NURSERY GATE

Abstract: A nursery gate assembly (10) includes a frame (12, 28), a gate pivotable on the frame (14), a locking mechanism (24) operable to lock the gate in a closed position and a locating mechanism (26) operable to locate the gate in a closed position prior to activation of the locking mechanism (24).

Description: NURSERY GATE The present invention relates to a gate assembly such as a nursery gate. Current trends in the field of nursery gates are to provide a gate mechanism which allows automatic locking of the gate on moving it to its closed position. This is particularly advantageous when the user has no free hands to close the gate by hand, such as a mother carrying a small child. GB-A-2, 271, 144 discloses a variety of examples of nursery gate locking mechanisms, some of which provide automatic locking of the gate when moved back to its closed position. Other examples are disclosed in US-A-5, 103 , 658 and GB-A- 2,294,080. The present invention seeks to provide an improved nursery gate assembly. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame, a locking mechanism operable to lock the gate in a closed position and a locating mechanism operable to locate the gate in a closed position prior to activation of the locking mechanism. The locating mechanism is particularly useful with assemblies having L-shaped frames in which the locking mechanism must co-operate directly with a facing wall or other surface. With the locating mechanism, it can be ensured that the gate is in the correct position for locking. The locating mechanism preferably provides a first locking action. Preferably, the locking mechanism is released for operation only on activation of the locating mechanism. Advantageously, the locking mechanism provides an abutment member operable to abut a wall or other surface facing the gate, the abutment member being movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the gate, in other words towards or away from a facing wall or other surface when the gate is in the closed position. The abutment member is preferably moved by a moving mechanism which is actuated by a force applied in a substantially horizontal direction when the gate is disposed so as to pivot about a vertical axis. Thus, by application of a horizontal force, the abutment member can be moved so as to abut a facing wall and thereby to lock the gate closed. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame and a locking mechanism for locking the gate in a closed position, the locking mechanism including an abutment member for abutting a wall or other surface facing a free side of the gate so as to lock the gate in a closed position and an actuating mechanism for moving the abutment member towards and away from the gate, the actuating mechanism being activated by application of a force in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the gate. In practice, the actuating mechanism will be actuated by means of a horizontal force. This is particularly useful with nursery gates, enabling a user merely to push the actuating mechanism with, for example, a part of the body. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame, a locking bar movable substantially parallel to the axis of pivot of the gate into and out of a recess located at a part of the frame, and locating means for locating the gate relative to the frame in a position in which the locking bar is substantially aligned with the recess. This can significantly facilitate location of the locking bar into the recess. Preferably, the locating means is operable to keep the locking bar in a retracted position until the gate has been located over the frame. An embodiment of the present invention is described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the preferred embodiment of gate assembly; Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the gate assembly of Figure 1 with covers to an upper locking mechanism removed; Figures 3 to 8 are various views of the upper locking mechanism; Figures 9 and 10 are views of a locking bar assembly at a lower end of the gate; and Figures 11 to 13 are views of an alternative embodiment of lower locking mechanism. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the embodiment of nursery gate assembly 10 shown includes an - shaped frame 12 formed of upright and floor members. A gate 14 is pivotably coupled to the frame 12 by pivots 18. Three fixing pads 16 are located at the ends of the upright and floor members and are adjustable in known manner to fix the frame against two opposing walls or other surfaces. The gate 14 and frame 12 are provided with a plurality of vertical bars 20, 22 which are of conventional form. Two locking mechanisms are provided, the first 24 being located at the top of the free end of the gate 14, while the second 26 is located at the bottom of the gate proximate the floor member 28 of the frame 12. The upper locking mechanism 24 has a retractable abutment member or wall pad 30 which is operable by means of a rotatable handle 32. This is explained in detail below. The lower locking mechanism 26 includes a reciprocating locking bar 34 which is movable into and out of a recess provided in the floor member 28 of the frame 12. The locking bar 34 is also movable by the handle 32. Referring to Figures 3 to 8, the upper locking mechanism 24 is shown in various configurations. The retractable wall pad 30 slides into and out of an open end of the tubular 5 upper bar 40 of the gate 14. It is provided with a pad 42 of rubber or other elastomeric material and an adjusting mechanism 44 of known type for adjusting the length of the member 30 to ensure that in the fully extended position it contacts the facing wall (not shown) with sufficient force. 