Sleep apparatus for infants and method

Abstract

A sleep apparatus for an infant comprises an upstanding enclosure surrounding a sleeping platform. The enclosure has front and rear walls, the front wall being moveable between an upper position for preventing the infant from rolling off the sleeping platform and a lower position allowing access to the infant. A biasing mechanism biases the front wall to return automatically in to the upper position in the absence of a barrier to upward movement, and a latch automatically engages when the front wall is in its upper position. The latch prevents movement of the front wall from the upper position towards the lower position until and unless the latch is released.

Claims

1. An apparatus providing a sleep area for an infant, comprising; an upstanding enclosure surrounding a sleeping platform for an infant, the enclosure comprising a front wall moveable between an upper position for preventing the infant from rolling off the sleeping platform and a lower position allowing access to the infant; a biasing mechanism biasing the front wall to return automatically to the upper position in the absence of an external force applied to it, in use, by an operator; and a latch, which is configured to automatically engage when the front wall automatically returns to the upper position from the lower position, for preventing movement of the front wall from the upper position towards the lower position until the latch has been released.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising first and second wall supports at opposed sides or ends of the sleeping platform, first and second ends of the front wall being pivotably mounted at the first and second wall supports for rotation between the upper and lower positions.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, in which the latch comprises a pivot-release mechanism located in at least one of the first and second wall supports.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, in which the latch comprises a pivot-release mechanism in each wall support.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, in which the latch comprises a manually-operable control coupled to the or each pivot-release mechanism.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, in which the latch comprises a pivot-release mechanism in each wall support, and a single manually-operable control coupled to both pivot-release mechanisms.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, in which the front wall comprises a frame, and the manually-operable control is located on the frame, and is coupled by cables or rods extending within the frame to each pivot-release mechanism.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, in which the frame forms an upper portion of the front wall, and a lower portion of the front wall comprises a flexible wall portion connecting the frame to an edge of the sleeping platform beneath the wall.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a manually-operable control operably connected to the latch, the manually-operable control comprises a slider which is configured to operate the latch, and a resiliently-mounted pushbutton which is configured to be pressed to release the slider.

10. A method for operating an apparatus providing a sleep area for an infant as defined in claim 1, comprising the steps of operating the latch and moving the front wall from the upper position to the lower position to access the infant, and releasing the front wall and allowing it to return to its upper position and automatically to latch in the upper position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(1) Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

(2) FIG. 1 is a three-quarter view of an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention, in the form of a bassinet;

(3) FIG. 2 is a partial vertical section of a wall support of the bassinet of FIG. 1, showing the pivot-release mechanism engaged;

(4) FIGS. 3 and 4 are partial vertical sections corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the pivot-release mechanism disengaged and movement of a front wall to a lower position;

(5) FIGS. 5 to 7 are horizontal sections of a frame or rail portion of the front wall of the first embodiment, showing stages of the operation of a manually-operable control;

(6) FIG. 8 is a lateral section of the manually-operable control;

(7) FIGS. 9 to 11 are lateral sections of the manually-operable control in three stages of operation corresponding to FIGS. 5 to 7;

(8) FIG. 12 is a lateral section of a latch hook of FIGS. 5 to 7; and

(9) FIGS. 13 and 14 are vertical sections of the latch hook of FIG. 12 showing movement of the hook as the pivot-release mechanism is operated.

(10) FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus providing a sleep area for an infant, in the form of a bassinet 2, according to a first embodiment of the invention. The bassinet is supported on a floor-standing frame 4, which is connected to the centre of a floor portion 6 of the bassinet. The bassinet is pivotably supported on the frame, and the height of the frame is adjustable, so that the bassinet can easily be positioned for over-the-bed use or by-the-bed use.

(11) A sleeping platform or mattress may be received on the floor portion of the bassinet. Rigid wall supports 8 extend upwardly from opposite ends of the floor portion and support, at their upper ends, rigid frames or rails 10, 12 which form the upper edges of front and rear walls. The rigid frames are formed from shaped metal tubes. Flexible wall elements (not shown) extend downwardly from the rigid frames to edges of the floor portion beneath, to form an upstanding wall encircling the floor portion and any sleeping platform or mattress placed thereon. The flexible wall elements may, for example, be formed of see-through netting.

