Swing having electrically rewound spring motor drive
First Claim
1. In a child'"'"'s electric swing of the type including an elevated support, a seat, a pair of laterally spaced-apart hangers for swingably suspending the seat from the support and a motor unit connected to oscillate the seat relative to the support, the improvement wherein the motor unit includes:
- A. housing,B. a ratchet wheel,C. means for supporting the ratchet wheel for rotation about an axis in the housing,D. a retainer pawl rotatively supported within the housing,E. means for biasing the retainer pawl against the periphery of the ratchet wheel,F. a driving pawl pivotally connected to the hanger within the housing,G. means for biasing the driving pawl against the periphery of the ratchet wheel,H. a mainspring for biasing the ratchet wheel into rotative engagement with the pawls,I. means for winding the mainspring, said winding means including1. a DC motor,2.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A child'"'"'s electric swing includes a pre-wound wind-up mechanical escapement type motor having spring-biased retainer and driving pawls, the latter being connected to a pivotally mounted hanger supporting the swing seat. The pawls engage a mainspring-driven ratchet wheel which periodically impulses the driving pawl to maintain the seat in oscillation. The mainspring is rewound periodically by rotating the ratchet wheel in the opposite direction by a battery-operated motor through a gravity-operated one-way clutch after the ratchet wheel rotates only about 180° so that the prewound spring is always under tension. Also the pawls are moved out of engagement with the wheel during such rewinding to eliminate noise and drag on the wheel.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. In a child'"'"'s electric swing of the type including an elevated support, a seat, a pair of laterally spaced-apart hangers for swingably suspending the seat from the support and a motor unit connected to oscillate the seat relative to the support, the improvement wherein the motor unit includes:
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A. housing, B. a ratchet wheel, C. means for supporting the ratchet wheel for rotation about an axis in the housing, D. a retainer pawl rotatively supported within the housing, E. means for biasing the retainer pawl against the periphery of the ratchet wheel, F. a driving pawl pivotally connected to the hanger within the housing, G. means for biasing the driving pawl against the periphery of the ratchet wheel, H. a mainspring for biasing the ratchet wheel into rotative engagement with the pawls, I. means for winding the mainspring, said winding means including 1. a DC motor, 2. - View Dependent Claims (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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2. a gear train having a first gear engaging the motor and a last gear engageable with the ratchet wheel,a battery,means including a switch for electrically connecting the motor to the battery when the ratchet wheel attains a first angular orientation within the housing and for electrically disconnecting the motor from the battery when the ratchet wheel attains a second angular orientation within the housing, and
J. means for engaging and disengaging said last gear from the ratchet wheel at approximately the same times that said motor is respectively connected
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15. In a child'"'"'s electric swing of the type including an elevated support, a seat, a pair of laterally spaced-apart hangers for swingably suspending the seat from the support and a motor unit connected to oscillate the seat relative to the support, the improvement wherein said motor unit comprises:
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A. a housing mounted on said support, B. a spring motor including a mechanical escapement mounted in said housing, said escapement including 1. a ratchet wheel, 2. a retainer pawl pivotally mounted in the housing for engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, 3. a driving pawl pivotally connected to a hanger and engageable with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, 4. means for biasing the pawls against the ratchet wheel, and 5. a mainspring for biasing the ratchet wheel into tooth-driving engagement with the pawls, C. means in the housing for winding the spring motor, said winding means comprising 1. a DC electric motor, 2. a battery, and 3. means for selectively connecting the motor to the battery at the beginning of each winding cycle and for disconnecting the motor from the battery at the end of each winding cycle, and D. means for disengaging said pawls from said ratchet wheel during each said winding cycle so that there is no ratcheting noise produced by pawls riding up and over the teeth of the ratchet wheel during said winding cycle.
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17. In a motorized swing the improvement wherein the motor comprises
A. a housing, B. a mechanical wind-up escapement-type spring motor mounted in the housing, said motor including
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18. a ratchet wheel,
2 a retainer pawl, means for biasing the retainer pawl against the teeth of the ratchet wheel, anda mainspring for urging the ratchet wheel into toothed engagement with the pawl during the winding cycle of the motor,C. means for periodically rotating the ratchet wheel in the opposite direction to wind up said motor, said winding means includinga battery, a DC electric motor,means including a clutch for coupling torque between said electric motor and said ratchet wheel only during each said winding cycle, andmeans including a switch for electrically connecting the electric motor to the battery at the beginning of each winding cycle and for disconnecting the electric motor from the battery at the end of each winding cycle.
Specification