US3210780A - Metal bedrail with bed lock - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 12, 1965 E. F. HOOKER METAL BEDRAIL WITH BED LOCK Filed Dec. 10, 1963 Ema/son F. Hooker INVENTOR. 05k".

United States Patent 3,210,780 METAL BEDRAIL WITH BED LOCK Emerson F. Hooker, Lexington, N.C. Metal Bed Rail Co. Inc., P.0. Box 866, Lexington, N.C.) Filed Dec. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 329,459 3 Claims. (Cl. -286) This invention comprises a novel and useful metal bedrail with bed lock and more particularly pertains to a bedrail bed lock constituting an improvement over my prior Patent No. 2,947,999, of August 9, 1960.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a bedrail assembly including a bedrail and a bed lock which shall provide a neat, attractive and exceedingly sturdy construction for joining the bedrails to the end posts of a bed.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide a bedrail assembly containing the same number and similar components to that of my abovementioned patent and which will establish a more compact fitting engagement of the components with each other in the assembly.

In my prior patent there is disclosed an exceedingly sturdy and satisfactory all metal construction of a metal bedrail assembly having a shouldered bed lock therein by which a detachable and secure engagement is established betwen the bedrails and the end posts of the bed. However, the construction of the end plate and the bed hook components thereof did not permit, in all instances, the establishing of a compact snug-fitting engagement of these components in the assembly. It is therefore a very important purpose of this invention to overcome the above-mentioned difliculties encountered in the construction of my prior patent and to provide an end plate and bed hook arrangement which will, at all times, enable the obtaining of a snug compact engagement of these elements with each other and with the end of a bedrail.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an end portion of a bedrail showing a bedrail locking assembly including an end plate and a bed hook secured thereto in accordance with this invention, certain concealed parts being shown in dotted lines therein;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bedrail, the bed hook assembly in separated relation;

FIGURE 3 is a view in vertical transverse section taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 33 in FIGURE 1 and showing the relationship of the components of the bedrail assembly in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view in horizontal section taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of FIGURE 1 and showing further details of the disposition of the bed hook and the end plate members of the assembly; and,

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the bed lock assembly and in particular of the bed hook and the end plate components thereof.

The metal bedrail assembly with which the present invention is concerned includes as its components a onepiece metal bedrail indicated generally by the numeral 10, together with a bed hook assembly consisting of an end plate component 12 and a bed hook component 14. These three elements are assembled together to form a bed lock assembly, there being one such assembly at each end of the bedrail whereby the latter may be detachably 3,210,780 Patented Oct. 12, 1965 connected to a bedpost in a conventional well understood manner.

The metal bedrail 10, as previously mentioned, is of one-piece construction consisting of a single metal sheet having a longitudinally and vertically extending flat Web portion 16 provided with tubular beads 18 and 20 at the top and bottom thereof to form upper and lower tubular beads. Each tubular bead is preferably formed by folding a marginal portion of the web 16 perpendicular to itself to provide a horizontal flange 22, the latter being again folded downwardly to provide a vertical flange as at 24 which is parallel to the web, and then again folded toprovide an inner flange 26 which is parallel to the horizontal flange 22. The extremity of the folded portion is then shaped to form a flat planar flat terminal flange 28 which is disposed in side-by-side relation to and engages the face of the web 16. Both the upper and lower tubular webs 18 and 20 are disposed on what may be termed the inner vertical face of the bedrail 10 in a parallel relationship to each other, these tubular beads being open at their opposite extremities. At appropriate positions along their lengths, the flanges 28 are spotwelded or otherwise fixedly secured to the web 16 to thus provide a secure and sturdy bedrail.

The end plate component 12 comprises a one-piece bracket-like member consisting of a fiat end plate 30 which is integrally connected to a perpendicularly extending flat side plate 32 by means of a diammetrically reduced neck portion 34 connecting these elements together at one side thereof as will be best apparent from FIGURE 5.

The end .plate component 12 may be readily fabricated as from a single planar sheet metal blank, it being cut to shape as by the use of dies or the like. In its formation, there is produced upper and lower slots or recesses 36 and 38 which are of identical construction. The inner ends of the slots 36 and 38 are laterally recessed or notched as at 40 and 42 into the end plate 30 and the neck portion 34 lying between the inward extremities of the two slots 36 and 38 is then folded at right angles upon itself along the line indicated at 44 in FIGURE 5 which is disposed laterally inwardly of the side edge of the end plate 30. Finally, the end plate 30 is provided with a vertically extending slit 46 through which the bed hook component 14 extends as set forth hereinafter.

The bed hook component itself consists of a plate-like head 50 from which extends a shank 52 connected thereto by an angula-rly disposed connecting portion 54. The usual upper and lower hook notches 56 and 58 are pro vided in the head member for the customary purpose of detachably connecting the bedrail to which the head memher is attached to corresponding seats or sockets in a bedpost. Inasmuch as this construction is of conventional and known design and forms no part of the present invention, a further description thereof is deemed to be unnecessary.

Immediately rearwardly of the hook portions 56 and 58, the head 50 is provided with vertically extending notched shoulders :60 and '62, and from these notched shoulders the head has rearwardly convergent inclined top and bottom edges as at 64 and 66 respectively. These edges merge into the connecting portion 54 which is of substantially the same vertical extent as that of the shank 52. The shank 52 is in parallel relation to the planar surface of the head 50 so as to be offset therefrom for a purpose to be subsequently apparent.

