GB2442276A - Sofa bed with rotating side arms - Google Patents

Abstract

A sofa bed has at least one moveable side arm 8 and a rotation mechanism which allows the arm to be rotated about an inclined rotation axis from a first position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially upright with respect to a seat portion 10 to a second position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially parallel with the seat portion. The rotation mechanism preferably comprises a trigger mechanism 16, a first rotating part 22, a second rotating part 24, an axle 26 and a motor 20. The rotation mechanism allows the side arm to rotate through 360 degrees. The side arm may be provided with a glass insert (140, Figure 7) such that the side arm can function as a coffee table.

Description

Furniture The invention relates to a piece of furniture.

Particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a sofa bed.

Sofas which convert into beds, commonly known as "sofa beds", are becoming increasingly popular. This is due to their versatility to be used as both a general purpose sofa and an occasional guest bed. Particularly, sofa beds are suited to homes where space is limited, for example, studio flats.

Generally, there are two types of sofa bed. The first is of a simple configuration comprising a seat made of a foam type material which is folded into a "Z" arrangement.

When used as a bed, the seat is unfolded outwards so as to lie flat across a floor. The second known sofa bed comprises a more complex mechanism of operation, and is typically referred to as a "metal action" sofa bed. Such sofa beds comprise a seat which is attached to a metal frame stored within the base of the sofa. To convert the sofa to a bed, the user raises the seat and pulls out the frame. The bed extends outwards from the sofa into the room.

Disadvantageously, when converting either type of sofa bed, there must be sufficient space in the room for the extended bed; typically five feet of space is required.

It is therefore often necessary to rearrange the other furniture in a room in order to accommodate the sofa bed.

This can be cumbersome for the user and impractical where such space is limited.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a piece of furniture which is adapted to be converted for an alternative use, within a limited space.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a sofa having a back portion, a seat portion, at least one moveable arm, and a rotation mechanism, wherein said arm is adapted to be rotated from a first position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially upright with respect to the seat portion, to a second position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially parallel with the seat portion.

Preferably, in the second position, the inner face is substantially coplanar with the seat portion.

Preferably, the inner face is substantially parallel with the longitudinal length of the sofa.

Preferably, the inner face lies in a direction substantially co-linear with the longitudinal length of the sofa, preferably the seat portion, preferably a valance of the sofa.

Preferably, the rotation mechanism comprises a first rotating portion and a second rotating portion, and preferably an axle. Preferably, the first rotating portion is fixedly attached to a support block.

Preferably, the second rotating portion is fixedly attached to the arm of the sofa. Preferably, the first and second rotating portions are located centrally of the support block and the arm respectively.

Preferably, the arm and the support block are so linked as to form a one piece unit. Preferably, the one piece unit is attached to the sofa, preferably to a side part of the sofa frame, preferably by at least one fixing member, preferably a plurality of fixing members, preferably bolts or screws.

Preferably, the arm is rotatable about the axle, preferably rotatable by substantially 360 in either a clockwise or anticlockwjse direction.

Preferably, a plane is defined where the arm and the support block abut one another. Preferably said plane is inclined to the horizontal, preferably, at an angle of approximately 300 to 60 , more preferably at an angle of about 40 to 50 .

Preferably, in the second position, at least one part of the support block lies adjacent at least one part of the arm so as to form an angle of substantially 90 .

Preferably, a trigger is provided on the sofa, preferably being adapted to release the rotation mechanism from a substantially locked configuration. Preferably, the trigger comprises a handle. Preferably, the trigger is located on a front face of the sofa, preferably on the at least one support block. Preferably, the trigger is operable to lock the rotation mechanism in the first position and/or the second position.

Advantageously, a user can readily access and grip the handle to operate the trigger. This is a particular advantage for the less able bodied user who is able to release the rotation mechanism using only one hand.

Preferably, the inner face is adapted to form a head rest portion for the sofa. The inner face may comprise a glass insert, being adapted to form a coffee table. The inner face may comprise plastics material, or wooden materials, or metal materials. The inner face may comprise a leather material. The insert may be removable and interchangeable.

Preferably, at least one cushion is provided on the sofa.

Preferably, the cushion is removably attached to the sofa, preferably by a zip fastening or a Velcro fastening.

