U.S. patent application number 12/528426 was filed with the patent office on 2010-09-02 for rocking mechanism.
Invention is credited to Rui Manuel Quintas Mendes.
Application Number | 20100218312 12/528426 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39495178 |
Filed Date | 2010-09-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100218312 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Quintas Mendes; Rui Manuel |
September 2, 2010 |
ROCKING MECHANISM
Abstract
The hereby presented invention concerns a rocking device that
includes a drive mechanism which actuates with an alternative
motion one end of an elastic cord, which, through its other end,
impairs the alternative motion to a carrying handle or any other
equivalent attachment point of a baby chair or support or carrying
for youngsters (babies), that is adequate for that purpose, being
the drive mechanism and the elastic cord associated in such a way
that, by adjusting its motor idle speed, the frequency of the
inducer movement adjusts itself to the natural frequency of the
movement induced on the baby chair or support device with the baby.
In an alternative version of the invention the rocking device is
attached to the baby chair or support device and the elastic cord
is fixed to an external attachment point.
Inventors: |
Quintas Mendes; Rui Manuel;
(Lisboa, PT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MILLER, MATTHIAS & HULL
ONE NORTH FRANKLIN STREET, SUITE 2350
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
|
Family ID: |
39495178 |
Appl. No.: |
12/528426 |
Filed: |
February 21, 2008 |
PCT Filed: |
February 21, 2008 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/PT2008/000010 |
371 Date: |
August 24, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/109 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47D 9/04 20130101; A47D
13/102 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
5/109 |
International
Class: |
A47D 9/02 20060101
A47D009/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 23, 2007 |
PT |
103662 |
Claims
1-34. (canceled)
35. A Rocking device for inducing an oscillatory swing movement to
a support or transport device having a carrying handle or a
fixation point and able to be rocked, comprising a drive mechanism
and a power source, wherein further comprises a speed reduction
mechanism comprising a pulley, an eccentric shaft for converting
rotational movement to reciprocate movement, an elastic cord for
connection to the carrying handle or the fixation point, wherein
the speed reduction mechanism is connected to the drive mechanism,
the eccentric shaft is eccentrically placed in the pulley of the
speed reduction mechanism and is connected to one end of the
elastic cord, the other end of the elastic cord is fixed to said
fixation point of the support or transport device; and the speed
reduction mechanism transmits movement from the motor to the pulley
and therefore to the eccentric shaft, which shaft converts the
rotation movement of said pulley to a reciprocate movement of said
elastic cord inducing an angular displacement of the fixation point
thus producing a swing movement of the support or transport device,
the elastic cord adjusting itself to absorb different distances,
between the eccentric shaft and the fixation point, caused by the
instantaneous phase differences between the movement of the
eccentric shaft and the fixation point.
36. Rocking device according to claim 35, characterized in that the
drive mechanism comprises a motor which has a sensible loss of
rotation speed when it is dragged by the traction force of the
elastic cord, adjusting itself that way the frequency of the
inducer movement to the frequency of the movement induced in the
support or transport device.
37. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the motor is
directly connected to the pulley.
38. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the drive
mechanism comprises an electromagnetic coil or a wind up
mechanism.
39. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein it further
comprises a speed regulation device to regulate the speed of the
motor.
40. Rocking device according to claim 39, wherein the speed
regulation device is a rheostat, a potentiometer or an electronic
speed regulation device.
41. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein a regulation slot
is provided in the pulley into which the eccentric shaft is
regulated and fixed.
42. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the elastic cord
comprises a strap and an elastomer.
43. Rocking device according to claim 42, wherein the strap
comprises an adjustable fixation loop.
44. Rocking device according to claim 42, wherein the elastomer of
said elastic cord is a torque limiting device.
45. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the elastic cord
consists of a belt made of a natural or synthetic elastomer.
46. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the elastic cord
is a spring.
47. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the elastic cord
is a pneumatic cylinder with an adjustable fixation device.
48. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the power source
consists of an accumulator and/or a transformer.
49. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein the support or
transport device (1) is a baby support device.
50. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein it is built in
the support or transport device.
51. Rocking device according to claim 35, wherein is portable.
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] This invention refers to a rocking device capable of
inducing a rocking movement (oscillatory or pendular) to an infant
(baby) chair or support or transport device or to any others to
which such movement can be induced, in a new and improved form.
BEST ART KNOWN
[0002] It is well known that babies are especially soothed by the
swinging movement induced to the chairs or cradles where they rest.
