Beds – Crib
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-03
2001-02-06
Grosz, Alexander (Department: 3628)
Beds
Crib
C024S616000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182308
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a playpen, more particularly to a playpen with a detachable cot.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/407,407, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,528, filled by the applicant, a playpen is shown to include a looped lower frame
13
, a looped upper frame
12
, a plurality of vertical posts
15
, a cot
20
and a releasable fastening unit.
As illustrated, the upper frame
12
is disposed above and is spaced apart from the lower frame
13
in a vertical direction. The vertical posts
15
bridge the upper and lower frames
12
,
13
.
The cot
20
has a bottom wall
21
made from a cushioning material and a surrounding wall
22
formed from a fabric material. The surrounding wall
22
is connected to a periphery of the bottom wall
21
and extends upwardly from the bottom wall
21
. The surrounding wall
22
has a length in the vertical direction which is shorter than a distance between the upper and lower frames
12
,
13
in the vertical direction. The surrounding wall
22
further has a distal top portion
220
that engages the upper frame
12
for suspending the cot
20
thereon, as best shown in
FIG. 1
, such that the bottom wall
21
is disposed above the lower frame
13
. The distal top portion
220
of the surrounding wall
22
further has an outwardly folded section
222
defining a looped receiving groove
223
that opens downward for receiving removably the upper frame
12
therein. The outwardly folded section
222
is provided with a plurality of notches
221
that are registered with the vertical posts
15
, respectively.
The releasable fastener unit includes a plurality of complementary male and female fastener sets
23
,
16
. The female fastener sets
16
are secured to the vertical posts
15
, while the male fastener sets
23
are secured to the outwardly folded section
222
and extend into the notches
221
such that each fastener
160
of the female fastener sets
16
is disposed between a pair of fasteners
230
of the male fastener sets
23
. Each of the fasteners
230
,
160
of the male and female fastener sets (
23
,
16
) is formed with a coupling ring (
233
,
165
). Each of the vertical posts
15
is provided with an anchoring strap
167
that is connected to the coupling ring
165
of a respective one of the fasteners
160
of the female fastener sets
16
. Each of the fasteners
160
of the female fastener sets
16
includes a hollow fastener body
161
with two opposite open insert ends
162
, and a confining wall
163
that is formed with opposite engaging slots
164
. Each of the fasteners
230
of the male fastener sets
23
has an insert portion
232
that is extended into the hollow fastener body
161
of a corresponding one of the fasteners
160
of the female fastener sets
16
via the open insert end
162
and that is formed with resilient projections
2321
for engaging releasably the engaging slots
164
in the hollow fastener body
161
of the corresponding one of the fasteners
160
of the female fastener sets
16
.
Some of the drawbacks that result from the use of the aforesaid playpen are as follows:
(i) The resilient projections
2321
in each of the fasteners
230
are pressed by the user toward each other in order to remove the same from the engaging slots
164
of the fastener
160
, which subsequently, can cause pain to the user's fingers.
(ii) The fasteners
160
are fastened to an enclosure
11
via the coupling ring
165
and the anchoring straps
167
. It is noted that the enclosure
11
may easily tear due to the weight of the baby disposed in the cot
20
. Thus, the service life of the aforesaid playpen is relatively short.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a playpen which has a detachable cot that is capable of overcoming the aforesaid drawbacks.
Accordingly, the playpen of this invention includes a looped lower frame, a looped upper frame disposed above and spaced apart from the lower frame in a vertical direction, a plurality of vertical post units, a cot, and a releasable fastening unit. The vertical post units bridge the upper and lower frames. The cot has a bottom wall and a surrounding wall that is connected to a periphery of the bottom wall and that extends upwardly from the bottom wall. The surrounding wall has a length in the vertical direction which is shorter than a distance between the upper and lower frames in the vertical direction. The surrounding wall further has a distal top portion formed with a plurality of outwardly folded sections that engage removably the upper frame for suspending the cot thereon such that the bottom wall is disposed above the lower frame. The distal top portion of the surrounding wall further has a plurality of notches, each of which is disposed between adjacent two of the outwardly folded sections. Each of the post units extends into a respective one of the notches. The releasable fastening unit includes a plurality of complementary male and female fastener sets secured on the outwardly folded sections in such a manner that each adjacent pair of fasteners of the male and female fastener sets extends into the respective one of the notches, thereby confining the post units in the notches, respectively.
Preferably, each of the fasteners of the female fastener set includes a hollow fastener body with an open insert end, a confining wall that is formed with opposite engaging slots in communication with the insert end, and a pair of resilient press members which are integrally formed with the confining wall and which flank the engaging slots. Each of the fasteners of the male fastener set has an insert portion that is extendible into the hollow fastener body via the open insert end and that is formed with resilient projections for engaging releasably the engaging slots. Pressing of the press members toward each other results in movement of the resilient projections toward each other so as to disengage the same from the engaging slots.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3848277 (1974-11-01), Regiutti
patent: 5163191 (1992-11-01), Chan
patent: 5339470 (1994-08-01), Smamie
patent: 5778465 (1998-07-01), Myers
patent: 5867850 (1999-02-01), Mariol
patent: 5963996 (1999-10-01), Hsia
patent: 6058528 (2000-05-01), Yang
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Grosz Alexander
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