Abstract:
A collapsing device for child seat is provided. The collapsing device comprises a operating mechanism mounted on a connecting tube of the child seat, a safety button for preventing an accidental actuation of the operating mechanism, two engaging units disposed in the connecting tube of the child seat, and two cables connecting the two engaging units to the operating mechanism respectively for transmitting the operation of the operating mechanism to the engaging unites so as to perform a collapsing operation of the child seat.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a single-hand-operated collapsing device, and more specifically to a collapsing device that can be operated by a single hand to allow the front legs and rear legs of a child seat to collapse pivotally. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Child seats for children are well known children&#39;s appliances and are already commercially available. In order to facilitate storing, most of the child seats for children are usually designed in a collapsible form. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,800 has disclosed a collapsible child seat. As illustrated in FIG. 4 of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,800 patent, the child seat can be collapsed from a extended state (as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) to a collapsed stated (as illustrated in  FIG. 2 ) by operating the operation handle  26  to pull transmission cables  27  to disengage the pins  29  from the engagement holes  31 . Although the collapsing device of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,800 patent, i.e., including the handle  26 , the cables  27 , the pins  29 , and the engagement holes  31  etc., can achieve the function of collapsing the child seat, however, it takes two hands to properly operate/collapse the child seat and this causes inconvenience in use. Therefore, there exists a need for a collapsing device of a child seat which allows the user to effectively perform the collapsing operation of the child seat with one hand in a one-step operation. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a collapsing device of a child seat which can be easily operated by only one hand of the user. 
   To achieve this and other objects, a collapsing device for a child seat according to a first embodiment of the present invention is provided, the child seat having a stand which includes a connecting tube which has two arm portions connecting to the stand, the collapsing device of a child seat comprising: an operating device which is mounted to the connecting tube and has an operation button and an actuating unit coupled to the operation button, the actuating unit being operable by the operation button to move between a first position to a second position; at least one engaging element operably disposed in the arm portion of the connecting tube and including a locking member, the locking member being movable between a locked state that the locking member engages with the stand and the connecting tube and an unlocked state that the locking member disengages with the stand; and at least one transmission member whose two ends are connected to the actuating unit of the operating device and the at least one engaging element respectively, whereby the locking member is moved from the locked state to the unlocked state by the operation button through the at least one transmission member, so that the child seat can be collapsed from an extended state to a collapsed state. 
   According to this embodiment, the locking member comprises two pivotally coupled arm members and a clip spring disposed between the arm members, wherein the two arms and the clip spring are arranged such that while one end of the two arms close to each other, and the other end is apart from each other, a protrusion projecting laterally formed at the other end. 
   According to this embodiment, the at least one engaging element further comprises an actuating member connected to the at least one transmission member to actuate the locking member from the locked state to the unlocked state, wherein at the ends of the two arms that are close to each other, slanted surfaces are respectively formed at the ends of the arms facing each other, and guiding surfaces are formed on the actuating members at positions corresponding to the slanted surfaces. 
   According to this embodiment, the collapsing device further comprises a safety member which is pivotally coupled to the operation button and is arranged selectively to prevent the operation button from being operated. 
   According to a second embodiment of the present invention, a collapsing device of a child seat is provided, the child seat has a stand which includes a connecting tube and legs wherein the connecting tube has two arm portions connecting to the legs, the collapsing device of a child seat comprises: 
   an operating device which includes a housing mounted to the connecting tube, an operation button which is operably connected to and partially accommodated in the housing and is arranged such that it is capable of moving relative to the housing between a position away from the connecting tube and a position close to the connecting tube, and a pair of actuating arms, one end of the actuating arms being pivotally coupled to the operation button and the other end having an arcuate contour and being disposed adjacent to the connecting tube, such that the operation button is moved between the position away from the connecting tube where the other ends of the actuating arms are resiliently pivoted close to each other and the position close to the connecting tube where the other ends of the actuating arms are apart from each other; 
   two engaging elements each operably disposed in the arm portion of the connecting tube and including an locking member for retaining the engaging element in position, the locking member being movable between a locked state that the locking member engages with the stand and the connecting tube and an unlocked state that the locking member disengages with the stand and the connecting tube; and 
   two transmission members whose two ends are connected to the actuating unit of the operating device and one of the two engaging elements respectively, wherein the locking member is moved from the locked state to the unlocked state by the operation button through the at least one transmission member, so that the child seat can be collapsed from an extended state to a collapsed state. 
   According to this embodiment, the two actuating arms are arranged in a form of substantially V-shaped arrangement, and a torsion spring is disposed at a joint of the V-shaped arranged actuating arms and has two limbs disposed in the actuating arms respectively, so as to allow the actuating arms to pivot resiliently with each other. 
