Patented Dec. 13, 1949 2,491;s6 -KNOGKDOWNFLAY i EN'Fo hriiLbiiEN esle J.,'Dodge, Douglaston, N. .,-'assignomo Dodge-Quip, 'I-nc.,' Ridley Pa'i'kfiPa a' cor oration of Pennsylvania Application August 15, r947,'*seris 1Nofiesszz 'S-CIaiinS.

This invention'relates to play'houses'for chiland is concerned particularly with play he s' ofjthe type which may bereadily disasnible'd after use"and packed or rolled convenitly for. ease in'transporting from place to place.

Oneobject-of the invention is to provide such a l 'play house "which may be assembled in a'variety ofangular shapes. Another object is to construct T'a frainework] of few parts which are generally inte'rchangeable. "Still'another object is to provide a play house which isdesigned to protect the "hea'lth'of a child during its use.

Other more specific objects of the invention will be apparent fromjanunderstanding of a more detailed description of the invention.

Thejinvention is'an improvement over my coj peiric'iin ailplication for Play pen, Serial No. 6'76,- j'940, filed June 15, 1946. now abandoned, in that ffewer d'ifierentparts are required and the construction lends-itself to greater flexibility.

To provide for flexibility in the design of the made up of three or more such- When the number tdprovide a play house of the desired fsfhape, preferably-a reticulated covering is-pro- *"vided" to-maintain the upper and lower frame- I members of each section rigid. In order to-adapt the play house for use particularly around'damp areas'suchas the sea shore or mountain lakes or jlfi'or use as awading pool a water resistant base or ""floor'is' provided. This canbe of any water resistantmaterial which should be secured to the-side- I jw'allsections in tight 'fittingen'gagement thereffwith to maintain the house in desired shape. It "'11s preferred that thewater're'sistant floor be pro- ;"videdwith upstanding portions of substantial "height so'thatat'least a "portion of the sidewall sections are'also made water resistant.

a more detailed understanding of them- ,v'entionreference'may be had to the accompanying1dfrawings'in'lwhich Fig. 1is a perspective view pre a houseshowing one embodiment ofthe "invention.

Figs. B end '3 are 'portions of 'Fig. '1 "enlarged to" show details.

Fig. 3 isa "diagrammatic view of the pai'ts of Fig.- 1 disassembled and rolled into aconvenient package for transporting.

Fig.- 4 is a v'ie'w"showing theplay pencom'pa'ctly arranged -and packaged for carrying.

In Fig. 1 theplay house isshown as rectangular in shape having side' sections .-A-'.=B-C-;-D. This-shape is only eic'emplarysince asmentioned *generally heretofore-the play house may take any desired shape. -Since -eac'h of the side-sections is constructed similarlyt a "description of 2 only one section-is believednecessa'ry. Referring to section A, iii indicates the 'upper" frame-member and II the lower a irame' meniber. Each of these frame members is 3 preferably made "of tubular metal Which- 15 bent at both'ends tokbe' generally 'U-shaped. 'Thebent ends -I3'ofthe upper member and the *bent: ends of the lower member aresimilarand-are ata right angle to the horizontal or interconnecting portion of the framemembers. Upright'onnecting tubes l5 are provided for receiving the bent ends of the framemembers l0 and H and the tubes [5 terminate at their upper and' lower ends in socket'portions I6 and 11 respectively, which are adapted each to receive one bent end of an upper and one bent end of a lower frame-member.

I As" shown in detail in Fig. 2 the upright connecting tubes l5 are preferably designed to terminate-in double, socket portions. Although only the .upper double socket portion is shown in Fig. 2 it is understood that the lower end of tube 15 has a similar-double socket in order that the upper and lower bent ends of adjacent framemembers' 'canbe received and held in position by one connecting tube I5, thus providing a more rig-id construction jfor 'connecting adjacent upper and lower frame-members.

In the detail shown in Fig. 3 the bent-ends l3 of adjacent upper frame-members I ll are shown somewhat spaced from the double socket 16 but when the frame-members H! are assembled the socket 6 will receive-'thebent ends l3 of adjacent members l0. Stops-S in the form of rings may 'be 'provided on the ends I3 and IA of the upper and lower frame-members Ill and II' respectively or stops S, S in the form of inwardly extending L lips may be-p'ro'vided in the socket portions I6 end I1 of the upright member l5 inzorder to f limit the extent'to whichtheends 13 and M can be inserted in"-the-=sock'ets l6 and Il and thus In constructing a play pen, any number of side-walls A, B, etc., can be formed by interconnecting the upper and lower frame-members Ill and II of each by means of the connecting tubes I and an assembly of any desired shape can be developed. After a play pen of desired shape is formed a flexible netting I8 of suitable material and a floor or base IQ of water resistant material is fitted about the assembly in a manner to provide a rigid and unitary structure.

Refer again to Fig. 1 for an explanation of the manner of assembling a play house of the present construction. The base I9 of water resistant material with its upstanding walls 20 is, by preference, secured to the netting I8 by means of a cord 22 which is passed through loops 23 of the netting. This provides a unitary covering for the base and side-walls of the play pen or play house :and will, of course, be of a form adapted to fit .over the assembled frame-members or side-walls.

In assembling the play pen two adjacent lower frame members I I are placed upon a surface with their bent ends I4 extending upwardly and an upright connecting tube I5 with a double socket portion at either end secures adjacent bent ends ;I4 together by means of lower socket I'I. Other Llower frame-members II are then juxtapositioned adjacent the first two lower frame-members (depending on the shape of play pen it is desired to assemble) and the other adjacent lower ends I4 are secured together. When the general shape of play pen is thus developed an equal number of upper frame-members are assembled with their adjacent bent ends I3 secured or held in the upper double socket portion I6 of the uprights I5. The unitary covering consisting of the side-wall netting I8 and base I9 is then pulled over the upper frame-members of the side-walls until the base I9 is positioned snugly therearound and then the free edge of the netting I8 is secured to the other frame-members, for example by clips or split rings 2I. This completes the assembly of the play pen which is then turned upside down so that the base I9 rests on a surface ready for use.

In Fig. 4 the various parts of the play pen are compactly arranged and packaged by wrapping the unitary covering including the netting I8 and base I6 therearound which may then be tied to provide a carrying handle 25. The handle or cord 25 may be passed through one of the members I5 which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 to provide a more convenient handle for carrying the packaged parts.

While in the detailed description of the drawings the elongate members Ill and II are indicated as having bent ends and the upright members I5 as having straight socket portions it is to be understood that these parts can be reversed in construction. Also while it is preferred to make the elongate members and uprights hollow they may be made solid and interconnected by socket portions.

I claim:

1. A play pen having side-walls formed of spaced upper and lower tubular members interconnected by spaced upright tubular members, said upper and lower tubular members being similar in construction and each having both ends bent generally at right angles and extending in the same direction, said spaced upright members each having a double socket portion at each end,

. one of said double socket portions being adapted to receive one bent end of each of two upper .members when they are positioned adjacent each other and the other double socket portion being adapted to receive one bent end each of two lower members when they are positioned adjacent each other, two of said upright tubular members interconnecting complemental upper and lower tubular members to form a side-wall and at least three of said side-walls being required to define an enclosure.

2. A play pen having side-walls formed of spaced upper and lower tubular members interconnected by spaced upright tubular members, said upper and lower tubular members being similar in construction and each having both ends bent generally at right angles and extending in the same direction, said spaced upright members each having a double socket portion at each end, one of said double socket portions being adapted to receive one bent end of each of two upper members when they are positioned adjacent each other and the other double socket portion being adapted to receive one bent end of each of two lower members when they'are positioned adjacent each other, two of said upright tubular members interconnecting complemental upper and lower tubular members to form a side-wall and at least three of said side-walls being required to define an enclosure in combination with a base having the general shape of and adapted to maintain the form of said enclosure and side-wall covering adapted to maintain the upper and lower members of each side-wall in position.

3. A play pen having side-walls formed of spaced upper and lower tubular members interconnected by spaced upright tubular members, said upper and lower tubular members bein similar in construction and each having both ends bent generally at right angles and extending in the same direction, said spaced upright members each having a double socket portion at each end, one of said double socket portions being adapted to receive one bent end of each of two upper members when they are positioned adjacent each other and the other double socket portion being adapted to receive one bent end of each of two lower members when they are positioned adjacent each other, two of said upright tubular members interconnecting complemental upper and lower tubular members to form a side-wall and at least three of said side-walls being required to define an enclosure in combination with a base of pliable water resistant material having the general shape of said enclosure with portions extending upwardly of the side-walls, a reticulated side-wall covering having its lower edge interconnected with the upwardly extending portion of the base and its upper edge removably secured to the upper of the side-wall members when the play pen is assembled and ready for use.

4. A play pen having a plurality of side-walls defining an enclosure, each of said side-walls being formed of horizontally spaced upper and lower elongate members and spaced upright members, said spaced upper and lower elongate members being similar in construction and each having both ends bent generally at right angles, said spaced upright members each having top and bottom double socket portions, said top socket portions being adapted to receive the upper ends of adjacent upper elongate members and said bottom socket portions being adapted to receive the lower ends of adjacent lower elongate members in order to form said side-walls into an enclosure, means cooperating with the lower of said elongate members to maintain said enclosure in 8 ceive the upper ends of adjacent upper elongate members and said bottomsocket portions being adapted to removably receive the lower ends of adjacent lower elongate members in order to form said side-walls into an enclosure, means for removably securing the upper and lower tubular side wall members together, and other means removably positioned about said lower members of the side-walls to maintain the enclosure in a predetermined shape.

WESLEY J. DODGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1892 Number