US2804631A

US2804631A - Adjustable crib side

Info

Publication number: US2804631A
Application number: US562496A
Authority: US
Inventors: Levin Harold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-01-31
Filing date: 1956-01-31
Publication date: 1957-09-03
Anticipated expiration: 1974-09-03

Description

Sept. 3, 1957 H. LEVIN ADJUSTABLE CRIB SIDE Filed Jan. 31, 1956 I INVENTOR. 4 33 HAROLD LEVIN ATT'Y ADJUSTABLE CRIB SHOE Harold Levin, Chicago, Ell.

Application January 31, 1956, fierial No. 562,496

8 (Ilairns. (Cl. -1429) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 466,566, filed November 3, 1954, on an Adjustable Crib Side.

The present invention relates to baby cribs having sides which are adjustable in elevation. When these crib sides are lowered, an adult may reach into the crib and remove a child therefrom with relative ease. The difficulty with adjustable crib sides heretofore used is that the tops of the sides in their raised positions were too low to prevent an agi child om c imb o e th s de a falling t the fl o res lt ng of en in'perman t o serious injury to the hil he pr le ca no be so ed y imp y mak n h ib s de h ghe since n u h c h e ouldbs in uffic n are b ween he bo m of h sed s de a the fl t l we he r b des the e e s y d a ce t perm t a a u t to P a e a ch l t o remove h m from t c i it e se- Th a j st c s d d c se n my o me t ned pplieation is a solution to this problem. As there disclosed, an auxiliary crib side is carried on the top of the regular adlustable crib side, and is slidably supported thereon between raised and lowered positions relative thereto. "In this way, when both the regular crib side and the auxiliary crib side are raised to their fullest extent, an agile child within the crib may not readily climb over the auxiliary crib side. To maintain the auxilia-ry crib side in its upper position, a pair of spring urged latch pins are used which enter openings in a pair of depending slide members assopiated with the adjustable crib-side. Release of the latch pins requires both hands of the operator, and when so released the adjustable crib side would fall under its own weight, striking with force the upper rail of the regular adjustable crib side, producing a disturbing noise. The noise would be particularly objectionable if the child in the crib was sleeping.

it is accordingly one of the objects of this invention to provide an auxiliary crib side extension which may be raised or lowered relative to the regular erib side without objectionable noise which would disturb a child in the crib. An anoi-l-lary object of this invention is to provide an auxiliary crib side extension -which when released from a raised position and allowed to fall under its own weight is cushioned to minimize wear on the parts in- Molyed as well as to avoid objectionable noise.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an extension rail for a crib side which in its lowered position .rests on the upper rail of the crib side and is locked in such position, and further, wherein means is provided upon unlocking of the auxiliary rail extension for automatically raising the extension rail a small amount so ithatka persons hand may :be readily inserted under the rail {extension to raise the same to an upper position.

firiofly, -.in the preferred ifOEl'l'l of the invention, the aforementioned extension railzhas a pair ,of depending slide .rQdS slidiugl-ymounted in vertical grooves cut in the vertical bars of :crib side. The upper rail .of th rib s d pro i d with a reeess into which the extension rail is partially nestled in its lowered position atnt so that the extension rail appears to be an integral, non? movable part of the regular crib side. Compression springs seated in shouldered holes in the upper rail of the crib side urge the extension rail in an upward direction. Upward movement of the extension rail is prevented by spring urged latch means which enter the notches or recesses in the slide rods depending from the extension rail. Upon release of the latch means, the aforementioned springs raise the extension rail a small distance above the upper rail of the crib side to enable a person to readily place his fingers beneath the extension rail to raise the same to an upper position. The latch means enters another recess in the depending slide rods of the extension rail when the latter is in said upper position. Upon release of the latch means, the extension rail drops under its own weight, and is cushioned as it strikes the upper extremities of the aforementioned compression springs. Not only is excessive wear and shock on e upp r a l th reby pr ve but d s u b n ises are also avoided.

it is n e a b e t f t s i sn pn t pr ide a j a e r i e as ove de ibed w ch s s Simple and inexpensive that the cost of manufacture of a crib with the aforementioned grib side extension represents a exceedingly sma a ti o th ov rall co of a crib.

Other objects, advantages and features of the inyention will become apparent upon making reference to the specification to follow and the drawings wherein:

ie- 1 is a Pe ct v e of crib qs rsr t the adjustable crib side of the present invention, and shows one of the adjustable crib sides in its fully lowered position and the opposite adjustable crib side in its fully raised position; 7 h v Pig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational View, partially in section, of the front, lowered adjustable crib side in Fig l;

Pig. 3 is a fragmentary side View, in partial section, of the upper portion of the adjustable crib side when the extension rail is in its fully raised position and shown in dotted lines the partially raised position of the extension rail when the 'latch means has been removed from the slide rods; i v in Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the vertical post of the adjustable crib side which slidably supports the auxiliary crib side, showing details of the lateh mechanism for locking the adjustable crib side in its raised position; and I Pig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section through the extension rail and the main crib side showing the former partially nestled in the latter. 7'

Reference should now be .made to the drawings where like reference numerals indicate like elements throughout.