   Additionally, a collapsible child seat convertible between an extended state and a collapsed state is provided, the collapsible child seat comprising: a stand having two front legs, two rear legs pivotal connected to front legs respectively, and a connecting tube, the connecting tube includes a pair of arm portions, one ends of the arm portions are pivotally coupled to the front legs, the other ends of the arm portions are slidable coupled to a mounting seat of each rear leg, a collapsing device mounted on the connecting tube and having a pair of engaging devices disposed in the pair of arm portions respectively; wherein the collapsing device is mounted between a locked state where the engaging devices are engaged with the mounting seats of the rear legs respectively, and an unlocked state where the engaging devices are disengaged from the mounting seat of the rear legs and the arm portions of the connecting tube is capable of sliding relative to the mounting seats and pivoting relative to the front legs and the rear legs to help the child seat moving from the extended state to the collapsed state. 
   Features and objects of the present invention other than the above will become clear by reading the description of the present specification with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now being made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  are perspective views illustrating a collapsible child seat incorporating with a collapsing device according to one embodiment of the present invention in an extended state and a collapsed state respectively; 
       FIG. 2  is an overall perspective view of the collapsing device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional top view of the collapsing device of the present invention illustrating the relationship among the components while the collapsing device is in a locked state; 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the operation button, the safety button, the actuating arms and the housing of the collapsing device of the present invention, wherein the upper part of the housing is removed for showing the structure inside the housing; 
       FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional bottom view of the housing with the bottom part of the housing and the actuating arms being removed; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the operation button of the collapsing device of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the actuating arms of the present invention, wherein the operation button is removed for showing the torsion spring disposed in the actuating arms; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective of the engaging element of the collapsing device of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 9  is a partial cross-sectional top view illustrating the relationship among the components while the collapsing device of the present invention is activated into an unlocked state. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring now to the drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated to describe the present invention. 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B  are perspective views illustrating a collapsible child seat  2  incorporating with a collapsing device  1  according to one embodiment of the present invention in an extended state and a collapsed state respectively. As shown in the figures, the child seat  2  includes a supporting stand that is constituted by two front legs  3 , two rear legs  4  and a connecting tube  10 .  FIG. 2  is an overall perspective view of the collapsing device  1  of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the connecting tube  10  is a substantially U-shaped hollow tube member and has two arm portions  11 , and a transverse portion  13  connecting one end of the arm portions  11 . The connecting tube  10  is rotatably coupled to the front legs  3  of the child seat  2  at a free end of the arm portions  11  by a fastening member, such as a rivet. Additionally, the arm portions  11  of the connecting tube  10  each has two radially-aligned through holes (labeled as  15  and  16  in  FIG. 3 ) formed in the tube wall at a position close to the joint with the transverse portion  13  and is rotatably coupled to a corresponding rear leg  4  of the child seat  2  through a mounting seat  12 . The mounting seat  12 , as illustrated in  FIG. 8 , mainly-includes a mounting portion  121  for mounting to the rear leg  4  of the child seat  2  and a substantially hollow cylindrical shaped supporting portion  122  pivotally coupled to the mounting portion  121  for slidably supporting the arm portion  11  of the connecting tube  10 . Additionally, two engaging holes  123  (only one is shown) are formed in the wall of the cylindrical supporting portion  122  at positions corresponding to the through holes  15 ,  16  of the arm portions  11  of the connecting tube  10 . 
     FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional top view of the collapsing device  1  of the present invention. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the collapsing device  1  mainly comprises an operating device  20 , a safety button  30 , two transmission cable (the left transmission cable  40 L and right transmission cable  40 R) and two engaging elements  50  (left engaging element and right engaging element). 
