Bending joint of a collapsible baby playing bed

The present invention relates to a bending joint of a collapsible baby playing bed, which comprises: PA1 two inner tooth members each having a tubular portion connected with an upper frame of the bed, and teeth; two fitting blocks each having teeth engaged with the teeth of the tooth members, and two opposing sectorial recesses; a connector having two pairs of opposing sectorial projections engaged with the recesses of the fitting blocks, and a recessed portion; two springs; a push cap fitted on the recessed portion; two bolts each passed through the connector, one the spring, one the fitting block, one the tooth member, and a nut. The bending joint of the bed is first and formost lifted upward to loosen a tight engagement of the teeth of the fitting blocks and the teeth of the tooth members and then the cap is pushed inward so that the sectorial recesses of the fitting blocks can disengage and the inner tooth members can be pivoted downward.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A collapsible baby playing bed, as shown in FIG. 8, was disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,381,570 and issued on Jan. 17 1995, wherein a bending joint 8, 
referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, was provided. The bending joint 8 comprises an 
inner tooth member 81, a spring 82, a fitting block 83, a bending member 
84, a bolt 85, and a push cap 86. 
In combination, the fitting block 83 is inserted among inner tooth portions 
811 of the inner tooth member 81 with a spring 82 being placed between the 
block 83 and the tooth member 81; the bending member 84 is mounted on the 
block 83 with opposing sectorial projections 841 thereof being mounted on 
opposing sectorial recesses 831 of the block 83; the bolt 85 is used for 
the bending member 84, the fitting block 83, the spring 82, and the tooth 
member 81 to be screwed together in that sequence; and the cap 86 is 
fitted on the bending member 84. 
A tubular portion 842 of the bending member 84 and a tubular portion 812 of 
the inner tooth member 81 are connected with an upper frame 9. Because an 
uppermost portion of the bending joint 8 is arranged to be as high as the 
bed, an end 91 of each upper frame 9 is bent to be able to be inserted 
into the tubular portions 842, 812. 
The above described combination is known to have disadvantages as follows: 
1. the end 91 is bent and so the upper frame 9 requires greater 
circumferential thickness than a pipe of the same kind with an unbent end 
to maintain one strength that both the cost and the weight of the bed is 
undesirably increased; 
2. the end 91 bent looks unpleasant aesthetically; and, 
3. customers have to pay higher price to buy the bed due to said cost 
increase. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a bending joint which is fitted to an 
upper frame of a collapsible baby playing bed and which comprises two 
inner tooth members, two fitting blocks, two springs, a connector, two 
bolts, and a push cap. 
Each tooth member comprises a through hole, a tubular portion, a holding 
chamber, and a plurality of teeth inside the chamber; each fitting block 
has a plurality of teeth, a through hole, and two opposing sectorial 
recesses; the connector has two pairs of opposing sectorial projections, 
two through holes, a plurality of blocking trenches, and a recessed 
portion; the push cap 6 has a plurality of blocking hooks on an inside. 
In combination, said two bolts are passed through said through holes of the 
connector, the springs, said through holes of the fitting blocks, said 
through holes of the inner tooth members in sequence with the teeth of 
both the blocks and the tooth members toothing together and with the 
sectorial projections engaging with the sectorial recesses; nuts are 
screwed on an other end of the bolts; furthermore, the push cap is mounted 
on the recessed portion of the connector with said blocking hooks being 
detained by said blocking trenches. 
The upper frame is passed into said tubular portions of the tooth members 
to form a firm connection. 
The bending joint of the bed is first and foremost lifted upward to loosen 
a tight engagement of the teeth of the fitting block and the teeth of the 
tooth member and then the cap is pushed inward to make the inner tooth 
members become able to be pivoted downward, the blocking hooks pushing the 
fitting blocks inward so that the sectorial recesses of the fitting flocks 
can disengage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A bending joint of the present invention, referring to FIGS. 1, 3, 5, is 
provided which is fitted to an upper frame 7 of a collapsible baby playing 
bed and which comprises two inner tooth members 1, two fitting blocks 2, 
two springs 3, a connector 4, two bolts 5, and a push cap 6. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 5, each tooth member 1 comprises a through hole 
14, a tubular portion 11, a holding chamber 12, and a plurality of teeth 
13 inside the chamber 12; each fitting block 2 has a plurality of teeth 21 
with different thicknesses, a through hole 22, and two opposing sectorial 
recesses 23; the connector 4 has two pairs of opposing sectorial 
projections 41, two through holes 42, a plurality of blocking trenches 43 
arranged at a proper place, and a recessed portion 44; the push cap 6 has 
a plurality of blocking hooks 61 on an inside. 
In combination, said two bolts 5 are passed through said through holes 42 
of the connector 4, the springs 3, said through holes 22 of the fitting 
blocks 2, said through holes 14 of the inner tooth members 1 in sequence 
with the teeth 21 and the teeth 13 toothing together and with the 
sectorial projections 41 engaging with the sectorial recesses 23; nuts 51 
and washer (not numbered) are screwed on an other end of the bolts 5; 
furthermore, the push cap 6 is mounted on the recessed portion 44 of the 
connector 4 with said blocking hooks 61 being detained from falling off 
the connector 4 by said blocking trenches 43. 
In fitting the bending joint to the upper frame 7, the upper frame 7 is 
passed into said tubular portions 11 of the tooth members 1 to farm a firm 
connection. 
The cap 6 is pushed inward to make the inner tooth members 1 become able to 
be pivoted downward and the blocking hooks 61 pushing the fitting blocks 2 
inward so that the sectorial recesses 23 of the fitting blocks 2 can 
disengage. However, when the bending joint is fitted to the bed and is not 
bent as shown in FIG. 6, a tight engagement of the teeth 21 and 13 due to 
gravity makes it difficult to push the cap 6 inward to bend the bending 
joint so an user has to first and foremost lift the bending joint upward 
to loosen the tight engagement of the teeth 21 and 13 to make the cap 6 
movable. 
In collapsing the baby playing bed, the user first lifts the bending joint 
upward and then pushes the cap 6 inward and pivots the tooth members 1, 1 
downward. 
From the above description, the bending joint of the present invention is 
known to have advantages as follows: 
1. because the user has to lift the bending joint upward to make the cap 6 
inwardly movable, children playing in the bed can be protected from the 
danger of careless bending of the joint; 
2. because the tubular portions 11 are arranged substantially as high as an 
uppermost portion of the tooth members 1 and the upper frame 7 is 
connected to the tubular portions 11 without being bent, the bed looks 
pleasant in an aesthetically pleasing manner; 
3. furthermore, because the upper frame 7 is not bent, the strength of the 
frame 7 is greater than that of a bent one with a same circumferential 
thickness; thus the frame 7 can be circumferentially thinner to maintain a 
necessary strength as compared with a bent one. 
4. because the upper frame 7 is not bent, it saves cost both in 
manufacturing and in material and customers can buy the bed for a 
comparatively lower price. 
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, 
it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be 
made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such 
modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.