US3218037A

US3218037A - Portable bed

Info

Publication number: US3218037A
Application number: US237111A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mark H Corley
Original assignee: Miller Wrapping and Sealing Machine Co
Current assignee: Miller Wrapping and Sealing Machine Co
Priority date: 1962-11-13
Filing date: 1962-11-13
Publication date: 1965-11-16
Anticipated expiration: 1982-11-16

Description

Nov. 16, 1965 M. H. CORLEY PORTABLE BED Fi'led Nov. 13, 1962 INVENTOR MARK H. CORLEY 3,218,037 PGRTABLE BED Mark H. Corley, Park Ridge, Ill. Miller Wrapping & Sealing Machine Co., 18 S. Clinton St, Chicago, Ill.) Filed Nov. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 237,111 1 Claim. Cl. 256-25) This invention relates to portable beds and more particularly to a stackable, collapsible portable bed for babies or small pets of all types which is adjustable and variable in size and provides a draft-free shelter for the occupant.

It is desirable in a portable bed to provide a shelter which will easily fit in a corner or other area, and completely eliminate drafts thus protecting the occupant. Further, by having the portable bed readily collapsible it may be folded for ease in storing, and be easily portable for moving to different rooms of a home or transporting by automobile. The bed may also be made of nestable parts to be compact and handy when not in use. In addition, the portable bed may also have expandable sides so that the size of the bed may be changed easily and without adding new parts thereto. A portable bed having the construction to be described is adaptable to receive a blanket over the entire structure. Thus, when the bed is used as a pet bed, this enables the pet to make a nest inside the bed, as some pets are prone to do. Also, the pet bed calms the animal by associating him with familiar sights and odors. The bed may also be used as a baby crib or pen which is convenient to use in retaining the baby in a particular area and in keeping the baby from rolling off of a couch, chair or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved portable bed of the type described above.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable bed which is easily collapsible for storage and carrying.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable bed which includes expandable sides thereon so that the bed may be made smaller or larger depending upon the size of the occupant, and further including means for maintaining the bed in the predetermined size.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable bed which may be used for sheltering a baby away from home or as a substitute for a babys usual bed.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable bed which is economical to manufacture, simple to set up, yet etficient in use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved portable bed including sides which stack or nest together into a small space for storage.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the portable bed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a corner of the portable bed of FIG. 1 being assembled;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one side of the portable bed of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a plurality of the sides of FIG. 3 being placed in their nestable storage position;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the portable bed with the portions of the covering sleeve broken away to more clearly show the hinge means;

FIG. 6 is a detail drawing showing the side expansion means of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged elevational view of a hinge shown in FIG. 5 as at A with the front of the covering sleeve removed;

nited States Patent ice FIG. 8 is an enlarged elevational view of a second hinge shown in FIG. 5 as at B with the front of the covering sleeve removed; and

FIG. 9 is a view showing the embodiment of FIG. 5 in its collapsible stacked storage position with the entire covering sleeve removed to more clearly show details.

While illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and will be described in detail herein, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many forms and it should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates one form of a portable bed 10 which is composed of a plurality of sides 12, fastened together at their end portions to form a geometric figure, the individual sides being best shown in FIG. 3. Although the preferred embodiment is shown as having four such sides, it is obvious that any plurality of sides could be used thereby forming a bed of the size required, as large or as small as necessary.

All the sides 12 are substantially identical and it will only be necessary to describe one such side 12 in detail. The side includes a peripheral channel portion as at 14 and a fiat flange 16 at one end of the side. Positioned in the flange 16 are

slots

18 and 20. Tabs 22 and 24 are positioned at the opposed end of side 12, these tabs including a downwardly depending portion 23 and a latching stop 22 and 24 respectively. Further included on side 12 are strengthening folds 26 as are well known in the art.

In operation, the tabs 22 and 24 are positioned respectively in

slots

18 and 20 of another similar side 12. The

slots

18 and 20 are just long enough to receive the tabs. The tabs are then moved downwardly placing tab portions 23 of one side 12 into contact with flange 16 of the adjoining side 12 and portions 22' and 24 of the tabs are positioned at the bottom of the slots at 18 and 20 respectively. This so positions the two sides 12 so that the top and bottom edges thereof of each side are adjacent one another and in the same horizontal plane. This forms a sturdy corner which cannot be unfastened by the occupant during use of the portable bed 10, yet gives an easily detachable corner so that the portable bed may be disassembled for carrying and storing. The bed itself is formed of a plurality of these sides 12 fastened together at their ends as described above to produce an enclosed shelter as shown in FIG. 1. It is then possible to line the shelter with a blanket or similar material allowing the pet to make a nest inside the bed as described hereinabove.

