GB2155779A - An adjustable bed - Google Patents

Abstract

An adjustable bed 2 comprises a base 4, a mattress (6), an adjustable support platform 8 positioned between the base and the mattress, and adjuster means 10 for adjusting the adjustable support platform, the adjustable support platform being such that it has five separate areas of adjustment, 20 22, 28, 30, 32. Hinges 18 and 26 connect areas 20, 22 and 28, 30, respectively, The adjuster means may be five pairs of scissor jacks 10 arranged on each side portion of the bed and connected by driving means 34. The base 4 or support platform 8 may be raised to a desired height by means of jacks. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An adjustable bed This invention relates to a bed and more especially it relates to an adjustable bed for use by persons suffering from back trouble.

It is widely recognised that persons suffering from back trouble require special beds, Traditionally, beds have been modified by placing a board under the mattress to provide more support for the person's back. In more recent times, specially constructed so-called orthopaedic beds have been developed. These orthopaedic beds employ special mattresses of varying degrees of firmness.

The present invention is based upon the realisation that the totally flat horizontal surface afforded by placing a board under a mattress or afforded by an orthopaedic bed is not always sufficient to give a back sufferer relief from pain. The present invention is also based on the realisation that, although some adjustable beds have recently become known, these known adjustable beds do not provide a sufficiently large number of separate areas of adjustment.

Accordingly, this invention provides an adjustable bed comprising a base, a mattress, an adjustable support platform positioned between the base and the mattress, and adjuster means for adjusting the adjustable support platform, the adjustable support platform being such that it has five separate areas of adjustment.

The adjustable bed can be provided with a mattress of the required degree of firmness. Also, the mattress can be inclined at various angles using the five separate areas of adjustment on the adjustable support platform.

Thus the adjustable bed can be precisely adjusted to suit the individual needs of individual persons.

The adjustable bed is advantageously constructed for use in the bedrooms of homes. There is no need to construct the bed of basic iron and spring work after the fashion of a hospital bed. With a properly constructed bed that has been designed for use in the home, the bed can look like an ordinary bed. The bed can be constructed as a single or a double bed.

Obviously, single beds will usually be produced since two persons with back trouble using a double bed are likely to require considerably varying mattress angles of inclination. Two single beds can be placed side by side to look like a double bed if desired. One of these two single beds can be an adjustable bed of the invention whilst the other single bed can be an ordinary known bed or, alternatively, the two single beds can both be adjustable beds of the present invention.

The adjustable bed of the present invention can be effective to take pressure between a person's joints and in the small of the back, whereas conventional beds often take much of a person's weight on their shoulder and posterior regions.

The support platform may be made from various materials, for example plywood or chipboard.

The adjuster means is preferably mechanical adjuster means.

The mechanical adjuster means may be a plurality of jacks. Preferably, the jacks are scissorjacks.

The scissor jacks may be arranged in pairs, one jack of each pair being arranged on each side portion of the bed.

The two jacks in each pair of scissor jacks maa advantageously be connected by a common elongate rotatable drive member.

The drive member may be provided with means at one end for enabling the drive member to be rotated to raise or lower the scissor jacks.

Alternatively, the said means may be provided at both ends of the drive member.

The adjustable means will usually be secured to the base. More specifically, the adjuster means is preferably welded or bolted to the base. The adjuster means is also preferably secured to the platform member at the head and the foot of the bed.

Advantageously, the support platform has a first portion which is hinged to provide two relatively pivotable parts, a second portion which is hinged to provide two relatively pivotable parts, and a third portion which provides a bridge between the first and the second portions.

The base may be of the general style of known bed bases. The upper surface of the base should be rigid to provide adequate supportforthe adjuster means. One presently preferred base is made from box section steel.

The mattress may be any suitable known type of mattress. However, foam mattresses are presently preferred since they do not kink as various parts of the bed are inclined.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of an adjustable bed; Figure 2 is a side view of the bed shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is an end view of the bed shown in Figure 1 and in a flat position.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an adjustable bed comprising a base 4, a mattress 6, an adjustable plywood support platform 8 positioned between the base 4 and the mattress 6, and adjuster means in the form of a plurality of scissor jacks 10 for adjusting the adjustable support platform 8.

As shown, the base 4 has a rigid flat rectangular portion 12 supported on four legs 14. The legs 14 may be provided with casters (not shown) if desired.

the rectangular portion 12 is made from 2 inches by 1 inch box section steel.

