figure 3 is a rear view of the folding pushchair when erected; Figure 4 is a transverse section through the back rest taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3; and, Figure 5 is a plan view of a major component of the back rest shown in Figures 1 to 4.

A pushchair 10, especially for use by an infirm or disabled child, includes a folding framework of any convenient kind such as one of those disclosed in our British patent 2180203. The pushchair 10 is substantially symmetrical about its longitudinal or front to back axis so that each side view is a mirror image of the other. It will thus be appreciated that there are a pair of front wheels 12 connected to a pair of rear wheels 14 by a pair of side frames 16. The details of the structure joining the side frames 16 is not relevant.

However, it will be seen that the side frames 16 are spanned by, inter alia, a handle 18 and a reassurance bar 20. The framework so far described carries a seat 22 and a back rest 24 which are opened away from one another during use and closed towards one another during storage.

In accordance with the present invention, the back rest 24 is resilient so that it is supportive when the pushchair 10 is erected and is flexed when the pushchair 10 is collapsed.

The resiliency is achieved by the provision of a sheet 26 of a plastics material, such as 3 mm thick polycarbonate or 2 mm thick ABS. As shown in Figure 5, the plastics sheet 26 is of generally rectangular outline including four apertures 28 for receiving a safety harness. There are also four parallel slots 30 extending from one of its short sides for facilitating the flexing of the plastics sheet 26 from its flat condition of Figure 1 to its curved condition of Figure 2. The area of flexing is roughly where the transverse section of Figure 4 has been taken through Figure 3. The resiliency of the plastics sheet 26 means that, when the pushchair 10 is re-erected from the particularly compact collapsed condition of Figure 2, the back rest 24 returns to the initial shape of Figure 1, in which the user of the pushchair 10 is provided with posture stabilisation.

As shown particularly clearly in Figure 4, as well as in the enlarged details of Figures 1 and 2, the plastics sheet 26 has a layer of foam cushioning 32. The front face of the foam cushioning 32 is itself covered by a flexible plastics cover 34 which is secured around its edges and along the slots 30 to another flexible plastics cover 36 covering the rear face of the plastics sheet 26.

The covers 34 and 36 can be replaced by fabric and stitched into position and can be secured to or integrally formed with further covers for the seat 22.

The angle of posture, that is to say the internal angle between the seat 22 and the back rest 24 when the pushchair 10 is erected, can be maintained at, for example, 900 by the provision of a pair of flexible side stays 38 of substantially triangular outline, each of the side stays 38 being secured to the adjacent edges of the seat 22 and the back rest 24.

As shown particularly clearly in Figure 1, the angle of the back rest 24 to the vertical can be adjustable.

Each of the side frames 16 may include a plate 40 with a slot having a series of indents 42 therealong into which an arm 44 at each side of the back rest can be inserted.

However, as an alternative to such a deck chair type of adjustability, the adjustability could be provided by a screw fitting for tightening against a pivotable member.

Claims (8)

1. A folding pushchair corrisincj a resilient back rest which is supportive when the pushchair is erected and is flexed when the pushchair is collapsed.

2. A folding pushchair according to claim 1, in which the resilient back rest is formed of a single sheet of a resilient material.

3. A folding pushchair according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the resilient back rest is formed of a plastics material.

4. A folding pushchair according to any preceding claim, in which the resilient back rest is formed with apertures therethrough for use in receiving a safety harness.

5. A folding pushchair according to any preceding claim, in which the resilient back rest is formed with a plurality of parallel slots therethrough extending in a direction perpendicular to a line of flex.

6. A folding pushchair according to any preceding claim, in which the resilient back rest has a face thereof covered by foam cushioning.

7. A folding pushchair according to claim 6, in which the resilient back rest with the form cushioning is sandwiched within respective front and rear layers of fabric or plastics covering which are secured to one another around their edges.

8. A folding pushchair substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.