Recognizing that, many baby chair and cradle manufacturers have
adopted curved base designs that allow the induction of a swing
movement. Other producers offer chairs or cradles whose support
structure is flexible enough to allow that that swinging effect can
be induced. The induction of this swinging effect can be achieved
either manually or by external devices, in the latter case a drive
mechanism is required, being it external to or built in the baby
support devices.
[0003] It is also known that if that motion is induced with a
frequency equal or close to the natural frequency of the chair or
support device loaded with the baby, increased movement amplitude
is obtained for the same consumed energy or available power, as
opposed to the situation in which those frequencies are afar. Chair
and cradle manufacturers aim to design their products with a base
curvature in a way that the assembly of the chair or support device
with the baby has a natural frequency that is comfortable for the
baby, thus seeking the best possible soothing effect for the baby.
Therefore, it is desirable to be able to induce the swing movement
with a frequency close or equal to the natural frequency of the
assembly.
[0004] Several approaches have been made so far to the problem of
inducing an automatic swing movement of baby chairs or support
devices. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,940 from J. Longoria
refers to a device able to induce a reciprocal vertical motion to
the base of a baby chair, in an adjustable way, to match the
frequency of the driving device to the natural frequency of the
loaded chair. Other related patents are U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,698
from Asenstorfer, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] One of the objectives of this invention is to provide a
rocking device that is capable of inducing a swinging motion
(oscillatory or pendular) to baby chairs or support devices and to
other in which such movements can be sought, in a new and improved
way.
[0006] Another objective of this invention is to provide a rocking
device that is capable of inducing the referred swinging motion to
baby chairs or support devices in which such movements can be
sought once they have a curved base or a flexible enough structure
that allows the swinging motion of the baby.
[0007] It is another characteristic of this invention being able to
induce the swinging motion both to baby support devices that have a
rotation axis or shaft of their pendular movement and to baby
support devices that do not have any rotation axis or shaft.
[0008] Yet another objective of this invention is to allow a device
that is able to induce a swinging motion in a baby support device
with the above mentioned characteristics in such a way that it
reduces the energy consumption required to induce the movement, by
using the energy which is accumulated in the baby support device
during its oscillation cycle, and ensuring that the force applied
to the support device acts along the whole or part of the
descending phase of the oscillation cycle.
[0009] To obtain a swinging motion that is smooth and comfortable
for the infant and at low energy consumption, it is required that
the baby support device is able to accumulate some kind of
potential energy. One of the objectives of this invention is its
capacity to induce the referred swinging movement to devices that
can accumulate either gravitational potential energy, or elastic
potential energy.
[0010] Yet another objective of the present invention is to allow a
device that is able to induce a swinging motion to a baby support
device with the above described characteristics in such a way that
it ensures that the angular play of the attachment point of the
carrying handle will not interfere with the movement thus reducing
the smoothness of the motion and comfort of the infant, since there
is no impact between moving parts of the drive mechanism nor of the
baby support device. As a consequence a low noise level is
achieved.
[0011] Another objective of the present invention is to allow a
device capable of automatically induce a swinging motion to a baby
support or cradle with an inducer frequency that may be adjusted in
such a way that it adjusts itself to the natural frequency of the
baby support device with the baby inside, whichever that natural
frequency may be, thus reducing the energy consumption and
increasing the working autonomy.
[0012] Another characteristic of the present invention is to allow
a device capable of imparting a swinging motion to a child support
device with the above mentioned features in a way that avoids the
need for any external help to start the movement and until it is
stabilized, being that movement robust and stable enough without
any external help (human or mechanical), thus avoiding the movement
to be stopped or significantly reduced due to any baby
movements.
[0013] Another characteristic of the present invention is that
there is a permanent link between the drive mechanism and the baby
support device, and the dynamic interaction between the drive
mechanism and the baby support device compels the drive mechanism
to adjust itself and to vary in each swing cycle in a way that is
dependent of the instant load imposed by the baby support device.
This entails a smoothness and comfort levels that have not been met
by any existing systems or previous techniques.
[0014] Another characteristic of this invention is the ability to
allow the control of the motion amplitude of the baby support
device with the baby inside through the adjustment of the peak or
idle speed of the drive in each cycle of the inducer movement,
within a certain range of variation of the drive mechanism idle
speed, keeping, however, the adjustment of the frequency of the
inducer movement to the natural frequency of the movement induced
in the baby support device. Another characteristic of the present
invention is its ability, on the one hand, to induce to the loaded
baby chair or support device to which it is attached, an
oscillating motion of whatever frequency (as long as it is below
the natural frequency of the loaded baby chair or support device)
by simply adjusting the drive mechanism speed or, on the other
hand, to adjust the amplitude of the movement induced to the loaded
baby chair or support device (whenever the loaded baby chair or
support device is moving at its natural frequency). The former
operating mode may be more adequate for very young children, the
latter is particularly useful in the case of elder children or
those who are more difficult to be soothed.
