Reconfigurable swing/glider device

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/798,291, entitled “RECONFIGURABLE SWING/GLIDER DEVICE” and filed May 8, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to a movably suspended child receiving seat wherein the motion of the suspended child receiving seat can be converted between a traditional swinging motion a gliding motion. More particularly, conversion between the traditional swinging motion and the gliding motion is accomplished by relocating the upper ends of the pairs of seat suspension arms from a separated relationship to a substantially axially aligned relationship.

Young children have a need to be physically stimulated. Gentle rocking in a parent's arms is one of the most basic parental stimulations. In order to provide relief to a parent from continuous holding and rocking of a child, some child receiving devices simulate the rocking motion of a parent's arms. Child receiving devices such as gliders and swings generally include a seat portion for receiving a child, seat suspension arms having lower ends attached to the child receiving seat for suspending the seat above a supporting surface and a support frame for pivotally supporting the upper ends of the seat suspension arms and the seat above the supporting surface.

The seat portion of a child swing provides different movement characteristics than the seat of a gliders. Movement characteristic differences are evident from the connection between the seat suspension arm upper ends and the support frame. For example, child swings generally provide a pivotal (arcuate) movement to child seat. The, the child in the swing seat experiences an arcuate swinging motion (with the seat suspension arms suspending the seat from a single pivot axis). On the other hand, gliders provide a translational (front-to-back quasi-linear translation) movement to the child seat. This quasi-linear translation is produced because the upper ends of the pairs of seat suspension arms suspend the seat from two linearly spaced pivot axes, one near the front of the glider and one near the rear of the glider. Because the swings and gliders provide different seat motions they also provide different riding experiences. As a result some users prefer one over the other or prefer both, but at different times.

There is therefore a need to develop a child seat that can provide both a gliding motion experience as well as a swinging motion experience. Furthermore, there is a need to develop a child seat that can be easily reconfigured between a glider movement mode and a swing movement mode.

Generally, the present invention illustrates a reconfigurable child receiving swing/glider device including a seat portion for receiving a child, seat suspension arms pivotally connected to the seat at their lower ends for swingingly and/or glidingly suspending the seat and a support frame, the upper ends of the seat suspension arms being pivotally connected to the support frame for supporting the seat suspension arms and the seat above a supporting surface. Generally, the lower end of the two front seat suspensions arms are pivotally attached to opposite sides of the front of the seat and the lower portion of the two rear seat suspension arms are pivotally attached to opposite sides of the rear of the seat. The upper ends of the front seat suspension arms define a forward pivot axis passing through the forward pivotal connections of the support frame. Similarly, the upper ends of the rear seat suspension arms define a rear pivot axis passing through the rear pivotal connections of the support frame. The lower ends of the front and rear sear suspension arms also define lower forward and rear pivot axes respectively.

The method of converting the child seat between a swing device and glider device is accomplished by adjusting the distance between the upper forward pivot axis and the upper rear pivot axis. In other words, when the upper forward pivot axis and the upper rear pivot axis are substantially co-axial, the device behaves like a swing (providing a traditional arcuate swinging motion to the child seat). On the other hand, when there is a significant linear distance between the upper forward pivot axis and the upper rear pivot axis, the swing/glider device behaves as a glider (providing a front-to-back, quasi-linear, translational movement to the child seat). The present invention discloses a unique swing/glider device capable of adjusting the distance between the upper forward pivot axis and the upper rear pivot axis to easily convert the swing/glider device between a swing configuration and a glider configuration.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention arranged in the glider configuration.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the FIG. 1 arranged in the glider configuration.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention arranged in the swing configuration.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of FIG. 3 arranged in the swing configuration.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of an exemplary embodiment of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention arranged in the glider configuration.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention being about one-third the way converted from the glider configuration into the swing configuration.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention being about two-thirds of the way converted from the glider configuration into the swing configuration.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device of the present invention finally arranged in the swing configuration.

Like reference numerals have been used to identify like elements throughout this disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, a reconfigurable swing/glider device is disclosed. FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the swing/glider device 100 of the present invention arranged in the glider configuration. The swing/glider 100 includes a seat portion 110 supported by a support mechanism. The seat portion 110 includes a pair of side connectors 115 A and 115 B located on opposite sides toward the front of the seat portion 110 and a pair of side connectors 118 A, 118 B located on opposite sides toward the rear of the seat portion 110 . The support mechanism includes two front seat suspension arms 120 A, 120 B and two rear seat suspension arms 130 A, 130 B. The lower portion of each seat suspension arm 120 A, 120 B, 130 A, 130 B connects to its respective side connector, 115 A, 115 B, 118 A, 118 B in a pivotal relationship. The support mechanism also includes a support frame having a front base support 150 and a rear base support 160 . The lower portion of the support frame contacts the supporting surface 190 while the upper portion of the support frame 150 , 160 includes suspension guides 140 A, 140 B for pivotally connecting to and suspending the upper ends of seat suspension arms 120 A, 120 B, 130 A, 130 B.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate features similar to those illustrated in FIG. 1 . Complementing the illustration of FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device 100 of the present invention arranged in the glider configuration. FIG. 2 shows the seat portion 110 which includes a seat bottom 210 supporting a seat back 230 . The seat bottom 210 and seat back 230 are composed of a hard understructure with a comfortable soft goods covering. The seat portion 110 also includes a convenience tray table 220 . FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device 100 of the present invention reconfigured as a swing. FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the reconfigurable swing/glider device 100 of the present invention reconfigured as a swing.

