Baby carriage

A baby carriage includes a frame and a seat mounted onto the frame. The frame includes a support rack and a pair of handle sets coupled on the support rack. The handle sets have respectively an elevation set and a folding set connected through a flexible member. The elevation set can adjust the height of a handgrip located at the upper end of the handle set. The folding set has an elastic pin and is inserted into the support rack. Through a driving member located on the upper end of the handle set, the latching state between elastic pin and the support rack can be released to rapidly fold and retract the frame. Usability is therefore improved and the folded size can also be reduced.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a baby carriage and particularly to a baby carriage equipped with an elevation set and a folding set to improve usability and facilitate unfolding and folding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increasing of life quality these days, families with a baby or small child usually purchase at least one baby carriage to carry the baby or child going out. While the baby carriage is a useful carrying tool, it is often bulky and becomes an annoying burden during outing. Hence many techniques have been proposed in prior art to improve the shortcoming of inconvenient folding and provide additional functions to enhance usability.

Applicant has submitted U.S. application Ser. No. 12/709,066 entitled “stroller” that has a folding control set operable single-handed to control an elastic pin of a folding driver held in a handle bar to incorporate with a front tube to allow the handle bar to slide along the front tube, and a rear tube coupled with the handle bar through a linking rack to perform folding or unfolding against the front tube through a coupling holder hinged thereon and functioning as a gravity center.

While the aforesaid technique provides the convenience of single-handed operation to achieve faster folding, the handle bar is a curved tube, and hence the stroller can only be folded by pushing the front and rear parts towards the center without shrinking the volume thereof after folding. Moreover, the elements such as the folding driver are held in the handle bar and are linked with each other through a flexible element. To maintain linkage as desired, the length of the handle bar is limited by that of the flexible element and cannot be adjusted. Such a design results in a constant height held by a user and is not ergonomic, so there is still room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional stroller that has a handle bar with unadjustable length and bulky volume resulting in difficulty of storage after folding by providing an improved baby carriage that includes a handle set containing an elevation set and a folding set. The elevation set is provided to allow adjustment of the length of a handle to meet user's comfortable requirement. The folding set allows the baby carriage to be shrunk into a smaller size after folding. The baby carriage of the invention provides many advantages of adjustable height as desired and simple folded.

To achieve the foregoing object, the baby carriage of the invention includes a frame and a seat mounted onto the frame. The frame includes a support rack and a pair of handle sets coupled on the support rack. Each handle set includes a handgrip, an elevation set, a folding set, a flexible member and an outer sleeve. The handgrip has a coupling portion with a coupling hole formed thereon and a driving member coupled on the outer side. The driving member has a driving portion pulled by a user. The elevation set includes a driven member, an adjustment member, a driven bar and a coupling member. The driven member has an upper latch slot. The adjustment member has an insertion portion at one end with a passage run through by the driven member. The insertion portion is inserted into the coupling hole of the handgrip. The adjustment member has an adjustment knob at one side with a pressing portion protruded outside the adjustment member and pressed by the user. The driven bar has a transverse hole at an upper end corresponding to the adjustment knob and a diagonal slot at a lower end. The coupling member has a hollow tube run through by the driven bar and a fastening hole at the lower end corresponding to the diagonal slot to hold a positioning plate which has a lug. The coupling member has a winding portion at a distal end. The folding set includes a lower driving member, an upper driving member, an elastic pin and an elastic member. The lower driving member and the upper driving member have respectively a first pin hole and a second pin hole inserted by the elastic pin. The lower driving member further has a lower latch slot at an upper end. The elastic member is interposed between the lower driving member and the upper driving member to force the lower and upper driving members to return to corresponding positions. The flexible member is a rope set with one end fastened to the upper latch slot of the driven member and wound around the winding portion for one coil and another end fastened to the lower latch slot of the lower driving member. The outer sleeve is coupled on the outer sides of the elevation set and the folding set, and has a plurality of adjustment holes formed on a lower wall thereof and latched by the lug of the positioning plate. As the flexible member is a rope set including an inner rope confined in an outer tube, when the user presses the adjustment knob to release the latched condition of the positioning plate, the position of the coupling member can be adjusted and the lug of the positioning plate is latched in a selected adjustment hole. Moreover, the coil size of the flexible member wound on the winding portion can be enlarged or shrunk due to different positions of the adjustment hole. However, since the two distal ends of the inner rope are respectively fastened to the upper and lower latch slots, the coil size of the outer tube of the flexible member does not affect the fastening relationship with the inner rope. After the driving portion of the driving member is pulled by the user, the elastic pin of the folding set can be driven to release the fastening condition with the support rack. Then the support rack can be folded to shrink the size of the baby carriage.

By means of the construction set forth above, the invention can provide many advantages, notably:

1. The elevation set can adjust the handle set to an optimal elevation to meet ergonomic requirement and alleviate user's pains in the loins and back caused by unsuitable height of the baby carriage.

2. As the flexible member is a rope set coupled with the elevation set and folding set, the elevation of the handle of the baby carriage can be adjusted and the volume thereof also can be shrunk after folding to improve usability.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer toFIGS. 1 through 5B, the present invention provides a baby carriage that includes a frame1and a seat2. The frame1includes a support rack3and a pair of handle sets4.

The support rack3includes at least one holding member31with a front tube32fastened to a lower side and a rear tube33hinged on the lower side. The front tube32has an extension hole321near the middle portion and a retraction hole322close to a lower end which is coupled with a front wheel set34. The rear tube33has a lower end coupled with a rear wheel set35. The front wheel set34has a lateral wheel341at a front end axially perpendicular thereto.

