GB2183469A - Bed headboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A headboard for a bed comprises a planar backboard (15) having a planar tiltable member (16) mounted thereon by means of a link arrangement including a pair of link arms (21, 22) of different lengths. Each link arm is pivotably connected by its ends to the backboard (15) and the tiltable member respectively such that the shorter link arm (21) is disposed above the longer link arm (22) in use, the arrangement being such that the tiltable member may be moved from a substantially vertical position to an inclined position whilst remaining forward of the backboard at all times. When the top edge of the tiltable member comes to rest against the backboard the tiltable member is in a suitable position to be leant against. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bed Headboard This invention relates to a headboard for attachment to a bed.

The commonly available bed headboards consist of a rigid member, often in the form of a board, which may or may not be upholstered, which is intended to be disposed vertically in use. These headboards are particularly uncomforable to lean against when sitting up in bed because they are vertical and users frequently resort to placing numerous pillows between themselves and the headboard for comfort, for example when reading in bed.

It is therefore useful to provide a headboard, all or part of which may be moved to an inclined position for greater comfort when sitting up in bed.

Numerous headboards of this type have been proposed in the past. In some known arrangements the whole headboard is tiltable. In others, the headboard includes a tiltable member which may be moved out of the plane of the headboard. None of these arrangements has proved particularly successful and beds having tiltable head/back rests are only commonly used in hospitals where the necessity for such rests is more frequent.

The prior arrangements are complicated in construction and are not simple to operate by the user whilst in bed. For example, some use complex spring arrangements to enable the angle of inclination to be adjusted.

GB 2094138 discloses a headboard for a bed whose angle to the vertical is variable. The headboard is mounted to a headpost structure by means of 8 simple linkage mechanism comprising at least two links of different lengths whose ends are pivotably connected to the headboard and the headpost structure respectively.

This headboard still has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, when the headboard is moved from a vertical position to an inclined position, its top edge moves rearwardly. Thus, in order to make full use of the headboard the bed must be positioned such that when the headboard is vertical it is away from a wall.

Secondly, the linkage mechanism is unsightly and cannot easily be disguised, and thirdly stop means are required in order to limit the travel of the headboard; this complicates its manufacture.

The present invention provides a headboard for a bed comprising a substantially planar backboard which is disposed substantially vertically in use and a substantially planartiltable member mounted on the backboard by means of a link arrangement, the link arrangement including at least one pair of link arms of different lengths, each link arm being pivotably connected by its ends to the backboard and the tiltable member respectively such that the shorter link arm of the or each pair is disposed above the longer link arm in use, the arrangement being such that the tiltable member may be moved from a substantially vertical position to a position in which it is inclined to the vertical whilst remaining forward of the backboard at all times.Thus, the headboard of the present invention requires less space than the headboard of GB 2094138 since the backboard may be positioned right against a wall.

Preferably, the backboard extends behind the tiltable member and each link arm is mounted on the portion of the backboard behind the tiltable member. The or each pair of link arms is preferably mounted on the backboard by means of a mounting plate which is secured to the rear Surface of the backboard and which has two tabs extending towards the front surface of the backboard through a slot provided therein, the ends of the two link arms of the or each pair being pivotably secured to respective ones of the tabs. The slots in the backboard and the link arms are preferably dimensioned such that when the tiltable member is in the substantially vertical position the link arms become positioned within the slots. Thus, in the vertical position the rear surface of the tiltable member lies right against the front surface of the backboard.The front surface of the tiltable member and the portions of the front surface of the backboard surrounding the tiltable member are preferably upholstered so that they are substantially flush.

The combination of these preferred features provides a particularly neat arrangement. With the front surfaces of the backboard and tiltable member being upholstered, the link arrangement is completely invisible from the front or side of the bedhead when the tiltable member is in the vertical position and only just visible from the side when the tiltabie member is inclined. The mounting arrangement of the link arms enables the rear surface of the backboard to be covered for example with fabric so that the mounting plates are not visible from behind and are well protected.

The movement of the tiltable member away from the vertical position is controlled by the link arms such that the lower edge of the tiltable member moves outwardly and downwardly and the upper edge moves first away from the backboard and then towards it again. Preferably, the arrangement is such that the movement of the tiltable member from the vertical position is limited by its top edge abutting against the front surface of the backboard. The arrangement may be such that at this position the tiltable member is at a suitable inclination to be leaned against. Thus, no additional stop means are necessary in order to retain the tiltable member in an inclined position. Stop means may be additionally provided if it is desired to vary the angle of inclination.

