Crib bed with detachable side wall

The crib bed (1) has a crib sidewall (5) secured to the crib bed leg construction (7) by means of a latching system (6). A latching bar (13) is spring-loaded by means of a latch bar spring (14) for engagement of the latching pin (16) with a stationary guide member (19). The latching pin (16) is retractable into the latching bar (13) against the load of a spring (17) arranged in the latching bar by displacement of the latching pin along a sloped surface (22) of the stationary guide member (19). The latching pin (16) is secured to the latching bar (13) with a linkage pin (15) extending through a slot (18) of the latching pin and extending through a hole in the latching bar. The linkage pin (15) is guided in a guide rail (12) in the latch housing (11) for retraction of the secured latching pin.

The invention relates to a latch and supporting assembly for the attaching and detaching of the crib bed side to allow easy access to a withheld infant or for the means of easy access for hygienic cleaning of the bedding materials within.

The invention is for a general type crib bed having spaced vertical bars connected to a crib wall support construction, wherein the crib bed side wall and crib bed leg includes a latch and supporting assembly where the stationary latch receiving piece is connected to the crib bed leg corner at each of the two crib bed legs where the crib bed side is attached. The stationary latch-receiving piece is formed to create a flush surface between the formed stationary latch piece and the wooden crib leg recess.

The stationary latch piece is formed to guide the latch catching piece into the locked position, induced by the gravity actuated automatic spring-loaded lock under the weight of the detachable crib bedside. The stationary latch piece is formed with a sloped surface to create a transitional resistance from unlocked to precise locked position.

A multiple action trigger lever is actuated to detach the crib bedside wall with a childproof operation. This multiple action operation involves first pulling on the latch trigger followed by a rotational movement of the trigger latch followed by a vertical lifting action of the trigger and crib bedside wall construction.

The known types of latches, fixtures or supporting means for attaching and detaching crib bed side walls often require excess operation to attach and detach the crib bed side wall such as screws or manually operated latches to secure the crib bed side wall to the crib bed construction.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,632 discloses a lifting gate controlling device for controlling the front lifting gate of a baby's crib, including a mounting bar fastened in either front corner post of a baby's crib, a slide movably mounted on the mounting bar, a lock bolt fastened in the slide and controlled by a compression spring, a movable socket and a retaining block to releasably engage into a slot on the mounting bar, so that when the top rail of the front lifting gate is moved upwardly, this causes the lock bolt to disengage from the slot on the mounting bar, thus permitting the front lifting gate to be moved from an upper limit position to a lower limit position. A slopping track is made on the mounting bar to guide the lock bolt into the slot, when the front lifting gate is moved upwards from its lower limit position, so that the front lifting gate can be locked in its upper limit position.

It is therefore the highly desirable object of this invention to provide a latch and supporting assembly for attaching the side of the crib bed which does not require manual latching operations to attach the crib bed side wall and a child proof but easy operation to detach the crib bed side wall from the crib bed construction.

Referring to the figures there is disclosed generally a crib bed1having restraining crib bedside wall2as of a general type crib bed having spaced vertical bars3connected to a crib bed wall support construction4.

The portion of the crib bed1which is utilized for this invention is a detachable restraining crib sidewall5with childproof multi action sidewall latching system6that is connected to the crib bedside wall2and crib bed leg construction7.

The latching system6is attached and integrated into the detachable crib bedside wall5at each top corner8.

The latching system6includes a trigger lever9, trigger lever linkage pin10, latch housing11with novel integrated guide rail12, latching bar13, latch bar spring14, linkage pin15, latching pin16, which is spring loaded for automatic latching with the use of a spring17and slot18horizontal and perpendicular to the latching plane of the latch housing11.

The latching system6insures automatic attachment of the crib sidewall5to the crib bed construction4without activation of the trigger lever9and instead by means of lowering crib sidewall5vertically into the stationary guide member19within the crib bed leg construction7. The latching system6secures at least one of the crib bedside wall5to the constructions to the crib wall support construction4utilizing the spring loaded latching pin16. The latching system6requires multiple actions to detach the crib bed side wall5from the remaining crib bed construction4in a child safe operation.

Attachment of the crib bedside wall5occurs when the crib bedside wall5is inserted into the leg guide rails20with the assistance of centering pins21and secondary centered the crib bed assembly1with the stationary guide member19and the latch housing11. On lowering the crib bedside wall5a spring loaded latching pin16is retracted into the latching bar13by means of a sloped surface22. When the crib bed sidewall5and latching system6reaches the lowest position in the stationary guide member19, the latching pin16is extended horizontally and co-axially to the latching pin16utilizing the spring17.

