Patent Publication Number: US-2007096460-A1

Title: Sleeve assembly and rocking chair incorporating the same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The invention relates to a sleeve assembly, more particularly to a sleeve assembly free of a riveting appearance. The invention also relates to a rocking chair incorporating the sleeve assembly.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Conventionally, a sleeve is mounted around a tube and is fastened to the tube at a predetermined position by riveting. However, appearance integrality will be destroyed by the rivet connection. Additionally, the sleeve fastened to the tube by riveting cannot be rotated relative to the tube. Therefore, the application of the conventional sleeve is limited.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve assembly which can overcome the aforesaid shortcomings of the prior art.  
      In one aspect of this invention, a sleeve assembly is adapted to be mounted on a tube having a front through hole and a rear through hole spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the tube. The sleeve assembly includes a tubular body, a limiting member, and a positioning pin. The tubular body is adapted to be disposed around the tube to cover the front and rear through holes, and includes a front end proximate to the front through hole, a rear end proximate to the rear through hole, and an inner peripheral wall extending between the front end and the rear end and having a limiting recess proximate to the rear end, and a positioning recess proximate to and opening at the front end. The limiting member is adapted to be disposed in the tube, and includes a limiting piece extending outwardly through the rear through hole of the tube and projecting resiliently into the limiting recess. The positioning pin is adapted to be inserted in the front through hole of the tube, and projects into the positioning recess. The tubular body is rotatable, but is immobile in the longitudinal direction.  
      In another aspect of this invention, a rocking chair includes a chair frame and a sleeve assembly. The chair frame includes a bottom rocker. The bottom rocker includes a pair of tubes, each of which has a front through hole and a rear through hole spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the tubes. The sleeve assembly is used for preventing the bottom rocker from rocking, and includes a tubular body, a wedge part, a limiting member, and a positioning pin. The tubular body is disposed around one of the tubes to cover the front and rear through holes, and includes a front end proximate to the front through hole, a rear end proximate to the rear through hole, and an inner peripheral wall extending between the front end and the rear end and having a limiting recess proximate to the rear end, and a positioning recess proximate to and opening at the front end. The wedge part projects outwardly from the tubular body. The limiting member is disposed in said one of the tubes, and includes a limiting piece extending outwardly through the rear through hole of said one of the tubes and projecting resiliently into the limiting recess. The positioning pin is inserted in the front through hole of said one of the tubes, and projects into the positioning recess. The tubular body is rotatable between a first position in which the wedge part is located at a level higher than or equal to said one of the tubes so as to permit the bottom rocker to rock, and a second position in which the wedge part is located at a level lower than said one of the tubes so as to prevent the bottom rocker from rocking. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a rocking chair including a preferred embodiment of a sleeve assembly according to this invention in a first state;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a sleeve member used in the preferred embodiment;  
      FIGS.  4  to  8  are views showing consecutive steps of installing the preferred embodiment on a tube of the rocking chair;  
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment disposed at a second position on the tube of the rocking chair;  
       FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 9 ; and  
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the rocking chair including the preferred embodiment in a second state. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3 , the preferred embodiment of a sleeve assembly  2  according to this invention is shown to be installed on a rocking chair  1 . The rocking chair  1  includes a chair frame  12  having a bottom rocker  11 . The bottom rocker  11  includes a pair of tubes  111 , each of which has a front through hole  112  and a rear through hole  113  spaced apart in a longitudinal direction (X) of the tubes  111 . A pair of the sleeve assemblies  2  are installed around the tubes  111 , respectively.  
      Each sleeve assembly  2  includes a sleeve member  5 , a limiting member  3 , and a positioning pin  4 .  
      The sleeve member  5  includes a tubular body  51  and a wedge part  52 . The tubular body  51  is disposed around the respective tube  111  to cover the front and rear through holes  112 , 113 , and includes a front end  512  proximate to the front through hole  112 , a rear end  513  proximate to the rear through hole  113 , and an inner peripheral wall  511  extending between the front end  512  and the rear end  513  and having a limiting recess  502  proximate to the rear end  513  and a first positioning recess  503  proximate to and opening at the front end  512 . The limiting recess  502  opens at the rear end  513  of the tubular body  51 . The wedge part  52  projects outwardly from the tubular body  51 . The tubular body  51  further includes a second positioning recess  505  proximate to the front end  512  and spaced apart angularly from the first positioning recess  503 , a sliding recess  504  formed between the first and second positioning recesses  503 , 505  and spaced apart angularly from the first and second positioning recesses  503 , 505 , and two rib portions  506 , one of which protrudes between the first positioning recess  503  and the sliding recess  504 , and the other one of which protrudes between the second positioning recess  505  and the sliding recess  504 . The distance between the limiting recess  502  and the first positioning recess  503  (or the second positioning recess  505 ) is substantially equal to that between the front through hole  112  and the rear through hole  113  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111 .  