Certain embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a headboard according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation showing the headboard attached to a bed with the tiltable member in the tilted position; Figure 3 is a partial cross-section taken along line Ill-Ill of Figure 1 showing in detail part of the link mechanism supporting the tiltable member; Figure 4 is an enlarged scrap vertical section taken on line IV--IV of Figure 3; and, Figure 5 is a front elevation of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

The headboard, generally designated 10, carries a pair of headposts 11 by means of which it is mountable on a bedstead 12. To mount the headboard on the bedstead, screws projecting from the bedstead are engaged in slots 13 provided in the bedposts 11.The headboard is then secured at the desired height by means of wing nuts 14.

The headboard 10 includes a rigid backboard 15, made for example from wood or thick hardboard. The headposts 11 are secured to the rear surface of the backboard 15. A tiltable member 16 is mounted on the front surface of the backboard 15 by means of a link arrangement to be described in more detail below. The tiltable member 16 comprises a generally rectangular rigid board which is mounted to the backboard so as to be movable from a position in which it lies parallel to the backboard 15 and is oriented substantially vertically in use, to a position in which it is inclined with respect to the backboard 15 and the upper edge 17 rests on the backboard 15. These positions are hereinafter referred to as "the vertical position" and "the tilted position".

The tiltable member 16 is mounted on the backboard 15 by means of two pairs of link arms, each link arm being pivotably mounted at one end to the backboard 15 and at its other end to the tiltable member 16.

One pair of link arms 21,22 is shown in Figure 3. A comparison of Figures 1 and 3 shows that the link arms 21, 22 are mounted to one side of the centre line X-X of the headboard 10. The other two link arms, not shown in the drawings, are mounted, preferably in a symmetrical position, to the other side of the centre line.

The link arms 21,22 are mounted to the backboard 15 by means of a mounting plate 25, shown in detail in Figure 4. The mounting plate 25 is secured to the rear surface of the backboard 15 by means of screws 26 extending through holes in the mounting plate. The mounting plate 25 is provided with a pair of tabs 27 which extend at 90" to the plane of the mounting plate. The mounting plate 25 and the tabs 27 may be formed from a continuous piece of sheet metal, suitably cut and bent. The tabs 27 extend through a vertical slot 28 cut in the backboard 15. One end of each link arm 21, 22 is pivotably secured, for example by means of a screw, to the respective one of the two tabs 27. The other end of the link arms 21, 22 are pivotably secured to respective angle brackets 29 fixed to the backofthetiltable member 16.

The other pair of link arms, not shown, is identical to the pair of link arms 21,22 and is secured to the tiltable member 16 and the backboard 15 in exactly the same way.

Figure 3 shows, in solid lines, the tiltable member 16 in the tilted position and, in dotted lines, the tiltable member 16 in the vertical position. In moving from the vertical position to the tilted position and vice versa, the tiltable member 16 passes through the intermediate position shown in chain-dotted lines.

In order to move the tiltable member 16 from the vertical position to the tilted position all that is required is a small outward force at the lower edge 30 of the member 16. The tiltable member then moves under the influence of gravity without any further force being required until its upper edge rests against the front surface of the backboard 15, at which point it is inclined with respect to the backboard 15. Thus, all the user needs to do to move the member 16 out of the vertical position is to place his or her fingers under the edge 30 and pull outwardly.

The path of movement of the tiltable member 16 is determined by the relative lengths of the two link arms 21,22 in each pair. The link arms 21,22 control the movement of thetiltable member 16 at all times. It will be noted that the upper link arm 21 is considerably shorter than the iower iink arm 22. As a result, the edges 17,30 of the tiltable member do not travel in circular paths but follow more complex routes. The lower edge 30 moves continually outwardly and downwardly from the backboard 15 whilst the upper edge 17 moves continually downwardly and away from the backboard and towards it again.

Since a positive outward force on the lower edge 30 is required to move the tiltable member 16 out of the vertical position, the possibility of it being moved accidentally is very small. When in the vertical position it does not fall under the influence of gravity and the upper edge has no tendency to tip forwardly.

