Land vehicles – Wheeled – Extensible
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-13
2002-04-23
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Extensible
C280S642000, C280S650000, C074S551300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06375213
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stroller which can be easily folded up into a compact size when it is not in use.
2. Related Art
A stroller of a folding type, which is referred to as a baby carriage or a baby buggy, is basically structured on the basis of a similar principle to a folding chair of a pipe frame type: that is, front and rear frames with casters mounted thereon can be folded and developed, the right and left sides of the front and rear frames can also be folded and developed to thereby reduce the width dimension thereof, and, in the thus folded or contracted state of the stroller, the upper end portions of the front and rear frames form an L-like shape which can be used as the carrying handle of the stroller, so that a user can carry the stroller with the L-shaped portion put on her or his arm when the user gets on and off a train, a bus or the like.
In this structure, the height dimension of the stroller is based on such height that, when in use, is easy for an adult to push the stroller by hand while putting her or his hand on the L-shaped handle formed on the frame upper end portion put on the arm. Therefore, when folded up, the height dimension of the stroller remains unchanged and thus, when carrying the stroller, the casters of the stroller frames touch the ground to thereby make it difficult to carry the stroller, so that the user has to hold the arm high in carrying the stroller, thereby worsening the carrying performance of the stroller when carrying it for a long time.
To solve this problem, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 2572278, there is disclosed a structure in which, to reduce the height dimension of a stroller, a front frame thereof is so formed as to be foldable in the middle portion thereof.
However, according to the present structure, to fold the stroller, a lock button disposed on an handle is firstly removed, the handle is next folded, and then a guard is folded. That is, this operation is not easy.
Also, since the stroller cannot be locked in its folded condition nor a folding lock mechanism can be actuated automatically even in the developed condition of the stroller, the stroller must be locked using a hand-operated lock button, which raises a possibility that there can occur an not expected accident due to failure of operation.
Further, in addition to the fact that the folding and developing operation of the stroller is troublesome and the structure thereof is complicated, when the stroller is in its folded-up condition, the front frame projects forwardly in a dogleg shape, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of reduction in the longitudinal direction dimension of the stroller; that is, the present structure is poor in practicability.
In addition, while the footrest itself of the stroller is complicated in structure, the footrest is difficult to fold and, if the footrest is made easy to fold, then the strength thereof is too low; that is, the footrest is also poor in practicability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at solving the above-mentioned technical problems found in the conventional strollers. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a footrest for use in a stroller, which is simple in structure, easy to fold and high in strength. And, it is another object of the invention to provide a stroller which not only is capable of mounting the above footrest thereon but also, when folded up, is able to reduce the sizes of frames thereof by means of a simple sliding operation and, in the folding and developing operation, can be locked and unlocked automatically.
Another object of the present invention, there is provided a stroller such that when a stroller is folded, the frame becomes compact through an easy operation, and further, during a folding or developing operation, the lock or unlock operation is automatically carried out. Specifically, the grip portion includes the operating mechanism having a lock lever slidably moving in a housing, a lock releasing (also referred to as removing) lever rotatably mounted in the housing so that the folding operation is easily prohibited and the prohibition off folding operation is easily released. Furthermore, the hand-push frame includes a rock pin projecting/escaping mechanism and release mechanism connecting the operation mechanism and the rock pin projecting/escaping mechanism so that the slide control of the hand-push frame is carried out by the operation mechanism mounted in the grip portion to simplify the operation of the folding and developing.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stroller comprising:
two right and left front legs respectively having front wheels mounted on the lower ends thereof;
two right and left rear legs respectively not only having their upper portions supported rotatably on the substantially central portions of said front legs but also having rear wheels mounted on the rear ends thereof;
two right and left hand-push frames respectively rotatable in their peripheral direction, each hand-push frame including an upper portion curved in an inverted-L shape to form a horizontal portion and a vertically extending lower portion, said lower portion of said hand-push frame being inserted into upper and lower holders respectively fixed to the upper end and substantially central portion of said front leg and being supported by said upper and lower holders in such a manner that it can be slid in parallel to said front leg;
a first open/close link formed in an X shape and mounted rotatably between said upper holders of said two front legs and the rear portions of said two rear legs, the intersecting central portion of said first open/close link being supported by a pin;
a second open/close link formed in an X shape and mounted rotatably between the lower ends of said two hand-push frames and the substantially central portions of said two rear legs, the intersecting central portion of said second open/close link being supported by a pin; and,
a connecting portion connecting said horizontal portions of said two hand-push frames together through their joint portions and cooperating with said horizontal portions of said two hand-push frames in forming a grip portion.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a stroller as set forth in the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising:
two armrest base portions respectively fixed to said two front legs and an armrest connected inclinably through fulcrum pins to the lower end portions of said two armrest base portions,
wherein, in folding said stroller, said armrest base portions and said armrest are folded to thereby be able to fold said stroller automatically.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a stroller as set forth in the first aspect of the present invention, further comprises: a flexible guard circle is mounted between said two front legs.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a stroller as set forth in the second aspect of the present invention, further comprises: a flexible guard circle is mounted between said two front legs.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a stroller as set forth in the first to fourth aspect of the present invention, further comprises: a flexible sun visor mounted between two visor support rods respectively provided on the upper ends of said vertical portions of said two hand-push frames and extended therefrom in the advancing direction of said stroller.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a stroller including in a grip portion thereof an operation mechanism for locking a folding operation and removing such locking,
said operation mechanism comprising:
a housing including:
a space capable of storing a member therein;
a lock lever disposed slidably in said housing;
a securing pawl having a large thickness and disposed in the leading end portion of said lock lever;
a lock removing lever disposed rotatably within said housing;
a pressing portion formed in a porti
Combi Corporation
Mai Lanna
Restifo Jeff
Whitham, Curtis & Christofferson
LandOfFree
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