FIGS. 5-8 show diagrammatic partial cutaway views of the swing/glider device 100 of the present invention being sequentially converted from a glider in FIG. 5 to a swing in FIG. 8 . Note that in FIGS. 5-8 , the right side of the support frame ( 150 , 160 ) and the right suspension guide 140 B are not shown for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the reconfiguration of the device 100 between the glider and swing modes. Specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the swing/glider device 100 arranged in the glider configuration. Following sequentially, FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the swing/glider device 100 being about one-third the way converted from glider configuration to the swing configuration. Advancing the sequence, FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the swing/glider device 100 being about two-thirds the way converted from the glider configuration to the swing configuration. Finally, FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic partial cut away side view of the swing/glider device 100 finally arranged in the swing configuration.

FIG. 5 shows how the upper portion of each seat suspension arm 120 A, 120 B, 130 A, 130 B (only arms 120 A and 130 A are shown in FIGS. 5-8 ) is connected to a respective suspension guide 140 A, 140 B in a pivotal relationship. The upper portion of each of the front suspension arms 120 A, 120 B has a respective upper front pivot connector 125 A, 125 B (also see FIG. 1 ). Likewise the upper portion of each rear seat suspension arm 130 A, 130 B has a respective upper rear pivot connector 135 A, 135 B engaged with the suspension guides 140 A, 140 B. The axes of the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are collinear and from an upper front pivot axis. Similarly, the axes of the upper rear pivot connectors 135 A, 135 B are collinear and form an upper rear pivot axis.

Regarding the forward seat suspension arms 120 A, 120 B, the suspension guides 140 A, 140 B include a slots 510 A, 510 B within which the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are guidable toward and away from the respective upper rear pivot connectors 135 A, 135 B of the rear seat suspension arms 130 A, 130 B. The slots 510 A, 510 B each further include forward lock notches 515 A, 515 B and rear lock notches 520 A, 520 B.

To arrange the swing/glider device 100 of the present invention into the glider mode, the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B mare moveable within the slots 510 A, 510 B until they become locked into forward lock notches 515 A, 515 B in a spaced relationship. When the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are locked in the forward lock notches 515 A, 515 B the swing/glider device 100 is configured in the glider configuration.

The swing/glider device 100 of the present invention can also be rearranged into the swing configuration by adjusting the front seat suspension arms 120 A, 120 B. To reconfigure the swing/glider into swing mode, the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are translated within slots 510 A, 510 B toward the rear of the slots to rear lock notches 520 A, 520 B. When the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B become locked into the rear lock notches 520 A, 520 B, the swing/glider 100 is in swing mode. In other words, when the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are locked into the rear lock notches 520 A, 520 B, the upper front pivot axis is substantially coaxial with the upper rear pivot axis and the swing/glider device is in a swing mode (providing a traditional arcuate swinging motion to the child seat).

Reconfiguration from swing mode to glider mode or vise versa, therefore, simply requires a user (e.g., in the case of swing to glider) to lift the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B from the rear lock notches 520 A, 520 B into the slots 510 A, 510 B and then slide them forward down into the front lock notches 515 A, 515 B. When the upper front pivot connectors 125 A, 125 B are locked into the front lock notches 515 A, 515 B, the swing/glider device 100 is configured as a four bar linkage that behaves like a glider (providing a front-to-back, quasi-linear, translational movement to the child seat).

Regarding the rear seat suspension arms 130 A, 130 B, the suspension guides 140 A, 140 B permanently engage the upper rear pivot connectors 135 A, 135 B to prevent them form translating, while allowing them to pivot about a fixed horizontal axis. In an embodiment of the present invention wherein the movement of the device 100 is motorized, force (torque) from the motor (not shown) is applied to the upper rear pivot connectors 135 A, 135 B to cause back-and- forth motion of the seat portion 110 and suspended arms 120 A, 120 B, 130 A, 130 B.

FIG. 5 also shows the hard understructure of the seat back 210 in the form of a backrest bar 580 . The backrest bar 580 is connected to the seat bottom 210 by an adjustable pivot connection 585 B. The back rest bar 580 may be tilted backward to allow the occupant of the seat portion to swing or glide in the seat portion 110 in a reclined manner.

Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. For example, it is to be understood that terms such as “left”, “right” “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “rear”, “side”, “height”, “length”, “width”, “upper”, “lower”, “interior”, “exterior”, “inner”, “outer” and the like as may be used herein, merely describe points of reference and do not limit the present invention to any particular orientation or configuration.

Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art may find it obvious to make modifications to the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the foregoing disclosure while remaining within the scope of the basic inventive concept. For example, the invention can be composed of as few as one front and one rear suspension arm or can have two or more front and two or more rear suspension arms.