[0015] It is an objective of this invention to devise a drive
mechanism that can be easily fitted to existing standard infant
chairs or support devices and that can be easily tuned to the
desired operating motion conditions, by adjusting the
pre-tensioning of its physical link to the chair.
[0016] Other features of this invention are to provide a low cost
to produce device, being also simple, compact, silent, autonomous
and portable, that can provide an effective rocking motion into a
baby support device as above described, either as an accessory or
built in the support device itself. The above mentioned objectives
are met, in accordance to the invention, with a rocking device with
the characteristics described in claim 1.
[0017] Subordinated claims define the additional characteristics
and beneficial features of the device defined within claim 1. The
invention will be onwards described in detail by means of a
currently preferred execution, as represented in subsequent
drawings in which:
[0018] FIG. 1 represents a side view of a baby bouncing chair
associated to the device of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a side and top view sections of the rocking
device according to the present invention as illustrated in FIG.
1.
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a side view of yet another possible
concretization of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 4 shows graphically the relationship between the
movement of the chair and that of the rocking device as described
in this invention, as per the illustration of the floating speed of
the inducer movement within each alternative motion cycle.
[0022] FIG. 5 shows graphically the frequency variation and the
amplitude variation of the movement induced into the baby chair as
a consequence of the variation of the idle frequency of the inducer
movement.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EXECUTION
[0023] In FIG. 1, for illustrative purposes only, a baby chair 1 is
represented, which features a curved base and a carrying handle 2
to which is attached the strap of one end of the acting cord 3, 12
of the drive device 4.
[0024] The rocking device, shown in FIG. 2, consists of a drive
mechanism 4, which includes a base box 18, inside which are an
electric motor 14, a speed reduction mechanism 11, 13, 15, an
eccentric shaft 6, fixed into a regulation slot 10, and an elastic
cord 3, 12 whose elasticity is given by a spring or elastomer 12,
which is fixed by one extremity to said eccentric shaft 6, and
having the other extremity a strap 3 with a loop, which allows its
fixation to the carrying handle 2 of the baby chair or to any
equivalent fixation point that may be adequate to that function in
the baby chair or in any other baby support device.
[0025] The speed reduction mechanism 11, 13, 15 consists of 2
pulleys 11 and 15 and by the transmission belt 13.
[0026] The eccentric shaft 6 is eccentrically placed on the pulley
11, in a regulation slot 10, through which the rotation movement of
the pulley 11 is converted in a reciprocate movement. The eccentric
shaft 6 may be regulated within the regulation slot 10 by means of
a nut 16, which is tightened to the thread of the eccentric shaft
6. The regulation of the eccentricity of the shaft 6 allows the
adjustment of the rocking device to a wide range of baby chair
types and baby weights, ensuring that the regulation range allowed
by the speed regulation device 7 can always include the optimum
working range of the baby chair and baby set.
[0027] The rocking device includes an electrical energy source,
which consists of batteries 9 and to which are associated a
connection cable, not represented, as well as a speed regulator 7,
associated with the electric motor 14.
[0028] The speed reduction mechanism 11, 13, 15 transmits the
movement from the motor shaft to pulley 11, and therefore to the
eccentric shaft 6, which converts the rotation movement of said
pulley 11 to a reciprocate movement of said elastic cord 3, 12.
[0029] Said elastic cord 3, 12 may be laid across the box 18, which
may, for that purpose, have a passing slot 5. The strap 3 of the
elastic cord 3, 12, has the means to conform an adjustable fixation
loop, for instance, by means of a "Velcro" band, which can be fixed
to the carrying handle 2 of the baby chair or support device, or to
any other suitable fixation point of the baby chair, that may be
adequate to that need.
[0030] The elastic cord 3, 12 is the only connecting element
between the inducing device and the baby chair and, therefore, the
only inducer of the swing movement. To said elastic cord may or may
be not given a pre-stretch by means of the regulation of said
strap.
[0031] The connection between the rocking device and the baby chair
is made in such a way that, regardless of any pre-stretch initially
given to the elastic cord, there will never be any ascending force
applied to the carrying handle 2, thus avoiding that the play that
always exists between the carrying handle 2 and the baby chair may
interfere with the smoothness and comfort of the movement, along
its angular movement.
