Play yard

A mechanical control assembly for use with an opening and closing foldable structure having open and closed positions and comprising a frame having a plurality of corner posts, each corner post having a top and a bottom, and a plurality of upper arms which arms connect the tops of adjacent corner posts, the mechanical control assembly comprising:

• a hub centrally located near a bottom of the foldable structure in an open position and near a top of the foldable structure in a closed position, the hub having a plurality of hub slots;
• a plurality of lower arms each lower arm having a hub end with a lower arm hub slot and a post end with a lower arm post slot, with each lower arm connected at the lower arm post end to the bottom of one of the corner posts and at the lower arm hub end to the hub;
• a plurality of push rods, each push rod having a push rod corner end and a push rod hub end, wherein each push rod is adjacent to a corresponding lower arm and is slidably connected at the push rod hub end to the lower arm hub slot in the corresponding lower arm hub end, wherein the push rod corner end is slidably connected to the lower arm post slot in the corresponding lower arm post end;
• a plurality of pull rods, each pull rod having an upper end and a lower end, wherein each pull rod lower end is slidably connected to the lower arm post slot and each pull rod upper end is pivotably attached to either at least one corresponding upper arm or at least one corresponding transfer link, each transfer link having a transfer link upper end and a transfer link lower end, wherein each transfer link lower end is pivotably attached to the upper end of a corresponding pull rod and each transfer link upper end is pivotably attached to at least one corresponding upper arm;
• wherein each lower arm hub end and the corresponding push rod hub end also are slidably connected to one of the corresponding hub slots, and wherein each lower arm post end and the corresponding pull rod lower end are slidably mounted to a corner post mount slot in the corresponding corner post bottom;
• and
• whereby the foldable structure is enabled from a closed to an open position by exerting a downward push force on the hub, which downward push force pushes each lower arm and corresponding push rod outward against each corresponding corner post forcing the corner posts to an orientation that is beyond substantially parallel to vertical until each lower arm and corresponding push rod pull each pull rod downward until the upper arms each have a substantially horizontal position.