Baby swing
Baby swings have been known from time immemorial, starting with ordinary hand-pushed swings suspended from trees or other appropriate brackets. Baby swings are usually in the form of a fabric sling-type seat or rigid seat, suspended in some manner from a frame support or doorway. Infant swings provide entertainment for children too small to operate a normal swing. A baby is placed in the swing for a nap or simply for the baby’s amusement, and often the baby is left in the baby swing for more than a very short period of time. Some swings include a mechanism that provides the swinging motion, whereas other swings rely on gravity following an initial push from an adult. Infants are soothed by the motion of the swing, which will often quiet a cranky child.
A wide variety of baby swings are presently available. Most of the available baby swing structures have a cross support at the top joining the two triangles, and the baby swing itself is suspended at its ends on the cross piece. The cross piece or other upper portion of the support structure may mount an electrical or mechanical motor which may be activated to cause the swing to swing forwardly and rearwardly in a gentle fashion. Most of them comprise four legs which extend downwardly to form a support structure. In side elevation, the legs are generally straight and typically define a triangle, with the front legs extending downwardly and forwardly and the rear legs extending downwardly and rearwardly. In front elevation, the legs are spaced apart at the top and extend downwardly and slightly outwardly to form a four legged support. In a swing, there is provided a frame which supports a carriage for oscillation about a horizontal axis. The carriage is supported at each end thereof on the frame by sets of mating structures. Each set of mating structure includes a projection having a generally horizontal top edge and projecting from the frame into a hole on the carriage. There are baby swings that are designed to be easily disassembled and reassembled to make them compact and portable. However, such swings typically require that each of the components of the swing be separated, increasing the likelihood that certain components will be misplaced.
Swings that are powered by push and gravity only will keep an infant’s attention only as long as a person continues to push the baby in the swing. Mechanical swings also usually wind down after a certain time, for practical reasons and as a safety measure. Although early swings used mechanical motors to drive the child, modern infant swings use an electrocmechanical motor assembly. There are several design concerns for swing design. Very early on infant swings having an “A” frame configuration were very popular. In a typical swing configuration of this type, the swing structure consisted of two A shaped legs which were attached by a lateral cross bar or axle at the top vertices of the A. The swing itself was generally hung from the cross bar and a motor, usually either spring or electric, was operatively connected thereto to provide the motive force for moving the swing. Open top swings generally include a base or frame member which is disposed on the ground surface. A swing assembly is connected to and depends from the frame. The swing assembly is adapted to pivot relative to the frame assembly. The desired swinging movement is generated either manually or by a drive motor.