Rocking cradle
First Claim
1. A cradle comprising:
- a load, said load including a housing for holding an infant, as well as said infant; and
an actuator designed to rotate a eccentric mass about a first axis,responsive to the rotation of said eccentric mass, the actuator causing said load to oscillate in the direction of each of a second axis and a third axis, wherein said first axis, said second axis and said third axis are all orthogonal to each other.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cradle with a resonant, high efficiency mechanism for swinging (oscillating) the cradle with multiple swinging styles is described. Vertical and horizontal swinging are enabled with a single actuation mechanism. In an embodiment, the actuation mechanism consists of a motor with an eccentric load and a motor control system that can control the angular velocity and/or angular position of the motor. Use of the eccentric load enables actuation in the vertical and horizontal directions with the single actuation mechanism. For motion feedback, the control system uses a motion sensor. A spring system is used as the potential energy storage element for vertical resonant oscillations. For horizontal oscillations, the system acts like a pendulum and the potential energy due to gravity is used for energy storage. The spring system is designed to ensure that with change in mass of the baby, minimal change in oscillation frequency occurs.
8 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A cradle comprising:
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a load, said load including a housing for holding an infant, as well as said infant; and an actuator designed to rotate a eccentric mass about a first axis, responsive to the rotation of said eccentric mass, the actuator causing said load to oscillate in the direction of each of a second axis and a third axis, wherein said first axis, said second axis and said third axis are all orthogonal to each other. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A cradle comprising:
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a load; and an actuator designed to oscillate said load along a plurality of axes, wherein said actuator is designed to rotate an eccentric mass about a first axis, responsive to the rotation, the actuator causing said load to oscillate in the direction of each of a second axis and a third axis, wherein said first axis, said second axis and said third axis are all orthogonal to each other, wherein said actuator is operable to rotate said eccentric mass at a first frequency or a second frequency in respective non-overlapping durations, wherein the natural frequency of oscillation of a first set of components of said cradle along said second axis equals said first frequency and the natural frequency of oscillation of a second set of components of said cradle along said third axis equals said second frequency, wherein each of said first set of components and said second set of components includes said load such that said load oscillates only along said second axis when said actuator rotates said eccentric mass at said first frequency, and oscillates only along said third axis when said actuator rotates said eccentric mass at said second frequency. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification