FR2877822A1 - Sofa bed type furniture, has connecting rod to guide unit forming backrest such that unit moves from seated to bedding position, and pivot joint to rotatably mount unit, where joint is mounted on frame - Google Patents

Abstract

The furniture has a unit (2) forming a backrest with a base (22) and a head (21). A connecting rod (41) guides the unit such that the unit moves from a seated position to a bedding position while maintaining the head in a vertical plane (P2) near another vertical plane (P1) in which the head is inscribed when the unit is in seated position. The unit is rotatably mounted by a pivot joint (4) that is movably mounted on a frame (1).

Description

Sofa-type furniture with a backrest element that can be tilted

in a small footprint.

  The field of the invention is that of furniture. More specifically, the invention relates to sofa bed type furniture so designated to be able to have two configurations: one corresponding to a sitting position and the other corresponding to a sleeping position.

  In the field of the invention, sofa beds, otherwise known as cli-clac, are now widely available.

  Conventionally, they implement a bench and a back articulated between them using a ratchet joint.

  The change of configuration of these sofa beds, that is to say the transition from a sitting position to a sleeping position is carried out as follows.

  The backrest is in the raised position, it tilts it slightly to the bench so as to release the pawl of the joint. The ratchet being released, the backrest is free to rotate and is accompanied to a substantially horizontal position in which it forms, with the bench, a sleeping surface, generally sized for two people.

  The transition from the sleeping position to the seated position is performed by proceeding inversely, that is to say by raising the folder until engagement of the pawl.

  Most often, a safety system is provided according to which, once the pawl engaged, the entire tilt is reversed to reverse the positions of the seat and backrest (the weight of a seated person then being of a nature to keep the pawl engaged).

  Traditional sofa beds have several disadvantages.

  In the first place, the tilting of the backrest around its fixed articulation implies that the backrest describes an arc whose radius corresponds to the height of the backrest (or, in other words, to its width if we consider its position horizontal).

  Also, when the sofa bed is placed so that when sitting, the backrest is against a wall (which is the most common case), it is first necessary to clear the sofa bed the wall to save space for tilting the backrest.

  This is because the space between the seat and the wall, when the backrest is raised, is equal to e.cos a (where e is the width of the backrest and the angle that it forms with the horizontal ), while in sleeping position, this space is equal to e.

  This first manipulation of removing the bench from the wall to move the sofa bed in sleeping position is often very inconvenient.

  Indeed, the sofa beds are generally relatively heavy and it is therefore not easy to move them. The discomfort of this manipulation can be further increased by the nature of the floor on which one seeks to slide the sofa bed (this is the case with some carpets for example).

  In addition, with some floors, it is not recommended to move the furniture by sliding them on the floor, at the risk of damaging them, and in particular to scratch them. This is the case of some floors, for example.

  In addition, current sofa beds offer little modularity in that they are designed to occupy only two positions.

  The invention particularly aims to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

  More specifically, the invention aims to provide a piece of furniture type sofa bed whose backrest can be tilted with a smaller footprint than that required to tilt the sofa bed folders of the prior art.

  The invention also aims to provide such a piece of furniture that can be handled easily and quickly to change configuration. Another object of the invention is to provide such a piece of furniture that is simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture These objectives, as well as others that will appear later, are achieved through the invention which has for object a piece of furniture of the sofa bed type, comprising a frame, at least a first element and at least a second element, said furniture being capable of occupying at least two positions: a sitting position in which said first element forms a file relative to said second element and a sleeping position, wherein said first and second members form a sleeping surface, said backrest having a base and a head, said head occupying a substantially raised position with respect to said base in said sitting position, characterized in that it comprises means for guiding said first element acting so that said first element can be moved from said seated position at said lying position by maintaining said head substantially in the same vertical plane as that in which said head fits in said seated position, or in a plane close to that in which said head fits in said seated position.

  In this way, there is obtained a sofa bed that can be changed from a configuration corresponding to a sitting position to a configuration corresponding to a sleeping position without the need to move, especially when the sofa- bed is leaning against a wall.

  Indeed, the back of the sofa bed according to the invention is tilted by keeping the head thereof substantially in the same vertical plane. In other words, the head of the backrest can be moved between its extreme positions along the wall or almost.

  According to a preferred solution, the cabinet is rotatably mounted by means of a pivot connection provided between said base and said head, said pivot connection or connections being mounted movable in height with respect to said frame.

  Thus, a simple design structure is proposed which is easy to implement and inexpensive to produce.

  Other embodiments may, however, be envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention, for example by guiding the folder using slides or curved slides appropriately.

  In this case, said guide means advantageously comprise a connecting rod having said pivot connection at one of its ends and being rotatably mounted on said frame at the other of its ends.

  In this way, a simple, reliable mechanical guidance is obtained which is not very subject to jamming phenomena which could be due to wear or crushing phenomena.

  According to an advantageous solution, said furniture comprises complementary guiding means for directing, during the passage from said lying position to said sitting position, said base of said first element towards the position occupied by said head in the lying position, and conversely when passing from said seated position to said lying position to move said base away from the position it occupies in the lying position.

  In this way, a satisfactory guidance of the file and a correct positioning of it in all circumstances is ensured.

  Preferably, said first element and said second element are hinged together.

  However, it is conceivable to design means for tilting the backrest independent of any connection with the bench.

  However, such articulation makes it possible to subject the displacements of one of the elements to the displacement of the other element, as will become clearer later.

  According to a preferred solution, said second element is movable on the frame so that it can be moved towards or away from the position occupied by said head of said first element in the lying position.

  This provides a simple and effective solution to allow the second element (the bench) to follow the possible coming and going of the folder.

  Of course, it would be conceivable in another embodiment to provide an extensible or telescopic portion on the bench and thus maintain it fixed.

  However, the mobility of the seat offers extensive possibilities in terms of possible positions that can occupy the sofa bed as will be explained in more detail later.

  According to an advantageous solution, said furniture comprises means for tilting said second element in a sitting position so as to slightly raise the feet of a user.

  In this way, the sofa bed offers new positions of use, corresponding to relaxation positions for the user.

  Advantageously, said frame has at least one cross member on which said base of said first element and / or said second element support during the transition from the sitting position to said sleeping position or vice versa.

  In this case, said base of said first element and / or said second element are preferably in contact with said sleepers or through via at least one wheel.

  According to a preferred solution, said one or more sleepers of said frame have at least one slope provided so that the end of said second element in the vicinity of said base of said first element is lowered relative to the other end of said second element during the passage. from said supine position to said sitting position.

  The inclination of the bench can thus be obtained efficiently, this by implementing a guide structure particularly simple design and therefore inexpensive to achieve.

  Note that the seat can occupy different intermediate positions depending on the location of the slope in which it is maintained.

  According to an advantageous solution, said second element carries at least one support wheel on said one or more sleepers on its end side in the vicinity of said base of said first element, said sleepers carrying at least one wheel on the side of the other. end of said second element.

  According to another characteristic, the cabinet comprises motor means cooperating with said first element and / or said second element to cause the passage of said sitting position to said sleeping position or vice versa.

  The configuration of the sofa bed according to the invention can thus be modified easily, quickly and effortlessly.

  Preferably, said motor means comprise at least one electric jack.

  It is noted that such a motor means is compatible with a domestic installation (unlike a pneumatic cylinder or hydraulic).

  Note also that a means of this kind alone allows to maintain the sofa bed in a given configuration when it is not powered and / or operated.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, said second element has a width equal to about twice the width of said first element.

  It can thus provide a sofa bed that has standard dimensions in sleeping position while providing a seat whose dimensions allow a user to occupy a position of relaxation in which he has the legs supported by the bench.

  Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example, and the appended drawings among which: Figure 1 is a top view of a sofa bed according to the invention, without dressing or padding; Figure 2 is a side view of a sofa bed according to the invention, in a configuration corresponding to a sleeping position; Figure 3 is a side view of a sofa bed according to the invention, in a configuration corresponding to a sitting position.

  As already indicated above, the principle of the invention lies in the fact of providing a sofa-bed whose backrest can be tilted, during the transition from the seated position to the sleeping position, or vice versa, in a movement according to which head of the folder remains substantially in the same vertical plane.

  Referring to Figs 2 and 3, a sofa bed according to the invention comprises a frame 1 on which are mounted a first member 2 and a second member 3 may occupy two distinct configurations: one shown in Figure 2 in wherein the two members 2, 3 together form a diaper surface (extending one beside the other in a substantially horizontal plane), and another such as that illustrated in Figure 3 in which the first element 2 forms a folder (the head 21 thereof having been brought into a raised position relative to base 22).

  In order to allow elongation of the legs in the configuration of FIG. 3 while respecting a standard width of the coating surface, the second element 3 is preferably produced with a width L 3 approximately equal to twice the width L 2 of the first element 2.

  According to the principle of the invention, the sofa bed comprises guiding means of the first element 2 provided for it to be moved from the sitting position (Figure 3) to the sleeping position (Figure 2) while keeping the head 21 in a vertical plane P2 near the vertical plane P1 in which the head 21 fits when the first element is in a sitting position.

  Note that the position of the plane P2 may vary during the displacement of the first element. The plane P2 can also be fixed during the displacement and / or be confused with P1 at the end of the movement between the two extreme positions of the file.

  In any case, the proximity of the plane P2 with respect to the plane P1 opposes the distance that the plane P2 would present with the plane P3 with a sofa-bed of the prior art (according to which the backrest 2 represented dotted line on fig 2, rotates around a fixed hinge).

  The movement of the first element according to the invention is obtained by mounting this first movable element 2 to rotation by means of a pivot connection 4, which is placed between the head 21 and the base 22 of the first element 2. In addition, this pivot connection 4 is mounted mobile in height on the frame 1.

  Moreover, the first element 2 and the second element 3 are articulated to each other by means of a hinge 23.

  In addition, this articulation 23 is movable back and forth on the frame, the second element 3 itself being capable of being brought closer (in the seated position) to the vertical plane in which the head 21 of the first element fits, or away from this plane (in sleeping position).

  The displacement of the element 3 is achieved by circulating it in contact with a cross member I l provided on either side of the frame 1, this contact being in this case provided by rollers 12, 31.

  Note that, the second element 3 being movable on the chassis and being articulated with the first element 2, the latter is driven by the second element during the displacement thereof.

  In particular, the base is thus directed, during the transition from the sleeping position to the sitting position, to the position occupied by the head 21 in the sleeping position. Of course, the base is also guided during the reverse movement (passage from the sitting position to the sleeping position) of the second element since it follows the movement on the chassis of the joint between the two elements.

  According to the present preferred embodiment of the invention, the sofa bed comprises means for tilting the second element and present it in relaxation mode, that is to say so as to slightly raise the feet of a user as shown in Figure 3.

  As it appears in FIGS. 2 and 3, this is obtained by making the sleepers 11 so that they have a slope 11.

  Thus, as the wheel 31 carried by the second element follows the slope 111, the inclination of the first element is increased, this by gradually lowering the end of the second element in the vicinity of the first element, relative to its other end.

  It is noted that multiple intermediate relaxation positions can be obtained by varying the angle between the first and the second element, as a function of the position in which the second element is located with respect to the slope 111 of the crosspieces 11 of the chassis .

  Preferably, the first element 3 carries, on each of its sides, a wheel 31 at one of its ends (that intended to cooperate with the slope 111 of the crosspieces 11), the other of its ends of the first element being supported by a wheel 12 carried by the frame.

  According to another characteristic, the sofa-bed which has just been described is motorized, the motor means being provided to allow the driving of the first element and / or the second element during the transition from the seated position to the sleeping position, Or vice versa.

  According to the present embodiment with reference to Figure 1, these motor means comprise an electric jack 5 mounted at one end on the frame 1, and at the other end thereof on the frame of the second element.

  Thus, during the deployment of the rod of the cylinder, it pushes on the frame of the second element (on the side of the common joint with the first element), which tends to bring the sofa bed to the configuration corresponding to a sitting position, the first element gradually recovering under the thrust of the second element while being guided by the connecting rod 41.

  The retraction of the cylinder rod of course causes the opposite effect, that is to say, it tends to bring the sofa bed to the configuration corresponding to a sleeping position.

Claims (14)

  1. Furniture of the sofa bed type, comprising a frame (1), at least one first element (2) and at least one second element (3), said furniture being able to occupy at least two positions: a sitting position in said first member (2) forms a backrest with respect to said second member (3) and a lying position, wherein said first and second members (2), (3) form a sleeping surface, said backing having a base ( 22) and a head (21), said head occupying a position substantially raised with respect to said base in said seated position, characterized in that it comprises means for guiding said first element (2) acting in such a way that said first element (2) can be moved from said sitting position to said lying position by maintaining said head (21) substantially in the same vertical plane as that in which said head (21) fits in said sitting position, or in a plane near the one in which said head (21) is in said seated position.   2. Cabinet according to claim 1, characterized in that said first element (2) is rotatably mounted by means of a pivot connection (4) provided between said base (22) and said head (21), said or said pivot links (4) being mounted movable in height with respect to said frame.   3. Cabinet according to claim 2, characterized in that said guide means comprise at least one connecting rod (41) having said pivot connection (4) at one of its ends and being rotatably mounted on said frame (1) at the other end.   4. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises complementary guide means for directing, during the passage of said sleeping position to said sitting position, said base (22) of said first element (2) in the direction of the position occupied by said head (21) in the lying position, and conversely when passing from said sitting position to said lying position to move said base (22) away from the position it occupies in sleeping position.   5. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said first element (2) and said second element 10 (3) are hinged together.   6. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said second element (3) is movable on the frame (1) so as to be close to or away from the position occupied by said head ( 21) of said first member (2) in the lying position.   7. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises means for tilting said second member (3) in a sitting position so as to slightly raise the feet of a user.   8. Furniture according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that said frame (1) has at least one cross member (11) on which said base (22), said first element (2) and / or said second element (3) rest during the transition from the sitting position to said sleeping position or vice versa.   9. Cabinet according to claim 8, characterized in that said base (22), said first element (2), and / or said second element (3) are in contact with said sleepers (11) via at least one wheel (12), (31).   10. Furniture according to claims 7 and 8, characterized in that said one or more sleepers (11) of said frame (1) have at least one slope (111) provided so that the end of said second element (3) in the vicinity said base (22) of said first member (2) is lowered relative to the other end of said second member (3) during the passage from said lying position to said seated position.   11. Furniture according to claims 9 and 10, characterized in that said second member (3) carries at least one support wheel (31) on said at least said cross members (11) on its end side in the vicinity of said base ( 22) of said first member (2), said at least one cross member (11) carrying at least one wheel (12) on the side of the other end of said second member (3).   12. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it comprises motor means cooperating with said first element (2) and / or said second element (3) to cause the passage of said sitting position to said sleeping position or vice versa.   13. Furniture according to claim 12, characterized in that said motor means comprise at least one electric jack (5).   14. Furniture according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that said second element (3) has a width equal to about twice the width of said first element (2).