The support platform 8 has a first portion 16 which is hinged by a hinge 18 to provide two relatively pivotable parts 20 and 22. The support platform 8 also has a second portion 24 which is hinged by a hinge 26 to provide two relatively pivotable parts 28 and 30. As will be appreciated from Figures 1 and 2, the part 20 might support the upper trunk part of a person lying on the bed 2 and the parts 28, 30 might support the person's legs.

The support platform 8 further comprises a third portion 32 which provides a bridge between the first and the second portions 16, 24 respectively. The third portion is necessary since the adjacent edges of the parts 22, 28 will move towards and away from each other in dependence upon the angle of inclination of the parts 22, 28.

As can be most clearly seen in Figure 3, the scissor jacks 10 are arranged in pairs, with one jack of each pair being arranged on each side portion of the bed 2. The two jacks 10 in each pair of scissor jacks are connected by a common elongate rotatable drive member 34. Appropriate rotation of the drive member 34 is effective to raise or lower the jacks 10 as desired. One end of the drive member 34 may be provided with a ring member 36 for receiving a cranked handle (not shown) or other device for rotating the drive member 34.

By appropriately adjusting the jacks 10, the support platform 8 and thereforthe mattress 6 on top of it can be precisely inclined to precisely suit the needs of the person suffering from the back trouble. As is most clearly seen from Figure 2, there are five pairs of jacks 10 and these jacks 10 combine with the hinges 18, 26 to provide a bed 2 that has five separate areas of adjustment.

The jacks 10 are welded or bolted to the rectangular portion 12 of the base 4. Also, the jacks 10 in each pair are connected by a tube 40 as shown in Figure 3. The tubes 40 for the pair of jacks 10 at the head ofthe bed 2 and for the pair of jacks 10 at the foot of the bed 2 are connected to the underside of the parts 20 and 30. The remainder of the support platform 8 floats over the remaining pairs of jacks.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention described above has been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the jacks 10 can be other than scissor jacks and more or less than five pairs of jacks may be employed. Also, each pair of jacks 10 could be replaced by a centrally positioned jack 10 having an upper platform member that was sufficiently wide to ensure that the support member 8 does not slip off the jack. Further, the base 4 can be of a different design than shown and the bed 2 can be used by persons suffering from ailments other than back trouble butwhich still require the person to lie down with his or her body at various angles of inclination.For example, one such person might have broken legs and the bed position shown in Figure 2 could be an ideal position for the comfort of the person. Further, although only a single bed has been shown in the drawings, the invention also extends to double beds.

The base may itself be supported on jacks so that the base can be raised to any desired height, prior to effecting adjustment of the support platform.

Similarly, the support platform can itself be raised to any desired height with the adjuster means, prior to effecting adjustment of the support platform, using the adjuster means, to give desired angles of inclination of the mattress.

If desired, the support platform and the adjuster means can be so dimensioned as to be capable of being fitted directly on to a standard hospital bed frame, thereby facilitating the use of the adjustable bed in hospitals. The adjustable bed can be provided with wheeled legs for facilitating moving of the bed, as in hospital wards, if desired.

Claims (14)

1. An adjustable bed comprising a base, a mattress, an adjustable support platform positioned between the base and the mattress, and adjuster means for adjusting the adjustable support platform, the adjustable support platform being such that it has five separate areas of adjustment.

2. An adjustable bed according to claim 1 in which the support platform is made from plywood or chipboard.

3. An adjustable bed according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the adjuster means is mechanical adjuster means.

4. An adjustable bed according to claim 3 in which the mechanical adjuster means are a plurality of jacks.

5. An adjustable bed according to claim 4 in which the jacks are scissor jacks.

6. An adjustable bed according to claim 5 in which the scissor jacks are arranged in pairs, one jack of each pair being arranged on each side portion of the bed.

7. An adjustable bed according to claim 6 in which the two jacks in each pair of scissor jacks are connected by a common elongate rotatable drive member.

8. An adjustable bed according to claim 7 in which the drive member is provided with means at one end for enabling the drive member to be rotated to raise or lower the scissor jacks.

9. An adjustable bed according to any one of the preceding claims in which the adjuster means is secured to the base.

10. An adjustable bed according to any one of the preceding claims in which the adjuster means is secured to the platform member at the head and the foot of the bed.

11. An adjustable bed according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support member has a first portion which is hinged to provide two relatively pivotable parts, a second portion which is hinged to provide two relatively pivotable parts, and a third portion which provides a bridge between the first and the second portions.

12. An adjustable bed according to any one of the preceding claims in which the base is made from box section steel.

13. An adjustable bed according to any one of the preceding claims in which the mattress is a foam mattress.

14. An adjustable bed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.