Patent Publication Number: US-8967710-B2

Title: High chair

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 12/416,937, filed Apr. 2, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/041,922, filed on Apr. 3, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a high chair, and more particularly, to a high chair including a frame body using simplified mechanism and easy to use. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     High chairs designed for babies or toddlers have brought great convenience to care givers. With their designed height, babies sitting in seats are tall enough for a sitting care giver to feed them or have interaction. Most conventional high chairs are foldable, which is done by folding the frame body of the high chairs to a smaller size. 
     In order to fold the high chairs, many ways have been disclosed in the prior art skills, by the ways of assembling the front leg frame and the rear leg frame, and unlocking the two leg frames so that they can move to each other. For example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,126,236 and 5,104,180 add a transverse supportive frame between the front leg frame and the rear leg frame in the high chair. The supportive frame, with fixed length, fixes to the front leg frame and the rear leg frame and maintains the relative position between the front leg frame and the rear leg frame in an engaged status. With different mechanism provided by each patent, users can operate an engagement device at the supportive frame and the front leg frame (or the rear leg frame) to stop the engagement of the supportive frame on the front leg frame (or the rear leg frame). The two leg frames of the high chair can then be folded. A foldable supportive frame linking between the bottoms of the front leg frame and the rear leg frame is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,104. In the opening status of the high chair, the supportive frame can not be folded and the front leg frame and the rear leg frame can be maintained in the opening status. The user can step on an actuator of the supportive frame on the rear leg frame to fold the supportive frame, and further fold the front and rear leg frames. 
     The conventional high chairs mentioned above and in the prior art, however, needs an additional supportive frame or pipe transversely configured between the front leg frame and the rear leg frame, and requires direct operation on a folding device at the supportive frame/pipe to fold the high chair. The conventional mechanisms are complicated to be used and difficult to be stored. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention, a high chair includes a seat and a frame body. The frame body supports the seat and is capable of moving between an opened position and a folding position. The frame body includes a front leg frame and a rear leg frame pivotally connected to each other. The frame body further includes a folding body and an engaging member. The folding body is mounted on the front leg frame between longitudinal ends of the front leg frame and the folding body has an arm extending at an angle relative to the front leg frame. The arm is pivotally connected to a pivoting section of the rear leg frame. The engaging member is movably configured on one of the arm of the folding body and the pivoting section of the rear leg frame and engaged with the other one of the arm of the folding body and the pivoting section of the rear leg frame, so as to restrain the frame body in the opened position. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a high chair in an opened position of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of the high chair in a folding position of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a stereoscopic diagram of the high chair of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of a folding device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram of the folding device in an unlocked position according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of a rear leg frame pivoted to the folding position relative to a front leg frame according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram of a pivoting section of the rear leg frame according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram of a folding device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram of the folding device in the unlocked position according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram of the rear leg frame pivoted to the folding position relative to the front leg frame according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram of a folding device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a diagram of the folding device in the unlocked position according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a diagram of the rear leg frame pivoted to the folding device relative to the front leg frame according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  is a diagram of a high chair  100  in an opened position of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a diagram of the high chair  100  in a folding position of the present invention. The high chair  100  includes a frame body  40  composed of a front leg frame  20  and a rear leg frame  30 , a folding device  60  mounted on a pivot where the front leg frame  20  and the rear leg frame  30  are pivotally connected to each other (Please refer to  FIG. 4 ), and a seat  10  supported by the frame body  40 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a stereoscopic diagram of the high chair  100  of the present invention. The rear leg frame  30  is pivotally connected to a middle of the front leg frame  20 . The front leg frame  20  includes an upper front leg  200  and a lower front leg  202 . The seat  10  is installed on the upper front leg  200  which can move relative to the lower front leg  202  for adjusting the height of the seat  10 . The rear leg frame  30  is pivotally connected to a top end of the lower front leg  202 . 
     When the high chair  100  is in the opened position, a baby can sit in the seat  10 , with an adjustable height for a care giver to take care of the baby sitting in the seat  10 . The seat  10  can be fixed on the frame body  40 , or can be detached from the frame body  40  for storage or other application. The lower front leg  202  of the front leg frame  20  of the frame body  40  and the rear leg frame  30  are U-shaped structure in this embodiment (For example,  FIG. 3  shows the U-shaped structure of the lower front leg  202  of the front leg frame  20  and the rear leg frame  30 ). 