Also referring toFIGS. 6 through 9B, each handle set4is fastened to the holding member31of the support rack3, and includes a handgrip5, an elevation set6, a folding set7, a flexible member8and an outer sleeve9. The handgrip5has a coupling portion51with a coupling hole511and a first elongate slot512formed thereon. The coupling portion51is coupled with a driving member52on an outer side. The driving member52has a driving portion521protruded from one end thereof and pulled by a user, and a first through hole522on a lateral side corresponding to the first elongate slot512.

The elevation set6includes a driven member61, an adjustment member62, a driven bar63and a coupling member64. The driven member61has an upper latch slot611and a second through hole612. The adjustment member62has an insertion portion621at one end. The insertion portion621has a passage622run through by the driven member61and a second elongate slot623on a lateral side corresponding to the first elongate slot512. The insertion portion621is inserted into the coupling hole511of the coupling portion51and fastened to the first through hole522of the driving member52and the second through hole612of the driven member61via a fastening element (not shown in the drawings) such as a screw. Thereby when the driving portion521is pulled by a user, the driving member52and driven member61are moved within the first elongate slot512. The adjustment member62has an insertion hole624at a lower end inserted by the coupling member64and an adjustment knob65at one side. The adjustment knob65has a pressing portion651protruded outwards and pressed by the user, a longitudinal hole652, and an inclined surface653directing inwards at the upper end. The driven bar63has a transverse hole631and an inner inclined slot632at an upper end. The transverse hole631corresponds to the longitudinal hole652of the adjustment knob65. The inner inclined slot632is butted by the inclined surface653of the adjustment knob65. The driven bar63has a chamber633near the lower end and a diagonal slot634at the lower end. The chamber633holds an elastic element635such as a spring. The upper end of the coupling member64is inserted into the insertion hole624at the lower end of the adjustment member62. The coupling member64has a hollow tube641run through by the driven bar63. The hollow tube641has a latch hole642on one side corresponding to the chamber633and inserted by a latch member643which passes through the chamber633to retain the elastic element635. The coupling member64further has a fastening hole644at the lower end corresponding to the diagonal slot634to hold a positioning plate66which has a lug661and an aperture662. Through a retaining element (not shown in the drawings) running through the fastening hole644, the diagonal slot634and the aperture662, the positioning plate66can be slid and confined between the diagonal slot634and the fastening hole644. The coupling member64further has a winding portion645at a distal end.

The folding set7includes a lower driving member71, an upper driving member72, an elastic pin73and an elastic member74. The lower driving member71and the upper driving member72have respectively a first pin hole711and a second pin hole721that are corresponding to each other and inserted by the elastic pin73. The first pin hole711is located within a notch712with a slanted surface. The lower driving member71has a lower latch slot713at the upper end. The elastic pin73is inserted into the first pin hole711, and has a resilient element731such as a spring on the upper end, a pin732at the lower end, and a washer733near the middle portion of the pin732formed at a diameter greater than that of the pin732. The upper driving member72and lower driving member71can slide against each other. The elastic member74is a spring interposed between the lower and upper driving members71and72to force the lower and upper driving members71and72to return to their corresponding positions.

The flexible member8is a rope set with one end fastened to the upper latch slot611of the driven member61and wound on the winding portion645of the coupling member64for one coil and another end fastened to the lower latch slot713of the lower driving member71.

The outer sleeve9is coupled on the outer sides of the elevation set6and folding set7and coupled with a retaining bushing91at the upper end to butt against a lower edge of the adjustment member62. The outer sleeve9has a lower retaining element92(referring toFIG. 5B) at the lower end to cover the lower end of the upper driving member72to keep a selected distance between the elevation set6and the folding set7so that elements thereof can be protected to increase their lifespan. The outer sleeve9further has a plurality of adjustment holes93on the lower wall (referring toFIG. 8B) latched by the lug661of the positioning plate66.

Please refer toFIGS. 8A through 9B. When adjusting the height of the handle is desired, the user presses the pressing portion651of the adjustment knob65to move inwards, and then the inclined surface653is butted against the inner inclined slot632of the driven bar63so that the driven bar63is moved along the inclined direction towards the handgrip5. Consequently, the positioning plate66originally retained at the diagonal slot634and the fastening hole644is moved inwards through the fastening hole644to release the latched condition of the lug661in the adjustment hole93. Then the pressing portion651is continuously pressed and the handgrip5is also pulled to adjust the position of the coupling member64and latch the lug661in a selected adjustment hole93to adjust the elevation as desired. When moving the coupling member64is desired, the diameter of the coil of the flexible member8wound on the winding portion645can be enlarged or shrunk due to different positions of the coupling member64. However, since the upper and lower ends of the inner rope of the flexible member8have respectively fastened to the driven member61and lower driving member71, folding movements of the invention are not affected.

Please refer toFIGS. 3A,5B,10A and10B. When the baby carriage of the invention is in an unfolding condition, the elastic pin73is inserted into the extension hole321of the front tube32. When folding the baby carriage is desired, the user pulls the driving portion521to drive the inner rope of the flexible member8, so that the lower driving member71fastened to the lower end of the flexible member8is drawn and moved upwards. Then the slanted surface of the notch712presses the pin732to retract inwards to release the latched condition with the support rack3so that the handle set4can slide downwards along the front tube32. When the pin732is latched in the retraction hole322of the front tube32, the two sides of the support rack3can be moved towards the middle through the lateral wheel341at the front end of the front wheel set34to shrink the baby carriage into a smaller size.

Referring toFIGS. 11 and 12, the handgrip5can also include a turning control knob53at one side with a latch member531and a plurality of turning holes54formed inside latched by the latch member531to form positioning. The user can press the turning control knob53to release the latched condition between the latch member531and the turning hole54, and then turn the handgrip5to mate another selected turning hole54and release the turning control knob53to return the handgrip5to the desired position for anchoring.