US2784420A - Playpen - Google Patents

Description

March 12, 1957 D. P. MOLTANE PLAYPEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1953 00 w R Mo/fane INVENTOR.

BY Mm March 12, 1957 D. P. MOLTANE 2,784,420

PLAYPEN Filed Oct. 14, 1953 3 She ets-Sheet 2 David P. Mo/fane INVENTOR.

Man-ch12, 1957 D. P. MOLTANE 2,784,420

PLAYPEN Filed Oct. 14, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 David P. Mal/one INVENTOR.

WW 5m United States Patent PLAYPEN David P. Moltane, Clifton, N. 5.

Application October 14, 1953, Serial No. 385,937

' 2 Claims. (Cl. -98) This invention relates to a play pen, and more specifically provides a portable and collapsible play pen forming an enclosure for small children.

An object of this invention is to provide a play pen having a canvas enclosure and a collapsible and foldable frame therefor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a play pen having a canvas enclosure with a meshed portion in each vertical wall of the enclosure.

A further object of this invention is to provide a play pen which is collapsible into a compact and easily portable device. 1

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a play pen which is simple in construction, easy to assemble and disassemble, light in weight, well adapted for the purposes intended, and inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:- i

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the play pen of this invention in assembled position for holding a small child;

Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical section taken substantially along section line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse, vertical section taken substantially along section line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the device in its knock-down and portable position;

Figure 5 is a detail elevation view showing the corner loop at one of the corners of the canvas member;

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the collapsible and foldable frame member of the play pen;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal, vertical section taken substantially along section line 77 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal, vertical section taken substantially along section line 88 of Figure 6 showing details of the corner hinges;

Figure 9 is a longitudinal, vertical section taken substantially along section line 9-9 of Figure 6 showing details of the corner hinge;

Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view showing details of the juncture between the corner member, side member and end member;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of one of the upper rods forming the end frame;

Figure 12 is a detail perspective view showing the bottom end member with the two corner members folded parallel thereto; and

Figure 13 is a perspective view showing one of the horizontal side rods.

Referring now specifically to Figure 1, it will be seen that the numeral 10 generally designates the play pen of this invention having a skeletonized frame generally indicated by the numeral 12 and a canvas enclosure 2,784,420 Patented Mar. 12, 1957 secured to the frame generally indicated by the numeral 14.

It will be noted that the canvas member 14 includes four upstanding wall members 16 and a bottom 18, and each of the upstanding wall members is provided with a meshed portion or a net indicated by the numeral 20. The floor 18 is secured to the walls 16 by suitable stitch ing, as indicated by the numeral 22, and the netted portions 20 are secured to the wall portions 16 by suitable stitching, as indicated by the numeral 24. The corner junctures between the upstanding wall members 16 are each provided with a cylindrical hem portion generally indicated by the numeral 26 formed by suitable stitching.

The juncture between two of the walls 16, hereafter designated as end walls, is provided with a looped hem portion 28 extending along the juncture between the end wall 16 and the bottom 18. The upper ends of the end wall 16 are each provided with an elongated hem portion 30, and the upper edges of the side walls 16 are each provided with a plurality of flexible flaps 32 which are secured at one end to the outside of the wall 16 by suitable stitching and the flaps 32 are detachably secured to the inside surface of the side walls 16 by suitable fasteners 34 thereby forming a pair of spaced loop portions which are equivalent to the hem portions 30, 28 and 26, and for a similar purpose, but are easily detachable for a purpose described hereinafter.

