Abstract:
An infant carrier is provide, which includes a frame having a rotating knob at each side, a handle having both ends connected to the respective rotating knobs of the frame, and a connection mechanism mounted at the bottom of the frame. The infant carrier is characterized by a gripping device provided on the handle. The gripping device includes wires and a wire-actuating device for tightening or loosening the wires extending along the length of the handle, entering into the bottom of the frame via the rotating knobs, and extending in the direction towards the connection mechanism. When the wire-actuating device tightens or loosens the wires, the connection mechanism is actuated to move between a first position wherein the connection mechanism is released from the mounting bracket, and a second position wherein the connection mechanism engages the mounting bracket.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to an infant carrier, and in particular, to an infant carrier mountable to a mounting bracket of a car seat. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Infant carriers are well-known in the art. They are simple in construction and easy to operate. An example of conventional infant carrier is shown in FIG.  1 . To release the infant carrier  1  from the mounting bracket of the car seat (not shown), the user has to pull the finger pull  3  located at the lower rear of the frame  2 . The finger pull  3  is operatively connected to front latch  4  and rear latch  5  by means of a link. When the finger pull  3  is pulled in the direction as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, the front latch  4  and rear latch  5  is pivotally moved in the direction as shown by the arrows, so as to disengage from the front lever and rear lever of the mounting bracket respectively. In this way, the infant carrier can be released from the car seat. 
     However, when the user intends to pull the finger pull  3  located at the lower rear of the frame  2 , the user has to move his/her hand to the back of the carrier. Such a movement is against the natural movement of a human, and is difficult to apply the force. It is, therefore, troublesome for a female to perform the operation. 
     Furthermore, if the finger pull  3  is accidentally pulled, for example, by a naughty child seated in the car, this infant carrier may disengage from the mounting bracket, resulting in an undesirable damage. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an infant carrier that substantially obviates one or more of the disadvantages of the related art carriers. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an infant carrier that allows an operator to easily release the infant carrier from a mounting bracket of a car seat. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a design that is reliable and easy-to-operate. 
     Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description to follow. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims as well as the appended drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a conventional infant carrier. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the infant carrier according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of the infant carrier according to the present invention. 
     FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b  are sectional views of a gripping device. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the handle, showing how the wires extend within the handle. 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of the front latch. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the rear latch assembly. 
     FIGS. 8 and 10 schematically show the operation of the rear latch assembly. 
     FIG. 9 schematically shows the operation of the front latch. 
     FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the handle assembly. 
     FIGS. 12A to  12 C show the components of the handle assembly in combination, and schematically show the operation of the handle assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the infant carrier  10  according to the present invention comprises a frame  11 , a handle  12 , and a connection mechanism. The handle  12  is mounted to the frame  11  by connecting both ends to the rotating knobs  14  located at both sides of the frame  11 . The handle  12  operates between several different positions. 
     A gripping device  15  is provided at the intermediate position of the handle  12 . FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b  show sectional views of the gripping device  15 . With reference to FIG. 4 a,  the gripping device  15  includes a pressing portion  151  and a pair of actuating plates  152 . The actuating plate  152  is substantially triangular in shape and is provided with a hole for each of the three corners. The two actuating plates  152  are received within the internal space of the gripping device  15 . They are arranged in such a manner that they overlap with each other at one corner, and are integrally and pivotally connected to the handle  12  along with the pressing portion  151  by means of fastening means such as a pin  17 . The pair of actuating plates  152  are further fixedly connected to the pressing portion  151  by means of pins  18  passing through the other corners thereof. The hole  153  of each of the actuating plates  152  provided proximal to the outer edge of the handle can receive a wire  16  therethrough. In such a manner, each of the actuating plates  152  is attached with a wire  16 . 
     With reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, two wires  16  extend from the actuating plates  152  and stretch along in the cavity of the handle  12  to reach the rotating knobs  14 , and then exit from the rotating knobs  14  to enter the interior space of the frame  11 . The two wires  16  join with each other in the interior space of the frame  11  to form a single wire. The single wire is attached to the connection mechanism pivotally mounted on the frame  11  and extends partially beyond the base  19  of the frame. 
     With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the connection mechanism comprises a front latch  20  and a rear latch assembly  21 . The front latch  20  is composed of a sheet material substantially in the shape of an anchor. The portion of the front latch  20  that extends beyond the base  19  of the frame  11  is arcuated and terminates at a hook  201  at one end, so that the front latch  20  may latch on the front transverse lever  22  of the mounting bracket (not shown) of the car seat. Furthermore, the front latch  20  is disposed with a spring  23  to provide a restoring force such that the front latch  20  may restore to its original position after having been moved by an external force. 
     The rear latch assembly  21  comprises a connecting rod  211  and a pair of rear latches  212  provided at both ends of the connecting rod  211 . The rear latch  212  is formed of a sheet material and substantially elliptical in shape. A concave portion  213  is provided at the lower part of each of the rear latches  212  to engage the rear transverse lever  24  of the mounting bracket (see FIG.  8 ). The connecting rod  211  passes through the connecting block  214 , and is disposed in such a matter that it may pivotally move with respect to the connecting block  214 . A spring  215  is disposed in front of the connecting block  214 . When subjected to an external force, the rear latch  212  is pivotally moved. By means of the restoring force of the spring  215 , the rear latch  212  may return to its original position. 
