Patent ID: 8308578

Claim:
A powered children's swing for swinging a child, the children's swing comprising: a seat; a swing frame configured to support the seat; one or more swing arms rotatably supported on the swing frame, wherein at least one of the swing arms supports the seat thereby suspending the seat and permitting the seat to swing along a path; a first magnetic component operatively connected to the swing frame; a second magnetic component operatively connected to the seat, wherein at least one of the magnetic components comprises an electromagnet; a swing motion sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of an amplitude of the seat's swing motion; and a swing control circuit configured to: receive the signal from the swing motion sensor; compare the signal from the swing motion sensor with a value indicative of a goal amplitude for the swing; generate a first electrical signal based on the comparison that causes electric current to be supplied to the electromagnet thereby generating an attractive magnetic force between the first magnetic component and second magnetic component that causes the seat to swing with an amplitude nearer to the goal amplitude; and generate a second electrical signal based on the comparison that causes electric current to be supplied to the electromagnet thereby generating a repulsive magnetic force between the first magnetic component and second magnetic component that causes the seat to swing with an amplitude nearer to the goal amplitude.