As best shown in FIG. 4 the sides 12 of the portable bed 10 are nestable by placing the peripheral channel portions 14 inside one another. This is possible as the walls 14 of the channel portions 14 are tapered thereby permitting the bottom of the channel portion 14 to easily fit into the top of channel portion 14 of the various sides 12. When these sides 12 are stacked together, a compact package is formed, the total height of the stack being less than the sum of the thicknesses of the individual sides 12. This provides for easy storage when the bed is not in use, and also makes the bed easily portable from room to room, or for carrying in an automobile.

A second embodiment of the portable bed 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 59 as at 10'. This form of bed comprises a one-piece foldable bed including a plurality of expandable sides or panels 30 which are made up of

rods

32, 33, 34 and 35 generally connected together by extension tubes 37 and having the end portions of the rods supan) ported for pivotal movement by

hinges

35 and 38. Generally the portable bed includes three Smaller hinges 36 best shown in FIG. 7 and designated A in FIG. 5, and a larger hinge shown in FIG. 8 and designated B in FIG. 5. The

rods

32, 33, 3 and 35 are bent at a 90 angle at a distance approximately half the height of the

hinges

36 and 38 from the ends 49 of the rods as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Further, the rods include a projection 39 near the opposite ends and flared ends as at at), the purpose of which will be described hereinafter. All the

rods

32, 33, 34 and 35 are similar to one another. The body portions of the rod as at 32a are inserted into the extension tube 37, the tube having approximately the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the rod 32. The expansion tubes 37 are swaged inwardly at the ends thereof as shown at 43 to prevent the rods from separating from the extension tubes 37 when the sides are placed in their expanded position by engaging the projection 39. The projections 39, near the ends of the rod, are set back a slight distance from the ends and when the projections strike the swaged ends of tube 37, a portion of the rods including flared ends 40 will remain inside the expansion tube 37. Also, the ends 46' of the rods are notched and sli htly expanded to cause frictional engagement between the tube 3'7 and the ends of the rod 40. This construction gives a rigid yet easily expandable structure and one which will retain its adjusted position.

The three hinges 36 are similar to each other and consists of a hollow, slightly oval tube open at both ends. Hinge 33 is similar to hinge 36 but as shown in FIG. 9 this hinge has a greater width to maintain greater distance horizontally between bent end portions of the rod. To assemble the portable bed, the ends 40 of rods 32 and 34are placed in a hinge 36, an extension tube 37 is placed over each of the ends 443' of rods 32 and 34, the widened ends 40 of

rods

33 and 35 are placed into the opposite ends of extension tubes 37 and the ends 40 of

rods

33 and 35 are placed into another hinge 36. This forms a rectangular structure having an expandable length and width by reason of the sliding of the ends 48' of

rods

32, 33, 34 and 35 within extension tubes 37. The ends of extension tube 37 are then slightly closed as mentioned hereinabove to prevent removal of the rods therefrom by reason of projection 39; The sides of the portable bed are each constructed in similar manner and attached together as by

hinges

36 and 33.

A sleeve 42 composed of plastic or other material is then placed around the rod structure enclosing the vertical area between the rods, thus substantially eliminating drafts from entering the bed. This form of bed ll? may similarly be used with a blanket to give additional warmth and provide an enclosure for the making of a nest as some animals are prone to do. The blanket further adds rigidity to the portable bed by helping to hold the sides in place.

The bed 19' is foldable into a storage position as shown in FIG. 9, by moving corner A into corner B and then folding the corners A, A toward one another. This will cause the four sides to rest adjacent one another by folding into a stack approximately the size of one side and "raving a height equal to the Width of the wider hinge B.

I claim:

A readily assembled'and disassembled portable bed for a pet or the like comprising: four similar generally rectangular panels, each of said panels being provided with a substantially windproof cover such as plastic or the like extending from end to end of the panel, means for swingably securing each such end to the end of an adjacent panel to permit assembly of the panels into an enclosure having four generally vertically upstanding covered side walls, said securing means including a plurality of tabs on one end of each panel and an equal plurality of slots on the other end of each panel, the tabs and slots extending outwardly of each panel generally in the plane of the inner surface thereof, the tabs of one panel being engageable with the slots of the adjacent panel, said securing means being readily disconnectible whereby said panels may be placed one upon the other to provide a disassembled structure having a length and width substantially equal to the len th and width of one of said panels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 485,081 19/1892 Baird 599.1 2,491,036 12/1949 Dodge 599.l 2,569,937 10/1951 Lindgren 599.31 2,667,647 2/1954 Reggiani 5-95 2,697,843 12/1954 Sltrrnetti 599.2 2,924,830 2/1960 De Long 58 2,994,402 8/1961 Tyler 182-152 FOREIGN PATENTS 82,328 11/1956 Denmark.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner.