Playyard system with canopy

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a playyard system an d more particularly, to a playyard system with improved canopy connecting structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Playyards have been available for many years to provide a convenient and controlled play environment for children. Because playyards are increasingly used in outdoor environment, exposure to sunlight and insects is more common. Therefore, recent advances have been made to enhance the protection of the children inside the playyard from the sunlight and the insects, such as mosquitoes and bees. One example of a playyard system with a canopy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,548 to Glenn. As shown in

FIG. 1

, the Glenn disclosed a playyard system

100

which includes a playyard structure

102

and a canopy

104

. The playyard structure

102

includes a top frame, a floor portion and four vertical posts connecting the top frame and the floor portion. The canopy

104

includes a cloth consisting of a first face

108

and a second face

110

and a support member

130

inserted within a sleeve

128

located along the interface of the first and second faces

108

,

110

. The canopy

104

is mounted to the playyard structure

102

by inserting the ends of the support member

130

into connecting member

136

provided at the posts of the playyard structure

102

.

This type of playyard system requires additional components to have a canopy mounted thereon. Thus, there is a need for a playyard system that can provide a safe and comfortable environment with fewer component number and lower manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a playyard system with improved canopy connecting structure for mounting a canopy thereon so as to provide a safe and comfortable environment.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve this and other objects and according to the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the playyard system includes a playyard structure and a canopy detachably mounted onto a top of the playyard structure. The playyard structure includes a top frame, a floor portion, four vertical posts connecting the top frame and the floor portion and four sides with each side being formed between each pair of adjacent posts, wherein the top frame includes four tubes and four substantially L-shaped corner blocks connecting the tubes to form a rectangular frame. Each of the corner blocks has a bulge portion formed between two arm portion thereof with an accurate groove formed in the bulge portion at a position near the corner. The canopy consists of a cloth having two sleeves provided thereon and two support members extending through the sleeves respectively. Each of the support members has a connecting portion at each of its ends and the connecting portion is configured such that it can be inserted into the arcuate slot of the bulge of the corner block to detachably mount the canopy onto the playyard structure.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the support member includes a tube body and two connecting portions, wherein the tube body consists of a number of sections each having a connecting ping at its ends and a number of flanges disposed between sections for connecting sections as one tube body and disposed at both ends of the tube body for connecting the connecting portions.

According to the other embodiment of the present invention, one portion of the canopy is formed of mesh material which provides both visibility and ventilation. This mesh material formed portion is zippered to the rest portion of the canopy so as to provide access to the interior of the playyard.

It is to be understood that both the forging general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1

is a perspective view illustrating a traditional playyard system having a canopy;

FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of an assembled playyard system having a canopy according to the present invention;

FIG. 3

is a top plane view of the canopy of the playyard system shown in

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 4

is an exploded perspective of the support member of the canopy of the present invention; and

FIG. 5

is an enlarged perspective view of the corner block and the connecting portion of the support member of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to

FIG. 2

, a playyard system according to the present invention includes a playyard structure

30

and a canopy

40

. The playyard structure

30

mainly includes a substantially rectangular top frame

31

which consists of four tubes and four corner blocks

32

, a floor portion

33

, four vertical posts

34

for connecting the top frame

33

and the floor portion

33

, and four sides

35

, each side being formed between each pair of adjacent posts

34

. The structure of the floor portion

33

and the top frame

31

, and the connection between the top frame and the posts

34

and the floor portion

33

and the posts

34

are well known in this art and an example of these structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,432, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by this reference.

Referring now to

FIG. 2

, a playyard system according to the present invention includes a playyard structure

30

and a canopy

40

. The playyard structure

30

mainly includes a substantially rectangular top frame

31

which consists of four tubes and four corner blocks

32

, a floor portion

33

, four vertical posts

34

for connecting the top frame

33

and the floor portion

33

, and four sides

35

, each side being formed between each pair of adjacent posts

34

. The structure of the floor portion

33

and the top frame

31

, and the connection between the top frame and the posts

34

and the floor portion

33

and the posts

34

are well known in this art and an example of these structures are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,432, the entire disclosure of which are incorporated herein by this reference.

Referring now to

FIG. 4

, the support member

42

includes a tube body

46

and two connecting portions

47

, wherein the tube body

46

consists of a number of sections

461

, each having a connecting ping

483

at its ends and a number of flanges

462

disposed between sections

461

for connecting sections into one tube body

46

. One end

471

of each of the connecting portions

47

is shaped as a shuffle. The other end

472

has a configuration similar the that of the connecting pin

463

such that it may connect to the flange

462

at the end of the tube body

46

. The tube body

46

is preferably made of elastic materials, such as low density polyethylene (LPE), such that it may have sufficient resilient. The connecting portion

47

is preferably made of rigid materials, such as polystyrene (PS), such that it may have sufficient rigidity.

Referring now to

FIG. 5

, it illustrates the details of the corner block

32

and the connecting portions

47

. As shown in

FIG. 5

, the corner block

32

has a substantially shape and there is a bulge portion

322

formed between its two arms

321

. Further, a groove

323

is formed in the bulge portion

322

at a position close to the corner and has a curvature corresponding to that of the shovel like end of the connecting portion

47

of the support member

42

and thereby the canopy

40

may be mounted to the playyard structure

30

by inserting the connecting portions

47

of the support member

42

into the grooves

323

of the corner blocks

32

.

This invention has been disclosed in terms of specific embodiments. It will be apparent that many modifications can be made to the disclosed structures without departing from the invention. Therefore, it is the intent of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true sprit and scope of this invention.