US3474472A - Play pen - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 23, 1969 'c. o. HAMILTON u 3,474,472

" I PLAY PEN Filed Dec. 11. 1967 4o 35 1 3? I 49 39 4 5 so 4 2g l I l2 l2 20.

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INVENTOR.

CLARENCE O. HAMILTON 11 7 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,474,472 PLAY PEN Clarence 0. Hamilton, 11, Columbus, Ind., assignor to Hamilton Cosco, Inc., Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Dec. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 689,633 Int. Cl. A47d 13/06 US. Cl. -98 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foldable play pen comprising a pair of leg frames pivotably interconnected for movement between a diverging extended position and a generally parallel collapsed position. A pair of floor panels are swingably connected to the leg frames adjacent their outer ends and are hingedly interconnected adjacent their inner ends to form a platform. A pair of opposed U-shaped rails are pivotally interconnected to each other adjacent the upper ends of the leg frames. The rails and platform are swingable between extended generally horizontal positions in which they support flexible netting side walls for the play pen and collapsed generally vertical positions generally parallel wtih each other and with the collapsed leg frames. A pair of linkages are disposed at the opposed sides of the play pen for supporting the rails in extended position and for simultaneously effecting their collapse upon collapse of the play pen. Each linkage comprises a pair of links pivoted together at their lower ends; slidably and pivotally interconnected to the leg frames intermediate their lengths; and pivotally connected at their upper ends to the U-shaped rails.

Background of the invention Two patents related to this subject matter are those to Hamilton, Patent No. 2,991,486, and to Fulton, Patent No. 2,908,021, both of which show many of the features of the play pen disclosed herein; but neither of which discloses the improved linkage structure of the instant invention. In both Fulton and Hamilton, as in most other prior art play pens, some adjustment of the bracing structure must be made before the play pen can be folded or collapsed. However, these adjustments are sometimes made accidentally, thereby causing the play pen to collapse. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a foldable play pen which cannot accidentally collapse and which does not require a manual adjustment of the bracing structure.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the invention, there is provided a pair of leg frames pivotally interconnected adjacent their upper ends and each comprising a pair of legs interconnected adjacent their lower ends by a transverse brace. A pair of floor panels are swingably supported adjacent their outer ends on said braces and are swingably connected at their inner ends to a ground-engageable center leg. A pair of opposed U-shaped rails are pivotally interconnected adjacent the upper ends of the legs and act in combination with the floor panels to support a flexible netting forming the side walls of the play pen. The leg frames are swingable from the diverging extended position to a collapsed generally parallel position and the rails and floor panels are swingable from generally horizontal extended positions in which the netting is stretched taut to a generally vertical collapsed position generally parallel with the collapsed leg frames.

The rails are releasably maintained in their extended positions by a pair of linkages disposed on opposite sides of the play pen. Each linkage comprises a pair of links pivotally interconnected at their lower ends, pivotally connected to the rails at their upper ends, and pivotally connected to said leg frames on sliding axes intermediate the lengths. Thus, when the leg frames are extended, said linkages will support said rails in extended position, and when said leg frames are moved toward collapsed position, said linkages will swing said rails into their collapsed position.

Description of the drawings The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a play pen embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the play pen shown in FIG. 1, but showing said play pen in retracted position;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the play pen shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the play pen shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, my play pen comprises a pair of leg frames 10 each of which is formed from a pair of legs 12 disposed on opposite sides of the play pen and interconnected adjacent their lower ends by a transverse brace 13. The upper ends of the legs 12 are received in a pair of downwardly open channeled brackets 14 and are pivotally connected thereto by sets of longitudinally spaced transverse pins 15 and 16. Conveniently, the legs on one or both of the leg frames may have casters 17 mounted thereon to facilitate moving the play pen from one location to another.

A pair of opposed generally U-shaped rails 18 have their inner ends received in the brackets 14 and are pivotally connected thereto by pins 19. As shown, the pins 19 define a pair of transverse axes disposed outwardly from the pair of axes formed by the sets of pins 15 and 16.

A platform 20 is carried on the leg frames and comprises a pair of rigid panels 21 formed from fiberboard or the like. As shown in FIG. 4, the panels are supported adjacent their outer ends on the braces 13 and are swingably mounted thereon as by brackets 22. The adjacent inner ends of the panels are adapted to rest on a U-shaped center leg 23 having a pair of ground-engageable feet 24 interconnected by a transverse bight 25. As shown, a plurality of tongues 26 are mounted on the lower faces of the panels 21. The tongues 26 project inwardly from the inner panel edges and are pivotally received in a plurality of transversely spaced slots 28 formed in the opposed sides of the center leg bight 25 to define transverse pivot axes for the platform panels 21 intermediate the axes formed by the pins 15 and 16.

