Vibrating infant bed

Abstract

The present device is a vibrating infant bed that gently rocks a baby to sleep by providing a smooth, reciprocating movement in the vertical direction. The vibrating mechanism has an A.C. gear motor which rotates an eccentric cam. A cam follower rises on top of the cam and is mounted to the moving plate. The moving plate is guided to move in the vertical direction by bearings. As the cam rotates, the cam follower moves up and down, and so does the moving plate. A timing switch is connected to the motor and can be pre-set for a selected period of operating time.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a vibrating infant bed and, more particularly, to a vibrating infant bed having a mechanism to provide a smoothly and slowly reciprocating movement in the vertical direction to an infant in the bed.

[0002] Rocking can make babies stop crying and put them into sleep. There have been many different configurations for infant rocking beds proposed in the prior art. However, none of these provide the slow, vertically bouncing motion. Another important feature of this vibrating infant bed is the incorporation of a timing switch to allow the device to operate automatically in a pre-selected period of time and eliminate the need for direct parent interaction.

[0003] In the related art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,097 issued in the name of Harper et al discloses an infant bouncer with handles.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,867B2 issued in the name of Robinson discloses an automatic two speed musical rocking chair which can rock back and forth to put a baby to sleep.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,997 issued in the name of Kroedler et al discloses an infant carrier which can provide a back and forth bouncing motion relative to the base position.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,711 issued in the name of Pollock discloses a musical rocking chair for a child without battery or electricity.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,912B1 issued in the name of Tamlin discloses a driving mechanism for shaking table.

[0008] Accordingly, there is a need for an infant bed having a simple design and which provides a slowly and smoothly vibrating motion in the vertical direction. In addition, there is a need for an infant bed including a timing switch to allow the device to operate automatically during a chosen period of time without parent interaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention provides a vibrating infant bed which comprises a top shell for receiving an infant, a vibrating mechanism for providing the vertically reciprocating motion to the shell, and a bottom shell for covering the vibrating mechanism. Located beneath the top shell, the vibrating mechanism is powered by an electric A.C. gear motor which is controlled by a timing switch and provides low rpm, high torque output. Holding an eccentric cam, the drive shaft is supported by two bearings and connected to the gear motor by a coupling. On top of the eccentric cam, a cam follower is kept in contact by springs and is mounted to a driving plate. The driving plate-cam follower assembly is guided to move in the vertical direction by bearings and vertical shafts. The rotation of the eccentric cam imparts the reciprocating motion in the vertical direction to the moving plate assembly.

[0010] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vibrating infant bed that produces a slowly bouncing up and down motion.

[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a vertically reciprocating mechanism.

[0012] It is further another object of the present invention to provide a timing switch, a means to preset the operating time for the device.

[0013] It is still another object of the present invention to provide the soothing comfort of the slowly and vertically bouncing motion for babies to quickly and easily fall into sleep.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The apparatus of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 is an unexploded perspective view of the vibrating infant bed of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the shells and the vibrating mechanism of the invention;

[0017] FIG. 3 is the unexploded perspective view of the vibrating mechanism;

[0018] FIG. 4 is the partially exploded perspective view of the vibrating mechanism showing the motor-cam assembly and the moving plate assembly;

[0019] FIG. 5 is the top view of the vibrating mechanism;

[0020] FIG. 6 is the front view of the vibrating mechanism;

[0021] FIG. 7 is the end view of the vibrating mechanism;

[0022] FIG. 8a is the end view showing the cam-cam follower low position;

[0023] FIG. 8b is the end view showing the cam-cam follower high position;

[0024] FIG. 9 is the electrical schematic of the vibrating mechanism and timing switch;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a vibrating infant bed 10 is shown, according to the present invention, comprised of a vibrating mechanism 33, a timing switch 31, a top shell 32, and a bottom shell 30. Mounted on top of the vibrating mechanism 33, the top shell 32 is the location where a baby can be placed and rocked to sleep. The bottom shell 30 provides a housing for the vibrating mechanism 33 and the timing switch 31, which is used for controlling the operation time of the vibrating mechanism 33. FIG. 9 shows the electrical schematic of the timing switch-drive motor control loop.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6, the vibrating mechanism 33 is powered by an electrical A.C. gear motor 15 which provides low rpm, high torque output. A coupling 14 connects the motor 15 to a drive shaft 12. The drive shaft 15 is supported at both ends by two bearings 13, which are mounted inside the base 16. An eccentric cam 11 is mounted on the shaft 12 and located between two bearings 13. Riding on top of the cam 11 is the moving plate assembly 20, in which a cam follower 21 is mounted to a moving plate 22. As seen in FIG. 7, the cam follower 21 is kept in contact with the cam 11 by two springs 19. The moving plate 22 is guided to move in the vertical direction by bearings 23 and vertical shafts 17, which are mounted to the base 16. Springs 18 around shafts 17 are located between the moving plate 22 and the base 16 to counter-balance the load. As the motor 15 operates, the drive shaft 12 and the cam 11 rotate. The eccentricity of the cam 11 will cause the cam follower 21 and the moving plate 22 to move up and down as shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b. Hence the rotation of the motor shaft imparts a reciprocating motion in the vertical direction to the moving plate assembly 20 and the top shell 32.

[0027] While the foregoing description of the form of the apparatus constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is not meant to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vibrating infant bed for providing a vertically reciprocating motion comprising:

an infant shell for holding an infant;

a vibrating mechanism connected to said infant shell for transmitting a vertically reciprocating motion to said infant shell;

a base shell for covering said vibrating mechanism;

a timing switch for setting up the operating time of said vibrating mechanism.

2. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 1 wherein said vibrating mechanism includes an electrical gear motor, a rotating shaft, a coupling which connects said motor to said shaft, two bearings for guiding and supporting said shaft, an eccentric cam, a moving plate assembly, a housing base for mounting said motor and said bearings.

3. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 2 wherein said cam is driven in circular movement.

4. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 2 wherein said moving plate assembly includes a cam follower, a moving plate, bearings and supports for guiding said moving plate to move in the vertical direction.

5. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 4 wherein said moving plate assembly is imparted to move in the vertical direction.

6. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 5 wherein said cam and said cam follower are kept in contact by springs.

7. The vibrating infant bed as recited in claim 6 wherein the operating time of said vibrating mechanism is controlled by a timing switch.