The crib structure there shown includes a head' b oard 2 and a foot board 4 both of a height which will prevent an agile child in the crib from climbing thereover. The sides of the crib are formed by crib side assemblies generally indicated by the reference numerals .6 6 and are supported for vertical adjustment a ;manner to be described. A mattress to is supported in any suitable manner between the crib side and, as is conventional, may be supported .at anumberpf difierentelevations by suitable means not shown. The entire cr ib structure is supported upon casters 12 depending from the bottom ,of the head and foot boards. f i

Each crib side assembly includes a main frame or lower crib side section 15 which is similar in size and appearance to a conventional vertically adjustable crib side. It thus has an upper cross rail 17, a lower cross rail 19, and a series of spaced, vertical, wooden post members 217122 which are spaced apart a sufliciently small distance to prevent a baby from wedging his or her head therebetween. The outermost posts 21-21 are wider than the intermediate posts. The main side frames 1515 are supported for vertical sliding movement on vertical rods 1616 in a well known manner, and may assume a lowermost position where the bottom rails 1919 are close to the floor and the upper rails 17-17 are at an elevation which enables an average adult to place a child into or remove a child from the crib with relative ease, even when the mattress is in its lowermost position. The main crib side frames -15 are raiseable into an upper position on the vertical slide rods 1616 (see rear crib side of Fig. 1) where their top rails 1717 are spaced an appreciable amount below the tops of the head and foot boards. Raising of an arm 19 depending from each bottom rail 19 releases the side frame 15 for movement in a conventional manner.

Each crib side frame carries an auxiliary upper side section 24 which is vertically adjustable with respect to the associated lower main crib side 15. When the upper and

lower sections

24 and 15 of the crib side assembly are in their raised positions, the top of the upper side section 24 is approximately at or above the tops of the head and foot boards, which may be two and one-half to three feet from the top of the mattress 10. (The top of the lower crib side section 15 may be about one and three-quarters feet from the top of the mattress 10 when in its raised position.) Then, an average sized child of as much as four or more years old cannot climb over the sides from inside the crib. When both

crib side sections

15 and 24 are in their lowered positions (see front crib side of Fig. 1) the child may be easily placed into or removed from the crib.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 through 4, each auxiliary upper crib side section 24 has a hand extension rail 26 extending generally parallel to the upper rail 17 of the associated lower or main crib side section. This extension rail includes an inner tubular, preferably metal body 28 around which is applied a plastictube 30. Depending from the rail 26 at a point adjacent to the ends thereof are respective slide rods 32-32 each of which passes through a shouldered hole 33 formed in the upper rail 17 of the lower crib side section. The slide rods are secured to the extension rail tube 28 by cap .screws 31-31 threading into the upper ends of the slide rods from within the tube 28. The outermost posts 21-21 are grooved at 3434 and the slide rods 32--32 extend into the grooves. A metal channel piece 35 is secured around each outermost post 21 so that the flanges thereof straddle the sides of the post, one of the flanges closing 011 a portion of the associated post groove. Thus, the latter flange together with the walls of the hole 33 in the upper rail 17 guide the slide rods of the extension rail 26 for vertical sliding movement relative to the lower crib side section 15. An extension 36 at the bottom of each slide rod 32, by its abutment with the bottom of the associated channel piece 35, limits the upward travel of the extension rail 26. For reasons to be explained, the extension rail slide rods 3232 are each provided with vertically spaced notches or

recesses

38 and 40 on the sides thereof which are adjacent to the inner wall of the post grooves 34-34.

The uppermost recess 40 cooperates with a latch pin 42 extending through a lateral or horizontal opening in the associated crib side post 21 to lock the auxiliary upper crib side section 24 in a lowered position. The latch pin 42 is urged toward the associated slide rod 32 by a compression spring 44 nestled within a recess 46 formed in the side of the associated crib side post 21. The outer end of the spring is secured to the latch pin 42 and the other end of the spring bears against the inner wall of the recess 46. The outer end of the latch pin 42 extends through an opening formed in one of the flanges of the channel piece 35 and terminates in a head 48 which may be grasped by a person and pulled out to remove the latch pin from the slide rod recess.

