This invention relates to adaptor devices for vehicle frame assemblies and in particular to adaptor devices for child-carrying units to be mounted on to frame assemblies for pushchairs, strollers and the like. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus comprising an adaptor device for mounting a child-carrying unit to a vehicle frame assembly, said adaptor device including a mounting portion for mounting said adaptor device to a frame member of said vehicle frame assembly and a receptor portion for receiving said child-carrying unit, wherein said mounting portion comprises a channel section and a closing section connectable with the channel section, the arrangement being such that when the closing section is connected to the channel section, the frame member is substantially surrounded by the adaptor device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of mounting a child-carrying unit on a vehicle frame assembly, comprising mounting to a frame member of said assembly a channel section of a an adaptor device, closing the channel section with a closing section so as to substantially surround the frame member and thereby locking the adaptor device to the frame assembly, and mounting a child-carrying unit to a receptor portion of the adaptor device. Owing to these aspects, an adaptor device for a child-carrying unit or a further child- carrying unit, in addition to another child-carrying unit already mounted to the frame assembly, can be made of relative few parts and mounted to a frame member of the frame assembly in a relatively simple manner.

Advantageously, the closing section is slidably connectable to the channel section, the respective sections having corresponding guiding members in order to guide the sliding of one section into the other. In this way, a slidable locking mechanism can be formed between the channel and closing sections such that the adaptor device is safely and securely mounted to the frame member.

Preferably, a channel of the channel section has a cross-sectional shape substantially the same as the frame member. The receptor portion of the adaptor device for receiving the child-carrying unit may be connected to either the channel section or the closing section, depending upon the nature of the frame assembly to which the child-carrying unit is to be mounted.

One major advantage of the arrangement of the channel and closing sections is that a complete adaptor device can be provided in as few as two parts.

In order that the present invention can be clearly and completely disclosed, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle frame assembly having a pair of adaptor devices of a first embodiment, one attached to the frame assembly, and another in exploded view;

Figure 2 is close-up view of the exploded adaptor device of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 , but with the other adaptor device partially mounted on the frame assembly; Figure 4 is a close-up view of the other partially mounted adaptor device;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a vehicle frame assembly having a pair of adaptor devices of a second embodiment, one attached to the frame assembly, and another in exploded view;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the adaptor device of the second embodiment; and Figure 7 is a perspective view of the frame assembly of Figure 5 with the other adaptor device in a partially mounted condition.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, a vehicle frame assembly 2 comprises a handle part 4, a forwardly and downwardly projecting part 6 to which the front wheel(s) (not shown) are mountable and a rearwardly and downwardly projecting part 8 to which the rear wheels (not shown) are mountable. At the junction 9 of the parts 4, 6 and 8, there is a pair of receptor devices 10 (only part of one of the pair seen) located on respective opposite sides of the assembly 2 for mounting a child-carrying unit to the assembly 2. In order to mount a second child-carrying unit to the assembly 2, a pair of adaptor devices 12, of just two parts, are mountable to the respective frame members 14 of the rearwardly and downwardly projecting part 8. Each adaptor device comprises a mounting portion which includes a channel section 16 which is a substantially U- shaped part in end view having side walls 18 and a channel 20 therethrough. The channel 20 has a cross-sectional shape substantially corresponding to the cross- section of the frame member 14 to which it is mountable.

The mounting portion of each adaptor device further comprises a closing section 22 which serves to close the opening of the channel 20 and safely and securely attach the adaptor device 12 to the frame member 14.

The channel section 16 is simply pushed over the frame member 14 so that the member 14 fits closely into the channel 20. The side walls 18 of the channel section 16 include, at a region where they project furthest from the bottom of the channel 20, a pair of wing projections in the form of lugs 24 which extend substantially perpendicularly from the immediately adjacent side wall regions.

Each closing section 22 includes a receptor portion 26 integrally formed with a branching portion 28 which extends generally perpendicularly from the receptor portion 26. The branching portion 28 includes at its outer end furthest from its attachment to the receptor portion 26 a second channel 30, which at its respective outer edge regions 32 includes recesses, and in the present case substantially L- shaped recesses (not shown) which serve to slidably receive the lugs 24 and the immediately adjacent regions of the side walls 18 of the channel section 16. The remainder of the frame member 14 not enclosed by the channel section 16 fits closely into the second channel 30 so that the adaptor device 2 completely encloses the frame member 14.

