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(11) | EP 2 133 015 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child |
| (57) A tub (1) with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, comprising a tub body
(2), provided with a seat (3) that can be connected to the tub body (2) by way of
guiding means (20) in order to vary the position of the seat within the tub body,
removable locking means being further provided for positioning the seat.
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[0002] As is known, several types of tubs are currently commercially available and used to bathe babies; generally speaking, they are provided by means of a tub body which has on its bottom an impression so as to provide a region that is comfortable for the child to sit on.
[0003] Solutions are currently already available which are provided so as to have different impressions in order to adapt to the typical anatomy of a baby in the first months of life and to the sitting of an older baby.
[0004] Substantially, the solutions of the background art offer only two alternatives, which in many cases have not proved to be suitable for their function.
[0005] The aim of the invention is to solve the problem described above by providing a tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, which allows to accommodate the child from birth and follow it during growth, offering always a position which is comfortable and suitable for the child.
[0006] Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a tub that can be used simply and in which the adjustment of the position can be performed simply and quickly.
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a tub which, thanks to its particular constructive characteristics, is capable of giving the greatest assurances of reliability and safety in use.
[0008] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child that can be obtained easily starting from commonly commercially available elements and materials and is also competitive from a merely economical standpoint.
[0009] This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, according to the invention, comprising a tub body, characterized in that it comprises a seat that can be connected to said tub body by way of guiding means in order to vary the position of said seat within said tub body, removable locking means being further provided for positioning said seat.
[0010] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of two preferred but not exclusive embodiments of a tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the tub;
Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tub;
Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the tub, with the sitting portion removed;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the sitting portion, taken from the lower face;
Figure 5 is a sectional view, taken along the line V-V of Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a sectional view of the means for removable position locking, in the engaged position;
Figure 7 is a sectional view of the removable locking means in the disengagement position;
Figures 8 and 9 are sectional views, taken along the line VIII-VIII of Figure 2, with the seat in two different operating positions;
Figure 10 is a view of the second embodiment of the tub with a one-piece seat;
Figures 11 and 12 are longitudinal sectional views, with the one-piece seat in two different operating positions;
Figure 13 is a sectional view of the means for removable position locking of the seat;
Figure 14 is a perspective view, taken from the rear side, of the one-piece seat;
Figure 15 is a sectional view, taken along the line XV-XV of Figure 12.
[0011] With reference to the figures, and particularly to Figures 1 to 9, the tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a tub body 2, which is typically made of plastics, inside which a seat, generally designated by the reference numeral 3 and constituted by a sitting portion 4 to which a back 5 is pivoted, is arranged.
[0012] The tub body has guiding means for varying the position of the seat 3, which are constituted by two guiding bars 10, which are arranged parallel to each other and are connected to the bottom of the tub body 2.
[0013] The guiding bars form, on the outer edges, a guiding seat 11, with which guiding folds 12, provided on the lower region of the sitting portion 4, engage so as to allow to position the seat in a longitudinal direction.
[0014] On the back 5, at lateral edges, there are lateral recesses 15, in which pins 16 engage which are formed rigidly with the tub body 2 and in practice act as a back connection element, so that the back is guided when the sitting portion 4 is made to slide in order to position the seat.
[0015] The tub has removable locking means for the positioning of the seat, which in the specific embodiment are provided by means of a movable frame 20, which is accommodated between the guiding bars 10 and is provided at the front with a grip recess 21 to produce the sliding of the frame 20 so as to obtain the desired positioning.
[0016] The frame 20 has two mutually opposite inclined slots 22, in which a cam follower pin 23 of a locking body 24 engages, said body having a locking protrusion 25, which can be inserted detachably in locking receptacles 26 which are formed in a spaced arrangement on the guiding bars 10.
[0017] The locking body 24 can slide, along a direction that is perpendicular to the direction of longitudinal extension of the guiding bars, for engagement with slider supports 30, rigidly provided on the lower region of the body 4.
[0018] Moreover, return springs 31 are provided, which act between an abutment wall 32, which is rigidly connected to the sitting portion 4, and the locking body 24, which has a suitable guiding pin 33.
[0019] With the described coupling, by pulling the movable frame 20, the inclined slots 22 that engage the cam follower pins 23 produce the opposite sliding of the guiding blocks 24, which move mutually closer in contrast with the springs 31 and disengage the protrusions 25 from the receptacles 26, so that it is possible to adjust at will the position of the sitting portion and consequently of the back that is pivoted thereto.
[0020] By releasing the frame 20, whose handle 21 can be accessed at the lower region of the sitting portion, the springs 31 produce the retraction of the protrusions 25 into the receptacles 26, with consequent locking of the arrangement of the seat in the desired position.
