The present invention generally relates to a joint for connecting tubular members designed to be folded one on the other, and more particularly a joint suitable for connecting tubes which form the folding legs of a space-saving clothes-horse.
Patent FR-A-2 511 403 (on which the preamble of claim 1 is based) discloses a folding removable clothes airer comprising a vertical frame and tilting grids with a soil spike. The soil spike comprises the bottom ends of the vertical support connected with parallel crosspieces and a secondary U-shaped frame arranged crosswise with respect to said crosspieces. The secondary frame rotates around a vertically articulating axis, and a locking device positions the secondary frame at a right angle with respect to the vertical frame crosspieces so as to keep the airer in the drying position.
The locking device of the secondary frame is in the shape of dual pliers forming two overlapped and perpendicularly arranged fixed-forks, with one fork being integral with a crosspiece of the vertical frame, and the other being designed to receive a crosspiece of the secondary revolving frame. The vertical articulating axis passes through the crosspieces involved in the locking device.
Clothes-horses with a grid and possible extension grids held by two pairs of crossed legs which are pivoted to each other and in which the legs of a first pair have a central articulation which allows for them to fold so as to close the clothes-horse, are already know. In said clothes-horses, the folding of the legs with central articulation and subsequent accidental closure of the clothes-horse are possible in the case of knocks or incorrect movements. An uncontrolled closure of the clothes-horse can however be dangerous for people, especially children and it is therefore strongly advisable not to use.
For this reason, a way of blocking the articulation with the legs open has already been proposed. This method though requires the fitting of an extra element that interacts with the joint which connects the folding elements.
On the other hand, the locking device of the clothes-airer disclosed by the above FR-A-2 511 403 patent is not suitable for use with clothes airers on stand, in which the two tubes of the folding legs must be locked in line, and not crosswise, and then folded one on top of the other while keeping them connected to their ends.
The object of the present invention is to propose a joint for connecting two foldable elements, one on top of the other, such as the tubular members which form the folding legs of a clothes- horse. The joint has safety means which block the elements connected to each other in an open position, that is to say aligned to each other.
A second object of this invention is to propose a joint made as a single piece advantageously achieved through moulding and with a new configuration which allows it to be easily fitted onto the elements to be connected.
A further object of the invention is to propose a joint made as a single piece which contemporarily connects the two folding elements and automatically blocks the elements so as to avoid an accidental folding when they are aligned to each other.
Said aims are achieved with a joint which is in accordance with claim 1.
An example of realization of the joint will however be described with references to the attached drawing in which:
The joint in question is made of a single piece (10) with a part which delimits a hole (11) open towards an end of the body and a U-shaped part which delimits a channel (12) open on one side of said body. On the inside of the facing tabs (12a) of the U-shaped part, protruding parts (12b) pointing towards the centre and designed to reduce the opening of the channel (12) are formed (Fig. 3).
The above described joint is used to connect two tubes (13, 14) which are foldable on top of each other due to the rotation of one of them. Said tubular elements (13, 14) can be made up of the two tubes which form the foldable legs (15) of a clothes-horse (16) like the one in Fig. 4 of the drawing.
The joint is fitted to the two tubular elements (13,14) to be connected by forcing, and/or through the use of adhesive, and/or with a pin, an end of the lower element (13) into the hole (11) of the body (10) and by pivoting the lower end of the upper element (14) into the channel (12) through the use of a tranversal pin (14a). In this way the joint is rigidly constrained to the lower element (13) whilst the upper element (14) is foldable on the first so as to rotate round the relative pin (14a). When the two elements (13, 14) have to be opened, in other words aligned, the upper element is rotated until it is blocked into the channel (12) of the joint.
The element (14) is then forced to clip into the channel (12) through a tight opening of the protruding parts (12b), making use of the elasticity of the tabs (12a) which define the hole itself. The element is then blocked into the hole and is therefore in position due to said protruding parts (12b) (Fig 3) which prevent the folding of the elements and therefore the accidental closing of a clothes-horse with folding legs.