At the ends of the of the substantially L-shaped recesses is a stop portion against which leading edges of the lugs 24 abut to prevent further inward slidable movement of the channel section 16. The slidable connection between the channel and closing sections 16 and 22 serves to lockingly engage the adaptor device 2 around the frame member 14. The frame assembly 2 further includes a basket frame 32 attached to the assembly 2 and each underside of the receptor portion 26 is provided with a contoured surface 33 that rests upon a part of the basket frame in the region of the adaptor devices 2.

Once both adaptor devices 2 have been mounted to the respective frame members 14, a second child-carrying unit can be mounted to the receptor portions 26. The weight of the second child-carrying unit is borne by the basket frame 32 and thus the frame assembly 2.

An optional fixing pin 34 and corresponding bolt 36 may be provided for further lockingly securing the channel and closing sections 16 and 22 around the frame member 14, in case of forces applied to the adaptor devices 12 which act to separate the channel section 16 and the closing section 22, for example, vibrational forces experienced when moving the vehicle frame assembly across an uneven surface.

During manufacture, the channel section 16 is formed so that the distance between the outer edges of the lugs 24 is greater than the distance of the corresponding inner edges of the L-shaped recesses. In this way, a user has to resiliently squeeze inwardly the side walls 18 (within the tolerance allowed by a small gap between the channel section 16 and the frame member 14) so that the wing projections 24 will slidingly engage the recesses. This arrangement ensures that when the closing section 22 is slidably engaging the channel section 16 the resilience in the channel section increases the frictional engagement with the L-shaped recesses such that there is a clamping effect around the frame member 14. In this way, sliding the closing section 22 into the channel section 16 causes a gripping force to be applied to the frame member 14 by the adaptor device. Referring to Figures 5 to 7, a second embodiment of the adaptor device 2 is shown and like features from Figures 1 to 4 are given the same reference numerals but with the suffix 'a'. The adaptor devices 2a in this embodiment have the receptor portions 26a integrally formed with the channel sections 16a rather than the closing sections 22a, which are simply, in this version, respective substantially rectangular pieces 22a. The substantially rectangular pieces 22a include at its underside inwardly facing substantially L-shaped projections in the form of lugs 24a which slidingly engage with the correspondingly shaped recesses, which in Figure 6 are shown as substantially L-shaped recesses 38 in the channel section 16a at the edge regions of the opening to the channel 20a. Once the channel section 16a has been mounted by push-fitting it on to the frame member 14a, the closing section pieces 22a slidingly close the opening of the channel thus completely surrounding the frame member 14a and which clampingly locks the adaptor device 2a to the frame assembly 2a in a similar manner to that described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4.

The receptor portion 26a is, similarly as the version of the adaptor device shown in Figures 1 to 4, provided with a contoured surface 33a that rests upon the a part of the basket frame assembly 32a. However, instead of the contoured surface being on the underside of the receptor portion 26a, it is provided on the underside of a projection 40.

In use, a pair of either version of the adaptor device 2, 2a are mounted to respective opposite frame members 14, 14a by push-fitting onto the frame members the channel sections 16, 16a so that the frame members 14, 14a enters completely the channels 20, 20a and that the receptor portions are therefore correctly aligned inward of the general frame assembly 2, 2a with the contoured surfaces rest upon the basket frame assembly 32, 32a. The closing sections 22, 22a can then be used to lock the adaptor devices 2, 2a onto the frame members 14, 14a by exerting a clamping action when the closing section 22a is slid into the channel section. The child-carrying unit can then be mounted to the receptor portions 26, 26a.

In a similar manner to that of the optional fixing pin 34 and corresponding bolt 36 referred to above, the locking security of the channel section 16a and the closing section 22a around the frame member 14a can be increased by providing the outwardly facing walls 42 bounding the recesses 38, preferably towards the end region of the recesses 38, with a raised part 44. In Figure 6, this raised part is shown as a convex portion. A wall portion (not shown) of the inside surface of the closing section 22 includes a corresponding indent surface (not shown) to the raised part 44 such that, when the channel and closing sections 16a and 22a are put together and are in an abutting face-to-face relationship, the raised parts 44 enter the corresponding indent surfaces. The arrangement of the raised part 44 and the corresponding indent surface could also be, of course, reversed compared to that shown in Figure 6. Therefore when the closing section 22a is slid into the channel section 16a, the raised part 44 and the indent surface engage with each other when the closing section 22a is in its fully engaged position such that the security of the connection between the channel and closing sections 16a and 22a is enhanced.

The adaptor devices 2, 2a, as shown, may be for a second child-carrying unit, or they may possibly be for one child-carrying unit to be mounted to the vehicle frame assembly.