[0032] FIG. 3 shows an alternative setup where the rocking device
is coupled to the baby chair, being the end of the elastic cord 3,
12 fixed to an external fixation point, such as a weight 17, laid
down on the base surface.
[0033] The rocking device works the following way. The start of the
device is done by means of an "On-Off" switch 8, separate or
included in the speed regulation device, set to position "On",
being the electric motor 14 fed by the electric power from the
batteries 9. Said electric motor 14 rotates and, through the speed
reduction mechanism 11, 13, 15, causes the eccentric shaft 6 to
rotate. The rotation speed of the electric motor is regulated by
the speed regulation device 7. The rotation movement of the
eccentric shaft 6 causes the upper end of the cord 3, 12 to have an
reciprocate movement, whose vertical component of descending way,
will induce the desired swing movement of the baby chair. The
elastic cord 3, 12 will, during the movement, adjust itself to
absorb the different distances between its end fixation points,
caused by the instantaneous phase differences between the movement
of said eccentric axis 6 and said carrying handle 2, with the cord
3, 12 transmitting an oscillatory vertical force to the descending
way (or alternatively to the ascending way) which induces the
angular displacement of the carrying handle 2 thus producing a
swing movement of the baby chair with the baby.
[0034] The way the rocking device works differs between the
situation where the idle frequency of the inducing movement is
lower than the natural frequency of the baby chair with the baby
inside, and the situation where the former frequency is higher than
the latter. The differences in the working mode between these two
situations are graphically shown in FIG. 5.
[0035] When the idle frequency of the inducer movement is lower
than the natural frequency of the baby chair with the baby, the
chair will react with a frequency that is equal to the frequency of
the inducer movement, whichever it may be, being the amplitude of
the induced movement approximately the diameter of the eccentricity
of the eccentric axis 6.
[0036] When the idle frequency of the inducer movement is equal or
higher than the natural frequency of the chair with the baby
inside, it is the frequency of the inducer movement that adjusts
itself to the frequency of the induced movement. In this situation,
to obtain the self-regulation of the electric motor movement in
order to achieve the synchronism between the frequencies of both
inducer and induced movements, it is required that the electrical
motor has a sensible loss of rotation speed, when it is dragged by
the traction force of the cord, adjusting itself that way the
frequency of the inducer movement to the frequency of the movement
induced in the chair. Under load conditions and in a situation of
synchronism with the induced movement, the inducer system shows a
speed variation along each cycle that is determined by the load to
which it is submitted. Within a certain range of peak electric
motor speed, the variation of the inducer movement speed adjusts
itself automatically to the natural frequency of the induced
movement, in such a way as to maintain the synchronism between both
movements. It is possible to regulate the amplitude of the movement
induced in the baby chair by changing the instantaneous (or peak)
speed of the electric motor in the fastest part of the cycle by
means of a speed regulation device associated to the electric
motor, without loosing the synchronism between both inducer and
induced movements.
[0037] The speed regulator 7 allows the manual regulation of the
electric motor's rotation speed and, therefore, the peak speed
(maximum instantaneous speed of the inducer movement), in a way to
synchronize the frequency of the inducer movement with the natural
frequency of the movement of the baby chair with the baby.
[0038] FIG. 4 represents, in graphical way, the variation of the
eccentric axis rotation speed, along each cycle, when the idle
frequency of the inducer movement is equal or higher than the
natural frequency of the baby chair with the baby, knowing that the
carrying handle 2 of the chair with the baby has a simple
oscillatory movement which is not represented in FIG. 4. In a first
phase, the eccentric axis accelerates until the motor 14 reaches
its idle or low load speed. That speed is maintained until the
elastic cord 3, 12, through the action of the ascending movement of
the carrying handle 2 of the baby chair 1 with the baby starts to
apply a sensible load to the eccentric axis. This load has the
effect to decelerate the inducer movement, and may even cause an
instantaneous stop of the eccentric axis 6. As the swing movement
of the baby chair 1 with the baby continues, the carrying handle 2
of the chair starts moving down, causing the distance between the
carrying handle 2 and the fixation point of the elastic cord 3, 12
to the eccentric axis 6 to shorten, thus reducing the load applied
to the eccentric axis 6, which causes the inducer movement to
accelerate again.