Preferably, when the arm is in the second position, the cushion is movable to cover said arm, preferably the inner face of said arm. Preferably, in this configuration, the cushion is adapted to be removably fixed to the sofa.

All of the features described herein may be combined with any of the above aspects, in any combination.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a sofa bed according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a schematic front view of a sofa bed according to the invention; Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of a sofa bed according to the invention; Figure 4 shows a schematic front view of a sofa bed according to the invention; Figures 5a and 5b show a schematic perspective view of a sofa bed in a first configuration and a second configuration respectively; Figure 6 shows a schematic perspective view of a sofa bed according to the invention; Figure 7 shows a schematic perspective view of a sofa bed is according to the invention; and Figure 8 shows a schematic front view of a sofa bed according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a sofa bed 2 according to the present invention. The sofa bed 2 comprises a back portion 4, a seat portion 6 and a pair of side arms 8. A front panel extends along the front of the sofa bed 2 adjacent the seat portion 6. Support blocks 12 are provided at either corner of the front panel 10 and are fixed to corresponding side arms 8 to form a one piece unit. Legs 14 are provided on the support blocks 12 to raise the sofa bed 2 from the floor. A trigger 16 is located in at least one of the support blocks 12, as will be described in more detail below.

Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the side arms 8 and the support blocks 12 in more detail. In particular, each side arm 8 is fixedly attached to each support block 12 by a rotation mechanism 18. The rotation mechanism 18 is located centrally of each support block 12 and attaches to a central portion of the corresponding side arm 8. It can be seen in Figure 2 that both the support blocks 12 and the side arms 8 comprise at least one angle of substantially 450 as indicated by the symbol a.

The rotation mechanism 18 is shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The rotation mechanism 18 comprises the trigger 16 which is operable to lock the rotation mechanism 18 in a fixed configuration. The rotation mechanism 18 comprises a motor 20, a first rotating part 22, a second rotating part 24, and an axle 26. The first rotating part 22 is fixedly attached to the support block 12, and the second rotating part 24 is fixedly attached to the side arm 8, in such a manner as to allow the rotating axel 26 to rotate freely between said parts 22 to 24. In this arrangement, the side arm 8 can be rotated through substantially 360 about the axel 26.

Each support block 12 is mounted to the frame of the sofa bed 2 by a plurality of bolts 28 as shown in Figure 3.

Four bolts are provided in the arrangement shown in Figure 3. A central aperture 30 is located in a side wall 32 of the sofa bed 2 to provide through access for wires and cabling.

Figures 5a and Sb show the side arm 8 in a rotation about the axel 26. Particularly, in use, a user unlocks the trigger 16, simply by bending down and releasing a handle on the trigger 16. The trigger 16 frees the rotation mechanism 18 to allow the user to rotate the side arm 8.

The side arm 8 is able to rotate substantially 3600 about the axel 26. Due to the angled configuration of the side arm 8 and the support block 12, the side arm 8 rotates without being damaged by the support block 12. As can be seen in Figure 5b, in the second position, the side arm 8 is rotated in a clockwise direction until an inner face 34 of the arm lies substantially co-planar with the seat portion 6 of the sofa bed 2. In this configuration, the rotation mechanism 18 is in a locked position. It would be understood by the reader that the side arm 8 can equally rotate in an anticlockwise direction.

As shown in Figure 6, a padding or cushion 36 may be provided on the sofa bed 2. When the sofa bed 2 is being used as a sofa, the cushion 36 provides extra comfort and support to the user. When the sofa bed 2 is used as a bed, the cushion 36 can be readily unzipped or unclipped from its given position and brought across the inner face 34 of the side arm 8 to be fixed to the seat portion 6.

In this manner, the cushion 36 may also act as a pillow for the user. The cushion or pillow 36 can be attached to the sofa bed 2 by any suitable fastening, for example, a zip fastening or Velcro fastening.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 7. The sofa bed 100 comprises a back portion 104, a seat portion 106, and side arms 108. An insert 140 is provided in the inner face 134 of one of the side arms 108. In this arrangement, the insert comprises glass.