The reason for this will become clear from a closer examination of Figure 3 from which it will be apparent that at all times during the movement, the lower edge 30 is forward of the upper edge 17. This is again due to the relative lengths of the link arms 21, 22 in each pair. In fact, no amount of outward force on the upper edge 17 will cause the tiltable member to be moved from the vertical position to the tilted position in the manner described above. Thus, no additional fixings are necessary to retain the tiltable member 16 in the vertical position.

Preferably, the front and rear surfaces of the backboard 15 and the tiltable member 16 are covered with some suitable fabric to give the headboard an attractive appearance. This includes the surface of the backboard which is behind the tiltable member, part of which is revealed when the tiltable member is moved to the tilted position. The front surface of the tiltable member may advantageously be padded, for example with foam rubber, to make it comfortable for the user to lie against. The side portions 32 of the backboard 15 may also be padded so that when the tiltable member 16 lies parallel to the backboard 15 its front surface lies generally flush with the front surfaces of the side portions 32.

The headboard described above and illustrated in Figure 1 is intended to be fixed to a single bed.

However, it will be appreciated that the invention is also applicable to a headboard for a double bed. For example a headboard for a double bed might comprise a single tiltable member which is twice as wide as that shown in Figure 1. However, it is clearly preferable to provide two separately mounted tiltable members on a double bed headboard to cater for the individual wishes of the persons using the bed. An example of such a headboard is illustrated in Figure 5, the headposts having been omitted. In Figure 5, a headboard 10' includes two tiltable members 16' between side portions 32'. The tiltable members are separately mounted by means of link arrangements identical to that described above. Thus, each tiltable member may be moved individually from a vertical position to a tilted position and vice versa.

The headboard of the present invention should preferably be secured to a bedstead at a height such that when the tiltable member is in the tilted position it just touches the surface of the mattress 35. If the headboard is any lower, the surface of the mattress will limit the angle of inclination of the tiltable member.

At the preferred height, the lower edge 30 of the tiltable member will be above the mattress at the vertical position.

Ideally, the tiltable member is square and has a depth and width of about 46 cm. Suitable dimensions for the link arrangements are as follows: Distance between pivot points of link arm 21: 8 cm Distance between pivot points of link arm 22: 14cm Distance A between pivots on mounting plate (Figure 3): 17.5 cm Distance B between pivots on tiltable member (Figure 3): 11.5 cm In the above described embodiments of the invention, the movement of the tiltable member is limited by the contact of its upper edge with the backboard. However, a headboard in accordance with the invention could be provided with suitable stop means to arrest the travel of the headboard at an earlier point. The stop means could be variable so that the angle of inclination could be selected by the user.

Claims (9)

1.A A headboard for a bed comprising a substantially planar backboard which is disposed substantially vertically in use and a substantially planar tiltable member mounted on the backboard by means of a link arrangement, the link arrangement including at least one pair of link arms of different lengths, each link arm being pivotably connected by its ends to the backboard and the tiltable member respectively such that the shorter link arm of the or each pair is disposed above the longer link arm in use, the arrangement being such that the tiltable member may be moved from a substantially vertical position to a position in which it is inclined to the vertical whilst remaining forward of the backboard at alitimes.

2. A headboard as claimed in Claim 1, in which the backboard extends behind the tiltable member and each link arm is mounted on the portion of the backboard behind the tiltable member.

3. A headboard as claimed in Claim 2, in which the or each pair of link arms is mounted on the backboard by means of a mounting plate which is secured to the rear surface of the backboard and which has two tabs extending towards the front surface of the backboard through a slot provided therein, the ends of the two link arms of the or each pair being pivotably secured to respective ones of the tabs.

4. A headboard as claimed in Claim 3, in which the slots in the backboard and the link arms are dimensioned such that when the tiltable member is in the substantially vertical position the link arms become positioned within the slots.

5. A headboard as claimed in Claim 2,3 or 4, in which the arrangement is such that the movement of the tiitable member from the vertical position is limited by its top edge abutting against the front surface of the backboard.

6. A headboard as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the link arrangement comprises two identical pairs of link arms.

7. A headboard as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the front surface of the tiltable member and the portions of the front surface of the backboard surrounding the tiltable member are upholstered so that they are substantially flush.

8. A headboard as claimed in any preceding claim having two separately movable tiltable members.

9. A headboard substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.