EP1287766A1

EP1287766A1 - Structure for sofa-bed or armchair-bed

Info

Publication number: EP1287766A1
Application number: EP01830554A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Matteo Manganini
Original assignee: Unimax Srl
Current assignee: Unimax Srl
Priority date: 2001-08-30
Filing date: 2001-08-30
Publication date: 2003-03-05

Abstract

A structure for sofa-bed or armchair-bed includes a stationary base, acting as first section of the bed, provided with internal sliding guides (N) in which there is slidably engaged a mobile structure (M, T, T') supported by front wheels (R), said mobile structure being connected through lever systems to a second section (S, D, D') and to a third section (U, C, C') of the bed which are stacked and mutually hinged through front pins (X), the third section being provided with a foldable supporting leg (W). Said lever systems are shaped and sized so that the rotation of the third section around the pins (X), upon extraction from the stationary base, causes the rising of said second section and the horizontal alignment thereof to the other two sections of the bed.

Description

The present invention relates to structures for sofa-bed or armchair-bed, and in particular to an improved structure which makes easier to the user the opening and closing of the bed. Specific reference will be made hereafter to a sofa-bed but it is clear that what will be said applies also to an armchair-bed which simply has a smaller width.
It is known that in conventional sofa-beds the bedspring consists of three sections mutually hinged which are pulled out from the base of the sofa-bed and extend, in a direction orthogonal with respect to the width of the sofa-bed, to a position of complete opening and alignment to form the bed.
Therefore the user must first remove the cushions from the sofa, then grip the structure folded inside the sofa base and raise it, and finally turn over the third section to place on the ground the bed supporting leg. Such an operation, especially in the initial phase, requires a significant effort which makes unpractical the daily use of the sofa-bed as bed particularly by elderly users or by users having a difficulty in making the effort for the initial raising.
Moreover there is the problem of finding a place where to put the sofa cushions when it is used as bed, since only the back cushions, at most, may be used as bedhead but the seat cushions must anyway be stored somewhere.
Another drawback of known sofa-beds stems from the fact that the used mattress must necessarily be thin in order to be contained within the structure folded inside the base. This obviously limits the comfort and endurance of said mattress.
Therefore the object of the present invention is to provide a structure for sofa-bed or armchair-bed which overcomes the above-mentioned limits of prior art structures. This object is achieved by means of a structure having the characteristics disclosed in the main claim. Other advantageous features are disclosed in the dependent claims.
The main advantage of the present structure for sofa-bed is that of making much easier to the user to open and close the bed through a wheel-assisted sliding movement which replaces the raising movement.
A further advantage of this structure comes from the use of the base itself as first section of the bed, whereby the mobile structure is simple, light and compact and can be housed in a base of smaller height with respect to a conventional sofa-bed.
Still another advantage of this type of sofa-bed comes from the use of the sofa cushions themselves as mattress, whereby there is no problem of room taken up by the cushions during the use as bed and the mattress can be thicker with positive effects as to comfort and endurance.
These and other advantages and characteristics of the structure according to the present invention will be clear to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
Fig.1 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the structure in the initial opening phase, in which for the sake of simplicity the staves and/or springs forming the mattress supporting bedspring have been omitted;
Fig.2 is a view similar to the preceding one which shows the mobile portion of the structure completely pulled out of the stationary portion;
Fig.3 is a view similar to the preceding one which shows the structure in the final opening phase; and
Fig.4 is a view similar to the preceding one which shows the structure completely open.
Referring first to figs.1 and 2, there is seen that a structure for sofa-bed according to the invention includes a stationary base provided with legs G, as well as with internal sliding guides N, arranged along the bottom edge of sides A, in which there are engaged rollers P externally mounted on the sides M of a mobile structure supported by front wheels R.
The stationary base also includes a rear side on which there is mounted a back (not illustrated in the drawing), as well as springs or staves fixed to the front E and rear E' crossbars and/or to sides A.
The sides M of the mobile structure are joined by a rear crossbar T' and a front crossbar T, to which there are pivoted vertical rods B acting as supports for a front cover panel (not illustrated) used to hide the structure when the sofa-bed is in the closed position. Furthermore, crossbar T is the portion of the structure which is gripped by the user to pull the mobile portion out of the stationary portion by pulling outward in the direction of the arrow of fig.1 (the completely extracted position illustrated in fig.2 being defined by stops which are not shown).
To sides M there are connected, through lever systems described further on, the second and third section of the bed, namely the central section and the end section provided with a foldable supporting leg W.
More specifically, the second sections consists of sides S joined by front D and rear D' crossbars, and it is pivoted at front pins X to the third section consisting of sides U joined by front C and rear C' crossbars. Moreover, this section includes two internal bars V, parallel to sides U, extending between crossbars C, C' and to which leg W is internally pivoted.
Between bars V and sides U there are arranged raising levers Y shaped so as to be pivoted between front pins Z located on sides U close to the front crossbar C, and rear pins Z' forming the bottom rear vertex of hinged parallelogram lever systems which connect the second section to sides M.
As better shown in figs.2-4, each parallelogram is made up of a bottom horizontal lever K, a front inclined lever K' and a rear inclined lever K", the fourth side consisting of sides S of the second section. In particular, the front lever K' is pivoted between a pin H arranged close to the front crossbar D and a pin Z" at the front end of the horizontal lever K, and similarly the rear lever K" is pivoted between a pin H' on side S and the above-mentioned pin Z' at the rear end of the horizontal lever K.
The connection between the parallelogram and sides M is achieved through short front J' and rear J" levers, which are pivoted at their bottom end to said sides M and at their top end to the middle of the inclined levers K' and K" respectively.
A further connection which provides stability to the movement of the parallelogram is achieved through long levers F, slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal, pivoted at their front end to pins I arranged around midlength of sides S and at their rear ends to the rear crossbar T'. These levers F are substantially complanate with the horizontal levers K of the parallelograms and therefore external with respect to the raising levers Y which are pivoted at pins Z' on the inside of the parallelograms.
From the description above and with the aid of the figures, the simple operation of the structure according to the invention is readily understood.
As previously mentioned, the user does not have to remove the cushions from the sofa to open the bed but simply grips crossbar T and pulls outward the mobile portion, by making it slide along guides N and on wheels R, until it is completely extracted from the stationary portion (figs. 1, 2). At this point he or she can raise leg W and place it in the supporting position (with the aid of a spring and stop not illustrated) and then raise one of sides U so that the third section rotates around pins X. During this rotation levers Y are pulled upward and forward by pins Z on sides U, and consequently transmit said movement to the lateral parallelograms through pins Z' thus causing the second section to rise under the action of levers K' and K" (fig.3).
Once the rotation is over, the third sections rests on leg W and the second section is perfectly aligned along the horizontal plane to said third section as well as to the stationary portion which acts as first section. Moreover, the front rods B have been rotated forward to an almost horizontal position by rotating levers L pivoted between the front levers K' of the parallelograms and said rods B so that the panel supported by the latter does not interfere with the third section (fig.4).
It should be noted that in order to allow levers Y to remain below the bed plane in the open position, at the ends of the front crossbars C and D there are formed respective recesses Q' and Q to house the levers. Furthermore, still to allow the movement of levers Y, the springs and/or staves of the second and third section can not extend to sides S and U respectively. In the preferred embodiment, in fact, the third section is provided with a bedspring extending between bars V and crossbars C, C', while the second section is provided with longitudinal staves mounted between crossbars D and D'.
To complete the bed configuration the user finally longitudinally slides the sofa cushions, which are mutually joined, so that the seat cushion is positioned on the third section, the back cushion on the second section and the cushion on the rear of the back on the first section. Obviously to close the bed and return to the sofa configuration it is sufficient to carry out the reverse operations with respect to those described above.
It is clear that the above-described and illustrated embodiment of the structure according to the invention is just an example susceptible of various modifications. In particular, the exact position and shape of the levers and bars making up the lever systems may be somewhat changed as long as the rotation of the third section causes the rising and alignment of the second section.

Claims

Structure for sofa-bed or armchair-bed characterized in that it includes a stationary base, suitable to act as first section of the bed, provided with internal sliding guides (N) in which there is slidably engaged a mobile structure (M, T, T') supported by front wheels (R), said mobile structure being connected through lever systems to a second and third section of the bed which are stacked and mutually hinged through front pins (X), said third section being provided with a foldable supporting leg (W), said lever systems being shaped and sized so that the rotation of the third section around said pins (X) causes the rising of said second section and the horizontal alignment thereof to the other two sections of the bed.
Structure according to claim 1, characterized in that said connecting lever systems include raising levers (Y) shaped so as to be pivoted between front pins (Z) arranged on the sides (U) of the third section close to the front crossbar (C) thereof, and rear pins (Z') forming the bottom rear vertex of parallelogram lever systems connecting the second section to the sides (M) of the sliding mobile structure, each of said parallelogram lever systems being made up of a bottom horizontal lever (K), a front inclined lever (K') and a rear inclined lever (K"), the fourth side consisting of the sides (S) of the second section, the connection between each parallelogram and said sides (M) being achieved through front (J') and rear (J") levers pivoted at their bottom end to said sides (M) and at their top end to the middle of said front (K') and rear (K") inclined levers respectively.
Structure according to claim 2, characterized in that the third section includes two internal bars (V), parallel to the sides (U), extending between the front (C) and rear (C') crossbars and to which there is internally pivoted the supporting leg (W), the raising levers (Y) being arranged between said bars (V) and said sides (U).
Structure according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further includes levers (F) pivoted at their front end to pins (I) arranged around midlength of the sides (S) of the second section and at their rear end to the rear crossbar (T') of the mobile sliding structure.
Structure according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized in that at the ends of the front crossbars (C, D) of the second and third section there are formed recesses (Q, Q') suitable to house the raising levers (Y).
Structure according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that to the front crossbar (T) of the mobile sliding structure there are pivoted vertical rods (B) supporting a front cover panel suitable to hide the structure when the sofa-bed is in the closed position.
Structure according to claim 6, characterized in that when the structure is in the open position the vertical rods (B) are rotated forward to an almost horizontal position by rotating levers (L) pivoted between the front levers (K') of the parallelograms and said rods (B).
Structure according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the third section is provided with a bedspring extending between the internal bars (V) and the crossbars (C, C'), while the second section is provided with longitudinal staves mounted between the crossbars (D, D').
Sofa-bed or armchair-bed characterized in that it includes a structure according to one or more of the preceding claims as well as three cushions which are mutually joined and suitable to act as a mattress when they longitudinally slide so that the seat cushion is positioned on the third section, the back cushion on the second section and the cushion on the rear of the back on the first section.