The user can choose to either use the sofa bed 104 as a sofa with a glass topped coffee table, or alternatively the sofa bed 104 can be used as a bed wherein both side arms 108 are rotated to lie substantially co-planar with the seat portion 106. A cushion 136 (not shown) may be provided, particularly over the glass insert 140, or may be provided over the side arms 108 so as to cover the glass insert 140.

It will be appreciated that the insert 140 may be manufactured from any suitable material, depending on the user's requirements. For example, the insert 140 may comprise stainless steel, or wooden materials or Formica .

Advantageously, when the side arms 108 are in the upright position, the insert 140 is visible to the user. This is aesthetically appealing to the user, particularly when metallic materials are used to compliment contemporary living and design.

Figure 8 shows the sofa bed 2 in an extended configuration. it can be seen that when both side arms 8 are rotated such that said side arms 8 lie substantially co-planar with the seat portion 6, a platform is provided on which a user can sleep. In this arrangement, advantageously, the sofa bed does not extend into the living room space and therefore conversion into a bed can be undertaken without a user having to re-arrange furniture around sofa bed 2.

Advantageously, the sofa bed 2, 100 adjusts along its length, rather than pulling Out into the body of a room, providing single sleeping accommodation with minimal loss of floor space. The sofa bed 2, 100 quickly and easily converts into a bed by a user pulling the trigger 16 to release the rotation mechanism 18 which allows each side arm 8 to be rotated into a substantially flat configuration. It will be appreciated that the seat portion 6, 106 may be wider than a conventional sofa seat so as to provide further sleeping capacity for a user.

Other modifications of the sofa bed 2, 100 will be apparent to the reader. For example, the legs 14 may alternatively be castors, and/or castors and a valance, or a number of feet. Further, it will also be understood that, although a double-seater arrangement is shown in the figures, the invention is equally suitable for a single seat armchair, or a sofa having seats of increased depth so as to provide a sleeping area of a double bed.

Although the invention is directed to a sofa bed, it will be understood by the reader that the invention equally provides a sofa having additional seating capability. For example, when the arms of a single seat armchair are folded outwardly to lie coplanar with the seat, the armchair is transformed into a three seater sofa.

Similarly, when a two seater sofa is converted, the arrangement then provides seating space for four people.

Advantageously, due to the easy trigger release for the rotation mechanism, less able-bodied people can readily operate and convert the sofa into a sofa bed. Further advantageously, due to the configuration of the rotation mechanism, if repair is necessary, the said mechanism can be readily unscrewed from the frame of the sofa bed and repaired, without the need for the whole sofa bed being moved. In so doing, the likelihood of the sofa bed being damaged is reduced. Furthermore, due to the one piece unit of the side arm, support block and rotation mechanism, the unit can easily be replaced if damaged, without having to replace the entire sofa bed.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features

disclosed in this specification (including any

accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims (15)

CLAI MS

1. A sofa having a back portion, a seat portion, at least one rrioveable arm, and a rotation mechanism, wherein said arm is adapted to be rotated from a first position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially upright with respect to the seat portion, to a second position in which an inner face of said arm is substantially parallel with the seat portion.

2. A sofa as claimed in the claim 1, wherein, in the second position, the inner face is substantially coplanar with the seat portion.

3. A sofa as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein the rotation mechanism comprises a first rotating portion and a second rotating portion, and preferably an axle.

4. A sofa as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first rotating portion is fixedly attached to a support block.

5. A sofa as claimed in claims 3 or 4, wherein the second rotating portion is fixedly attached to the arm of the sofa.

6. A sofa as claimed in claims 3 to 5, wherein the first and second rotating portions are located centrally of the support block and the arm respectively.

7. A sofa as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the arm and the support block are so linked as to form a one piece unit.

8. A sofa as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm is rotatable about the axle by substantially 3600.

9. A sofa as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein a plane is defined where the arm and the support block abut one another.

10. A sofa as claimed in claim 9, wherein said plane is inclined to the horizontal, at an angle of about 400 to 500.

11. A sofa as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a trigger is provided on the sofa being adapted to release the rotation mechanism from a substantially locked configuration.

12. A sofa as claimed in claim 11, wherein the trigger is located on a front face of the sofa.

13. A sofa as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inner face is adapted to form a head rest portion for the sofa.

14. A sofa as claimed in any one claims 1 to 12, wherein the inner face comprises a glass insert.

15. A sofa substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.