     The front leg frame  20  and the rear leg frame  30  of the frame body  40  are pivotally connected to each other. The folding device  60  is mounted on the pivot where the rear leg frame  30  is pivotally connected to the front leg frame  20 . The frame body  40  can move between the opened position shown in  FIG. 1  and the folding position shown in  FIG. 2  with the folding device  60 . In the opened position, foot ends of the rear leg frame  30  and the front leg frame  20  are fixed and far away to each other. In the folding position, the front leg frame  20  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted and close to each other. The high chair  100  can be folded to a smaller size for storage when the front leg frame  20  and rear leg frame  30  are pivoted to the folding position. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 4  is a diagram of the folding device  60  according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device  60  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the folding device  60  is in a locked position, the rear leg frame  30  can not be pivoted relative to the front leg frame  20  so as to restrain the frame body  40  in the opened position. The folding device  60  includes a folding body  61 , an engaging member  62 , a driving member  63 , a spindle  64 , and an elastic element  65 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the folding body  61  includes a first arm  614  and a second arm  615  connected to the first arm  614  with an angle. In this embodiment, the first arm  614  shorter than the second arm  615  is configured on a top end of the lower front leg  202  of the front leg frame  20 . The spindle  64  is connected to a pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30 , and further pivotally connected to the second arm  615  of the folding body  61 . Therefore, the spindle  64  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted relative to the folding body  61  (and the front leg frame  20  where the folding body  61  is located). The second arm  615  of the folding body  61  includes a sliding slot  611  extending along direction F 1 -F 2  in this embodiment. The engaging member  62  is slidably configured on the sliding slot  611  and can be moved along directions F 1  or F 2  between the locked position shown in  FIG. 4  and an unlocked position shown in  FIG. 6 . The engaging member  62  includes an engaging section  620  and a second inclined surface  621  located on the engaging section  620 . The elastic element  65  can be a spring. In this embodiment, the elastic element  65  is configured in the sliding slot  611  and connected between the engaging member  62  and the folding body  61 . When the engaging member  62  moves in the sliding slot  611 , the elastic element  65  is compressed and bears elastic stress. The driving member  63  can be a button. In this embodiment, the driving member  63  includes a pressing portion  630  and a triangular driving portion  633  transversely stretching from the pressing portion  630 . The pressing portion  630  can protrude from an opening of the folding body  61  for operation. The driving portion  633  includes a first inclined surface  632  corresponding to the second inclined surface  621  of the engaging member  62  and a long slot  631 . The folding body  61  includes an axle  612  passing through the long slot  631  so that the driving member  63  is configured on the folding body  61  in a manner of moving along directions N 1  or N 2  relative to the folding body  61 . Direction N 1 -N 2  and direction F 1 -F 2  are perpendicular to each other in this embodiment. 
     As shown is  FIG. 4 , the spindle  64  includes a slot  641  in this embodiment. When the engaging member  62  of the folding device  60  is in the locked position, the engaging section  620  of the engaging member  62  stretches out of the sliding slot  611  of the folding body  61  and into the slot  641  of the spindle  64 . At this position, the engaging member  62  abuts on two lateral walls of the slot  641  and the first inclined surface  632  of the driving portion  633  abuts on the second inclined surface  621  of the engaging member  62 , so that the spindle  64  and the rear leg frame  30  can not be pivoted relative to the folding body  61  and the front leg frame  20  so that the frame body  40  can be restrained in the opened position. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 6  is a diagram of the folding device  60  in the unlocked position according to the first embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 7  is a diagram of the rear leg frame  30  pivoted to the folding position relative to the front leg frame  20  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In order to fold the frame body  40  to a smaller size, the folding device  60  is unlocked by pressing the pressing portion  630  of the driving member  63  so that the driving member  63  moves to the folding body  61  along direction N 1 . At this time, the first inclined surface  632  of the driving member  63  has interaction with the second inclined surface  621  of the engaging member  62  and moves the engaging member  62  sliding in the sliding slot  611  along direction F 2 , so that the engaging section  620  of the engaging member  62  retracts from the slot  641  of the spindle  64  and the whole engaging member  62  moves back into the sliding slot  611  of the folding body  61 . Then, the engaging member  62  is in the unlocked position shown in  FIG. 6 . The two lateral walls of the slot  641  of the spindle  64  are not abutted by the engaging member  62 , and the spindle  64  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted to the folding position shown in  FIG. 7  relative to the folding body  61  (and the front leg frame  20 ) for folding the frame body  40 . 
