WO1999020161A1

WO1999020161A1 - Cot body and corresponding cot

Info

Publication number: WO1999020161A1
Application number: PCT/FR1998/002219
Authority: WO
Inventors: Louis Lefranc
Original assignee: Ampafrance
Priority date: 1997-10-21
Filing date: 1998-10-15
Publication date: 1999-04-29
Also published as: EP0955849A1; FR2769816B1; AU9632998A; FR2769816A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a sleeping body for a cot, comprising a base and three walls (221 to 224) in flexible material, said walls being designed to be made integral with crosspieces (121 to 124) forming the upper frame of said bedstead, each of said walls (221 to 224) being extended at its free end by flap forming an overlap (23), said overlap being designed to co-operate with at least one of said crosspieces (121 to 124) so as to maintain said body on said bedstead, said body comprising first removable fixing means (241 to 244, 25), integral with said flaps and capable of co-operating with matching second fixing means integral with said bedstead.

Description

Cradle for crib, and corresponding crib.

The field of the invention is that of childcare. More specifically, the invention relates to the sleeping of children in children's beds, and in particular folding beds.

Such beds have been known for a long time. They generally include a frame, having four uprights, or feet, and an upper frame, formed by four crosspieces connecting the tops (or their vicinity) of the uprights. In the case of folding beds, many techniques exist, to allow the folding of the frame in a compact position.

The cradle itself is formed by a nacelle, generally made of a flexible material such as polyamide, which is fixed to the frame of the bed. This basket has four vertical walls, or substantially vertical, and a bottom, which can receive a mattress, on which the child will be lying. Conventionally, the nacelle is secured to the chassis by a sheath formed at the upper end of each wall, and in which a cross member is placed. Depending on the techniques and the materials, this sheath can be, for example, glued, welded and / or sewn.

Such beds have many disadvantages. First of all, they are not easy to maintain. Cleaning is done on the assembled bed, for example using a sponge. Access to the interior of the bed, and in particular to the bottom of the bed, is difficult, in particular for small people. However, it is often necessary to perform frequent cleaning, especially when the child is very young ...

In addition, it appears that this cleaning will be most of the time imperfect (access in the corners, evacuation of liquids ...), which poses significant hygiene problems. Because of these problems, such beds are made of easily cleanable synthetic materials and offering an intrinsic resistance suitable for a fixed assembly. Unfortunately, these materials are unpleasant to the touch, and generally have poor qualities of temperature and humidity diffusion. It is therefore necessary to wait a certain time, before you can reuse the bed. Another disadvantage of these known beds is that, in order to allow folding and unfolding of the chassis, the corners (intersections of the uprights and crosspieces) remain visible. In addition to an aesthetic aspect, this presents a double danger for the child. He can first injure himself by hitting the corner. Then, it risks jamming, in the orifices or the attachment points presented by these corners, small objects, and in particular an object which it would carry by a collar around the neck.

Recent standards require the total disappearance of such risks of entanglement, which can lead to serious accidents, by strangulation.

Another risk of injury is that of a shock against one of the uprights, through the cradle. Furthermore, these beds are relatively complicated to manufacture and maintain.

In particular, fixing the cradle requires significant labor. In addition, the maintenance of such beds is not easy. For example, when the cradle has a tear, it is practically impossible to repair it.

The invention particularly aims to overcome these various drawbacks of the state of the art.

More specifically, a first objective of the invention is to provide a carrycot, and a corresponding child's bed, which is very simple to maintain and clean.

In parallel, an objective of the invention is to allow efficient cleaning, meeting all the requirements, in particular in terms of hygiene. Another object of the invention is to allow rapid reuse of the bed, after cleaning.

The invention also aims to provide such a basket and such a bed, which guarantee a high degree of safety for the child. In particular, an objective of the invention is to eliminate the risks of snagging, and therefore to meet security requirements. Another objective is to avoid the risk of shock.

The invention also aims to provide such a nacelle and such a folding bed which is of a simple assembly, making it possible to reduce labor, during manufacture, and which has a reduced bulk.

Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a technique making it possible to present a large range of beds, having nacelles made of materials and / or different decorations.

These objectives, as well as others which will appear subsequently, are achieved according to the invention using a sleeping basket for a crib, comprising a bottom and at least three walls made of flexible material, said walls. capable of being joined to crosspieces forming the upper frame of the frame of said bed, each of said walls of which is extended at its free end by a flap forming a cover (or open sheath), said cover being designed to cooperate with at least one of said sleepers maintaining said nacelle on said chassis, and which comprises first removable fixing means, integral with said flaps and capable of cooperating with second complementary fixing means integral with said chassis.

Thus, the nacelle can easily be secured to the chassis, and separated from the latter. It is therefore possible to remove it, to clean it easily, and possibly put it in a washing machine. If two cradles are available, it is possible to interchange them, and therefore to reuse the bed immediately. In addition, this allows the nacelle to be changed, without changing the chassis, if it is damaged, or to accommodate a new child, or simply to change the decor ... In the same sense, this allows the manufacturer to present a range of nacelles varied, and able to evolve quickly.

Conventionally, the nacelle will have four walls, so that the bed occupies a substantially rectangular floor area. However, this is not compulsory, and nacelles with three or five walls, or even more are possible.

Preferably, said second fixing means are placed in the lower part of said chassis. This provides security, ensuring that the child cannot access it. Advantageously, this security is increased by securing said flaps to each other, so as to form a single cap capable of covering the entire of said frame of the chassis (crosspieces and upper angles, or corners).

In this way, we remove all areas in which the child could hang and / or jam an object, as well as the risk of impact between the sleepers. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said first means of fixing comprise at least three low-flaps, each extending respectively substantially along each of the uprights of said chassis, from said flap and up to a fixing zone, forming said second fixing means, provided on the lower part said amount. Advantageously, said nacelle comprises third removable fixing means, placed in the vicinity of each lower corner of said nacelle, and designed to cooperate with fourth complementary fixing means placed in the lower part of said chassis.

Thus, the nacelle is firmly and effectively maintained. To further simplify the assembly and disassembly operations, it can be provided that said second and fourth fastening means are the same.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, said first fixing means comprise an eyelet, and said second fixing means comprise a lug or a hook. Advantageously, the bottom of the nacelle has a surface slightly smaller than the surface defined by said crosspieces.

In other words, the nacelle is not perfectly parallelepipedic, each wall having a trapezoidal shape (with a very small gap between the upper and lower sides). Thus, the angles of the nacelle are distant enough from the uprights to avoid impacts, especially when the nacelle is held by the third fastening means.

As has already become clear, said flexible material can be fabric, or the like.

The invention also relates to the beds, and in particular the folding beds, comprising a nacelle as described above.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of simple illustrative and nonlimiting example, and of the appended drawings among which: FIG. 1 illustrates a bed frame for a child, known per se, and compatible with the invention; Figure 2 shows a nacelle according to the invention, which can be mounted on the chassis of Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates the nacelle of Figure 2, mounted on the chassis of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a detail of Figure 3, showing the fasteners used on each upright. The invention therefore relates to a removable basket, for cribs, and in particular for folding beds. The advantages of this technique have already been discussed. The technique of the invention can be adapted to most beds, provided that the bed frame has an upper frame on which the basket can be placed.

Figure 1 shows an example of such a chassis, the structure of which is known per se. It comprises four uprights 11, 11 connected two by two in their upper parts by crosspieces 12 j to 12 ₄ , which define the upper frame. In the case of folding beds, at least some of the crosspieces are articulated, according to a mechanism not shown, because outside the invention (the latter being compatible with all folding methods, and in particular those currently developed by the applicant).

A star system 13 is often provided to form the lower part of the chassis. It allows easy folding.

The nacelle according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. It will be noted that this representation is fictitious, and for the simple purpose of illustrating the invention. In practice, the nacelle alone, made for example of fabric, cannot of course keep this shape.

