US3905625A - Safety catch for crib drop sides - Google Patents

Abstract

A safety catch for crib drop sides which comprises a pivoted catch having a light spring to tend to move it to latching position and being actuated by another mechanism e.g., a lever which is provided with a relatively heavy spring to tend to hold it in latched position.

Description

United States Patent [191 Bryant [451 Sept. 16, 1975 SAFETY CATCH FOR CRIB DROP SIDES [75] Inventor: Robert G. Bryant, Gardner, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Gem Industries Inc., Gardner, Mass.

[22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 445,261

[52] U.S. Cl 292/128; 5/100 [51] Int. Cl. EOSC 19/10 [58] Field of Search 292/52, 57, 58,59, 60,

292/61, 305, 306, 126, 128, DIG. 36, DIG. 37, 108; 5/63, 100

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,569,697 l/1926 Barclay 292/126 1,961,593 6/1934 Neumherz 5/100 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe Attorney, Agent, or FirmCharles R. Fay

[5 7 ABSTRACT A safety catch for crib drop sides which comprises a pivoted catch having a light spring to tend to move it to latching position and being actuated by another mechanism e.g., a lever which is provided with a relatively heavy spring to tend to hold it in latched position.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 1 6 1975 FIG. 6

FIG. 5

SAFETY CATCH FOR CRIB SIDES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A crib having a drop side with a fixed catch and guide thereon in combination with a pivoted latch member on the stabilizer bar of the crib, the stabilizer bar usually extending from corner post to corner post and comprising an angle iron.

Said latch comprises a pivoted lever or the like having a relatively heavy spring yieldingly maintaining it in latching position, in combination with a relatively small pivoted latch member on the lever and having a slot to receive the catch on the drop side; said small pivoted latch member being urged toward latching position by means of a lightweight spring, whereby the safety latch is more difficult to actuate than in the past due to the heavy spring on the lever, but the latch member itself is not under direct influence of said heavy spring but only has a light spring so that it easily moves into latching position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in rear elevation illustrating the new latch mechanism attached to the stabilizer bar;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof, parts being in section looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1, and showing the drop side latched;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the drop side unlatched;

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing the drop side in the act of being raised and the pivoted latch member about to move into the latched position shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in rear elevation of the catch and guide member which is mounted on the crib drop side; and

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation thereof looking in the direction of arrow 6 in FIG. 5.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Only so much of the invention is illustrated as is necessary to explain the invention. The present device may be applied to the lower rail 10 of a conventional crib drop side old and well known in the art, see co-pending application S.N. 445,259 filed Feb. 25, 1974. Mounted at the rear surface of the drop side rail 10 there is a combined catch and guide member shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 which comprises essentially a piece of metal bent into the form shown. Of course the member could be made of other materials and in other ways but essentially it comprises a plate 12 which may be provided with apertures for screws by which means it is secured to the rail 10 and positioned in place by an abutment 14. It has a bottom portion 16 which is turned out i.e., to the rear of the rail 10, and terminating in a downturned lip which acts as a catch and is indicated at 18. The portion 16 is provided with an upturned end piece generally indicated at 20 which is provided with an upwardly opening slot 22. The whole catch and guide unit so far described is fixed and inflexible.

The stabilizer bar of the crib which is old and well known is generally indicated at 28. In the case shown it is provided with a downwardly opening U-shaped bracket 30 the arms of which comprise a support for a pin 32. The pin forms a pivot for a lever 34 which is the latch actuator. In general such an actuator per se is old and well known and is connected by-a rod 36 toalike lever spaced therefrom, see .the aboveiden'tified-application, so that instead of directly actuating'leve'r 34, the rod 36 is pressed and pushed for instance in a clockwise direction in FIG. 2, 3, and 4 in order to unlatch the drop side from the catch 18, allowing it to drop according to the arrow in FIG. 3. There is usually a spring applied as for instance as shown at 38 to tend to bring the lever 34 back to the normal FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 positions. However in the present invention spring 38 is made several times stronger than usual so that it takes an excess of force in order to push the actuator lever 34 to the rear i.e., clockwise as shown, in order to release the drop side; and therefore this actuation will not take place accidentally or nor can it be operated by a small child or an animal.

The actual latch is generally indicated at 40 and it is pivoted at 42 on lever 34, and is provided with a very light spring 44 arranged to tend to move it in a counterclockwise direction. This latch is provided with a cammed surface 46 and a catch receiving notch 48 which has a cam surface 50.

Assuming the drop side to be latched in its uppermost position according to the showing of FIG. 2, a force of 18 20 pounds is applied elg., to the rod 36 in a clockwise direction, whereupon the catch 40 is cammed away from catch 18 as shown in FIG. 3 and this is accomplished by camming it in a clockwise direction against the action of the light spring 44 until the parts attain the FIG. 3 position, whereupon the drop side will I drop according to the arrow in the figure.

When the drop side is desired to be raised up to the latched position of FIG. 2, the catch 18 is impinged upon by the cam surface 46 oflatch 40, which is moved thereby in a clockwise direction until notch 48 clears the catch 18 whereupon light spring 44 snaps the catch 40 back into the latched position of FIG. 2.

It is to be noted that at its upper end, the lever 34 has a forward flat edge 35 that prevents it from pivoting farther in an anti-clockwise direction by abutting the inside of the vertical portion of angle iron stabilizer bar 28. Also, a flat edge at 35 prevents excess pivoting motion in the opposite direction by abutting the underside of the horizontal portion of the angle iron.

I claim:

1. In a crib having a stabilizer bar and a drop side, a catch on the drop side and latching means on the stabilizer bar,

said latching means comprising a lever pivoted to the stabilizer bar, a relatively heavy spring biasing said lever in a direction toward the catch,

and a latch, said latch comprising a lever, a pivot mounting the latch lever, a light spring tending to urge the latch lever toward the catch, means on said latch lever for receiving said catch and holding the same in latched position, and means adapted to move the latch lever out of engagement with the catch upon motion of said first lever in the direction away from the catch,

said levers being on parallel axes and being swingable in parallel planes.

catch upon motion of the first lever away from the catch.

5. The crib of claim 4 wherein the catch includes a downturned edge lip that is received in the notch.

6. The crib of claim 5 wherein the notch is directed downwardly and away from the lip.

Claims (6)

1. In a crib having a stabilizer bar and a drop side, a catch on the drop side and latching means on the stabilizer bar, said latching means comprising a lever pivoted to the stabilizer bar, a relatively heavy spring biasing said lever in a direction toward the catch, and a latch, said latch comprising a lever, a pivot mounting the latch lever, a light spring tending to urge the latch lever toward the catch, means on said latch lever for receiving said catch and holding the same in latched position, and means adapted to move the latch lever out of engagement with the catch upon motion of said first lever in the direction away from the catch, said levers being on parallel axes and being swingable in parallel planes.

2. The crib of claim 1 including a cam surface on the latch lever camming the same away from the catch upon raising the drop side.

3. The crib of claim 1 wherein the means on the latch lever to receive the catch is a notch.

4. The crib of claim 3 including a cam surface on an edge of the notch to move the latch lever away from the catch upon motion of the first lever away from the catch.

5. The crib of claim 4 wherein the catch includes a downturned edge lip that is received in the notch.

6. The crib of claim 5 wherein the notch is directed downwardly and away from the lip.

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