It is important to child proof and safe operation of the crib bed that the crib bedside wall cannot be detached partially of fully by a child. To insure this the detachable crib bed sidewall5utilizes latching system6on both sides of the crib bedside wall5. The latching system6is placed at a distance further then the reach of a child or infants arm span. The latching system6utilizes a novel ramp in the form of guide rail12that guides first a pulling motion of the trigger lever9both horizontally and co-axially to the latching pin16. Through the use of a trigger lever linkage pin10connected to the latching bar13and assembled linkage pin15the latching pin16is pulled a partially toward the unlocking position23. It is novel to the invention of the trigger lever9is release at this position or any position the trigger lever9and latching pin16with connecter assembly will return to the unlocking position23utilizing the co-axial latch bar spring14.

To fully unlock the crib bedside wall5a first horizontal and co-axial motion to the latching pin16and afterwards a secondary rotary motion of the trigger lever9must be applied. The multiple combined actions of horizontal and later rotary motion of the trigger lever9is considered childproof and is guided by use of the guide rail12within the latching housing11.

In short, the crib bed1is of the general type with at least one detachable crib sidewall5that is secured to the crib bed leg construction7utilizing a spring loaded latching pin16with latching pin including slot18perpendicular to the axis of the latching pin16where slot18is secured to latching bar13with a linkage pin15through said slot18and linkage pin15extends through a hole in latching bar13where the linkage pin15and attached trigger lever9is guided by guide rail12in latch housing11to retract the secured latching pin16and latching bar13in a motion first which is co-axial and horizontal to the latching pin16and afterwards a second motion which is rotational and co-axial to the latching pin16and said assembly is spring loaded as to always return to the latch lock position with release of the trigger lever9.

The crib bed1is of the general type with at least one detachable crib sidewall5being secured to the crib bed leg construction7by means of a latching system6including a latch housing11on the detachable crib sidewall5and a stationary guide member19within the crib bed leg construction7, the latching system6being spring loaded as to always return to a latch lock position with release of trigger lever9, a latching bar13being arranged rotatably and displaceably in the latch housing11in order to displace a latching pin16adapted to engage the stationary guide member19, the latching bar13being provided with the trigger lever9at a first end for rotating and displacing the latching bar13and the latching pin16, the latching bar13being provided with the latching pin16at a second end, and the latching bar13being spring-loaded in the latch housing11by means of a latch bar spring14arranged around the latch bar13for engagement of the latching pin16with the stationary guide member19. The crib bed1is characterised in that, for attachment of the detachable crib sidewall5to the crib bed leg construction7, the latching pin16is retractable into the latching bar13against the load of a spring17arranged in the latching bar13by displacement of the latching pin16along a sloped surface22of the stationary guide member19, in that the latching pin16includes a slot18perpendicular to the axis of the latching pin16, in that the latching pin16is secured to the latching bar13with a linkage pin15extending through the slot18of the latching pin16and extending through a hole in the latching bar13, and in that, for detachment of the detachable crib sidewall5from the crib bed leg construction7, the linkage pin15and thereby the attached trigger lever9is guided in a guide rail12in the latch housing11for retraction of the secured latching pin16and latching bar13in a first motion which is horizontal and co-axial to the latching pin16and afterwards in a second motion which is rotational and co-axial to the latching pin16.

In an embodiment, the guide rail12has the form of a groove in the latch housing11.

In an embodiment, the groove has a helical section and a straight section extending in an axial direction of the latching pin16.

In an embodiment, an extension of the slot18of the latching pin16in an axial direction of the latching pin16defines the possible retraction of the latching pin16into the latching bar13so that, independently of the position of the latching bar13in the latch housing11, a tip of the latching pin16may pass along the entire sloped surface22of the stationary guide member19in the retracted postion of the latching pin16into the latching bar13.

In an embodiment, in the attached position of the crib sidewall5to the crib bed leg construction7by means of the latching system6, the latching pin16is in its extended position in the latching bar13and a tip of the latching pin16is located in a recess26of the stationary guide member19, wherein the sloped surface22of the stationary guide member19has a first end24located at a level of the tip of the latching pin16in the extended position of the latching pin16and has a second end25located at a level of the tip of the latching pin16in the retracted position of the latching pin16in the latching bar13, and wherein the recess26of the stationary guide member19is located next to the second end of the sloped surface22of the stationary guide member19.

In an embodiment, the detachable crib sidewall5is adapted to be attached to the crib bed leg construction7by insertion of the crib bedside wall5into the leg guide rails20with the assistance of centering pins21of the crib sidewall5and with the assistance of the stationary guide member19and the latch housing11.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, as it will be understood those skilled in the art, changes can be made without parting from the principles of the invention.

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