It conventionally comprises a bottom 21, and four substantially horizontal walls 22 _d to 22 ₄ These walls each extend at their upper ends, by a folded flap 23, which define a cover. The corners of the cap are closed, the flaps being connected to each other. According to another embodiment, several separate caps may be provided, for example intended to cooperate each with a single cross-member. The cap thus formed is designed so that it can cover the crosspieces 12 _d to 12 ₄ and the upper corners 14 _] to 14 ₄ .

At each angle, the cap is extended by a low shutter 24 _] to 24 ₄ , which is advantageously of the same fabric as that of the nacelle (or coordinated with the latter). It can also be, for example, a link, or an element of elastic material. An attachment means, such as an eyelet 25, is provided at the end of each lower shutter.

The walls are preferably slightly trapezoidal, and not rectangular, so that the surface of the bottom is slightly less than that of the upper part, defined by the crosspieces.

Fixing means, such as a plastic element 26 provided with an eyelet, equip each lower corner of the nacelle.

The mounting of the nacelle of FIG. 2 on the chassis of FIG. 1 is particularly simple. It suffices in fact to present the nacelle above the chassis, and to put the cap on the crosspieces, so that the cap comes to bear on them. The basket is then suspended on these crosspieces. Then, the nacelle is fixed to the chassis, to obtain the bed assembled in FIG. 3. The fastenings are illustrated more precisely in FIG. 4.

Each upright 14 has a lug 41, in the lower part, to which it is possible to hang on the one hand the eyelet 25 of the lower shutter, and on the other hand the eyelet of the fixing means 26. Thus, the cover is kept pressed against the crosspieces and corners, and cannot be separated from it. Furthermore, the edges 27 of the nacelle are stretched, and kept sufficiently spaced apart from the uprights so that a child cannot bump into it.

Claims

1. Sleeping basket for a crib, comprising a bottom and at least three walls (22 _] to 22 ₄ ) of flexible material, said walls being provided for being secured to crosspieces (12 _d to 12 ₄ ) forming the upper frame of the chassis of said bed, characterized in that each of said walls (221 to 22 ₄ ) is extended at its free end by a flap forming a cap (23), said cap (23) being designed to cooperate with at least one of said crosspieces (12] to 12 ₄ ) so as to maintain said nacelle on said chassis, and in that it comprises first means (24 _] to 24 ₄ , 25) for removable fixing, integral with said flaps and capable of cooperating with second means (41) additional fixing integral with said chassis.

2. Nacelle according to claim 1, characterized in that said second fixing means (41) are placed in the lower part of said chassis.

3. Nacelle according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said flaps are secured to each other, so as to form a cap

(23) single capable of covering the entire said frame of the chassis.

4. Nacelle according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the said first fixing means comprise at least three lower shutters (24 _d to 24), each extending respectively substantially along each of the uprights of the said chassis, from said flap and to an attachment zone, corresponding to said second attachment means (41), provided on the lower part of said upright.

5. Nacelle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises third means (26) for removable fixing, placed in the vicinity of each lower corner of said nacelle, and designed to cooperate with fourth means (41 ) of additional fixing placed in the lower part of said chassis.

6. Nacelle according to claim 5, characterized in that said second and fourth fixing means (41) are the same.

7. Nacelle according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that that said first fixing means comprise an eyelet (25), and that said second fixing means comprise a hook (41).

8. Nacelle according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that said bottom has a surface slightly smaller than the surface defined by said crosspieces.

9. Nacelle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said flexible material comprises fabric, or a similar material.

10. Folding bed for children, comprising a frame comprising crosspieces forming an upper frame, and a nacelle comprising a bottom and at least three walls (22 _] to 22 ₄ ) of flexible material, said walls being intended to be secured to crosspieces ( 12 _] to 12 ₄ ) forming the upper frame of the frame of said bed, characterized in that each of said walls (22 _] to 22 ₄ ) of said nacelle is extended at its free end by a flap forming a cover (23), said cover ( 23) being provided to cooperate with at least one of said crosspieces (12 _] to 12 ₄ ) so as to maintain said nacelle on said chassis, and in that it comprises first means (24 _d to 24, 25) for removable fixing , integral with said flaps and capable of cooperating with second complementary fixing means (41) integral with said chassis.