10 In alternative embodiments, the member 30 may be sprung loaded to provide a range of operating dimensions. Retraction of the wall pad 30 is provided by rotatable handle 32 and strut 50 which is pivotably connected both to 15 the pad assembly 30 and to a rotatable shaft 52 of the handle 32. Thus, rotation of the handle 32 in any direction away from the gate 14 will rotate the shaft 52 which in turn will take the strut 50 with it and thereby retract the member 30. It will be appreciated that the 20 handle 32 can be rotated in either direction and not just in the direction into the paper as seen in the drawings. On return of the handle 32 into a position parallel to the upper bar 40 of the gate 14, the strut 50 is rotated and 25 urged back to its fully extended position, thereby extending the wall pad 42, in practice against the facing wall . The nandle assembly 32 includes a shaft or inner pivot tube 30 54 fixed to the upper gate member 40 and which is disposed within the rotatable shaft 52. The upper end of the fixed shaft 54 provides a recess 56 into which a locking strut 58 fixed to the top of the locking bar 34 can drop. The locking strut 58 is also designed to fit within an elongate channel member 60 which is fixed to the rotatable shaft 52 to rotate therewith. As will be apparent from Figure 6, the locking strut 58 is coupled to a vertically movable trigger 62 of the handle 32. Thus, by application of force against the trigger, the locking strut 58 can be moved to an upper position in which it clears the sides of the recess 56. Also included in the handle 32 is a leaf-spring 64 which biases the locking strut 58 and the trigger 62 into a lowermost locked position. The spring force of the leaf- spring 64 matches safety requirements for this type of gate . Referring now to Figures 9 and 10, the lower locating or locking mechanism 26 can be seen. The locking bar 34 is housed in a tubular support for the sake of safety and appearance. The lower end of the locking bar 34 protrudes through and beyond an aperture in a lowermost horizontal bar 70 of the gate 14. Pivotably located on the lower gate bar 70 is an oarlock 72 which co-operates with a pin 74 or other protrusion on the floor bar 28. The oarlock 72 also provides a surface on which the lower end of the locking bar 34 can rest when in its upper position and a recess through which the locking bar 34 can pass when moving to its lowermost position into engagement with an aperture 76 in the floor bar 28. In use, when the locking strut 58 is in its lowermost position, shown in Figures 3 and 6, it cannot rotate by virtue of being locked into the recess 56. In this position, the handle 32 points forwardly towards the wall and the retractable wall pad 30 is in its extended position in contact with and pressing against the wall. At the lower locking mechanism 26, the configuration of Figure 10 occurs, in which the oarlock 72 engages the pin 74 and is aligned with the floor bar 28, the locking bar 34 passes through the recess in the oarlock 74 and is located within the aperture 76 in the floor bar 28. Thus, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the gate affords two locks, one at the top of the gate and acting against a facing wall or other surface, the other at the base of the gate to prevent its deflection from below. To open the gate, the trigger 62 is pressed so as to lift it and the locking strut 58, thereby to clear the locking strut 58 from the recess 56. At this time, the locking bar 34 is lifted out of engagement with the aperture 76 and oarlock 72. The handle 32 can now be rotated in either direction. On so doing, the rotatable shaft 52 rotates to retract the wall pad 30 from the wall via the action of the pivoting strut 50. This is particularly apparent from Figure 8. The gate 14 can now be opened, which causes the oarlock 72 to pivot around the pin 74. This causes the upper surface of the oarlock to rotate to under the locking bar 34, thereby to hold the locking bar 34 in the upper position. When it is desired to close the gate 14, it is merely necessary to push it closed, locking occurs automatically on pushing the handle 32 in a generally horizontal direction so as to become aligned with the gate 14. More specifically, as the gate 14 becomes aligned with the frame 12 and with the floor bar 28 thereof, the oarlock 72 engages the pin 74 and rotates towards its aligned position. In so doing, the locking bar 34 eventually becomes aligned with the recess in the oarlock 72 and can fall to a position just above the aperture 76 in the floor bar 28. This provides a locating position for further closing of the gate. The gate can be securely closed by urging the handle 32 horizontally towards its gate aligned position. As the handle 32 becomes aligned, the locking strut 58 aligns with the recess 