BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Widespread use is made by parents of appliances such as those known as carrycots for the housing and transporting of infants.

A typical carrycot includes a compartment which is made from a sturdy yet lightweight sheet material and which, preferably, is collapsible for storage purposes. The compartment is generally rectangular in outline with a flat lower surface which provides support for an infant inside the compartment and which ensures that the compartment is supported when placed on relatively flat underlying structures such as, for example, on the ground a bed or a table top.

An infant in a compartment, which term as used herein, includes a carrycot of the aforementioned kind, may however become fractious or troublesome when moved, or for other reasons, and require attention. It may be difficult to soothe or calm the infant by moving or shaking the compartment, particularly due to the stable structure of the compartment or, rather, the stable nature of the support on which is it located.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is the object of this invention to provide a cradle, or cradle support which may assist in calming an infant under circumstances such as that outlined above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention there is provided a cradle which includes a compartment for a child where the compartment has a base with at least one support for the base which includes a rocking formation which is movable between a storage position in which the rocking formation is inoperative and a functional position at which the rocking formation is operative.

In the functional position the rocking formation generally extends downwardly from the base by way of the support.

In the storage position the rocking formation is generally folded or moved to a location at which the rocking formation is substantially adjacent an underside of the support.

The base may be removably attached to the compartment. Any suitable means may be employed for this purpose. For example use may be made of fasteners, straps, clips or the like.

Preferably the base has at least two of these supports each with a separate rocking formation.

Each rocking formation may take on any suitable shape and for example may comprise a shallow bow-shaped or arcuate formation.

In the second instance the invention extends to a cradle support structure for a cradle compartment which includes a base having at least a first support and a second support at least one of which has a rocking formation, the two supports being movable between an operative position in which the base is engageable with a compartment and the rocking formation is engageable with the ground and a folded storage position and an inoperative position.

The first and second supports may be movable relative to each other and they may for example be hinged or articulated to one another or to the base.

The base may also include at least two sections which are pivoted or articulated relatively to each other to enable the base to be folded.

The base may support a flexible covering, e. g. of nylon or a canvas type fabric in the nature of a stretcher to provide support to the cradle compartment.

Preferably each support has a rocking formation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a support structure for a cradle compartment according to one form of the invention in a functional or operative position; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the support structure shown in Fig. 1 but in a storage or transport position; FIG. 3 illustrates the use of the support structure together with a cradle compartment; FIG. 4 illustrates a more sophisticated support structure and the operative position; and, FIG. 5 illustrates the support structure of Fig. 4 in the folded position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing illustrate a support structure (1) according to the invention in an operative position and in a storage or transport position respectively.

The support structure (1) includes a base (2) and two supports (3) and (4) respectively.

The base (2) consists of two sections (5) and (6) which are articulated to each other along a central hinge point (7). The sections are relatively broad and have a continuous flat upper side (8) in the operative position.

The supports (3) and (4) have the same width as the base (2) and are pivotally attached one to each of the two extremities of the sections (5) and (6) respectively at hinge points (9) and (10). Extension bars (11) and (12) respectively project beyond opposing sides of the hinge points (9) and (10) to effectively increase the width of the base.

The supports each have a shallow bow-shaped or arcuate rocking formation (13) attached to their lower ends.

Figure 2 illustrates the support structure (1) in a compact transport or storage configuration. The central hinge point (7) is depressed and the sections (5) and (6) are folded downwardly and inwardly to positions at which the upper surfaces (8) of the sections oppose and are substantially in contact with each other. The bars (11) and (12) on the one hand, and the rocking formations on the other hand are thereby brought into close proximity to each other. A carry handle may be included in the design.

When the support is moved to the configuration shown in Figure 1 the hinges can be restrained from permitting pivotal movement by means of locking devices.

Such devices may, for example, take the form of bridging pins (14) which span the central hinge (7) on opposed sides of the base (1) and which are engaged with suitable formations in the sections (5) and (6). Similar pins (15) but which are in the nature of stays or struts can extend at approximately 45° between the base (1) and the supports (3) and (5).

The support structure may be formed in any suitable way for example from injection moulded plastics material so that it is lightweight yet sufficiently strong for the purpose for which it is intended to be used.

Figure 3 illustrates one way which the support structure (1) may be attached to a cradle compartment (16) which, in this case, is in the nature of a carrycot. The

cradle compartment (16) is substantially conventional and, for this reason, its construction is not further described herein.

The compartment (16) is positioned over the base (2) which is in the Figure 1 configuration. Two straps (17) which may be made from any suitable material and which, preferably include hook and loop fasteners of the kind sold under the trade mark"Velcro"encircle the compartment and pass on the underside of the base. The assembly, in effect, constitutes a cradle. Thus if an infant, in the compartment, requires to be soothed then it is possible to impart a gentle rocking motion to the assembly merely by moving the rocking formations up or down or moving the compartment to and fro. Clearly the degree of curvature of the rocking formations should not be extreme to ensure that the arrangement remains stable.

The assembly may be carried with the support structure attached to it although, generally, it will be found that it is more convenient to detach the support structure from the compartment. The straps (17) are readily loosened and the compartment may then be lifted from the support. The support may thereafter be collapsed into the Figure 2 mode.

The invention thus provides a support for a compartment, in the nature of a carrycot, which is lightweight and easy to transport and which may easily be engaged with the carrycot to form a cradle for an infant. The invention is however not confined to this particular embodiment for it is apparent, particularly from an inspection of Figure 3, that the support structure (1) may be a substantially permanent fixture to the compartment or carrycot. In this case the downwardly depending supports (14) and (16) which terminate in the rocking formations may be attached, by means of suitable hinges, to the underside of the compartment which then forms the base.

The solid base may be replace by two parallel spaced members which extend, optionally, between opposed respective ends of the bars. A fabric, e. g. of nylon or canvas, may be attached to the two spaced members, in the nature of a stretcher. This type of arrangement offers support for practically the entire underside of the carrycot. Extended support of this type may be necessary, or desirable, if the carrycot is made from a relatively flimsy material.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 there is illustrated a substantially more sophisticated support structure for a cradle which is made in the form of injection moulded plastics components. Tools and dies for such a support structure will be costly but it is envisaged that the various advantages of the more sophisticated structure may warrant such an arrangement.

In this embodiment of the invention the base (20) is comprised of two identical moulded components (21) which hinge together in the middle by way of hinge (22) which is of the nature that it locks by virtue of weight on the upper surface of the base.

The supports (23) are also of injection moulded plastics material and have integral rockers (24) at their operatively lower ends.

The supports are attached to the base components (21) by hinges (25) which are also locked in their operative positions by virtue of weight on the base. In order to achieve this the supports are, in the operative position, and as illustrated in Figure 4, incline somewhat outwardly and lock in that position by the contact of surfaces (26) radially spaced relative to the axis of the pivot (25).

The above arrangement avoids any necessity for stays or other locking devices and it is envisaged will be highly useful. Also the base is provided with slots (27) towards the lateral edges thereof for receiving straps for attaching a carrycot or other cradle compartment to the base.

Numerous other embodiments of the invention are also possible within the scope of this invention.