The assembly of the three components into a metal bedrail assembly is as follows. Referring first to FIGURE 2 it will be observed that the shank 52 of the bed hook 14 is inserted through the slit 46 of the end plate 30 of the end plate component 12 until the notched shoulders 60 and 62 abut against the planar surface of the end plate 36. This is the position shown in FIGURE 2. At this time, as will be apparent from FIGURE 4, the head 50 is disposed in laterally spaced parallel relation to the web 16 of the bedrail while owing to the angular connecting portion 54, the shank 52 is now disposed in a face-to-face contact with the side plate 32 of the end plate component 12 and is welded thereto as shown at 70 in FIGURE 4. The components 12 and 14 are now in the assembled relation shown in FIGURE 2. The vertical extent of the side plate 32 is sufliciently greater than the vertical extent of the flanges 28 so that as shown in FIGURE 3 this plate may be slid between the flanges 28 and the web 16. However, the vertical extent of the shank 52 is less than the space between the flanges 28 so that this shank may be received therebetween in spaced relation thereto as shown in FIGURE 3.

It should be here noted that the shape and contour of the end plate 30 is such that it is coextensive with the end of the bedrail and thus forms a complete and snug closure for that end as shown in FIGURE 1.

As so far described, the arrangement is substantially identical with that of my above-mentioned previous patent except for the construction of the end plate component 12.

By way of comparison, it will be noted from FIGURE 3 of my prior patent that the end plate component thereof has its side plate 50 perpendicular to its end plate 46 Without the provision of any slot or recess disposed transversely thereof. Consequently, in deforming a blank to provide the perpendicular disposition of the end and side plates 46 and 50 of my prior patent, there necessarily resulted an inwardly projecting rounded surface at the line of bending of the blank to form the two plates. When the side plate was then forced underneath the flanges of the tubular beads of the bedrail, the ends of these flanges would strike this rounded surface at the junction of the side and end plates thereby preventing a perfect and smooth engagement of the end face of the tubular beads with the end plate itself.

This condition is completely overcome by the novel end plate component construction of the present invention. Owing to the notches 36 and 38, when the side plate 32 is forced into the bedrail underneath the flanges 28, the end of the web 16 and the adjacent flanged portions 28, 26 of the tubular beads can move through these notches into direct face-to-face contact with the end plate 30. For this purpose, the notches 36 and 38 are extended inwardly of the side plate a distance which is greater than the inward limits of the flanges 28 so that there is no metallic junction between the end and side plates which could be engaged by the ends of the tubular beads. Thus there is provided by this clearance arrangement a perfect tit and endwise engagement of the tubular beads and the bedrail with the planar inner face of the end plate. The notches 40 and 42 enable the fold line 44 to be formed inwardly of the side edge of the end plate 30 so that the side plate 32 may lie against the inner surface of web 16 while the side edge of the end plate 30 engages the end edge of the web 16 along portions thereof above notch 40 and below notch 42 as shown best in FIGURES 1 and 4.

Suitable spot-welding, not shown, firmly secures the shank 52 to the side plate 32 and additional spot-welding secures the latter to the web and/or to the flanges 28.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous nodifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A metal bedrail assembly including a bedrail having an end edge disposed in a single plane and consisting of a horizontal-1y elongated flat vertically disposed web having its upper and lower edge portions turned inwardly and providing tubular open-ended top and bottom beads, said beads terminating in flat flanges extending towards each other and disposed in side-by-side engagement with said web, an end member secured to one end of said bedrail, said end member comprising integrally joined, end and side plates having mutually perpendicular plane surfaces, a bed hook mounted upon said end member and extending outwardly therefrom beyond said end plate, said end plate being secured to the associated end of said bedrail in engagement with the end edge of the web and closing said tubular beads, said side plate being in face-to-face cont-act with said web and having marginal portions disposed between said bead flanges and said web, said side plate at its junction with said end plate being transversely slotted at its top and bottom edges and providing cut-away portions through which said beads and flanges extend into direct engagement with said end plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end plate has a vertical slit therein, said bed hook having a head portion and a shank portion, said bed hook being received .in said slit and said shank portion being fixedly secured to said side plate, said head portion and said shank portion being spaced laterally from each other and joined by an angularly disposed connected portion, said shank portion lying between the adjacent edges of said flanges, said transverse slots in said side plate extending inwardly of the tubular beads and their flanges, said side and end plates being connected by a neck portion of reduced width, said neck portion being folded intermediate its junction with said side and end plates.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end plate is provided with a pair of vertically spaced notches extending laterally inwardly from the side edge thereof having the side plates connected thereto, said side and end plates being connected by a neck portion of reduced width which defines the inner limit of the transverse slots and the notches in the end plate, said neck portion being connected with the end plate along a fold line disposed laterally inwardly of the side edge of the end plate having the notches therein whereby the side edge port-ions of the end plate above and below the notches therein engage the end edge of the web of the bedrail above and below the notches, respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,771,616 11/56 Duncan 5-286 2,855,260 10/58 Reiss et a1. 312257 2,947,999 8/60 Hooker 5 286 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner,

Claims (1)

1. A METAL BEDRAIL ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A BEDRAIL HAVING AN END EDGE DISPOSED IN A SINGLE PLANE AND CONSISTING OF A HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED FLATE VERTICALLY DISPOSED WEB HAVING ITS UPPER AND LOWER EDGE PORTIONS TURNED INWARDLY AND PROVIDING TUBULAR OPEN-ENDED TOP AND BOTTOM BEADS, SAID BEADS TERMINATING IN FLAT FLANGES EXTENDING TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND DISPOSED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WEB, AND END MEMBER SECURED TO ONE END OF SAID BEDRAIL, SAID END MEMBER COMPRSIING INTEGRALLY JOINED, END AND SIDE PLATES HAVING MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR PLANE SURFACES, A BED HOOK MOUNTED UPON SAID END MEMBER AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM BEYOND SAID END PLATE, SAID END PLATE

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