GB2340455A

GB2340455A - Baby buggy with reclining seat

Info

Publication number: GB2340455A
Application number: GB9916586A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Martin Philip Riddiford
Original assignee: Maclaren Ltd
Current assignee: Maclaren Ltd
Priority date: 1998-08-12
Filing date: 1999-07-15
Publication date: 2000-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 2019-07-15
Also published as: GB2340455B; GB9817442D0; GB9916586D0

Abstract

A baby buggy has a seat with a seat back (25) hinged at its bottom end to a seat base (26) and arranged so that the seat back (25) can be set in a range of positions from upright to fully reclined. When the seat back (25) is reclined, the top end of the seat back moves downward, pushing the seat base (26) horizontally forward.

Description

1 -2340 -55 Baby Buggies The present invention relates to push chairs for

children, and particularly to the type known as baby buggies.

Traditionally, push chairs for children have been of a perambulator ("pram") type, consisting of a boat-like gondola supported via a coachtype mounting by two pairs of relatively large wheels. In recent decades, however, a different type of child's push chair, commonly known as a baby buggy, has become popular.

The conventional construction of a baby buggy consists of two A frames linked by cross struts and having a seat located between them. Each of the two feet of each A frame has a wheel attached; one of the sloping sides of each A frame is extended at its upper end to form handle means by which the buggy can be pushed; and one of the three sides of the A frame (usually the side which extends to the handle) is hinged so that the buggy can be folded up eg for storage. In some designs of buggy, the two A frames can also be collapsed together - this is commonly termed an umbrella fold.

The seat of a buggy can vary widely. In its simplest form, the seat may be little more than a strip of material (of the type used eg for deck chairs) held by top and bottom cross-bars; with a suitable amount of slack, this sags to form a simple but adequate seat. More elaborate seats are however common, having relatively rigid back and base parts. Side parts 2 of more or less rigidity may also be provided. Foot-rests may also be provided.

It is desirable for the seat to be ad ustable, to provide an upright position for an alert child but to provide a more reclined position when the child is tired or sleepy; similarly adjustability is also desirable if children of different ages are to be carried at different times or to allow the same pushchair to be kept in use as a child grows. A fully flat or cot position is also desirable, to allow a baby to be carried. The major feature of such adjustment involves changing the angle of the seat back between near upright and near horizontal. Of course, providing adjustability of the seat must still permit the buggy to be folded up.

A simple method of providing adjustability is to hinge the seat back at its bottom edge, where it meets the seat base. However, this has the disadvantage that the top edge of the seat back moves backward by a considerable amount. It is therefore liable to cause inconvenience to the person using the buggy, who Will be standing closely behind the buggy to push it.

A major object of the present mvention is to provide a buggy in which there is little or no backward movement of the top edge of the seat back when the seat is adjusted to a reclining position.

Accordingly the invention provides a buggy including a seat comprising a seat back hinged to a seat base, the seat back being settable to a range of positions between relatively upright and fully reclined, wherein 3 the seat base is arranged to slide forward substantially horizontally as the seat back moves to the reclined position.

Preferably a first point on the seat back and partway thereup is coupled to the frame of the buggy by coupling means so as to move vertically, a second point on the seat back partway between the first point and the bottom edge thereof is coupled to the frame by a hinged bar so as to move diagonally forward and downward, and the seat base is slidably mounted on the frame to move horizontally.

Preferably the hinged bar extends upward beyond the seat back to form an X linkage therewith, an upper horizontal bar is hinged to the top end of that bar, and a vertical link bar is hinged between the forward ends of the upper horizontal bar and the seat base.

Preferably also the coupling means comprises a bar extending rearward from the seat back and a further horizontal bar is provided, hinged at one end to the forward end of the upper horizontal bar and sliding at its back end on the further horizontal bar.

It will of course be realized that the terms horizontal and vertical are used only to indicate rough directions.

A baby buggy embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. I is a diagrammatic side view of the main structural components of a buggy; 4 Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the bar assembly for supporting the seat; Fig. J3) is a perspective view of the complete buggy in the cot position, and; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the complete buggy in the unreclined seating position.

Fig. 1 is a simplified side view of a basic buggy, showing the A frame. This frame consists of a front sloping bar 10, a rear sloping bar 11, and a bottom horizontal bar 12. The front and rear bars 10 and 11 have wheels 13 and 14 attached to their lower ends, as shown. The front bar 10 is also extended and curved at its upper end to provide a handle IOA, which may consist of a suitable termination of the bar or of a cross-bar between the two A frames, which is able to collapse together as the buggy is folded. As shown, the front sloping bar 10 is also curved at its lower end to bring the wheel 13 backward somewhat, and the rear sloping bar 11 is curved at its upper end to bring its junction with the front sloping bar 10 downward somewhat.

The bars 10-12 are attached to each other by hinged pivots 15-17 as shown. In addition, the front bar 10 has a lockable hinge 18 located roughly midway between the pivots 15 and 17. This hinge 18 can be locked in the position shown, ie with the bar 10 straight, holding the A frame rigidly in the configuration shown. It can also be released, allowing the front bar 10 to fold inward as indicated by arrow 19, to collapse the frame and allow the buggy to be folded into a compact form for storage. In addition, the cross-bars and other elements may be lockably hinged so that the buggy can be folded by having its two A frames pushed together as well as by the folding of the individual A frames.

The buggy comprises two A frames, one for each side, which are kept apart by cross struts 70, 71 which is locked out and released to unfold and fold the buggy respectively by means of a standard "music stand" arrangement 72, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In addition, a seat 20 is mounted between the two A frames, being suitably attached to the frames and/or cross struts. The simplest form of seat consists of little more than a strip of flexible cloth, but many more elaborate versions are possible. A padded and shaped seat supported by rigid members around its upper edges may be used, and may contain rigid flat elements to give it greater strength and to maintain its shape, or a substantially rigid plastics moulding may be used, somewhat like a child's car seat. Also, if the seat contains reasonably rigid members, it will usually be formed as two portions which are relatively rigid or maintain their shape reasonably well but are hinged together or otherwise flexibly coupled together so that the seat folds with the folding of the A frames.

Fig. 2 is a simplified diagram of the seat structure of the present buggy. The seat structure consists of two matching bar assemblies, each attached to a respective one of the two A frames; extending between these two bar assemblies there are seating members on which a child actually rests. The drawing shows one of the two bar assemblies.

The bar assembly comprises two main members, a back bar 25 and a base bar 26, which are hinged together by a hinge 27. A back seating member extends between the back bars of the two bar assemblies, and a base seating member extends between the base bars of the two bar assemblies.

6 The back bar 25 is coupled to the rear sloping bar 11 of the A frame by a bar 28, which is hinged to the back bar 25 by a hinge 29 and to the A frame bar 11 by a hinge 30 as shown. The base bar 26 is coupled to the A ftame by a slide 24 which allows the bar 26 to slide. The slide 24 is mounted on the A frame m the region of the hinge 17, and can conveniently be mounted on the bar 12. Further, there is a bar 3 1, hinged at 32 on the A frairne bar 12, and hinged near its midpoint by a hinge 33 3 to a point on the back bar 25 roughly midway between hinges 27 and 29. Hinge'33 is in fact mounted on the bar 12 but located slightly above the bar, as shown.

The bar 28 is roughly horizontal, so its pivoting about the hinge 330 results M the hinge 29 at its other end movmg roughly vertically. Hinge 29 is roughly vertically above hinge 3 2. The bar 3) 1 and the section of the bar 25 between hinges 27 and 29 therefore form an X linkage. As hinge 29 moves downward, closer to hinge 32, so hinge 27 moves horizontally forward. The forward horizontal movement of hinge 27 slides the base bar 26 forward through the slide 24. Since hinge 27 moves roughly horizontally, the base bar 26 remains roughly horizontal.