(12) The rigid frames 10, 12 are inclined, so that in use the front wall 10 is lower than the rear wall 12. The rear wall is rigidly secured to the wall supports, and the front wall is pivotably secured to the wall supports, for pivoting or rotation between an upper position as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and a lower position as shown in FIG. 4. In its upper position the front wall is latched, by latches in each wall support, to prevent its movement. A manually-operable latch control 14 is centrally located on the frame of the front wall for releasing the latches as described below. In its lower position, the reduced height of the front wall allows easier access for a mother to reach a baby in the bassinet.

(13) FIG. 2 shows in section the structure of the pivoting mounting of the front wall to one of the wall supports 8. (FIG. 2 illustrates the left-hand support in FIG. 1, but the same structure is present in both wall supports.)

(14) An end of the front-wall frame 10 is received in a cylindrical socket 20 of a pivoting frame-support 22. The frame support is retained by and pivotable about a horizontal first stub axle 24 extending from and fixed to the wall support 8.

(15) The pivoting frame-support 22 is resiliently biased by a first coil spring 40 towards a position in which the front-wall frame is in its upper position. The coil spring 40 acts between the wall support and the pivoting frame-support. (In FIG. 2, the coil spring urges the pivoting frame-support in an anticlockwise direction.) Upward motion of the front-wall frame is limited by the abutment of corresponding portions 42, 44 of the pivoting frame-support and the wall support, most clearly seen in FIG. 4.

(16) A pivot-release lever 26 is retained by and rotatable about a horizontal second stub axle 28, which extends from the pivoting frame-support. The first and second stub axles are parallel to each other. The pivot-release lever comprises upper and lower arms. The lower arm 30 extends downwardly and carries at its lower end a transverse latching bar 31 which is engageable with a fixed seat 32 of the wall support 8. A second coil spring 34 acts between the pivoting frame-support and the lower arm 30, and urges the latching bar 31 into automatic engagement with the fixed seat 32 when the front-wall frame is in its upper position. Engagement of the latching bar 31 with the fixed seat 32 latches the front-wall frame in its upper position and prevents downward motion of the front-wall frame by preventing rotation of the pivoting frame-support 22 about the first stub axle 24.

(17) The upper arm 36 of the pivot-release lever extends upwardly from the second stub axle and engages, at its upper end, with a hook 38 which is slidably mounted in, and secured to, the end of the front-wall frame received in the pivoting-frame-support socket 20. Engagement of the hook with the upper arm of the pivot-release lever prevents withdrawal of the front-wall frame from the socket.

(18) As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a similar hook is slidably mounted in each of the two ends of the front-wall frame, and engaged with a corresponding pivot-release lever at each wall support.

(19) FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the lowering of the front-wall frame and the front wall from its upper position, in which it retains the baby safely in the bassinet, to a lower position to improve access to the baby. When the front-wall frame is in its upper position, it is automatically latched as illustrated in FIG. 2, at both wall supports, by the engagement of the latching bar 31 of the pivot-release lever with the fixed seat 32 of the wall support. To release the latches, the manually-operable latch control 14 is actuated as described in more detail below.

(20) The manually-operable control 14 is coupled by two cables 46 to the two hooks 38, which are slidably mounted at respective ends of the front-wall frame. When the latch control is operated, the cable draws each hook a short distance into the frame. This movement of each hook acts on the upper arm 36 of the corresponding pivot release lever 26, rotating the lever about the second stub axle 28 and moving the latching bar 31 of the lever out of engagement with the fixed seat 32. This position is illustrated in FIG. 3. This unlatches the front-wall frame.

(21) After operation of the manually-operable latch control, the front-wall frame remains in its upper position, held by the biasing force exerted by the coil spring 40. However, downward pressure on the front-wall frame can act against the biasing force and move the front-wall frame towards its lower position, as illustrated in FIG. 4. For example, downward pressure may be applied by the mother's arms reaching to pick up the baby.

