Patent ID: 7537285

Claim:
A device that automatically rocks a rocking chair and similar articles, the rocking chair having a pair of rocker bars to provide rocking motion on a floor surface and a pair of arm rests, said device comprising: A) a housing; B) means for attaching said housing onto a forward end of one of the rocker bars in a removable manner; and C) means within said housing, for raising and lowering the forward end of the rocker bar with respect to the floor surface, to automatically rock the rocking chair, wherein said housing is a box shaped structure, wherein said box shaped structure of said housing comprises a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls, wherein said raising and lowering means comprises: a) a motor mounted within said box shaped structure of said housing, said motor having a drive shaft; b) means for operating said motor; c) a small drive gear rotatably connected to said drive shaft of said motor, wherein said small drive gear is vertically positioned within said box shaped structure of said housing; d) a large driven gear having a driven shaft rotatably connected to said second side wall of said box shaped structure of said housing, wherein said large gear is vertically positioned within said box shaped structure of said housing and in engagement with said small drive gear; e) an elliptical cam track in a side surface of said large driven gear; f) a leg vertically positioned within said box shaped structure of said housing, wherein said leg extends downwardly through an aperture in said bottom wall of said box shaped structure of said housing to contact the floor surface; and g) a cam follower affixed at a right angle to an upper end of said leg, wherein said cam follower rides within said elliptical cam track in said side surface of said large driven gear, whereby when said large driven gear rotates on said driven shaft by said small drive gear, said cam follower in said elliptical cam track moves said leg in a reciprocal manner up and down through said aperture in said bottom wall of said box shaped structure of said housing.