US2779950A

US2779950A - Hinges-attached anti-puckering device for the upholstery of sofa beds and the like

Info

Publication number: US2779950A
Application number: US332902A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paige W Ake; John T Lester
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-01-23
Filing date: 1953-01-23
Publication date: 1957-02-05
Anticipated expiration: 1974-02-05

Description

Feb. 5, 1957 Filed Jan. 25,

P. w. AKE ETAL 2,779,950 HINGES-ATTACHED ANTI-PUCKEJRING DEVICE FOR THE UPHOLSTERY OF SOFA BEDS AND THE LIKE 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. Pulge W. Ake

' y John I Lester Feb. 5, 1957 UPHO S Filed Jan. 23. 1953 ERY P. w. AKE ET AL 2,779,950 HINGES-ATTACHED -PUCKERING DEVICE FOR THE .A BEDS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. Paige W. Ake

y John T. Lester HllNGES-ATTACHED ANT I-PUCKERING DEVICE FOR THE UPHOLSTERY OF SOFA BEDS AND THE LIKE Paige W. Ake and John T. Lester, Tampa, Fla.

Application January 23, 1953, Serial No. 332,902

7 Claims. (Cl. -57) This invention relates to anti-puckering devices for the upholstery of articles of furniture such as convertible beds and chairs having reverting backs as, for example, sofa beds.

Manufacturers of sofa beds and the like are faced with the problem that, when the article of furniture, as a sofa bed, is in the back-lowered or bed position, there is a longitudinally-extending depression in the upholstery at or near the center, at the juncture of the confronting sides of the back and seat and, when the article isconverted to, for example, a sofa, the upholstering material has an undesirable tendency to pucker and bunch outwardly at this juncture.

An important object of the invention is to provide attachments largely associated directly with the hinges of the article of furniture and with the upholstery of the article of furniture to cause the slack in the upholsteryto be taken inwhen the article is in a raised-back position and the slack to be let out when the article is in a loweredback position. This obviates bunching or puckering and the formation of the depression mentioned.

Another important object is to provide such an attachment which is simple in construction and assembly and does not add anything to the overall depth of the hinge structure. This permits use of the new attachment in combination with the hinge without reconstructing or reassociating the parts of the frame of the article of furniture.

A further important object is to provide the new attachment which, in operation, requires no direct manual manipulation, since normal movements of the hinge portions cause operation of the attachment.

In addition, an important object is to provide an attachment as described which is operatively attached to the hinges by making only very minor alterations to the hinges.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming portions of this disclo sure, and in which drawings:

Fig. l is an elevation of one face of a hinge and the new antipuckering attachment associated therewith, with the parts in positions assumed when the article of furniture, shown in vertical section, is in a raised-back position.

Fig. 2 is a like view but with the parts in positions assumed when the article of furniture is in a lowered-back position.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the other face of the hinge and attachment, showing the positions of parts when the article of furniture, in elevation, is in a lowered-back position.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the major elements of the antipuckering attachment.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sections substantially on their respective lines of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of a portion of operative connection means between the operating hinge of Fig. 1 and the upholstery of the article of furniture.

te States Patent 0 In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A designates an article of furniture; B, an operating hinge structure associated therewith; and C, the new antipuckering attachment.

The article of furniture A is shown as a reverting-back sofa bed, having a main frame It? with a pair of horizontally-disposed side frame members 11, a seat frame 12, including a pair of side seat frame members 13 sup porting a seat structure 14 including padding 15. The article of furniture is also shown to include a back frame 16 having a pair of side back frame members 17 supporting a back structure l8 including padding 19, with the padding l5 and 19 covered by flexible upholstery 20 which bridges the space 21 between the inner end of the seat structure and the lower end of the back structures and is, as is well known in the art, secured at its outer ends to the seat and back structures.