The side walls of the play pen are formed from a strip of flexible netting 30. As shown, the lower margins of the netting are wrapped around the edges of the platform 20 and secured to the lower faces of the panels, as by staples 32. The upper edge of the netting is provided with a pair of opposed generally U-shaped hems 34 received around the rails 18. Desirably, the opposed inner ends of the hems 34 extend under the brackets 14 and the pins 19 extend through said hems for retaining them in fixed positions on the rails 18.

In order to maintain the rails 18 in a horizontal plane parallel to the platform 20 when the play pen is in its extended operative position, a pair of linkages identical in construction are provided on the opposite sides of the play pen. As shown, each linkage comprises a link 35 having a lower arm 36 and an upwardly angled upper arm 37 and a link 38 having a lower arm 39 and an upwardly angled upper arm 40. The link arms 36 and 39 are pivotally interconnected at their lower ends by a pin 42 and the link arms 37 and 40 are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the rails 18 by pins 44. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1 the pins 42 define a transverse pivotal connection between the links lying in a vertical plane between the axes defined by the pins and 16 and the pins 44 define transverse pivotal connections between the link and rails disposed outwardly from the axes defined by the pins 19.

A sleeve 46 is slidably carried on each of the legs 12. As shown in FIG. 5, each of said sleeves has an opening 47 extending therethrough for reception of one of the legs. Pivot pins 49 pivotally connect the link arms 36 and 39 to the sleeves 46, and to this e d, recesses 50 are formed in the sleeve openings 47 to permit said pins to be countersunk with respect to said openings so that they wont rub against the legs as the sleeves are slid therealong.

Thus, the linkages provide a pair of V-shaped brace structures for supporting the rails 18 in parallelism with platform 20 when the play pen is in its extended position shown in FIG. 1. To move the play pen into its collapsed or retracted position shown in FIG. 2, it is merely necessary to raise the center of the pen slightly, as at the brackets 14, and also slightly raise the center of the platform 20. This causes the leg frames 10 to swing inwardly toward each other sliding the sleeves 46 dawnwardly on the legs 12. As said sleeves slide downwardly, the links 35 and 38 pivot about pins 49 and swing the rails 18 downwardly until the rails, leg frames, and platform all lie in generally vertical parallel planes. To erect the play pen, it is merely necessary to raise the rails 18 upwardly, whereupon the links 35 and 38 will slide upwardly on the legs 12 and move said legs into their extended diverging positions. As the legs are moving into their extended positions, the panels 21 will swing about their connections to the braces 13 and center leg 23 into their extended positions and the side walls 30 will be pulled taut between the rails 18 and platform 20.

I claim:

1. In a play pen, a pair of leg frames swingable between an extended diverging position and a generally parallel retracted position, a pair of opposed U-shaped rails swingably interconnected to said leg frames, a platform swingably mounted on said leg frames, said rails and platform being swingable between extended horizontal positions and retracted positions generally parallel with the retracted leg frames, flexible side walls extending between said rails and platform, and at least one linkage for supporting said rails in extended position, said linkage including a pair of links pivotally interconnected to each other, said links being pivotally connected to said rails on fixed axes and to said leg frames on movable axes.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which said links are pivotally connected to sleeves slidably carried on said leg frames.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which said leg frames comprise pairs of interconnected legs, a sleeve having an opening extending therethrough is slidably mounted on a leg in each of said leg frames, and each of said links is pivotally connected to one of said sleeves by a pivot pin, the openings in each sleeve having a recess formed therein for the reception of a head on said pivot pin.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1 in which each of said links comprises a lower arm pivotally connected to the lower arm of the other link and to one of said leg frames, and an upper arm angled upwardly from the lower arm and pivotally connected to one of said rails.

5. In a play pen, a pair of leg frames swingably interconnected on a first pair of transverse axes for movement between an extended diverging position and a generally parallel retracted position, a pair of opposed U- shaped rails swingably interconnected to said leg frames on a second pair of transverse axes, a platform swingably mounted on said leg frames, said rails and platform being swingably between extended horizontal positions and re tracted positions generally parallel with the retracted leg frames, flexible side walls extending between said rails and platform, and a pair of linkages at the opposite sides of the play pen for supporting said rails in extended position, each of said linkages comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected on a transverse axis lying in a vertical plane intermediate said first pair of axes and pivotally connected to said rails on traverse axes lying in vertical planes disposed outwardly from said second pair of axes, each of said links being pivotally connected intermediate its length to one of said leg frames on a sliding axis.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 in which each of the links in each linkage has a lower arm pivotally connected to the lower arm of the other link and to one of the leg frames, and an upper arm angled upwardly from the lower arm and pivotally connected to one of the rails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,806,747 9/1957 Jaeger 108-117 X 2,908,021 10/1959 Fulton 5-99 2,991,486 7/1961 Hamilton 5-99 X 3,206,773 9/1965 Sarasin 5-99 3,206,772 9/ 1965 Sarasin 5-99 3,215,096 11/1965 Holtz 108-119 X 3,309,718 3/1967 Sarasin 5-99 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 5-99

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