U.S. patent application number 09/745326 was filed with the patent office on 2002-06-27 for playyard system with canopy.
Invention is credited to Cheng, Kenny.
Application Number | 20020078498 09/745326 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42727647 |
Filed Date | 2002-06-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020078498 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cheng, Kenny |
June 27, 2002 |
PLAYYARD SYSTEM WITH CANOPY
Abstract
A playyard system including a playyard structure and a canopy is
provided. The canopy is detachably mounted onto a top frame of the
playyard structure by directly connecting support members of the
canopy with improved connecting end portions to corresponding
corner blocks of the playyard with improved connecting grooves
thereby the playyard system may be manufactured with fewer
component number and lower cost.
Inventors: |
Cheng, Kenny; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Eric J. Sosenko, Esq.
Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C.
P. O. Box 828
Bloomfield Hills
MI
48303
US
|
Family ID: |
42727647 |
Appl. No.: |
09/745326 |
Filed: |
December 21, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/93.1 ;
5/414 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47D 13/06 20130101;
A47C 29/006 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
5/93.1 ;
5/414 |
International
Class: |
A47D 007/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A playyard system comprising a playyard structure and a canopy
detachably mounted onto a top of the playyard structure, wherein
the playyard structure includes a top frame including four tubes
and four substantially L-shaped corner blocks connecting the tubes
to form a rectangular frame, a flour portion, four vertical posts
connecting the top frame and the floor portion and four sides, each
side being formed between each pair of adjacent posts, and the
canopy consists of a cloth having two sleeves provided thereon and
two support members extending through the sleeves respectively, the
playyard system being characterized in that: each of the corner
blocks has a bulge portion formed between two arm portion thereof
with an arcuate groove formed in the bulge portion at a position
near the corner and each of the support members has a connecting
portion at each of its ends and the connecting portion is
configured such that it can be inserted into the arcuate slot of
the bulge of the corner block so as to detachably mount the canopy
onto the playyard structure.
2. A playyard system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support
member comprises: a tube body including a number of sections, each
having a connecting ping at its ends and a number of flanges
disposed between the sections for connecting sections into one tube
body; and two connecting portions 47, one end of each of the
connecting portions being shaped as a shuffle and the other end
having a configuration similar the that of the connecting ping such
that it may connect to the flange at the end of the tube body.
3. A playyard system as claimed in claim 1, wherein one portion of
the cloth of the canopy is made of mesh materials and this mesh
material made portion is zippered to the rest portion of the cloth
so as to provide an access to an interior of the playyard.
4. A playyard system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tube body
of the support member is made of resilient materials and the
connection portion is made of rigid materials.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to a playyard system
and more particularly, to a playyard system with improved canopy
connecting structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Playyards have been available for many years to provide a
convenient and controlled play environment for children. Because
playyards are increasingly used in outdoor environment, exposure to
sunlight and insects is more common. Therefore, recent advances
have been made to enhance the protection of the children inside the
playyard from the sunlight and the insects, such as mosquitoes and
bees. One example of a playyard system with a canopy is disclosed
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,548 to Glenn. As shown in FIG. 1, the Glenn
disclosed a playyard system 100 which includes a playyard structure
102 and a canopy 104. The playyard structure 102 includes a top
frame, a floor portion and four vertical posts connecting the top
frame and the floor portion. The canopy 104 includes a cloth
consisting of a first face 108 and a second face 110 and a support
member 130 inserted within a sleeve 128 located along the interface
of the first and second faces 108, 110. The canopy 104 is mounted
to the playyard structure 102 by inserting the ends of the support
member 130 into connecting member 136 provided at the posts of the
playyard structure 102.
[0003] This type of playyard system requires additional components
to have a canopy mounted thereon. Thus, there is a need for a
playyard system that can provide a safe and comfortable environment
with fewer component number and lower manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] One object of the present invention is to provide a playyard
system with improved canopy connecting structure for mounting a
canopy thereon so as to provide a safe and comfortable
environment.
[0005] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be
apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objectives and advantages of the invention will be
realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in
the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended
drawings.