Briefly the operating hinge B for manual raising and lowering of the back structure of the article A, is of conventional construction and includes a main supporting bracket 39, for and secured to each side frame member 11 and this bracket pivotally supports upwardly-extending front and

rear arms

31 and 32 respectively. The upper end portions of the

arms

31 and 32 are pivoted to a relatively broad back bracket 33 (two of which brackets 33 are secured to the side back frame members 17) at spaced apart locations on the bracket 33, with the pivot member 34- for the arm 31 and bracket 33 also providing a pivot for an upwardly-extending seat bracket 35, two of which are secured to the seat side frame members 13/. An upwardly-extending transfer pawl structure 35 is pivoted at the lower end portion thereof to the back bracket 33 and this pawl structure 36 is fully described in U. S. Patent No. 2,437,949, dated March 16, 194810 Martin Fox et al. for a Sofa Bed Hinge Structure. The pawl structure 36 is selectively associated. with either one of two keepers 37 and 38 secured to the side back bracket. 33. A projection or abutment 39 is provided, projecting outwardly from the outer face of the bracket 30 and disposed in the path of travel of the front arm 31. The relative positions of the portions of the hinge B when the back of the article of furniture A is raised are shown in Fig. l and the altered positions when the back is lowered are disclosed in Figs. 2 and 3. Of course, two hinges are employed with each article of furniture A.

There are two major movements of the parts of the article of furniture A. First, the seat structure and frame are raised and then, the lower ends of the back and seat frames move forward and the back structure lowers.

Referring now particularly to 4,. the new antipuckering attachment C, insofar as it is associated directly with the hinge B is concerned, includes an elongated arm or link member 49 which may be a rigid substantially straight metallic strap or body, provided with a pivotaccommodating opening 41 preferably adjacent one end portion and a pivotaccommodating longitudinally extending slot 42 extending from adjacent the other end portion. Additionally, the attachment C includes a bracket member 43 preferably comprising a rigid metallic, preferably rectangular, plate or body, preferably substantially flat as to its major portion, but one corner portion 44 is formed into an abutment fashioned by providing a slit or opening 45 in the member 43 paralleling one end edge 46 thereof and bending the material of the member 43 to provide the abutment for a purpose later detailed. The bent or corner portion 4 1 preferably extends normal to the rest of the member 43, and is provided with a suitable number of fastener-accommodating openings 47. Adjacent the two corners farthest from the corner portion 44 are two spaced-apart pivot-accommodating

openings

48 and 49 respectively.

Means to pivotally mount the

members

49 and 43 to the hinge B, preferably includes bolts t and 51 extending through

suitable openings

52 and 53 respectively in the back bracket 33 and seat bracket respectively with the shanks thereofsecured to the bodies of the brackets as by welding. The shanks of the bolts and 531 are in substantial parallelism and extend from faces of the

brackets

33 and 35 which face inwardly when the hinges B are in use. Surroundim a portion of each bolt shank are

sleeves

54 and 55 respectively, upon the outermost ends of which the

members

46 and 43 rest, with

suitable washers

56 and 57 provided, as well as nuts and 5? to cooperate with the screw threads of the bolt shanks in order to detachahly and pivotally secure the

members

46 and 43 in place, since one shank extends through the opening 41 and the other through the opening 49. In addition the

members

49 and 43 are pivotally and slidably secured together by means of a pivot pin which may be a rivet as with the shank thereof extending through the slot 42 and opening 48. A washer 61 may be mounted upon the rivet shank between the adjacent portions'of the members. Obviously, a separate attachment C, as herebefore described is employed with each hinge B.

' Operative connection means between the attachment to the hinge B and the upholstery of the article of furniture A comprises a suitable elongated member 65 which may be a wooden bar extending from one bracket member 43 to the other bracket member 43, across the back of the seat structure 14. Attaching means such as screws 66 may be provided, with their shanks extending through the end portions of the member 65 where the latter abuts the corner portions 44-. To this member 65 may be secured, in any approved way, as by nails 67, for example, a section 6& of flexible material. This may be cloth, plastic, or leather and preferably extends substantially the length of the member 65 and then upwardly to the portion of the upholstery 26) to which the upper end portion may be secured such as by stitching 5). The shortest distance from the attachment of the section 68 to the upholstery 2b to the attachment of the section 68 to the member 65 is such that when the parts of the article of furniture A, hinges B and attachment C are in their positions as in Fig. 1, this section 68 will be taut so that there will not be a bulge in the upholstery, but the section 68 will be limp when the parts are positioned as in Fig. 2, whereby the upholstery will not be drawn r downwardly in the space 21 to form a hollow.

