Child swing

Details Child swing Child swing

2001-05-07

2002-05-14

Nguyen, Kien T. (Department: 3712)

Amusement devices

Swing

Motor operated

C472S118000, C005S102000, C005S109000, C297S273000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06386986

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
There are a wide variety of self-supporting child's swings known in the art, the most common of which consist of a child support pivotally secured to a support structure. The pivoting motion is provided by either manual excitation, or by rotational input supplied by a wound spring or an electric motor. In the case of a child's swing powered by an electric motor, the most common design is described by an output shaft of a rotary motor being torsionally and/or pivotally coupled to structure corresponding to the child support side of the child's swing. That is, the child support is mechanically coupled to the output shaft of the motor, whether it be directly, through a gear train, linkage or a combination thereof. In order to remove the child support from the support structure or, alternatively, when assembling the swing, the known swings require the use of tools and/or removable fasteners (e.g., screws, bolts, pins) in order to secure the child support to support bearings and/or the output portion of the motor assembly.
Portable child swings, that is, child swings constructed with a view towards providing the user (e.g., a consumer) with a device that may be stowed and deployed are known in the art. However, the known portable child swings typically have limited features and/or are unnecessarily complicated when assembling or disassembling, as they often times require the use of removable fasteners and/or the removal and reattachment of components which can be easily lost. Furthermore, the known portable child swings are often times less than optimally designed for storage in a reduced-volume storage space.
In view of these and other drawbacks and/or disadvantages in the known child swings, there exists a need for providing a self-supporting child's swing that is easily configured between a stowed and deployed configuration without the need for disassembly and/or re-assembly of components; a child's swing that is durable, easy to manufacture and easy to use by a consumer; and a child's swing that is compact and yet provides many of the features found in the more complicated and cumbersome child swings known in the art.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The needs identified above are met, and the shortcomings of prior art child swings are overcome by the child swing of the invention. In one aspect, there is provided a swing including a child support adapted for being rotated about an axis of rotation, a support frame including first and second upstanding frame portions for supporting the child support, a first coupling providing periodic motion output supplied by a motor drive assembly to the child support, the first coupling including a bearing member of the motor drive assembly and a mating member, wherein the child support is supported upon the first frame portion by engagement of a portion of a bearing member surface with a corresponding portion of a mating member surface, wherein when the child support first end is supported upon the first frame portion, the mating member is adapted for being rolled about the bearing member so as to displace the mating member along a displacement axis relative to the bearing member, the displacement axis being perpendicular to the rotation axis; and a second coupling for supporting the second end upon the second frame portion; wherein when the motor drive assembly produces periodic output at the bearing member, the child support rotates about the rotation axis by the rolling of the mating member about the bearing member. The bearing member is preferably mechanically decoupled from the mating member and relies on a frictional engagement with the bearing member to cause the swing to rotate about the rotation axis. A tacky material, e.g., rubber, may be used to facilitate a frictional contact between the mating and bearing surfaces. The bearing member may be circular in shape and the mating member may also describe a circle or an arc of a circle. Thus, the bearing and mating surfaces may describe contacting surfaces of circular-like or cylindrical-like bodies. The swing of this aspect of the invention may also include a releasable latch for releasably connecting the child support from the support structure.
In another aspect of invention, there is provided a self-supporting child's swing configurable between a storage and use position. The self-supporting child's swing includes a frame configurable between a folded position and an unfolded position, the support frame including a ground engaging portion, a first frame portion and a second frame portion, each of the frame portions being fixedly hinged to the ground engaging member, and a first and second housing, wherein the first and second frame portions are configurable in a first and second orientation relative to the ground-engaging member when the frame is in the unfolded and folded positions, respectively; and a child support having a child support surface and describing a child receiving end, the child support being configurable between a deployed and stowed position, the child support including an annular support member defining an outer perimeter of the child receiving end and first and second terminal ends of the child support, a first connector and a second connector disposed at the respective first and second ends, and a child receiving portion secured to the support member, the child receiving portion including retaining walls and the child support surface, wherein when the child support is in the deployed position, the support surface is disposed below the support member and the child support surface is contained within the retaining walls, and wherein when the child support is in the stowed position, the child support surface and the support member lie within approximately the same plane; wherein when the self-supporting child's swing is in the use position, the child support is suspended from the first and second frame housings by the respective first and second connectors of the child support, the child support is in said deployed position, and the frame is in the folded position, and wherein when the self-supporting child's swing is in the storage configuration, the child support is configured in the stowed position, the frame is in the folded position and the folded frame is contained substantially within the child receiving end.
In still another aspect of invention, there is provided a child's swing including a child support supportable on a support frame; a first and second connecting arm for supporting the child support from the support frame, each of the connecting arms including a proximal end coupled to the child support and a distal end adapted for being connected to the support frame; a latch disposed on either the first connecting arm distal end or the support frame, the latch including a blocking piece movable between an engaged and disengaged position; wherein when the blocking piece is in the engaged position, the first connecting arm distal end forms an interference fit with a first mounting member of the frame, the interference fit preventing inadvertent removal of the distal end from the first mounting member when the child support rotates. The interference fit may be utilized so as to allow the distal end of the connecting arm to be removed while a motor drive for the swing is in operation, as well as providing a convenient connection device between the connecting arm and support frame. A self-locking latch may be used to enable or disable the interference fit, and the swing may include a second latch, identical to the first, which may also be disposed on either the second connecting arm distal end or the support frame.
In still another aspect of invention, there is provided a method for configuring a child's swing between a use and storage position, including the steps of removing the first arm of a child support from a first end of a support frame, removing the second arm of the child support from the second end of the support frame, folding the frame, collapsing the child support, and pl

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