   Reference is now being made to  FIGS. 3 and 4  to describe the structure of the operating device  20 . The operating device  20  mainly comprises a housing  22 , an operation button  24  and two actuating arms  26 L,  26 R. Referring further to  FIG. 5 , the housing  22  includes a first portion  221  and a second portion  222  which are assembled together and mounted to the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  by fixing members (such as screws  223  in  FIG. 5 ). The first and second portions  221 ,  222  of the housing  22  both have a notch  224  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) formed at a sidewall away from the connecting tube  10  to form a receiving opening of the housing  22 . In addition, first and second portions  221 ,  222  of the housing  22  each has a longitudinal groove  225  formed in a substantial central position of the surface facing each other. The first portion  221  further has a number of longitudinal ribs  227  formed on the surface facing the second portion  222  and at least one of the ribs  227  have a notch  226  formed therein (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
   Referring further to  FIG. 6  to describe the structure of the operation button  24 . The operation button  24  is partially accommodated in the housing  22  through the receiving opening and has an upper ear portion  241  and a lower ear portion  242  formed at a central portion of a side that is received in the housing  22 . In addition, there is a recess  243  formed in one lateral side of the operation button  24  and a hole  244  is formed in the bottom of the recess  243 . 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 3 and 7  to describe the structure of the actuating arms  26 L and  26 R. As illustrated in the figures, the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R are arranged in a V-shaped configuration with one end thereof being overlapped and disposed between the upper ear portion  241  and the lower ear portion  242 . The left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R are pivotally coupled to the operation button  24  by inserting a pin  28  through the joint of the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R and the upper and lower ear portions  241 ,  242 . The ends of the pin  28  are disposed in the longitudinal grooves  225  formed in the first and second portions  221 ,  222  respectively so as to allow the operation button  24  to move relative to the housing  22  from a first position away from the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  and a second position close to the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10 . Furthermore, a torsion spring  27  is disposed between the ends of the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R that overlap with each other. The torsion spring  27  has two limbs extending outwardly to form a substantially V-shaped configuration. The two limbs of the spring  27  are disposed in the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R respectively so as to allow the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R to pivot relative to each other resiliently. The left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R are arranged such that a free end thereof abutting the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  and the free end has an arcuate contour. The free ends of the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R are connected with a transmission cable  40 R,  40 L respectively. The transmission cables  40 R,  40 L pass through an elongate opening  16  formed in the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  and extend in the connecting tube  10  so as to coupled to the engaging element  50  disposed in the arm portions  11  of the connecting tube  10 . For instance, in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3 , on one hand, the right transmission cable  40 R that is connected to the free end of the left actuating arm  26 L is coupled to the engaging element  50  disposed in the right arm portion of the connecting tube  10 , and right actuating arm  26 R on the other hand is coupled to the engaging element  50  disposed in the left arm portion of the connecting tube  10 . 
   Now reference is made to  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6  to describe the structure of the safety button  30 . The safety button  30  includes a substantially ring-shaped installation portion  31 , an operation portion  32 , a resilient element  33  and a protrusion  34  formed at the same side with the resilient element  33 . The safety button  30  is pivotally installed to the housing  22  by a fixing member (not shown) that is inserted through the installation portion  31 , and is arranged such that one side of the operation portion  32  is adjacent to and received in the recess  243  of the operation button  24 , thereby a protrusion  34  that is formed at one side of the operation portion  32  of the safety button  30  adjacent to the operation button  24  projects into the hole  244  formed in the recess  243 . The resilient element  33  is an elongated member which laterally extends out from a position between the installation portion  31  and the operation portion  32  and abuts at least one of the longitudinal ribs  227  (see  FIG. 5 ), so that a tail end of the resilient element  33  passes through the opening  116  of abuts a portion of the longitudinal rib  227 . 
   Now referring to  FIG. 8  to describe the structure of the engaging element  50 . Since the structure of engaging elements  50  disposed in the right arm portion and the left arm portion of the connecting tube  10  is the same, only the structure of the engaging element  50  in the right arm portion of the connecting tube  10  is illustrated and described herein. The engaging element  50  mainly comprises an actuating member  51  and a locking member  52 . In this embodiment, the structure of the locking member  52  is like a clothespin which includes two arm members  521 ,  522  pivotally coupled together at a substantially central portion thereof by a pivot (not shown) that is fixed to the connecting tube  10  and is arranged such that when one ends of the arm members  521 ,  522  is close to each other, the other ends thereof is away from each other. The locking member  52  further includes a spring  523  which is disposed between the arm members  521 ,  522  arranged to keep one end of the arm members  521 ,  522  close to each other and the other end away from each other. Additionally, a laterally outwardly projected protrusion  524 ,  525  is respectively formed at the other ends of the arm members  521 ,  522 , a slanted surface  526 ,  527  is formed at a lateral side of the ends of the arm members  521 ,  522  that faces to each other. The actuating member  51  is a substantially cylindrical member with one end thereof being formed with a substantially triangle shaped portion having its two lateral sides being formed with a guide surface  51   a ,  51   b  respectively. The actuating member  51  is sized to be movable in the connecting tube  10  and disposed at a position adjacent to the ends of the arm members  521 ,  522  that are apart from each other to allow the guide surfaces  51   a ,  51   b  of the actuating member  51  in contact with slanted surface  526 ,  527  of the arm members  521 ,  522 . Alternatively, the actuating member  51  may be a substantially cone-shaped member having a circumferential surface function as the guide surface. The transmission cable  40 L passes between the arm members  521 ,  522  to connect to the actuating member  51 . The entire engaging element  50  is disposed in the connecting tube  10  at a position adjacent to the through holes  15 ,  16  of the arm portion  11  of the connecting tube  10  so that the protrusions  524 ,  525  of the arm members  521 ,  522  may extend into the through holes  15 ,  16  respectively to thereby locking the connecting tube  10  in position. 
