US2205452A - Folding crib - Google Patents

Description

E. T. WRIGHT FOLDING CRIB Filed Oct. 20, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /Nl/E/V Toe:

E. T. WRIGHT 2,205,452

FOLDING CRIB Filed Oct. 20, 1937 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 25, 1940 UNITED' STATES PATENT OFI-ICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to cribs and more specifically to cribs of the type adapted to be folded into compact form for convenience in handling, transportation, and storing, the predominant object of the invention being to provide a folding crib of such improved construction and arrangement that it may be completely folded in a simple and convenient manner so as to occupy the minimum amount of space, and which may l0 be assembled in its upright, operative form with equal simplicity and convenience.

In the present age of extensive automobile travel by families the problem of providing suitable sleeping accommodations for very young children is a troublesome one. This results from the faci-l that the knock-down or folding cribs now obtainable on the market are not capableV of being reduced to such proportions in their collapsed condition to permit of their being conveniently carried in automobiles which are occupied also by passengers and their baggage.

The main purpose of the present invention,

therefore, is to provide a folding crib which is,

capable of being so completely folded that it occupies very little more space than a full size suitcase and therefore may be carried in the baggage compartment or the tonneau of an automobile with as much convenience as a large piece of baggage is so carried.

Another important feature of the invention is that the improved folding crib is capable of convenient use in small apartments where it may be folded and stored away in a very small space when not in use.

The improved crib disclosed herein is particularly well adapted for use in connection with automobile travel and in small apartments because it may be folded or collapsed, and assembled in its upright operative condition on performance of a very few, simple hand manipulations which require no tools nor mechanical ability on the part of the person performing the operations, and therefore even repeated operations of folding and unfolding the crib do not become laborious and troublesome.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved crib in its upright, operative condition.

' Fig. 2 is a view partially in plan and partially in horizontal section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional ele-` vation showing the manner of connecting together Parts of the sides of the crib.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4-4 of as Fig-1- Y (Cl. ,5-99l Fig. 5 is anenlarged sectiona'l elevation on line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1, portions of the legs of the crib being broken away and the spring and mattresses of the crib being omitted.

Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of the crib showing same in a partially folded condition.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the crib showing same as it appears when the folding operations of the crib have progressed beyond the stage illustrated in Fig. 7.

` Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing the crib in a completely folded condition.

Fig. 10 illustrates in elevation the handle employed for carrying the folded crib.

Fig. 11 is a perspective of an engaging member, two of which form parts of the crib and serve to retain certain parts thereof in their folded condition.

In the drawings, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, one embodiment of the invention, A designates the improved folding crib generally. The crib A includes a main frame i which is of rectangular form and is produced preferably from sections of angle iron suitably secured together. The main frame is composed of two frame sections which are designated in the drawings by the reference characters la and Ib and these frame sections are hingedly attatched together at their inner ends, which are located at the approximate longitudinal center of the frame i, so that said frame sections may be folded back against each other, as illustrated in Fig. 8, to reduce the length of the frame by approximately one-half.

1n order to hingedly connect the frame sections together the frame section la is provided with pairs of hinge members 2 which are suitably secured to said frame section la at opposite sides thereof and at points immediately adjacent to the inner ends of the opposed side .extensions of said frame section. Also the frame section ib is provided with like hinge members 3 which are suitably secured to said frame section lb at points immediately adjacent to the inner ends of the opposed side extensions of said frame section. The hinge members 2 are secured tothe frame section Ia at inner faces of the vertical legs of the opposed side extensions of said frame section Ia and at the inner faces of angle elements 2 secured to said side extensions of said frame section la, while the hinge members 3 arev secured tothe frame section Ib at outer faces of the vertical legs of the opposed side extensions of said ltheir proper positions.

frame section Ih and at the outer faces of angle elements 3 secured to said side extensions of said frame section Ib. The pairs of hinges 2 and 3 at opposite sides of the main frame I are provided with overlapping extensions which are provided with alined apertures, and extended through these apertures are opposite end portions of a hinge rod 4 (Fig. 5) which extends transversely of the main frame I. The opposite end portions of the hinge rod 4 have mounted thereon nuts 5 and 6, said nuts 5 and 6 contacting with faces of the hinge members 3. Also suitable spacers I and 1' are interposed between the overlapping por tions of the pairs of hinge members and between the hinge members 2 as shown in Fig. 5. The hinge rod 4 is offset downwardly between the opposed end portions thereof as shown to the best advantage at 8 in Fig. 5 and said hinge rod serves the additional function of bracing the main frame I and of holding the center portions of the spring and mattress in their proper positions when the crib is folded as shown in Fig. 8. The main frame I is provided with a suitable spring 9 and said spring receives the mattress I0 of the crib in the usual manner.