     To place the infant carrier according to the present invention in the car seat, the user only needs to align the connection mechanism (including the front latch  20  and rear latch mechanism  21 ) with the transverse levers  22  and  24  of the mounting bracket (not shown); and then apply a slight force to latch the front latch  20  and rear latch mechanism  21  with the front transverse lever  22  and rear transverse lever  24  respectively. In detail, when a slight downward force is applied onto the infant carrier  10 , the arcuated portion of the front latch  20  urges against the front transverse lever  22  due to the elastic force provided by the spring  23 , and the hook  201  securely hook on the front transverse lever  22  (FIG.  6 ). In the meantime, the concave portion  213  of the rear latch  212  comes to engage with and receives therein the rear transverse  24  (FIG.  8 ). In this way, the infant carrier  10  is securely mounted onto mounting bracket of the car seat. 
     In the operation to release the infant carrier  10  from the mounting bracket of the car seat, the handle  12  of the infant carrier  10  is pulled to a substantially vertical position, and a force is exerted on the pressing portion  151  of the gripping device  15  (in the direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4 a ). Upon the exertion of the force on the pressing portion  151 , the two actuating plates  152  are actuated in such a manner that the corners thereof proximal to the handle will move towards each other in the directions as indicated by the arrows, and the corners pivotally connected to each other by means of the pin  17  will move downward along the slot  25  provided in the pressing portion  151 . In this way, the two wires  16  are pulled inward by the two actuating plates  152  respectively. FIG. 4 b  shows the state where the two actuating plates  152  have been actuated as mentioned above. 
     As the wires  16  are pulled as shown in FIG. 4 b,  the front latch  20  is pivotally moved in the direction as shown by an arrow (FIG.  9 ), to thereby disengage from the front transverse lever  22 . Simultaneously, the wire  16  for the rear latch mechanism  21  is also pulled to actuate the rear latch  212  to pivotally move in the direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 10, to thereby disengage the rear latch  212  from the rear transverse lever  24 . Consequently, the infant carrier  10  can be easily released from the mounting bracket of the car seat. 
     When the handle  12  of the infant carrier  10  is placed in a horizontal position, the wire  16 , which is in slack condition, will not actuate the front latch  20  and rear latches  212  to disengage from the front and rear transverse levers  22  and  24  of the mounting bracket respectively. Therefore, even the pressing portion  151  is accidentally pressed, the infant carrier  10  will not be released. 
     A further feature of the present invention lies in the handle assembly. As shown in FIG. 11, the handle assembly comprises two opposed chambers  31  and  32  substantially circular in shape. Chamber  31  is formed at the end of the handle  12  and chamber  32  is formed on the frame  2  of the infant carrier  10 . The circular chamber  31  of the handle  12  is designed to accommodate an actuating device composed of two plates  33  and  34  connected to each other by a spring  35  (FIG.  12 A). Both the two plates  33 ,  34  are provided with a plurality of finger-like protrusions  36 ,  37  at one end. 
     The chamber  31  formed at the end of the handle  12  is arranged to oppose the chamber  32  formed on the frame  2  of the infant carrier  10 , so that the two chambers  31  and  32  may fit on each other to form an integral body. The chamber  32  has a plurality of recesses  38 ,  38 ′ provided on the periphery, which are adapted to receive the protrusions  36 ,  37  of the plates  33 ,  34 . 
     With reference to FIGS. 12A to  12 C, the chamber  31  of the handle  12  and the chamber  32  of the frame  2  fit on each other to form an integral body. The finger-like protrusions  36 ,  37  are biased into the first pair of recesses  38  due to the elastic force of the spring  35 , as shown in FIG.  12 A. The handle  12  at this instant is located at the first position, for example, a vertical (up-standing) position. 
     To move the handle  12 , the user manually presses on the two opposed lugs  39  and  41  simultaneously. The plates  33 ,  34  acted on by the lugs  39 ,  41  respectively will then move toward each other, and the protrusions  36 ,  37  of the plates  33 ,  34  will retract to disengage from the first pair of recesses  38 , as shown in FIG.  12 B. At this moment, the handle  12  can be moved to another position. When the plates  33 ,  34  reach a position where the protrusions  36 ,  37  thereof are in alignment with the second pair of recesses  38 ′, the protrusions  36 ,  37  will move into the opposed recesses  38 ′ due to elastic force of the spring, as shown in FIG.  12 C. The handle  12  is then secured in that position, for example, a tilted position. In the same manner, the protrusions  36 ,  37  of the plates  33 ,  34  can be inserted into third pair of recesses  38 ″ to securely position the handle at another position, for example, a horizontal position. 
     Although the foregoing has been described in terms of presently preferred and alternate embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described. The apparatus of the present invention can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting the present invention.