Baby carriage
Each element of opened/closed state lock means is arranged around each of pivot shafts that respectively pivotally connect front legs and push bars. In a folded state of a baby carriage, lower ends of the push bars do not protrude above upper ends of the front legs. The lower ends of the push bars and the upper ends of the front legs are in contact with each other and are not separated from each other both in an opened state and folded state of the baby carriage. The baby carriage can implement reduction in weight with a simple structure and reduction in height of the baby carriage in the folded state, and also can prevent problems such as pinched fingers.
1 . A baby carriage in which rear wheels move toward front wheels in a folding operation, and the rear wheels and the front wheels are located approximately at a same height in a folded state to enable self-standing of the baby carriage, comprising:
a pair of front legs extending in an up-down direction and having front wheels in their respective lower parts;
a pair of rear legs extending in the up-down direction, having rear wheels in their respective lower parts, and provided so as to cross said front legs and pivotally connected to said front legs at the crossing portions through pins, respectively;
a pair of seat support bars extending in a front-back direction and having their respective front parts pivotally connected to upper parts of said rear legs;
a pair of seat hanging bars extending in the up-down direction and having their respective lower parts pivotally connected to rear parts of said seat support bars;
a pair of push bars extending in the up-down direction so as to cross said seat hanging bars, having their respective lower ends pivotally connected to upper ends of said front legs through pivot shafts, and pivotally connected to said seat hanging bars at the crossing portions, respectively;
width-direction connecting means formed by said each front leg, each rear leg, each seat support bar, each seat hanging bar, and each push bar for connecting left and right sides of the baby carriage; and
opened/closed state lock means for locking an opened state and closed state of the baby carriage by inhibiting pivoting of said push bars with respect to said front legs, wherein
said opened/closed state lock means includes
a front-leg-side engaging recess located on the upper end of said each front leg and provided along a circle around said pivot shaft,
a push-bar-side engaging recess located on the lower end of said each push bar and provided along a circle around said pivot shaft, and
a lock member having an engaging protrusion for engaging with said front-leg-side engaging recess and said push-bar-side engaging recess, and provided displaceably between a first position and a second position along said pivot shaft, wherein when in said first position, said lock member engages both said front-leg-side engaging recess and said push-bar-side engaging recess to inhibit pivoting of said push bar with respect to said front leg, and when in said second position, said lock member engages only one of said front-leg-side engaging recess and said push-bar-side engaging recess to allow pivoting of said push bar with respect to said front leg, said opened/closed state lock means further includes
a biasing member for biasing said lock member toward said first position, and
a press member for moving said lock member to said second position against biasing force of said biasing member.
2 . The baby carriage according to claim 1 , wherein said lock member has a gear shape centering around said pivot shaft, and said front-leg-side engaging recess and said push-bar-side engaging recess have a gear-shaped recess centering around said pivot shaft.
3 . The baby carriage according to claim 1 , further comprising a stopper for inhibiting a pressing operation of said press member.
4 . The baby carriage according to claim 3 , wherein
said press member has a cylindrical shape surrounding said pivot shaft and is held displaceably in a through hole formed in the lower end of said push bar, and
said stopper is held by said press member so as to be displaceable between a position where said stopper protrudes from an outer peripheral surface of said press member and a position where said stopper retracts in the outer peripheral surface of said press member, and when in said protruding position, said stopper inhibits the pressing operation of said press member, the baby carriage further comprising:
a spring for biasing said stopper toward said protruding position.