The present invention relates to a baby playpen and more particularly to a joint for a collapsible rail of the playpen which facilitates safe collapse and precise positioning of the playpen.
A collapsible playpen can reduce the size of the playpen to allow for easier transport. A typical collapsible playpen 20 is shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, and comprises four collapsible rails 11 pivoted at four corner members 12. Each of the rails 11 includes two identical parts pivoted by a joint 10 which enables the rails 11 to be collapsed. The joint 10 has a hollow interior body of inverse U-shaped cross section, a notch in each end of the joint, a first aligned thru hole 29 below each notch and engageable with a second aligned through hole 14 in each part of the rail 11 so as to pivot the parts of the rail 11 thereon by pin 15, a V-shaped spring plate 3 inserted into the inner end of each part of the rail 11 and each including a pair of projections 31 on lateral sides engageable with a third aligned thru hole 13 adjacent the inner end of each part of the rail and the fourth aligned thru holes 22 of the hollow interior body, and a slide 4 slidably secured into the hollow interior body by a pin 25 and through another notch under the body. The slide 4 includes a V-shaped notch 41 having a pair of sloped surfaces 42 and an aligned oblong hole 43 for engaging the pin 25. A crown plate 5 abuts against the underside of the pin 25 and is biased by a spring 28. Since the V-shaped spring plate 3 has two ends engaged in the V-shaped notch 41, when the slide slides inward relative to the hollow interior body, the spring plate 3 is pressed by the sloped surfaces 42 of the notch 41 and contracts so that the pair of projections 31 disengage with the thru hole 22 to permit the one part of the rail 11 to be collapsible. Accordingly, it is ineffective to just collapse one part of the rail.
The present invention has a principal object to provide a joint for a collapsible rail of a collapsible playpen which joint provides stability and facilitates collapsing of the rail by a single press on the slide in order to make it easier for the user to collapse the playpen.
The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds