Land vehicles – Wheeled – Extensible
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2003-03-18
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Extensible
C280S642000, C280S042000, C280S650000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06533311
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable baby carriage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various foldable baby carriages for carrying a baby when taking the baby outdoors for walking or shopping have been proposed. When necessary, the foldable baby carriage are folded for easy storage and carrying.
FIG. 8
shows the foldable baby carriage in a perspective view. The baby carriage includes right and left front legs
12
each provided with a front wheel
11
, right and left rear legs
14
each provided with a rear wheel
13
, a substantially U-shaped handle
15
, right and left armrests
16
, and a guard arm
17
detachably connected to and extended between the armrests
16
. Rear ends of the armrests
16
are pivotally joined to parts of right and left pipes
18
forming the handle
15
near the lower ends of the pipes
18
. The upper ends of the rear legs
14
are pivotally joined to the middle parts of the armrests
16
. Lower ends of generally L-shaped brackets
19
are pivotally joined to middle parts of the rear legs
14
. The lower ends of the right and left pipes
18
are pivotally joined to middle parts of the brackets
19
. When the baby carriage is developed, locking members
20
slidably mounted on lower end parts of the pipes
18
engage with locking parts formed in upper end parts of the brackets
19
to lock the baby carriage in an expanded state.
The right and left front legs
12
are connected by a front connecting rod
21
, and the right and left rear legs
14
are connected by a rear connecting rod
22
. A side connecting rod
23
has a front end pivotally joined to a middle part of each front leg
12
, and a rear end pivotally joined together with the bracket
19
to the lower end of the pipes
18
. Middle part of the right and left connecting rods
23
are connected by an upper connecting rod
24
.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the baby carriage is locked in the developed state for use by bringing the locking members
20
mounted on the lower ends of the pipes
18
into engagement with locking parts formed in the upper end parts of the brackets
19
. When the locking members
20
are disengaged from the brackets
19
by operating an operating system arranged on the handle
15
, the armrests
16
and the side connecting rods
23
can be turned upward about pivotal joining points where the armrests
16
and the side connecting rods
23
are pivotally joined to the vertical sections so that the front legs
12
and the rear legs
14
become substantially parallel to each other, whereby the baby carriage is folded in a package easy to carry.
The handle
15
, the front connecting rod
21
, the rear connecting rod
22
, and the upper connecting rod
24
are provided in their middle parts with right and left joints and are foldable. The right joints of the handle
15
, the front connecting rod
21
, the rear connecting rod
22
, and the upper connecting rod
24
are in a right vertical plane, and the left joints of the same are in a left vertical plane. When the left and right pipes
18
are moved forward after folding the front legs
12
and the rear legs
14
in parallel to each other, opposite end portions of the handle
15
, the same portions of the front connecting rod
21
, the same portions of the rear connecting rod
22
and the same portions of the upper connecting rod
24
are turned forward and the baby carriage can be folded in a compact package as shown in
FIG. 9
; that is, the baby carriage can be folded in three.
Although the front legs
12
and the rear legs
14
are somewhat raised with respect to the handle
15
by the upward swing of the armrests
16
at the folding operation of the baby carriage, the height of the folded baby carriage is not reduced so much. Furthermore, the above-mentioned folding structure requires the large armrests having the front legs and the rear legs pivotally connected thereto and the brackets for connecting the rear legs to the handle pipes pivotally, causing the number of components to be increased costly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Under the above-mentioned situation, the object of the present invention is to provide a baby carriage which allows a number of components thereof and its height to be together reduced in comparison with those of the conventional baby carriage mentioned above.
The first feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a baby carriage comprising a pair of front legs each provided, at a lower end thereof, with a front wheel; a pair of rear legs each provided, at a lower end thereof, with a rear wheel; a pair of side connecting rods each having one end thereof rotatably connected to a middle part of the front leg and the other end rotatably connected to a middle part of the rear leg; a pair of handle bars having respective middle parts thereof rotatably connected to upper parts of the rear legs respectively; and a pair of locking mechanisms connecting lower ends of the handle bars with upper ends of the front legs respectively; wherein each of the locking mechanisms is adapted so as to be in a fixing state where the handle bar is fixed with respect to the front leg substantially along an extending direction thereof and also in a folding state where the handle bar is folded close to the front leg.
According to the second feature of the invention, the front legs, the rear legs, the side connecting rods and the handle bars are juxtaposed with each other in the folding state of the locking mechanisms.
According to the third feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms includes an engagement recess provided in either one of the front leg and the handle bar and an engagement projection provided in the other of the front leg and the handle bar, for engaging with the engagement recess.
According to the fourth feature of the invention, the engagement recess is provided in the front leg, while the engagement projection is provided in the handle bar.
According to the fifth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms further includes an urging unit for urging the engagement projection toward the engagement recess.
According to the sixth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms further includes an unlocking member which is associated with the engagement projection and which is operable from its outside to allow the engagement projection to be separated from the engagement recess against an urging force of the urging unit thereby releasing the locked engagement projection.
According to the seventh feature of the invention, the unlocking member is arranged on the handle bar, between a connecting part of the handle bar with the front leg and another connecting part of the handle bar with the rear leg.
According to the eighth feature of the invention, each of the locking mechanisms is provided with a bracket used as an armrest.
According to the ninth feature of the invention, the baby carriage further comprises a front-leg connecting rod arranged between the pair of front legs; a rear-leg connecting rod arranged between the pair of rear legs; an upper connecting rod arranged between the pair of side connecting rods; and a handle part arranged between the pair of handle bars.
According to the tenth feature of the invention, the front-leg connecting rod, the rear-leg connecting rod, the upper connecting rod and the handle part are respectively adapted so as to be in a substantially identical plane in the folding state.
According to the eleventh feature of the invention, the front-leg connecting rod, the rear-leg connecting rod, the upper connecting rod and the handle part, each have respective two hinges formed in two places on left and right sides thereof. The hinges of the front-leg connecting rod are rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to with the front legs. The hinges of the rear-leg connecting rod are also rotatable about a rotating axis substantially parallel to with the rear legs. The hinges of the upper connecting rod are rotatable about a rotating axis substantially paralle
Ikuno Tokihiko
Kaneko Ryoichi
Yoshie Toshiro
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Combi Corporation
Johnson Brian L.
Phan Hau
LandOfFree
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