The bar assembly as described so far can thus be operated to rotate the back bar 25 from the near-upright position to the near-horizontal, with the base bar 26 remaining roughly horizontal but sliding forward at the same time. The seat held between the two bar assemblies is thus movable between the upright and roughly flat positions.

Returning to the bar 3 1, the other end of this bar is hinged by a hinge 34 to a bar 35 which extends forward roughly horizontally, and is coupled 7 to the end of the base bar 26 by a bar 36 hinged to the bars 26 and 35 by hinges 37 and 38. Bars 26 and 35 are roughly the same length. As the seat is moved toward the reclining or flat position, the X linkage of bars 25 and 3 1 causes hinge 34 to move forward, so that it remains roughly above hinge27. The bar 36 linking the ends of bars 26 and -335 ensures that bar 35 remains roughly horizontal and moves roughly parallel with bar 26. (As the seat is moved toward the reclined position, hinge 34 will move downward as well as moving forward with hinge 27, so the rearward end of bar 35 will in fact tilt slightly downward at the same time as the bar moves bodily forward.) A final bar 39 is hinged to bars 35 and 36 at hinge 38, and extends backward to end in a slider 40 which slides on the bar 28. This bar may be slightly curved, as shown, to keep it clear of the bars 28 and 35, and may carry a dependent shield (not shown) located between the A frame and the bar assembly, to protect and conceal the bar assembly mechanism (or parts of it).

When the seat is in the fully upright position, the two bars 25 and 331 of the X frame are not far from coincident, with hinges 29 and 34 being close to each other and hinges 27 and 32 being close to each other. The A frame and the bar assembly together form, roughly, two similar parallelograms, one formed by hinges 16, 30, 29, and 32 and the other formed by hinges 27, 34, 38, and 37. If the A frame is folded up with the seat in this upright position, these two parallelograms collapse together, with the bars 28, 35, and 39 moving roughly as a unit forward and downward to lie against bars 12 and 26.

8 If the bar 26 is allowed to move freely, ie unconstrained by the rest of the bar assembly, and is rotated clockwise in the slider 24, the hinge 27 at its rear end will bear against the A frame bar 12 is the bar 26 and limit its rotation. When the A frame is fully open, the hinge 27 will in fact be in contact with the bar 12 only if the seat is in the fully upright position. From this position, the folding of the bar assembly is as described above. If the seat is not in the fully upright position, however, the hinge 27 will be somewhat above the bar 12. The folding of the bar assembly will then occur in two stages.

In the first stage, the parallelogram formed by hinges 16, 30, 29, and 32 will gradually collapse; the two bars 25 and 31 of the X frame will remain at the same angle to each other, with the X frame (ie these two bars 25 and 3 1) rotating bodily anticlockwise. This movement will move the hinge 27 at the bottom front comer of the X frame downward. Eventually, this hinge will contact the bar 12. The second stage of the folding then starts. Since hinge 27 cannot move ffirther downward, it moves backward, sliding along the bar 12. This causes the bar 25 to rotate faster than the bar 3 1, so bringing these two bars toward alignment.

The first stage of folding is thus different for each different setting of the seat position, but the second stage is common to all settings. The different settings cause the assembly to initially follow a set of distinct but parallel first trajectories, so to speak, with each of these trajectories ending at a different point on the common second trajectory.

Unfolding is of course the reverse of folding. More specifically, the bar assembly Will unfold along the common second trajectory, to the fully 9 upright position; the seat can then be manually adjusted to a desired partially or wholly reclining position.

The bar assembly must also, of course, include some means for locking it into a desired position. As discussed below, a convenient place for this mechanism is at the hinge 33. The locking mechanism may be designed to lock the bars 25 and 31 rigidly together, in which case it will normally of course have to be released to fold the mechanism. However, in normal circumstances the seat will always tend to move toward the reclining position. The locking mechanism may therefore alternatively be a ratchet type mechanism which is settable to prevent the seat from moving further toward the fully reclined position but allows it to move the other way to the upright position. This allows the seat to be folded without the locking mechanism having to be released.