Pivoted to the main frame I of the crib A at points adjacent to the four corners thereof are the legs II of the crib. 'I'he legs illustrated in the drawings are produced from lengths of tubular material and said legs are pivotally attached to the main frame by means of pivot pins I2 which pass through alined apertures formed in vertical leg portions of the main frame and in the legs of the crib. Each leg has associated with it a brace I3 which is pivoted at one of its ends, as indicated at I4, to the associated crib leg. At its opposite end each brace I3 has associated with it a bolt I5 which passes through an elongated slot I6 formed in the mainwframe I, said bolt having a wing nut II mounted thereon through the instrumentality of which the end of the brace at which the bolt is located may be clamped to the main frame by forcing the wing nut into binding contact with said main frame. Because of this arrangement the legs and the braces may be folded within the main frame as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8. When the legs are in their upright operative position as shown in Fig. 1 the wing nuts I'I may be tightened against the main frame to lock the braces I3 against movement with respect to the main frame whereby the legs Il will be securely braced in Also.when the legs have been folded within the main frame as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8, during which folding movement the bolts pass to the opposite ends of the slots I6, the wing nuts may be tightened against the main frame to secure the legs in their folded positions.

Secured to the main frame I of the crib A at the four corners thereof are upstanding brackets Il which are of angular formation when viewed in plan. Also each of these brackets is provided with an upright extension I9, as shown to the best advantage at the right hand end of Fig. 2, which extension is disposed in spaced parallelism with respect to an upright side portion I l of the bracket. 'I'he opposite end members 2l of the crib are pivotally supported by the brackets Il, the lower end portions of opposed upright elements 20' of each end member being disposed between the portions Il' and I! of brackets Il located at the corresponding end of the crib, and pivot pins 2| are extended through alined apertures formed in said lower end portions of the end members and in said portions I I' and I9 of the brackets. Because of the pivotal arrangement just described the end members of the crib may be folded downwardly against the mattress I of the crib as shown to the best advantage in Fig. 8.

Supported for swinging movement by the end members 20 are the side members 22 of the crib. Each side member is composed of two sections 22a and 22h and each section comprises upper and lower bars connected by vertical bars. The sections of the side members are swingably attached to the end members by metallic straps 23 which embrace the upright elements of the end members in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4 and are welded or otherwise secured to the upper and lower bars of the sections of the side members. In order to support the sections of the side members at the proper elevation with respect to the end members 20 the straps 23 secured to the lower bars of said sections rest upon collars 24 lxedly mounted on the outer upright elements of said end members. In the assembled condition of the crib the sections of each side member 22 are connected together at their inner ends by means which include plugs 25 that are seated in the inner end portions of the hollow upper and lower bars of the side sections 22h. The plugs are provided with extensions 25 which project beyond the inner ends of the upper and lower s bars of the side sections 22h and these extensions project into the hollow end portions of the upper and lower bars of the side sections 22a when the side sections of the sides 22 are properly assembled in alined relation. The extensions 25' of the plugs 25 may be caused to enter the hollow end portions of the upper and lower bars of the associated side sections by moving the side sections 22a and 22h of a side member inwardly or outwardly into a position where the upper and lower bars of said side sections are in alined relation with respect to each other.

In order to secure the side sections of the side members against unintended disengagement at their inner ends when the crib is in its assembled condition. the upper and lower bars of the side section 22a of each side member have associated therewith locking elements 26 which are of substantially inverted U-shaped formation when viewedin cross-section. Each locking element is pivoted by means of a pivot pin 21 to the bar of the side section 22a with which it is associated as shown to the best advantage in Fig. 3, and at`a point adjacent to its opposite end each locking element has formed in its opposed side walls a pair of alined slots 2l which are open at the lower edges of said side walls. Also the upper and lower bars of the side sections 22h are provided with properly positioned pins 29 which extend transversely of said bars and extend slight distances beyond the opposite sides thereof. y

When the side sections 22a and 22h of the side members are'being moved into their alined rela.-

tion to connect the inner ends of the bars of said the pins 2| are disposed in the slots 2l of the 75 locking elements.l This effectively prevents the swinging movement from the hinged ends of the bars of the side sections which is required to break the joint between the inner ends of said bars, and also the locking engagement between the walls of the slots 28 and the pins 29 prevents longitudinal movement of the connected bars with respect to each other. In order to facilitate movement of the locking elements 26 into and out of the locking position eachof said locking elements is provided with a laterally extended ear 30 which may be grasped by the person manipulating the locking elements.