   Now, the operation of the collapsing device  1  of the present invention will be described in conjunction with  FIGS. 3 and 9 . 
   When the operation button  24  of the operating device  20  is in its un-operated state (i.e., the first position illustrated in  FIG. 3 ), the safety button  30  is at a locked position abutting the operation button  24  so as to allow the protrusion  34  of the safety button  30  to extend into the hole  244  of the operation button  24  (see  FIG. 5 ) to prevent the operation button  24  from being pressed toward the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  to achieve the safety function of preventing the operation button  24  being accidentally operated. In this state, the two protrusions  524 ,  525  of the locking member  52  of the engaging element  50  extend through the holes  15 ,  16  of the connecting tube  10  and into the engaging holes  123  of the supporting portion  122  of the mounting seat  12  (this is a locked state of the engaging element  50 ), so that the connecting tube  10  is unable to slide relative to the mounting seat  12  and the child seat is thus locked in the extended state illustrated in  FIG. 1A . 
   When the child seat needs to be collapsed, a user first pushes the safety button  30  in a direction away from the operation button  24  to an unlocked position to allow to allow the protrusion  34  of the safety button  30  to be retreated from the hole  244  of the operation button  24  (at this time, the resilient element  33  of the safety button  30  is resiliently deformed because it is hindered from pivoting by the longitudinal rib  227  of the first portion  221  of the housing  22 ). Then, the user may press the operation button  24  in a direction toward the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  to a second position to move the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R closer to the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10 . During this process, the left and right actuating arms  26 L,  26 R will pivot away from each other to a tensioned position because of the arcuate feature of their free ends to pull the right and left transmission cables  40 R,  40 L connected thereto and cause the actuating members  51  of the engaging element  50  that are connected to the other end of the cables  40 R,  40 L to move toward the locking members  52  (only the left actuating member  51  and the left locking member  52  are illustrated in the figures). In the meantime, because the inclined guide surfaces  51   a ,  51   b  of the actuating member  51  move along the slanted surfaces  526 ,  527  of the arm members  521 ,  522 , the end of the arm members  521 ,  522  that is respectively formed with slanted surface  526 ,  527  is pushed away from each other to cause the ends of the arm members  521 ,  522  that are formed with a protrusion  524 ,  525  (only the protrusion  524  is shown) to move close to each other to thereby causing the protrusions  524 ,  525  to retreat out from the engaging holes  123  of the supporting portion  122  of the mounting seat  12  (i.e., in an unlocked state) and thus allowing the connecting tube  10  to slide relative to the mounting set  12 . In this state, the user may lift the connecting tube  10  with the operation button  24  being pressed to cause the front legs  3 ,  3  to pivot toward the rear legs  4 ,  4  and thus fold the child seat into a collapsed state as illustrated in  FIG. 1B . 
   After the child seat is in the desired collapsed state, the operation button  24  may release and the actuating arms  26 L,  26 R are pivoted toward each other back to their loosened position under the action of the torsion spring  27  to loosen the tensioned transmission cables  40  to allow the actuating member  51  of the engaging element  50  to be pushed away from the arm members  521 ,  522  of the locking member  52  under the action of the spring  523 . While the actuating arms  26 L,  26 R being pivoted toward each other, the operation button  24  is pushed in a direction away from the transverse portion  13  of the connecting tube  10  back to its first position and the operation portion  32  of the safety button  30  is pivoted from its unlocked position toward the operation button  24  to its locked position under the action of the resiliently deformed resilient element  33  of the safety button  30  and allow the protrusion  34  of the safety button  30  to once again project into the hole  244  of the operation button  24 . 
   When the collapsed child seat needs to be extended for use, the connecting tube  10  may be pushed downward and backward-directly without operating the safety button  30  and operation button  24  to cause the front legs  3 ,  3  to be pivoted away from the rear legs  4 ,  4 . At this time, the connecting tube  10  may pivot relative to the rear legs  4 ,  4  and slide relative to the mounting seat  12  until the connecting tube  10  slides to the position that the through holes  15 ,  16  of the connecting tube  10  align with the engaging holes  123  of the supporting portion  122  of the mounting seat  12 , the protrusions  524 ,  525  of the arm members  521 ,  522  once again project into the engaging holes  123  to lock the connecting tube  10  relative to the mounting seat  12  to thereby lock the child seat in an extended state as illustrated in  FIG. 1A . 
   Although the collapsing device with safety designs of the present invention has been described in the preceding paragraphs by using its application in the child seat as an example for describing. It does not imply that the collapsing device of the present invention can only be used in the child seat. On the contrarily, people skilled in this art may find other applications for the collapsing device of the present invention, for instance, the collapsing device of the present invention may be applied in a stroller. Moreover, It will be apparent to people skilled in this art that many modifications can be made to the disclosed structures without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is the intent of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the sprit and scope of this invention.