It Will of course be realized that the details of the structure can be varied slightly from those described above. For example, the bar 25 may be slightly curved between the hinges 27 and 29, with hinge '33 lying slightly rearward of the straight line between hinges 27 and 29, and hinge 33 may not lie exactly at the midpoint of either or both the arms of the X frame. Also, the operation has been described above in simplified and slightly idealized terms.

Fig. 3 shows the compete buggy in the cot mode. with the seat back 25 being arranged to form the bottom of the cot. This is achieved by the releasing the seat back from the back bar 25 and allowing it to fall downwardly from the back bar 25. In the cot position the back bar is not quite horizontal but is slightly inclined and the seat back falls below the back bar 25 in a pivoting action about the hinge 27 with the seat so that the seat back is horizontal and is then the cot base. The upholstery on the side of the seat back is tailored to extend to form the side of the cot between the back bar and the seat back/cot base. An additional detachable hood 80 is added to the firont end, that is the seat end, of the cot, to form the complete pram M this mode.

Fig. 4 shows the complete buggy in the seating mode with the seat back not inclined. The seat back may be inclined to a variety of inclinations and the buggy may be folded m any reclined position or in the cot position.

11

Claims

Claims

I A buggy including a seat comprising a seat back (25) hinged to a seat base (26), the seat back being settable to a range of positions between relatively upright and fully reclined, wherein the seat base is arranged to slide forward substantially horizontally as the seat back moves to the reclMed position.

2 A buggy according to claim I wherein a first point (29) on the seat back and partway thereup is coupled to the frame of the buggy by coupling means (28) so as to move vertically, a second point (33) on the seat back partway between the first point and the bottom edge thereof is coupled to the frame by a hinged bar (3 1) so as to move diagonally forward and downward, and the seat base is slidably mounted (at 24) on the frame to move horizontally.

3 A buggy according to claim 2 wherein the hinged bar (3 1) extends upward beyond the seat back to form an X linkage therewith, an upper horizontal bar (35) is hinged to the top end (34) of that bar, and a vertical link bar (36) is hinged between the forward ends of the upper honzontal bar (35) and the seat base (26).

4 A buggy according to claim 3 wherein the coupling means (28) comprises a bar extending rearward from the seat back and a ftirther honzontal bar (39) is provided, hinged at one end (38) to the forward end of the upper horizontal bar and sliding at its back end (40) on the further horizontal bar.

12 A foldable baby buggy substantially as herein described and illustrated.

6 Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 4H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).

13 A ?- f 'j 0 C.'% i 0 %.k C- I- i-A % --% -, V<.ft, f ( rr F-3 1- %- F0 AN I A buggy including a seat comprising a seat back (25) hinged to a seat 5 base (26), the seat back being settable to a range of positions between relatively upright and fully reclined, wherein the seat base is arranged to slide forward substantially horizontally as the seat back moves to the reclined position.

2 A buggy according to claim I wherein a first point (29) on the seat back and partway thereup is coupled to the frame of the buggy by coupling means (28) so as to move vertically, a second point (33) on the seat back partway between the first point and the bottom edge thereof is coupled to the frame by a hinged bar (3 1) so as to move diagonally forward and downward, and the seat base is slidably mounted (at 24) on the frame to move horizontally.

It I A buggy according to claim 2 wherein the hinged bar (3 1) extends upward beyond the seat back to form an X linkage therewith, an upper horizontal bar (35) is hinged to the top end (34) of that bar, and a vertical link bar (36) is hinged between the forward ends of the upper horizontal bar (35) and the seat base (26).

4 A buggy according to claim 3) wherein the coupling means (28) comprises a bar extending rearward from the seat back and a further horizontal bar (39) is provided, hinged at one end (38) to the forward end of the upper horizontal bar and sliding at its back end (40) on the further horizontal bar.

14, A foldable babY buggy substantially as liercin clescribed an(l illustrated with reference toFigs. 2 to 4..