(22) When downward pressure is removed from the front-wall frame, the biasing force exerted by the first coil spring 40 (in each wall support) is sufficient automatically to raise the front-wall frame into its upper position. As the front-wall frame approaches its upper position, the lower arm 30 of the pivot-release lever contacts a cam surface 48 adjacent to the fixed seat 32. As the pivoting frame-support 22 rotates further under the influence of the first coil spring, the latching bar 31 travels along the cam surface, rotating the pivot-release lever and gradually compressing the second coil spring 34. When the latching bar 31 reaches the end of the cam surface, the compressed second coil spring automatically rotates the lower arm of the pivot release lever so that the latching bar 31 engages with the fixed seat, in both wall supports, positively latching and securing the front-wall frame in its upper position.

(23) The relative forces applied by the first and second coil springs 40, 34 to the pivoting frame-support and the pivot-release lever, and the angle of the cam surface 48, are predetermined in order to ensure that when the front-wall frame is released, it automatically rises into its upper position and latches securely.

(24) FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are horizontal sections of the front-wall frame 10 illustrating the interaction between the manually-operable latch control 14 and the hooks 38 at each end of the front-wall frame.

(25) One of the hooks 38 is illustrated in FIGS. 12 to 14. The hook is mounted on a pivot 50 at an end of a cylindrical hook carrier 52, which is slidably retained by a clip 58 within an end of the metal tube forming the front-wall frame 10. The hook is urged (anticlockwise in FIGS. 13 and 14) into an engaged position by a hook spring 54 acting around the pivot 50. The carrier 52 is connected to the cable 46 which extends within the metal tube of the front-wall frame and couples the hook to the manually-operable latch control. An end of the cable is seated in a recess in the cylindrical carrier. The hook further comprises a coil spring which bears on the clip 58 to bias the hook carrier in a direction out of the end of the frame tube, to assist with returning the hook carriers to the correct position after the manually-operable control has been released.

(26) The structure of the manually-operable latch control 14 is illustrated in FIG. 8, and its operation is shown in more detail in FIGS. 9 to 11. The latch positions in FIGS. 9 to 11 correspond to the latch positions in FIGS. 5 to 7.

(27) The latch control comprises a slider 60 which is movable both left and right in a housing 62. The housing is secured to the front-wall frame 10. The cables 46, which are coupled at their other ends to the hook carriers, pass around axles 64 and are connected at the cable ends 65 to the slider so that motion of the slider in either direction pulls on both of the cables and draws both of the hooks, supported on their carriers, into the ends of the front-wall frame. As described above in relation to FIGS. 2 to 4, drawing the hooks into the ends of the front-wall frame rotates the pivot-release levers against the biasing action of the pivot-release coil springs 34. Consequently, when the slider is released, the pivot-release coil springs urge the hooks to slide partially out of the ends of the front-wall frame, pulling on the cables and returning the latch-control slider to its central position.

(28) The latch control further comprises a pushbutton 66 which is carried by the slider. When the slider is in its central position, the pushbutton is aligned with and acts on a spring-loaded peg, or lock block, 68, which is mounted in the housing 62 and engages with the slider to prevent lateral movement of the slider. When the pushbutton is pressed, it moves the spring-loaded peg out of engagement with the slider and allows lateral movement of the slider. When the slider returns to its central position, the spring-loaded peg automatically re-engages with the slider, locking its sliding movement.

(29) FIGS. 5, 8 and 9 show the slider in its central position, the spring-loaded peg 68 engaged with the slider, and the hooks 38 at each end of the front-wall frame 10 fully extended from the frame. FIGS. 6 and 10 show the pushbutton depressed and the slider at a right-hand end of its travel. The slider has pulled on the cables and withdrawn the hooks into the ends of the front-wall frame. FIGS. 7 and 11 show the pushbutton depressed and the slider at a left-hand end of its travel. Again, the slider has pulled on the cables and withdrawn the hooks into the ends of the front-wall frame.

(30) As the hooks slide within the ends of the frame, and drive rotation of the pivot-release levers, the hooks rotate through a small angle about the pivots 50 on which they are mounted, between the positions shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 and in FIGS. 2 to 4. This movement accommodates the rotation of the upper arms 36 of the pivot-release levers 26 about the second stub axles 28. The action of the hook springs 54 urging the hooks into engagement with the upper arms of the pivot-release levers ensures that the hooks remain securely engaged with the pivot-release levers during the latching and unlatching actions of the mechanism.