56 in the fixed shaft 54, allowing it to drop into the channel member 60 of the handle and allowing the locking bar 34 to drop into the aperture 6 in the floor bar 28. Positive locking action is provided by the leaf- spring 64. Thus, the retractable wall pad 30 is extended into abutment with the facing wall or other surface. This location and subsequent locking feature is particularly useful for gate assemblies which use an L- shaped frame and which hence do not benefit from another locator such as a frame upright opposite the open edge of the gate. The handle cannot be inadvertently locked when the gate is in the open .position as the locking bar 34 and hence the locking strut 58 cannot drop into their locked positions until the oarlock 72 has been pivoted back to its closed position. An alternative embodiment of gate locating mechanism and lower locking mechanism is shown in Figures 11 to 13. It will be apparent that certain elements of the gate assembly have not been shown in these drawings for the sake of clarity. In this embodiment, the oarlock 72' is located at the lower edge of the gate 12, at the end of the lowermost bar 70, and is mounted so as to pivot in a substantially vertical plane. A pin or other protrusion 74' is located at the end of the floor bar 28. The oarlock 72 ' is coupled to the locking bar 34 by means of a tubular member 80 fixed to the oarlock 72' and extending through the lower bar 70. The end of the tube 80 remote from the oarlock 72 ' is provided with a radial slot 80 at an upper side thereof and a circular aperture 84 in a lower side thereof. The sizes of the slot 82 and aperture 84 are such as to allow the locking bar 34 to slide therethrough. As can be seen in Figure 13, when the oarlock 72' is in its closed position in which it engages the pin 74', the locking bar 34 passes through both the slot 82 and the aperture 84 so as to be received into the opening 76 in the floor bar 28. In this manner, the gate 12 is fully locked. When the handle 32 is actuated to unlock the gate 12 and lift the locking bar 34, the gate can be opened, in either direction as explained above, In this event, the oarlock 72 ' rotates around the pin 74 ' to disengage itself therefrom. In so doing, the tube 80 is rotated such that the locking bar 34 loses alignment with the aperture 84, so as to be held in its upper position by the inner wall of the tube 80. When the gate 12 is closed again, the oarlock 72 ' first engages the pin 74' and rotates to its closed position. As the locking bar 34 becomes aligned with the aperture 84, it drops partially, into the aperture 34, so as to locate the gate 12 in this position. Closure of the upper locking mechanism 24, as described above, drops the locking bar 34 into the opening 76 in the floor bar 28.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame, a locking mechanism operable to lock the gate in a closed position and a locating mechanism operable to locate the gate in a closed position prior to activation of the locking mechanism. 2. A nursery gate according to claim 1, wherein the locating mechanism provides a first locking action. 3. A nursery gate according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the locking mechanism is released for operation only on activation of the locating mechanism. 4. A nursery gate according to claim 1, 2 or 3 , wherein the locking mechanism provides an abutment member operable to abut a wall or other surface facing the gate, the abutment member being movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the gate 5. A nursery gate according to claim 4, wherein the abutment member is movable by a moving mechanism which is actuated by a force applied in a substantially horizontal direction when the gate is disposed so as to pivot about a vertical axis. 6. A nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame and a locking mechanism for locking the gate in a closed position, the locking mechanism including an abutment member for abutting a wall or other surface facing a free side of the gate so as to lock the gate in a closed position and an actuating mechanism for moving the abutment member towards and away from the gate, the actuating mechanism being activated by application of a force in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the gate. 7. A nursery gate assembly including a frame, a gate pivotable on the frame, a locking bar movable substantially parallel to the axis of pivot of the gate into and out of a recess located at a part of the frame, and locating means for locating the gate relative to the frame in a position in which the locking bar is substantially aligned with the recess. This can significantly facilitate location of the locking bar into the recess . 8. A nursery gate according to claim 7, wherein the locating means is operable to keep the locking bar in a retracted position until the gate has been located over the frame. 9. A nursery gate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings .

Inventors: CHAPMAN CHRISTOPHER, ELAM MICHAEL, CHAPMAN, CHRISTOPHER, ELAM, MICHAEL
Applicants: BETTACARE LTD, CHAPMAN CHRISTOPHER, ELAM MICHAEL, BETTACARE LIMITED, CHAPMAN, CHRISTOPHER, ELAM, MICHAEL
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E05B65
IPC codes: E05B63, E05B65, E05C1, E06B9