CRIB ROLLING APPARATUS
A moving apparatus for reciprocally rolling a child in a rollable carriage, to and fro repeatedly, the apparatus comprises: an apparatus housing configured to remain stationary relative to a resting surface; an electrical motor supported by the housing; a reciprocally movable carriage driver supported at the housing and at least one attaching device for attaching at least one end of the carriage driver to the rollable carriage; a coupling between the motor and the carriage driver for causing the driver to receive motive power from the motor to cause the driver to move reciprocally; a controller for actuating the motor; and the carriage driver is so supported and configured as to cause it to reciprocally move to and fro along a substantially straight line. The carriage driver can be a motor driven driver shaft, rope or the like.
The present invention is generally directed to an apparatus for soothing and lulling a baby or very young child in a crib to sleep and, more particularly, to an apparatus that can be attached to existing cribs whose legs are mounted on wheels to move the crib to and fro, back and forth, in a reciprocal, soothing motion.
Most of the prior art relating to the subject matter of the present invention produces “rocking” motions that are imparted to a crib or stroller and the like. Exemplary of the prior art are the apparatuses described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,398,353 and 6,588,527, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. Other prior art that may be tangentially related to the subject matter of the present invention is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,950,020; 8,561,227; 7,918,505; 7,203,981; 6,854,138; 5,742,960; 5,486,034; 5,107,555; 5,088,138; 4,615,059; 4,419,777; 4,258,446; 4,028,753; and 3,952,343. The entire contents of the foregoing list of patents are incorporated by reference herein.
To the present inventor's knowledge, all existing prior art imparts a rocking motion to the baby or very young child, rather than mimicking the motion that is obtained when a parent places a very young baby in a stroller and moves the stroller to and fro, forward and backwards, while standing in one spot.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be easily coupled to existing cribs without any modifications to the crib to enable the crib to roll from side to side, reciprocally, in response to different actuating switches or sounds or electrical commands.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized in a form of an apparatus that includes a moving apparatus for reciprocally rolling a child in a rollable carriage, e.g. a crib, to and fro repeatedly. The apparatus comprises: an apparatus housing configured to remain stationary relative to a resting surface; an electrical motor supported by the housing; a reciprocally movable carriage driver supported at the housing and at least one attaching device for attaching at least one end of the carriage driver to the rollable carriage; a coupling between the motor and the carriage driver for causing the driver to receive motive power from the motor to cause the driver to move reciprocally; a controller for actuating the motor; and the carriage driver is so supported and configured as to cause it to reciprocally move to and fro along a substantially straight line. The carriage driver can be a motor driven driver shaft, rope or the like.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.
With reference the drawings,
The present invention comprises a crib moving apparatus 20, that can be box-shaped, with an interior 20a which is defined by surrounding walls 20b (
In accordance with one embodiment (not shown), the rubber base 24 can be provided in a size that extends in all directions beyond the apparatus body 20c, whereby the wheels 16 of the crib would roll on the base as well. This embodiment would be useful for a room which has a very heavy or shaggy carpet. The base might be made of solid/rigid material and be slightly arcuate and also possibly scored with grooves to impart to the moving crib gentle up/down motion and very slight shaking to better simulate the motion experienced when being pushed in a stroller over sidewalks and the like, as the crib rolls back and forth over the arcuate base.
Activation of the apparatus to drive the shaft 30 to impart the reciprocal motion to the crib 10 can be provided from the control box 32, which is connected by electrical cable 46 to the apparatus 20, which control box 32 has various control knobs or buttons to operate the device of the present invention, as described below.
Turning to
The motor 40 receives its driving power in the form of pulses provided on the electrical line 74 which emanates from the electrical system 49 which houses a power supply 70 and an electrical circuit 50. The power supply 70 may be connected via a conventional electrical cord 72 that allows its A/C plug 72a to be inserted in a conventional A/C wall socket to produce the voltages necessary for operation of the circuits of the present invention, including the motor 40.
The basic mechanical structure of the invention lends itself to many variations. For example, in
Furthermore, in
As a self-evident variation, the portion of the shaft 30 may have an internal, telescoping section which can be pulled out to adjust to different sized cribs with a pin mechanism, or have other mechanisms to adjust the shaft length. For example, the internal wall of the shaft may be threaded, accommodating therein an inner shaft whose extension is adjustable, again in well known manner.
An advantage of using a rigid shaft, is that it may be sufficient to provide the shaft 30, only on one side of the apparatus 20 and drive the crib by holding rigidly onto only one of the crib cross bars.
Turning to
The integrated circuits 54, 56 receive their operating voltage which can be a 5 volt voltage, which is produced by the integrated device 52 that converts the 24 DC voltage to a voltage which is at 5 volts, for example.
That same Vcc voltage drives the counter IC 58, e.g., a model 4017 counter, the function of which is to produce a counter output 58a and counter output 58b, in each case driving a respective transistor. The output 58a is coupled to the reset pin of the timer IC 54, while the output 58b is coupled to the trigger input of the timer IC 54. When the counter IC 58 produces a pulse at its output 58b, and the integrated circuit 54 is not in a reset mode, it will produce a pulse of, say, 5 minutes at 54a to turn on the motor for 5 minutes.
Actuation of the motor 40 can occur in one of several ways. A first way can be by operating the switch S1 (58d) providing a clock pulse at 58c. In a second mode, the integrated receiver 58f can respond to infrared pulses received from the remote control transmitter 70 shown in
The arrangement permits a parent to activate the soothing motion by pressing the switch S1 (58d) or by using the remote transmitter of
Setting of the speed and time resistors 56b, 54b can be via the adjusting knobs in
Turning to
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A moving apparatus for reciprocally rolling a child in a rollable carriage, to and fro repeatedly, the apparatus comprising:
- an apparatus housing configured to remain stationary relative to a resting surface;
- an electrical motor supported by the housing;
- a reciprocally movable carriage driver supported at the housing and at least one attaching device for attaching at least one end of the carriage driver to the rollable carriage;
- a coupling between the motor and the carriage driver for causing the driver to receive motive power from the motor to cause the driver to move reciprocally;
- a controller for actuating the motor; and
- wherein the carriage driver is so supported and configured as to cause it to reciprocally move to and fro along a substantially straight line.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, the controller including a circuit that causes the motor to be activated, in response to a motor actuating signal, for an operator setable duration.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the motor actuating signal is generated from an operator controlled signal actuator.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the actuating signal is provided from a wireless remote control device.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the actuating signal is provided from a voice activated circuit.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a speed controller within said controller including a circuit that enables setting a motor speed that can be set by operator through a manual adjustment.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carriage driver comprises a driving shaft having a left section driving shaft and a right side driving shaft, each having a respective distal end and a rope element extending from each end of the left section and right section driving shaft to the child carriage.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the motor is configured to rotate in one direction and to couple its one direction motion to cause reciprocal motion of said driving shaft.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carriage driver comprises a cable, and the motor comprises a rotating tube that is controlled to rotate in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction to cause reciprocal moving of said carriage in one direction and then an opposite direction, respectively.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing is affixed to a base that has a high coefficient of friction and the high coefficient of friction is sufficient to prevent the apparatus from sliding on its resting surface.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, including a base located on the resting surface and the housing is secured to the base.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the base has a dimensional size larger than a footprint of the carriage.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the base does not define a flat planar surface.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the base is made of a synthetic material having a high friction coefficient.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 5, 2015
Publication Date: Dec 8, 2016
Inventor: Shimon SMILOWITZ (Brooklyn, NY)
Application Number: 14/732,102