     When the engaging member  62  is in the unlocked position shown in  FIG. 6 , the elastic element  65  connected between the engaging member  62  and the folding body  61  is compressed. When the rear leg frame  30  is pivoted from the folding position shown in  FIG. 7  to the opened position shown in  FIG. 6  relative to the front leg frame  20 , the elastic stress of the elastic element  65  pushes the engaging section  620  of the engaging member  62  along direction F 1 , from the sliding slot  611  of the folding body  61  to the slot  641  of the spindle  64 , so as to restrain the frame body  40  in the opened position. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 5 , and  FIG. 7 , a long slot  642  is configured on a lateral side of the spindle  64 . When the front leg frame  20  is pivoted relative to the rear leg frame  30 , a limiting element  613  passing through a hole  616  of the second arm  615  and the long slot  642  of the spindle  64  of the folding body  61  moves in the long slot  642 . In this embodiment, the limiting element  613  can be a rivet disposed on the folding body  61 . Please refer to  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  is a diagram of the pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  includes a first holder  311  and a second holder  312 . When the frame body  40  is in the opened position shown in  FIG. 4 , the first holder  311  abuts on the limiting element  613  for preventing over-opening between the front leg frame  20  and the rear leg frame  30  caused by overloading of the seat  10 . When the frame body  40  is in the folding position shown in  FIG. 6 , the second holder  312  abuts on the limiting element  613  for preventing over-rotation of the rear leg frame  30 . The slot  641  of the spindle  64  can be hid by the folding body  61  so as to prevent an accident. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 .  FIG. 9  is a diagram of a folding device  70  according to a second embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 10  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device  70  according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 9 , when the folding device  70  is in the locked position, the rear leg frame  30  can not be pivoted relative to the front leg frame  20  so that the frame body  40  can be restrained in the opened position. The folding device  70  includes a folding body  71 , an engaging member  72 , a driving member  73 , a spindle  74 , and an elastic element  75 . 
     The difference between the folding device  70  of the second embodiment and the folding device  60  of the first embodiment is the engaging member  72  and the driving member  73 . The engaging member  72  includes an engaging section  720  and an inclined slot  721  located on an end opposite to the engaging section  720 . The driving member  73  includes an axle  731  configured on a top end of the driving member  73  and a triangular pressing portion  732  in this embodiment. The axle  731  passes through the inclined slot  721  and engages with the inner slot of the folding body  71  and the sliding slot  760  of a cover  76  with its two ends so that the axle  731  can be movably configured on the folding body  71 . The axle  731  can be moved in the inclined slot  721 . When the driving member  73  is moved along directions N 1  or N 2 , the axle  731  can be moved in the inclined slot  721  for driving the engaging member  72  to move along directions F 1  or F 2  in the sliding slot  711 . In this embodiment, direction F 1 -F 2  and direction N 1 -N 2  are not parallel but with an angle. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 11  and  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 11  is a diagram of the folding device  70  in the unlocked position according to the second embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 12  is a diagram of the rear leg frame  30  pivoted to the folding position relative to the front leg frame  20  according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In order to fold the frame body  40  to a smaller size, the driving member  73  is pressed to move to the folding body  71  along direction N 1 . At this time, the axle  731  of the driving member  73  can be moved in the inclined slot  721  so as to drive the engaging member  72  moving in the sliding slot  711  along direction F 2 , retracting the engaging section  720  of the engaging member  72  out of a slot  741  of the spindle  74 , and retracting the whole engaging member  72  out of the sliding slot  711  of the folding body  71 . Then, the engaging member  72  is in the unlocked position shown in  FIG. 11 , and the spindle  74  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted to the folding position shown in  FIG. 12  relative to the folding body  71  (and the front leg frame  20 ) so that the frame body  40  can be folded. In addition, other working mechanism of the folding device  70  according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as the folding device  60  according to the first embodiment. The pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  also includes a first holder  311  and a second holder  312  so as to abut on the limiting element  613  when the frame body  40  is in the opened position and in the folding position, and detailed description is omitted herein for simplicity. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 13  and  FIG. 14 .  FIG. 13  is a diagram of a folding device  80  according to a third embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 14  is an exploded diagram of elements of the folding device  80  according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 13 , when the folding device  80  is in the locked position, the rear leg frame  30  can not be pivoted relative to the front leg frame  20  so that the frame body  40  can be restrained in the opened position. The folding device  80  includes a folding body  81 , an engaging member  82 , a driving member  83 , a spindle  84 , and an elastic element  85 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , the folding body  81  is mounted on an end of the front leg frame  20 , and the spindle  84  is not only connected to the pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  but also pivotally connected to a second arm  810  of the folding body  81 . Therefore, the spindle  84  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted relative to the folding body  81  (and the front leg frame  20  where the folding body  81  is located). The engaging member  82  connects to the spindle  84  slidably and extends out of the spindle  84  and the pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  movably. The folding body  81  includes a slot  811 . In this embodiment, an end of the engaging member  82  includes an engaging section  820  engaged with the slot  811  that can be moved between the locked position shown in  FIG. 13  and the unlocked position shown in  FIG. 15  along directions F 1  or F 2 . The engaging section  820  includes a second inclined surface  821 . The elastic element  85  can be a spring. In this embodiment, the elastic element  85  is configured between the pivoting section  31  of the rear leg frame  30  and the engaging member  82 . When the engaging member  82  moves along direction F 1 , the elastic element  85  can be compressed and bears elastic stress. The driving member  83  can be a button. In this embodiment, the driving member  83  pivotally connected to the second arm  810  of the folding body  81  includes a first inclined surface  832  on an end opposite to the pivot so as to correspond to the second inclined surface  821  of the engaging member  82 . The driving member  83  can be configured on the folding body  81  in a manner of pivoting along directions N 1  or N 2  relative to the folding body  81 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , when the engaging member  82  of the folding device  80  is in the locked position, the engaging section  820  of the engaging member  82  extends in the slot  811  of the folding body  81 . At this time, the engaging member  82  abuts on a lateral side of the slot  811 , and the first inclined surface  832  of the driving member  83  abuts on the second inclined surface  821  of the engaging section  820  of the engaging member  82 . Therefore, the spindle  84  and the rear leg frame  30  can not be pivoted relative to the folding body  81  and the front leg frame  20  so that the frame body  40  can be restrained in the opened position. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 15  and  FIG. 16 .  FIG. 15  is a diagram of the folding device  80  in the unlocked position according to the third embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 16  is a diagram of the rear leg frame  30  pivoted to the folding position relative to the front leg frame  20  according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In order to fold the frame body  40  to a smaller size, the folding device  80  is unlocked by pressing the driving member  83  to rotate to the folding body  81  correspondingly along direction N 1 . At this time, the first inclined surface  832  of the driving member  83  has interaction with the second inclined surface  821  of the engaging member  82 , and moves the engaging member  82  sliding along direction F 1  so as to retract the engaging member  82  out of the slot  811  of the folding body  81 . When the engaging member  82  is in the unlocked position shown in  FIG. 15 , the spindle  84  and the rear leg frame  30  can be pivoted to the folding position shown in  FIG. 16  relative to the folding body  81  (and the front leg frame  20 ) so that the frame body  40  can be folded. 
     When the rear leg frame  30  is pivoted from the folding position shown in  FIG. 16  to the opened position shown in  FIG. 15  relative to the front leg frame  20 , the elastic element  85  connected between the engaging member  82  and the rear leg frame  30  is compressed, and the elastic stress of the elastics element  85  pushed the engaging member  82  to extend in the slot  811  of the folding body  81  so as to restrain the frame body  40  in the opened position again. 
     The high chair configures the folding device at the pivot between the rear leg frame and the front leg frame so that operation from a user is easy by pressing the driving member. When the driving member is pressed, the driving member moves the engaging member to the unlocked position relative to the folding body, so that the rear leg frame disengages from and pivots on the front leg frame. The high chair can then be folded easily for the user, and the structure of the present invention is simpler than the prior art. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.