[0039] If the idle (with no load) speed of the eccentric axis 6 is
high (corresponds in the graph of FIG. 4 to the curve with the
highest top speed), the speed curve shows a bigger slope on the
acceleration zone and the reached top speed is higher, thus
impairing a bigger impulse on the end of the cord (which also
happens earlier in the movement cycle) and leading to a bigger
amplitude of the movement induced in the baby chair 1. If,
otherwise, the idle speed of the eccentric axis 6 is lower
(corresponds in the graph of FIG. 4 to the curve with the lowest
top speed), the reached top speed is lower, such as the impulse
impaired to the cord 3, 12 (which happens later in the movement
cycle). That way, the amplitude of the movement of the baby chair 1
will be smaller.
[0040] The adjustment of the idle speed of the eccentric axis 6, by
means of the speed regulator 7, allows the adjustment, through the
above described processes, of either the frequency (when the idle
frequency of the inducer movement is lower than the one of the
induced movement) or the amplitude (when the idle frequency of the
inducer movement is higher than the one of the induced movement) of
the movement induced in the baby chair 1 with the baby, and keeping
in the latter case the adjustment of the frequency of the inducer
movement to the natural frequency of the induced movement.
[0041] It will be appraised by the specialists in the art that
numerous variations and/or modifications of this invention can be
made, as shown in the specific concretizations, keeping the spirit
or the scope of the present invention as widely described.
[0042] In another development of the invention, not represented,
the electric motor 14 may be chosen or setup to have a rotation
speed low enough to allow its direct connection to the pulley 11,
thus excluding the need for the speed reduction mechanism 11, 13,
15.
[0043] Yet in another development of the invention, not
represented, the decay of the rotation speed of the eccentric axis
6 along the rotation cycle may be achieved through the replacement
of the elastic component of the elastic cord 3, 12 by a torque
limiting device.
[0044] In another development of the invention not represented, the
electrical source 9 may be replaced by an accumulator or a
transformer, which may be directly connected to the public electric
light mains, or by both.
[0045] In another development of the invention, not represented,
the electric motor 14, the speed reduction mechanism 11, 13, 15 and
the eccentric axis 6 may be replaced by an electromagnetic coil or
a wind up mechanism, transmitting the same movement to the elastic
cord 3, 12.
[0046] Yet in another development of this invention, not
represented, the elastic effect given by the elastic cord 3, 12 may
also be achieved through the use of elastic transmission belts 13,
or even through the use of a tensor element transverse to the
transmission belt 13 acting on this latter with a spring effect. In
these cases, the cord 3, 12 may consist only of an inelastic strap
3.
[0047] In a development of the invention not represented, the
elastic cord 3, 12 consists of a belt or cord made of elastic
elastomer (natural or synthetic).
[0048] In a possible development of the invention, not represented,
the elastic cord, including its strap, may be replaced by a
pneumatic cylinder with an adjustable fixation point, with spring
effect (through the compression of the air inside) having
simultaneously a shock absorbent effect.
[0049] In another possible development of this invention, not
represented, it may be included in the elastic CORD 3, 12 a
force/tension transducer that, as it detects a certain tension,
emits an electrical signal to the speed regulator of the electric
motor, which will automatically regulate the motor speed in such a
way that the desired synchronism between the frequency of both
inducer and induced movements is achieved.
[0050] Yet in another not represented development of the invention,
the speed regulator 7 may be a rheostat, a potentiometer or any
other electric motor speed regulation device (electronic, for
instance).
[0051] In another development of this invention, the rocking
mechanism 4 may work suspended from the carrying handle 2 or from
any other equivalent fixation point on the baby chair 1 by the
elastic cord 3, 12 itself, being then necessary to adjust the
relationship between the elastic characteristic of the cord 3, 12
and the own weight of the rocking mechanism 4.
[0052] The rocking mechanism 4 can work with the type of baby chair
1 used in this description, but can also be adapted to work with a
chair suspended from a frame, as well as with bouncers, bouncing
chairs or any other type of devices to which a pendulum or
oscillatory movement can be impaired, that may be suitable for baby
use or for any other use.
[0053] It may be foreseen, apart or coupled to the rocking device,
a chair boundary guide consisting of two L-shaped profiles, of
adequate height, connected by bars or by a plane platform of
synthetic material (plastic) longitudinally limited by two small
wall perpendicular to the upper surface of said platform, in such a
way as to avoid the baby chair to leave its alignment relative to
the rocking chair.
[0054] The said boundary guide may even be used as a chair support
platform, allowing a smooth movement even when it is used on
irregular or rough surfaces.
* * * * *