Referring now specifically to Figures 6-13, it will be seen that the frame member 12 includes a pair of end frame members having a lower end rod 36 and an 'upper end rod 38 parallel thereto and spaced therefrom by vertical corner members 40. The vertical corner members 40 are pivotally secured to the lower member 36 by a U-shaped hinge member 42 rigidly secured to the bottom rod 36 and having legs receiving the lower end of the corner members 40, and a pivot pin 44 is positioned through the U-shaped hinge member 42 and the corner members 40, thereby pivotally securing the corner members 40 to the lower rod members 36. As shown in Figure 11, the upper rod member 38 includes a projecting threaded portion 46 at each end thereof, and the upper end of each of the corner members 40 is provided with a suitable aperture for receiving the threaded portion 46 of the upper end rod 38. The upper rods 38 are connected to each other by a horizontally disposed side rod 48 connecting remote ends of the upper rod 38. As best seen in Figure 13, the rod 48 includes a triangular plate 50 positioned at each remote end thereof with the outermost and uppermost end of the plate 50 and the outermost end of the rod 48 being provided with a suitable aperture 52 for receiving the threaded portion 46 of the upper rod 38 and the inner face of the triangular plate 50 is provided with a projecting dowel pin 54 for engaging an aperture 56 in each corner member 40 in vertical spaced relation to the aperture which receives the threaded portion 46. As shown in Figure 7, a wing nut 58 is threadedly engaged on the projecting threaded portion 46 for clamping the remote end of the horizontal side rod 48, the upper end of the corner member 40 and the projecting threaded portion 46 of the upper end rod 38. Obviously, the device may be disassembled by removing the wing nut 58 and the upper rods 48 and 38, thereby permitting the corner members 40 to be pivoted in substantial parallelism to the bottom end rod 36.

In assembling the frame 12 to the canvas 14, the bottom end rods 36 are positioned in the hem portion 28 with the corner rods 40 positioned in the hem portion 26. The upper end rods 38 are then positioned in the hem portion 30 and the threaded end portions 46 are projected through the aperture in each corner member 40. The horizontal are removed and theflaps 3'2 loosened, thereby permitting the removal of the side, rods 48. The upper end rods are then disengaged from the. upper ends of corner members and the corner members may'be folded towards each other, as shown in Figure 12', and the upper rod 38 is brought into substantial alignment with the. lower rods 36 and the device is rolled into. a. bundle in an obvious mannenas best shown in Figure 5, with the side rd's48 being the only separated pieces. As best shown in Fig: ure. each upper corner of the canvas'member 14' is provided with a loop 6.0 for positioning over the projecting threaded portion 46 and the. wing nut 58', thereby assuring that the canvas member 14 will'be maintained in correct relhti'on to the frame member. 12'.

The canvas member may be constructed of any suitable canvas or other flexible material, and the net portion may be either cotton net or other suitable material. The framemembers 12 may be constructed'of either aluminum, wood or light weight steel rods which are preferably rustproof; As appears obvious, the device may be easily and quickly set up and is easily carried under the arm of a person who may also be carrying a small child such as to the beach or the back yard.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will'be readily understood and further explanation is. believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described,

and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equiva-- lents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

When disassemb ng. the. device for folding and collapsing, the wing nuts 58 What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A collapsible play pen comprising a collapsible frame member and a flexible member secured to said frame member, said frame member including a pair of end portions having spaced upper and lower rods parallel to each other and connected at their remote ends by vertical corner members, a removable horizontal side rod secured to the upper ends of each ofapair of remote vertical corner members and to the ends of each of a pair of remote upper rods holding said end portions in spaced relationship, said upper rodsbeing detachably secured to said cornermembers andsaid siderods, U-shaped hinge members secured to the ends ofsaid' lower rods, said corner members being pivotally attached to said. U-shaped hinge members, said flexible member including hem portions thereon for receiving said upper and lower rods, said corner members, and said horizontal side rods, each of said horizontal side rods having plate members at the ends thereof, said plate members each including means for engaging said corner members at a plurality of' vertically spaced points thereby rigidly securing said members together. 7

2. The play pen as defined in claim 1 wherein said flexible member includes a bottom and side walls, said side walls having a meshed portion, a loop secured to each of said side walls and engaging over the juncture between theupper end of the corner member and adjacent ends of the horizontal side and upper end rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,462 Hoagland Feb. 5, 1895 1,551,026 Greek Aug. 25, 1925 1,855,307 Nigg Apr. 26, 1932 2,483,789 Smith Oct. 4, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,612 Great Britain of. 19-12 12,874 Great Britain 1888 574,703 Great Britain Jan. 16, 1946 633,677 Great Britain Dec. 19, 1949

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