Patent Publication Number: US-2007102980-A1

Title: Continuously adjustable stroller reclining mechanism

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      (1) Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to a baby stroller, and more particularly to a stroller reclining mechanism.  
      (2) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTS  
      A good baby stroller can provide comfortable rides for a baby and prevent parents from holding their baby all the time. Normally, the seat of a baby stroller can be reclined to various positions for a baby to sit and to lie down. However, most of the reclining mechanism of baby strollers is of mechanical nature, which allows only sectional adjustments. Such a conventional stroller reclining mechanism requires the combination of a locking device, an extension device, an elastic device, and a positioning device, which is structurally complicated and inconvenient to use. The users often need some practice to familiarize themselves the operations.  
      Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself to develop possible solutions for the drawbacks mentioned above. At last, a new stroller reclining mechanism is developed.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      One objective of the present invention is to provide a continuously adjustable stroller reclining mechanism that employs a belt binder to adjust the inclination angle, thereby satisfying the needs for babies of different size.  
      Accordingly, the continuously adjustable stroller inclination mechanism, which is applicable to a stroller that includes a backrest having a back plate and two supporting rods, a belt binder being disposed to the back plate and two ends of a belt being affixed to the two supporting rods, the belt binder comprising:  
      a main body having a positioning plate and a front plate, the positioning plate and the front plate forming a retaining space therebetween;  
      a pivotal shaft pivotally disposed in the retaining space of the main body, the pivotal shaft having an elastic element and a contact surface on the surface of the pivotal shaft; and  
      at least a belt, which penetrates the retaining space and is gripped between the contact surface of the pivotal shaft and the positioning plate of the main body;  
      whereby the pivotal shaft can be rotated to release the tightly contacted belt from the contact surface, so as to continuously adjust the inclination angle of the backrest to any desirable angle. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an explosive view of a stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective of the stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view along  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a sectional view along  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention when the belt is released,  
       FIG. 6  is a rear elevation of a stroller in combination with the stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention, and  
       FIG. 7  is aside elevation of a stroller in combination with the stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , a continuously adjustable stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention is illustrated. As shown, a stroller  10  includes a seat  11 , which includes a movable backrest  12 . The seat  11  further includes two supporting rods  13  extended from the hand holder. A belt binder  20  is affixed to the backrest  12 , and two ends of a belt  30  are affixed to the two supporting rods  13 . The belt binder  20  includes a main body  21  and a pivotal shaft  22 . The main body  21  includes a positioning plate  211 , two side plates  212  and a front plate  213 . A retaining space  214  is formed between the positioning plate  211  and the front plate  213 . The front plate  213  is lower than the positioning plate  211 . Two holes  215  are formed on the upper and the lower portion of the positioning plate  211  of the main body  21 , thereby allowing a riveting pillar  23  to connect to the backrest  12  of the seat  11 . A hole  216  is formed on each of the two side plates  212 , thereby providing a riveting pillar  24  to penetrate therethrough. The riveting pillar  24  also penetrates through the shaft hole  221  of the pivotal shaft  22 , which allows the pivotal shaft  22  to be pivotally disposed in the retaining space  214  of the main body  21 . One side plate  212  of the main body  21  includes a trench  217  on the inner surface thereof, while the shaft hole  221  of the pivotal shaft  22  includes a positioning groove  222 . The trench  217  of the side plate  212  provides one end  251  of an elastic element  24  to lock therein. In one particular embodiment, the elastic element  24  is a spring. The positioning groove  222  of the pivotal shaft  22  provides another end  252  of the elastic element  25  to be affixed therein. The elastic element  25  enables the pivotal shaft  22  to comprise elasticity and recoverable to its original position.  
      The surface of the pivotal shaft  22  includes a contact surface  223 . The contact surface  223  comprises a plurality of tilted protrusive teeth  2231 . Once the tilted protrusive teeth  2231  contact and press on the belt  30 , they can tightly grip the belt  30 . A compressive portion  224  is protrusively formed above the pivotal shaft  22 . The compressive portion  224  is of an arc shape, the surface of which includes a plurality of horizontal humps  2241 . The horizontal humps  2241  can prevent slippery of user&#39;s fingers. The belt  30  is folded to dispose in the retaining space  214  of the main body  21 . The folded belt  30  is tightly pressed by the contact surface  223  of the pivotal shaft  22  and the positioning plate  211  of the main body  21 .  
      According to the description given above, the continuously adjustable stroller reclining mechanism of the present invention can adjust the angle of the backrest  12  of the seat  11  by adjusting the tightness of the belt  30  via the belt binder  20 . As shown in  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 6 , and  FIG. 7 , the belt binder  20  is riveted on the back portion of the backrest  12  of the seat  11 . The belt  30  penetrates through the retaining space  214  of the belt binder  20 . Two ends of the belt  30  penetrates in the through hole  141  of the backrest  12  stripe  14  and penetrates out of the through hole  141 , and further penetrates in and out of a positioning stripe  15 . Two ends  31  of the belt  30  are riveted to the two supporting rods  13  of the stroller  10 . It is noted that the two supporting rods  13  do not connect with the backrest  12 . The belt binder  20  can tightly grip the belt  30  to support the backrest  12 . The backrest  12  is then inclined to an angle, such that the backrest  12  can stay in position when a baby is riding the stroller  10 .  
      When one wants to adjust the inclination angle of the backrest  12 , as shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , one can press the compressive portion  224  of the pivotal shaft  22  and rotate the pivotal shaft  22  until the pivotal shaft  22  reaches the front plate  213 . The contact surface  223  will move upward and leave the belt  30 , so as to release the belt  30 . One can then continuously adjust the backrest  12  to a desirable angle by pulling the belt  30  upward or by pulling the two ends  31  of the belt  30  downward. Once the compressive portion  224  is released, the pivotal shaft  22  will recover to its original position due to the presence of the elastic element  25 . The pivotal shaft  22  can be pushed further to enhance the tightness of the contact surface  223  gripping the belt  30 . Since the tilted protrusive teeth  2231  on the contact surface can prevent reverse motion (i.e. the backward force of the backrest  12  on the two ends  31  of the belts  30 ), the belt  30  is tightly gripped. The backrest  12  of the seat is then successfully adjusted to the desired inclination angle. Consequently, when the top portion of the belt  30  is longer and the two ends  31  of the belt  30  are shorter, the backrest  12  is more forwardly inclined. On the contrary, when the top portion of the belt  30  is shorter and the two ends  31  of the belt  30  are longer, the backrest  12  is more backwardly inclined.  
      If an external force is exerted on the backrest  12 , the stripe  14  and the two positioning stripes  15  will restrict the movement of the backrest  12 . Therefore, one needs not to worry about the movement of the backrest  12 .  
      In conclusion, the stroller inclination mechanism of the present invention is advantageous in that it requires neither any additional mechanical device nor complicated assembly process. The operation of the stroller inclination mechanism of the present invention is also very easy. In addition, no mechanical locking device is present to harm anyone, which will bring safety to the user. Moreover, the stroller inclination mechanism of the present invention can be adjusted continuously, such that any desirable angle of the backrest  12  can be obtained to comply with the needs of a growing baby.  
      While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the following claims.