When in the use of the improved crib it is desired to fold same, the locking elements 26 are raised at the free ends and the joints between the upper and lower bars of the side sections of the side members 22 are broken by swinging the connected inner ends of said side sections inwardly or outwardly. One side section swingingly connected to each end member 20 of the crib is swung inwardly against the inner side of the end member and the other side section swingingly connected to each end member is swung outwardly against the outer side of the end member. In order to permit the side sections connected to either of the end members being folded as described, the metallic straps 23 which hingedly attach the side sections to an associated end member are shaped differently as shown to the best advantage in Fig. 2. By so shaping the metallic straps 23 the side section 22a at the top of Fig. 2 may be swung against the inner side of the associated end member 20, while the side section 22a at the bottom of Fig. 2 may be swung against the outer side of the associated end member. The end members with the associated side sections folded thereagainst as described are folded downwardly against the mattress i of the crib as shown in Fig. 7. The crib is then turned up ona side edge thereof after the wing nuts il are loosened and the legs il are folded within the main frame of the crib and said wing nuts are thereafter again tightened to hold the legs in their folded condition. th'e sections I a and ib of the main fra-me are folded against each other about the hinge rod li as shown in Fig. 8 to a position where said main frame sections contact with each other withl the result that the crib is completely folded as shown in Fig. 9.

In order to prevent the side sections which are folded against the outer side of the end members 2Q from swinging outwardly when the crib is folded an engaging member 3i is associated with each end member. These engaging members are formed as illustrated in Fig. 11 wherein a pair of horizontal portions are designated by the reference character 32. The portions 32 are provided with alined apertures 33 and extended from the lowermost of the portions 32 is a downwarly projected extension 34. Each engaging member is siidingly mounted on one of the vertical bars of the end member with which the engaging member is associated, said vertical bar being extended through the apertures 33 of the engaging member. After the side sections have been folded against the outer sides of the end members, the engaging members, which are in elevated positions during the folding operations. are moved downwardly so that the extensions 34 of said engaging members engage the lower bars of the folded side sections and thereby retain said folded side sections in their folded positions against the end members. Obviously the side sections engaged by the engaging members may be released by merely sliding the engaging members upwardly on the bars by which they are supported. It is obvious, of course. that no engaging members are required to retain in their folded positions the side sections which are folded against the inner sides of the end members as these latter side sections are interposed between the folded end members 20 and the mattress of the folded crib.

To provide means for conveniently carrying the folded crib a handle 35 is employed. This handle, which is illustrated in Fig. 10, includes a gripping portion 36 and a pair of opposed hook portions 31, and in use the hook portidns are caused to engage side elements of the end members 20 which are located at the top of the folded crib when same is disposed on its side as shown in Fig. 9. The gripping portion 36 of the handle may then be grasped and the folded crib carried in a. very convenient manner.

From the description of the manner of folding the crib it is thought that the manner of converting the crib from its folded to its operative upright condition will be obvious.

I claim:

1. A folding crib comprising a main frame composed of a pair of main frame sections, means for hinging said main frame sections together at the approximate longitudinal center of the main frame, foldable legs associated with said main frame, end members pivotally connected to said main frame and adapted to be moved to folded positions with respect to said main frame, side members, said side members comprising each a pair of side sections swingingly supported by said end members, hinge members for swingingly attaching the side sections of said side members to said end members, each end member having a pair of side sections swingingly connected thereto, one of said side sections being located at one side of the end member and the other side section being located at the opposite side of said end member, said hinge members being or shaped as to permit of said side sections being moved into folded relation with respect to the associated end member where the end member is disposed between the folded side sections, and releasable means for connecting together the side sections of each side member when the crib is in its assembled condition.

2. A folding crib comprising a main frame composed of a pair of main frame sections, means for hinging said main frame sections together at the approximate longitudinal center of the main frame, foldable legs associated with said main frame, end members pivotally connected to said main frame and adapted to be moved to folded positions with respect to said main frame, side members, said side members comprising each a pair of side sections swingingly supported by said end members, hinge members for swingly attaching the side sections of said side members to said end members, each end member having a pair of side sections swingingly connected thereto, one of said side sections being located at one side of the end member and the other side section being'located at the opposite side of said end member, said hinge members being so shaped as .to permit of said side sections being moved into folded relation with respect to the associated end member where the end member is disposed between the folded side sections, means for retaining certain of the folded side sections in their folded positions with respect to said end members, and releasable means for connecting together the side sections of each side member when the crib vis in its assembled condition.

3. A folding crib comprising a main frame composed of a pair of main frame sections, means for hinging said main frame sections together at the approximate longitudinal center of the main frame, foldable legs associated with said main frame, end members pivotally connected to said main frame and adapted to be moved to folded positions with respect to said main frame-side members, said side members comprisngeach a pair of side sections swingingly supported by said end members, hinge members for swingingly attaching the side sections of said side members to said end members, each end member having a pair of side sections swingingly connected thereto,

one of said side sections being located at one side of the end member and the other side section being located at the opposite side of said end member, said hinge members being so shaped as to permit of said side sections being moved into folded relation with respect to the associated end member where the end member is disposed between the folded side sections, means supported by said end members for retaining certain of the folded side sections in their folded positions with respect to said end members, and releasable means for connecting together the side sections of each side member when the crib is in its assembled condition.

ERASMUS T. WRIGHT.

Images