When the upper auxiliary crib side is in its lowermost position, its hand rail 26 is seated within a longitudinal recess 50 formed in the upper surface of the upper rail 17 of the lower crib side section 15. In the latter position of the extension rail 26, the rail is urged upwardly by a pair of compression springs 52 seated on the upwardly facing shoulders 5454 in the holes 33-33. When the latch pin heads 4848 are pulled out to unlatch the slide rods 32, the compression springs 5252 push the extension hand rail 26 to a position :a small distance above the upper rail 17 of the lower crib side section, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Sulficient clearance is provided between the

rails

17 and 26 to enable a person to readily place his fingers around the rail so that the rail may be readily raised to its upper position. When the extension rail 26 has been raised approximately to or slightly above the top of the head and foot boards 2 and 4, the spring urged latch pins 42-42 enter the lowermost slide rod recesses 3838. The extension rail is then automatically locked into its upper position relative to the lower adjustable crib side section 15.

When a person pulls on both latch pins 42-42, the slide rods 3232 become unlatched and the auxiliary upper crib side section falls under its own weight. The extension rail 26 when falling is prevented from making contact with the upper rail 17 of the lower adjustable crib side section by the compression springs 52-52 which extend above the top of the rail 17 to thereby cushion the falling extension rail and minimize wear and to prevent objectionable noise. pressing the extension rail 26 further downwardly to compress the springs 52-52, the bottom of the extension rail 26 can be brought into contact with the top of the upper rail 17. This brings the latch pins 42-42 automatically into the uppermost slide rod recesses 40-40 Which locks the extension rail into its lowest position. When the extension rail is in this position nestled within the rail recesses 50, the extension rail appears to be integral with the upper rail 17. When the lower or main adjustable crib side section 15 is then lowered to the position shown in Fig. 1, the extension rail 26 is at an elevation which permits an adult to readily gain access to the crib.

To raise the adjustable crib side assembly into a position where it is safe to keep the child in the crib, the depending arm 19' is raised to release the adjustable crib side section 15 for upward movement where it is raised to its uppermost position, following which the extension rail is raised in the manner above explained. In the fully raised position of the extension rail, note that there are no vertical members between the slide rods 3232 so that the child has a relatively free horizontal field of view between the slide rods 32 and the

rails

26 and 17. However, it is within the purview of the present invention to include an intermediate cross rail vertically adjustable along the slide rods 3232, similar to that disclosed in my aforementioned co-pending application Serial No. 466,566. In such case, the intermediate rail would be nestled within a recess provided in the extension rail 26 or the upper rail 17.

It should be noted that numerous modifications may be made of the preferred embodiment of the invention above described without deviating from the broader aspects thereof.

I claim:

1. In a baby crib, a crib side assembly adjustable in elevation to give ready access to a baby in the crib when the side assembly is lowered and to prevent the baby from climbing over the side when raised, comprising: a lower crib side section mounted for vertical movement between a lowered position where the bottom thereof is near floor level and an upper position, an upper aux- As previously stated,

gsbresi iliary crib side section carried on the top of said lower section and mounted for up and down movement with respect thereto, the top of said auxiliary side section, when it and said lower crib side section are in their raised positions, being at an elevation above the crib mattress which prevents a child in the crib from climbing thereover, and when the lower and upper 'side sections are in their lowered positions the top of said auxiliary side section being sufiiciently low that an average adult may easily place the child into or remove the child from the crib, compressible spring means carried upon said lower crib side section and in its uncompressed state extending a short distance above the top thereof for cushioning the fall of said auxiliary side section when released from said raised position, and releasable latch means carried by said lower crib side section and interlocking with said auxiliary side section in its lowermost position where it compresses said spring means, and in said fully raised position thereof, for holding the auxiliary side section in position relative to the lower crib side section.

2. In a baby crib, a crib side assembly adjustable in elevation to give ready access to a baby in the crib when the side assembly is lowered and to prevent the baby from climbing over the side when raised, comprising: a lower crib side section mounted for vertical movement between a lowered position where the bottom thereof is near floor level and an upper position, an upper auxiliary crib side section carried on the top of said lower section and mounted for up and down movement with respect thereto, the top of said auxiliary side section, when it and said lower crib side section are in their raised positions, being at an elevation above the crib mattress which prevents a child in the crib from climing thereover, and when the lower and upper side sections are in their lowered positions the top of said auxiliary side section being sufliciently low that an average adult may easily place the child into or remove the child from the crib, spring means carried upon said lower crib side section for cushioning the fall of said auxiliary side section when released from said raised position, and releasable latch means carried by said lower crib side section and interlocking with said auxiliary side section in said fully raised position thereof for holding the auxiliary side section in position relative to the lower crib side section.