Movements of the member 65 transversely of its longitudinal axis are caused by pivotal and sliding movements of the link member at? and pivotal movements of the bracket member 43, from their respective positions in Fig. 1 to those in Fig. 2. The position of the pivot with respect to the outer end of the slot opening 42 and the positions of the parts of the hinge B, retains the flexible section 68 taut when the back structure is up. However, when the pivot on is moved along the slot opening 42 toward the inner end of the opening, the member moves upwardly, thus creating slack in the section 68.

The transition of the member 65, from its position in Fig. 2 to its position in Fig. 1, is gradual so that there is no abrupt stretching of the section 65 which might tend to tear it or the upholstery 20, or tear the section 68 loose from the upholstery or member es.

With the anti-puckering attachment C directly secured to the hinges B, there are positive movements of the attachment C, synchronized with those of the hinges B, and the movements of the back and seat structures are synchronized with those of the hinges.

Various changes may be made to the form of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sofa bed, reverting back chair or the like, including a main frame structure having side frame members, a back and a seat and upholstery extending over the seat and back and over the space between the seat and back; frames for the seat and back, each frame including a pair of side frame members, two operating hinges for said seat and back, each including a back hinge bracket and a seat hinge bracket pivotally connected together, with the back hinge brackets rigidly secured to the I side frame members of the back and the seat hinge brackets rigidly secured to the side frame members of the seat; means pivotally supporting the back hinge brackets to the side frame members of the main frame structure; a section of flexible material secured to and depending from the underside of said upholstery at said space; an elongated rigid member secured to the lower end portion of said flexible material; two anti-puckering attachments for said hinges and elongated member, each including an elongated link member having a slot at one end portion thereof, means pivotally connecting the other end portion of said link member to said back hinge bracket, a bracket member for each operating hinge, first pivot means pivotally connecting a bracket member to a seat hinge bracket, second pivot means pivotally and slidahly connecting said link member at said slot to said bracket member at a location remote from the first pivot means, and means rigidly connecting the bracket members to the ends of said elongated rigid member at locations remote from the first and second pivot means; said flexible material being taut when said back is in a raised position and slack when said back is in a lowered position.

2. The combination according to claim 1, characterized in that the pivotal connections of said link members to said bracket members are above the respective connections of said bracket members to said seat hinge brackets.

33. The combination according to claim 1, characterized in that the pivotal connections of said link members to said bracket members are above the respective connections of said bracket members to said seat hinge brackets and remote from the pivotal connections of said back hinge brackets to said seat hinge brackets.

4. The combination according to claim 1, characterized in that said bracket members are a of plates each provided with a major portion and an abutment portion for an end of said elongated rigid member, said abutment portion being disposed normal to the major portion.

5. The combination according to claim l, characterized in that said bracket members are a pair of plates each provided with a major portion and an abutment portion for an end of said elongated rigid member, said abutment portion being disposed normal to the major portion, the last named means extending through said abutment portion and into said elongated member.

6. The combination according to claim 1, characterized in that said bracket are a pair of rectangular plates, the pivotal connections of the bracket members to the seat hinge brackets are adjacent one of the corners of the bracket members, the pivotal and sliding connection of the link members to the bracket members are adjacent each of the corners of said bracket members nearest the pivotal connections of said bracket members to the seat hinge brackets, and the means rigidly conne ing the bracket members to the elongated rigid members is remote from the-two last-named pivotal connections.

7. A sofa-bed having a seat frame and a h hinge plates mounted on said scat frame 0 thereof and hinge plates mounted on said ham opposite ends thereof, the hinge plates at each pivotally connected together for relative mov=m t about an axis between seat and bed positions, re alching means for maintaining said connected hinge plates in seat position, cushion means mounted on said. frames, said cushion means having a juncture line defining the separation between seat and back portions of said sofa-bed when frame,

in sofa position, brackets pivotally mounted on the hinge plates of one of said frames, a tacking strip carried by said brackets and extending parallel to said axis, and a pull strip connecting the juncture line of said cushion means to said tacking strip, manipulating arms on the 5 hinge plates of the other of said frames, each of said arms engaging with the corresponding bracket for manipulating said brackets to move said tacking strip in a direction away from said juncture line to tension said pull strip upon movement of said back and seat frames from bed 10 to sofa position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bell Apr. 7, 1942 Young Nov. 23, 1943 Fox et a1 Mar. 16, 1948 Poskin Apr. 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Sept. 11, 1939 Switzerland Jan. 31, 1934 Great Britain Aug. 23, 1923