Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-25
2001-05-01
Trieu, Van T. (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C340S539230, C340S573100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06225913
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to indicators and, more particularly, to electronic position indicators for the gate of a crib.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Most baby cribs comprise a mattress located within a bed frame having four sides, with each side comprising vertical bars positioned between a top molding and a bottom molding. Two opposing sides are vertically displaceable, known as a crib gate, in either a raised (closed) condition or in a lowered (open) position. Lowering the gate is accomplished by displacing a footbar (located at the bottom and just under the bottom molding) which disengages a bottom molding catch from the footbar and then allows the gate to drop downward. Raising the gate is accomplished by simply lifting the gate upwards until the bottom molding catch re-engages the footbar, thereby locking the gate in a raised position.
In most instances, the parent or infant-caretaker will be holding or rocking the baby to sleep. When the parent or infant-caretaker is ready to place the baby on the mattress, the gate is lowered as discussed previously. Usually, the parent or infant caretaker is so focused on positioning the infant on the mattress without waking the infant that frequently the parent or infant-caretaker forgets to raise the gate after the infant is placed on the mattress. The result is that the infant is left in a crib with the gate down. If the infant is old enough to roll and raise himself/herself, the infant could fall out of the crib at a later time because the crib gate remains in an open condition.
Moreover, a recent study conducted by a Temple University researcher has recommended increasing the side heights of cribs to reduce the number of falls from cribs. If this recommendation is followed, the opening and closing of the crib gate by the parent/caregiver should occur more often since raising the height of the crib sides makes it more difficult to place or lift a toddler from the crib without opening the gate. As a result, this increases the chances that a parenticaregiver may walk away from a crib with the toddler inside and with the crib gate left open.
The following U.S. patents disclose some form of indication or warning in association with a baby crib or bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,734,104 (Gollhofer) discloses an alarm for alerting an attendant that the crib gate is in a down position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,030 (Weiss) discloses a safety device for a crib that provides an indicating light or an alarm at the crib to alert a person to the fact that the crib gate is in a down position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,032 (Langsam) discloses a crib rail safety monitor that utilizes a weight sensor for detecting the presence of a child in the crib and an ultrasonic motion detector or infrared temperature sensor for detecting the presence of an attendant at the crib in order to provide an indication or alarm at the crib that the crib gate is down when the child is in the crib and is unattended.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,819 (Valenti) discloses a safety cushion device that is positioned on the floor adjacent the baby crib for cushioning the fall of a child and an alarm for alerting an adult of such a fall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,181 (DePonte) discloses a wet bed alarm and temperature monitoring system for detecting urine on the bed and the temperature of a person lying on the bed and for supplying a remote annunciator panel with such information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,683 (Slomowitz et al.), whose entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, discloses an automatic crib gate indicator that utilizes a remote-enabling means to enable a crib gate sensor that detects the open condition of the crib gate and then transmits a signal to a remotely located indicator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,274 (Slomowitz et al.), whose entire disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, discloses an automatic crib gate indicator that utilizes a crib gate sensor, for detecting the open condition of the crib gate, that is integrated with a baby monitoring system.
Therefore, there remains a need to provide the parent or infant-caretaker with an automatic remotely-located indication or warning of the crib gate being left in open condition.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is the general object of this invention to provide a crib gate position indicator that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a crib gate position indicator that automatically informs the parent or infant-cretaker that the crib gate is open.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a crib gate position indication to a parent or infant-caretaker at a location outside the room of the crib.
It is a further object of one aspect of this invention to provide a crib gate position indicator that generates a gate open indication without the need for the parent or infant-caretaker to manually enable/disable some indication apparatus.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a crib gate position indicator that is easy to install on existing cribs.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a crib gate position indicator that has no wires within reach of the infant when the infant is in the crib.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects of the instant invention are achieved by providing an apparatus for providing an automatic crib gate position indication of a crib having a gate that can be positioned in an open or a closed condition. The apparatus comprises a gate sensor which comprises a power source, a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting a signal when electrically coupled to the power source, and a switch coupled to the gate and electrically coupled between the power source and the transmitter. The switch electrically couples the power source to the transmitter whenever the gate is in an open condition. The apparatus further comprises a remotely-located indicator that comprises a receiver and an indication means whereby the receiver receives the signal and activates the indication means to alert someone in the vicinity of the remotely-located indicator that the crib gate is in an open condition.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2734104 (1956-02-01), Gollhofer
patent: 3641540 (1972-02-01), Cutler et al.
patent: 4231030 (1980-10-01), Weiss
patent: 4278968 (1981-07-01), Arnett et al.
patent: 4924214 (1990-05-01), Hill
patent: 4951032 (1990-08-01), Langsam
patent: 5057819 (1991-10-01), Valenti
patent: 5291181 (1994-03-01), DePonte
patent: 5365214 (1994-11-01), Angott et al.
patent: 5402105 (1995-03-01), Doyle et al.
patent: 5499014 (1996-03-01), Greenwaldt
patent: 5604478 (1997-02-01), Grady et al.
patent: 5629683 (1997-05-01), Slomowitz et al.
patent: 5689236 (1997-11-01), Kister
patent: 5757274 (1998-05-01), Slomowitz et al.
patent: 5883579 (1999-03-01), Schriener et al.
patent: 5973591 (1999-10-01), Schwartz et al.
New Study on how to avoid crib injuries to infants and toddlers, M. V. Ridenour, Ph.D., Temple, College of Education.
Slomowitz Cynthia J.
Slomowitz Scott M.
Caesar Rivise Bernstein Cohen & Pokotilow Ltd.
Trieu Van T.
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