[0006] To achieve this and other objects and according to the
purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly
described, the playyard system includes a playyard structure and a
canopy detachably mounted onto a top of the playyard structure. The
playyard structure includes a top frame, a flour portion, four
vertical posts connecting the top frame and the floor portion and
four sides with each side being formed between each pair of
adjacent posts, wherein the top frame includes four tubes and four
substantially L-shaped corner blocks connecting the tubes to form a
rectangular frame. Each of the corner blocks has a bulge portion
formed between two arm portion thereof with an arcuate groove
formed in the bulge portion at a position near the corner. The
canopy consists of a cloth having two sleeves provided thereon and
two support members extending through the sleeves respectively.
Each of the support members has a connecting portion at each of its
ends and the connecting portion is configured such that it can be
inserted into the arcuate slot of the bulge of the corner block to
detachably mount the canopy onto the playyard structure.
[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
support member includes a tube body and two connecting portions,
wherein the tube body consists of a number of sections each having
a connecting ping at its ends and a number of flanges disposed
between sections for connecting sections as one tube body and
disposed at both ends of the tube body for connecting the
connecting portions.
[0008] According to the other embodiment of the present invention,
one portion of the canopy is formed of mesh material which provides
both visibility and ventilation. This mesh material formed portion
is zippered to the rest portion of the canopy so as to provide
access to the interior of the playyard.
[0009] It is to be understood that both the forging general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of
the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The accompanying drawings which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a traditional
playyard system having a canopy;
[0012] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an assembled
playyard system having a canopy according to the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a top plane view of the canopy of the playyard
system shown in FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective of the support member of
the canopy of the present invention; and
[0015] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the corner block
and the connecting portion of the support member of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Referring now to FIG. 2, a playyard system according to the
present invention includes a playyard structure 30 and a canopy 40.
The playyard structure 30 mainly includes a substantially
rectangular top frame 31 which consists of four tubes and four
corner blocks 32, a floor portion 33, four vertical posts 34 for
connecting the top frame 33 and the floor portion 33, and four
sides 35, each side being formed between each pair of adjacent
posts 34. The structure of the floor portion 33 and the top frame
31 and the connection between the top frame and the posts 34 and
the floor portion 33 and the posts 34 are well known in this art
and an example of these structures are described in U.S. Pat. No.
5,819,432, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein
by this reference.
[0017] As shown in FIG. 2, the canopy 40 according to the present
invention includes a substantially rectangular cloth 41 and two
support members 42. Two sleeve 43 are provided on the cloth 41 and
the support members 42 are inserted through the sleeves 43
respectively, as shown in FIG. 3. A portion of the cloth 41 is made
of a mesh material 44 which is zippered to the rest of the cloth 41
by a zipper 45 so as to provide an access to the interior of the
playyard.
[0018] Referring now to FIG. 4, the support member 42 includes a
tube body 46 and two connecting portions 47, wherein the tube body
46 consists of a number of sections 461, each having a connecting
ping 463 at its ends and a number of flanges 462 disposed between
sections 461 for connecting sections into one tube body 46. One end
471 of each of the connecting portions 47 is shaped as a shuffle.
The other end 472 has a configuration similar the that of the
connecting ping 463 such that it may connect to the flange 462 at
the end of the tube body 46. The tube body 46 is preferably made of
elastic materials, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), such
that it may have sufficient resilient. The connecting portion 47 is
preferably made of rigid materials, such as polystyrene (PS), such
that it may have sufficient rigidity.
[0019] Referring now to FIG. 5, it illustrates the details of the
corner block 32 and the connecting portions 47. As shown in FIG. 5,
the corner block 32 has a substantially `L` shape and there is a
bulge portion 322 formed between its two arms 321. Further, a
groove 323 is formed in the bulge portion 322 at a position close
to the corner and has a curvature corresponding to that of the
shovel like end of the connecting portion 47 of the support member
42 and thereby the canopy 40 may be mounted to the playyard
structure 30 by inserting the connecting portions 47 of the support
member 42 into the grooves 323 of the corner blocks 32.
[0020] This invention has been disclosed in terms of specific
embodiments. It will be apparent that many modifications can be
made to the disclosed structures without departing from the
invention. Therefore, it is the intent of the appended claims to
cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true
sprit and scope of this invention.
* * * * *