3. In a baby crib, a crib side assembly adjustable in elevation to give ready access to a baby in the crib when the side assembly is lowered and to prevent the baby from climbing over the side when raised, comprising: a lower crib side section mounted for vertical movement between a lowered position and an upper position, an upper auxiliary crib side section carried on the top of said lower section and mounted for up and down movement with respect thereto, the top of said auxiliary side section, when it and said lower crib side section are in their raised. positions, being at an elevation above the crib mattressv which prevents a child in the crib from climing thereover, and when the lower and upper side sections are in their lowered positions the top of said auxiliary side section being sufiiciently low that an average adult may easily place the child into or remove the child from the crib, compressible spring means carried upon said lower crib side section for cushioning the fall of said auxiliary side section when released from said raised position, and releasable latch means carried by said lower crib side section and interlocking with said auxiliary side section in said fully raised position thereof for holding the auxiliary side section in position relative to the lower cribside section.

4. In a baby crib, a crib side assembly adjustable in elevation to give ready access to a baby in the crib when.- the side assembly is lowered and to prevent the baby from climbing over the side when raised, comprising: a lower crib side section mounted for vertical movement between a lowered position where the bottom thereof is near floor level and a fully raised position, an upper auxiliary crib 6 side section carried on the top of said lower section and mounted for up and down movement with respect thereto, the top of said auxiliary side section, when it and said lower crib side section are in their fully raised positions, being at an elevation above the crib mattress which prevents a child in the crib from climbing thereover, and when the lower and upper side sections are in their lowered positions the top of said auxiliary side section being sulficientl'y low that an average adult may easily place the child into or remove the child from the crib, spring means urging said upper auxiliary side section toward a raised position relative to said lower crib side section, and releasable means for holding said auxiliary side section in its lower position relative to said lower crib side section against the force of said spring means.

5. In a baby crib having a main adjustable side which is mounted for up and down movement and is lockable in its raised position, and which has a longitudinal recess in the top thereof, an auxiliary crib side section which is carried by said main adjustable side so as to be movable therewith between its raised and lowered positions, said auxiliary crib side section being mounted for up and down movement with respect to said main adjustable side and including an upper rail from which depend side members, means associated with said main adjustable side which guides said depending members for vertical movement relative to said main adjustable side, said upper rail being movable from a lowered position, where it is at least partially nestled within saidlongitudinal recess in and in contact with the top of said main adjustable crib side, to a fully raised position relative thereto, spring means in the top of said main adjustable side for urging said upper rail to a partially raised position where a person may readily grasp the rail and raise the same to said uppermost position, and means for locking said upper rail in said fully raised position relative to said main adjustable side and for locking said rail in a lowered position where it is in said recess and makes contact with the top of said main adjustable side and compresses said spring means.

6. In a baby crib having a main adjustable side which is mounted for up and down movement and is lockable in its raised position, an auxiliary crib side section which is carried by said main adjustable side so as to be movable therewith between its raised and lowered positions, said auxiliary crib side section being mounted for up and down movement with respect to said main adjustable side and including an upper rail from which depend side members, means associated with said main adjustable side which guides said depending members for vertical movement relative to said main adjustable side, said upper rail being movable from a lowered position, where it is partially nestled within said longitudinal recess in and in contact with the top of said main adjustable crib side, to a fully raised position relative thereto, spring means for urging said upper rail to a raised position, and means for locking said rail in a lowered position where it makes contact with the top of said main adjustable side and compresses said spring means.

7. In a baby crib having a main adjustable side which is mounted for up and down movement and is lockable in its raised position, an auxiliary crib side section which is carried by said main adjustable side so as to be movable therewith between its raised and lowered positions, said auxiliary crib side section being mounted for up and down movement with respect to said main adjustable side and including an upper rail from which depend side members, means associated with said main adjustable side which guides said depending members for vertical movement relative to said main adjustable side, said upper rail being movable from a lowered position, where it is in contact with the top of said main adjustable crib side, to a fully raised position relative thereto, spring means for urging said upper rail to a partially raised position, and means for locking said upper rail in said fully raised position relative to said main adjustable side and for looking said rail in alowered position where it makes contact with the topofsaid main adjustable side and compresses saidspring means. 1

p 8. In a baby crib having a main adjustable side which is mounted for up and down movement and is lockable in its raised position, an auxiliary crib side section which is carried by said main adjustable side so as to be movable therewith between its raised and lowered positions, said auxiliary crib side section being mounted for up and down movement with respect to said main adjustable side and including an upper rail from which depend side members, means associated with said main adjustable side which guides said depending members for vertical movement relative to said main adjustable side, said upper rail be- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 331,308 Liggett Dec. 1, 1885 2,501,824 Levine Mar. 28, 1950 2,522,001 Siegel Sept. 12, 1950 2,555,032 Hall May 29, 1951