[0021] With reference to the embodiment shown in Figures 10 to 15, the tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, generally designated by the reference numeral 50, has a tub body, designated by the reference numeral 51, inside which a one-piece seat 52 is provided which forms monolithically both the sitting portion and the back.
[0022] The seat, as shown in Figure 11 and in the subsequent figures, has at the rear its rear surface 53, which is contoured like a circular arc.
[0023] Correspondingly, the tub body 51 forms guiding means for varying the position, which have guiding edges 60, which are provided rigidly on the bottom of the tub and provide the sliding receptacle 61 for a circumferential engagement portion 62 which is provided rigidly on the rear face 53 of the one-piece seat.
[0024] Between the guiding edges 60 there are hollows 70, which provide the removable locking means for seat positioning in cooperation with an insertion tooth 71, which enters the hollows 70 and can slide in a guiding chamber 72 formed on the rear face of the one-piece seat.
[0025] An extraction spring 73 acts on the tooth 71 and pushes the tooth so that it engages one of the hollows 70.
[0026] In order to perform disengagement, there is a traction element 80, which forms a cam-like portion 81 constituted by inclined planes which engage actuation pins 82, which protrude at the opposite ends of the tooth 71, so that by pulling the traction element 80, by way of the engagement of the inclined planes 81 with the pins 82, a retraction of the tooth 71 into the chamber 72 is produced, with the possibility to adjust at will the position of the one-piece seat with respect to the body of the tub.
[0027] By releasing the traction element 80, the spring 73 in practice returns the traction element into position and pushes outwardly the tooth 71, which produces the locking engagement, entering a hollow 70.
[0028] With the arrangement described above, in order to vary the position of the one-piece seat it is sufficient to pull the upper end of the traction element 80, which can be accessed at the rear upper portion of the back.
[0029] In this manner, the tooth 71 is extracted from the corresponding hollow, allowing the possibility to adjust the position of the one-piece seat, which locks again in the new selected position when the traction element 80 is released.
[0030] From what has been described above it is therefore evident that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, and in particular the fact is stressed that a tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child is provided in which there is an internally arranged seat which is connected to the body of the tub with the possibility to assume a number of different positions, so as to allow optimum placement of the child as a function of its anatomical configurations.
[0031] The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.
[0032] Thus, for example, the seat can be constituted by a sitting portion with a back pivoted thereto, by a single body that forms the sitting portion and the back, by an element that forms exclusively the sitting portion which can move with respect to a back formed by the tub body, or, optionally, by a back which can move with respect to a sitting portion formed by the tub body.
[0034] In practice, the materials used, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements.
[0035] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
1. A tub with adjustable sitting portion for bathing a child, comprising a tub body,
characterized in that it comprises a seat that can be connected to said tub body by way of guiding means
in order to vary the position of said seat within said tub body, removable locking
means being further provided for positioning said seat.
2. The tub according to claim 1, characterized in that said guiding means comprise a pair of guiding bars, which are arranged substantially
parallel to each other and are connected to the bottom of said tub body, said guiding
bars forming on the outer edges a guiding seat for engagement with guiding folds provided
on the lower face of the sitting portion of said seat to which a back is pivoted.
3. The tub according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said back has, at the lateral edges, lateral hollows for sliding engagement with
pins which are rigidly associated with said tub body.
4. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said removable locking means comprise a movable frame, which is accommodated between
said guiding bars and forms at least one inclined slot, which can engage the cam follower
pin of at least one locking body, which can move transversely with respect to the
direction of longitudinal extension of said guiding bars, said locking body having
a locking protrusion which can be inserted removably in locking seats formed on said
guiding bars.
5. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a pair of said mutually opposite inclined slots for engagement with
the cam follower pins with two locking bodies which can move in mutually opposite
directions.
6. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises slider supports, which are provided on the lower face of said sitting
portion for sliding guiding engagement with said locking bodies, return springs acting
on said locking bodies and acting, at the other end, on an abutment wall which is
rigidly connected to said sitting portion.
7. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said frame is provided at the front with a grip hollow, which can be accessed at
the front below said sitting portion.
8. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said guiding means comprise guiding edges which extend along a circular arc and engage
circumferential engagement portions formed on the rear surface of said monolithically
provided seat.
9. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said removable locking means comprise a plurality of hollows, which are formed between
said guiding edges, an insertion tooth being removably engageable with said hollows
and being accommodated slidingly within a guiding chamber formed on the rear face
of said seat.
10. The tub according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a traction element, which forms a cam-like portion constituted by inclined
planes which can engage actuation pins which protrude at the opposite ends of said
insertion tooth, elastic extraction means acting on said tooth.