      The limiting member  3  is disposed in the corresponding one of the tubes  111 , and includes a resilient bent plate  31  disposed inside the corresponding one of the tubes  111 , and a limiting piece  32  extending outwardly from the resilient bent plate  31  and through the rear through hole  113  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111  and projecting resiliently into the limiting recess  502 . The resilient bent plate  31  includes a flat plate portion  311 , an urging plate portion  313 , and a resilient intermediate portion  312  interconnecting the flat plate portion  311  and the urging plate portion  313 . The limiting piece  32  extends from the flat plate portion  311  of the resilient bent plate  31 . The limiting recess  502  of the tubular body  51  is elongated in an angular direction, and the limiting piece  32  is movable circumferentially in the limiting recess  502 .  
      The positioning pin  4  is inserted in the front through hole  112  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111 , and projects into the first positioning recess  503 . The positioning pin  4  includes a head portion  41  positioned in the first positioning recess  503 , and a shank portion  42  extending from the head portion  41  into the front through hole  112  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111 . The rib portions  506  and the sliding recess  504  are slidable over the positioning pin  4  when the tubular body  51  is rotated relative to the corresponding one of the tubes  111 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2, 4  and  5 , during assembly, the limiting member  3  is inserted into the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so that the limiting piece  32  extends outwardly through the rear through hole  113  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so as to limit the limiting member  3  in a predetermined position of the corresponding one of the tubes  111 .  
      The sleeve member  5  is sleeved on the corresponding one of the tubes  111  in a manner that the wedge part  52  is kept in a substantially horizontal level and that the limiting recess  502  is opposite to the front and rear through holes  112 , 113 . When the rear end  513  of the tubular body  51  of the sleeve member  5  reaches the limiting piece  32 , the limiting piece  32  is pushed into the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so that the sleeve member  5  can continue to move along the corresponding one of the tubes  111  and that the limiting piece  32  abuts against the inner peripheral wall  511  of the tubular body  51 . When the sleeve member  5  is moved along the corresponding one of the tubes  111  until the front through hole  112  is exposed, the sleeve member  5  is rotated relative to the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so that the wedge part  52  of the sleeve member  5  is at a substantially vertical position. At this time, the first positioning recess  503  corresponds to the front through hole  112  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111 , best shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the shank portion  42  of the positioning pin  4  is inserted into the front through hole  112  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so that the head portion  41  thereof abuts against the corresponding one of the tubes  111 . The sleeve member  5  is then moved so that the head portion  41  of the positioning pin  4  is positioned in the first positioning recess  503 . At this time, the limiting piece  32  once again extends outwardly through the rear through hole  113  of the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so as to be limited in the limiting recess  502 .  
      Since the head portion  41  of the positioning pin  4  and the limiting piece  32  are limited in the first positioning recess  503  and the limiting recess  502 , respectively, the sleeve assembly  2  can not move relative to the corresponding one of the tubes  111  in the longitudinal direction (X). Furthermore, at this time, the sleeve member  5  is at a position in which the wedge part  52  of the sleeve member  5  is located at a level lower than the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so as to prevent the bottom rocker  11  from rocking.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 7, 9  and  10 , when the sleeve member  5  is rotated relative to the corresponding one of the tubes  111  in a direction ( 20 ), the rib portions  506  are slidable over the head portion  41  of the positioning pin  4  so that the head portion  41  of the positioning pin  4  can be moved from the first positioning recess  503  to the second positioning recess  505  via the sliding recess  504 . At this time, the sleeve member  5  is at a position in which the wedge part  52  of the sleeve member  5  is located at a level equal to the corresponding one of the tubes  111  so as to permit the bottom rocker  11  to rock, as shown in  FIG. 11 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 10 , when the wedge part  52  of the sleeve member  5  is located at a level equal to the corresponding one of the tubes  111 , the limiting piece  32  abuts against one edge of the limiting recess  502 . Therefore, the sleeve member  5  can not be rotated further relative to the corresponding one of the tubes  111  in the direction ( 20 ). Similarly, when the wedge part  52  of the sleeve member  5  is located at the position shown in  FIG. 7 , the limiting piece  32  abuts against the other edge of the limiting recess  502 .  
      In view of the aforesaid, the sleeve assembly  2  of this invention is free of a riveting appearance. Therefore, appearance integrality can be ensured for the sleeve assembly  2  of this invention.  
      It should be noted that, in addition to the rocking chair, the sleeve assembly  2  of this invention can also be used on other baby products such as strollers, cribs, carry-cots, bassinets, frame carriers, etc. Furthermore, the sleeve assembly  2  of this invention can have patterns or logos thereon.  
      While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.