US3535717A

US3535717A - Convertible furniture

Info

Publication number: US3535717A
Application number: US794079*A
Authority: US
Inventors: Anton John Alexander Mulder
Original assignee: MARITON Ltd
Current assignee: MARITON Ltd
Priority date: 1968-11-13
Filing date: 1969-01-27
Publication date: 1970-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 1987-10-27
Also published as: CA869753A

Description

Oct. 27, 1970 A. J. A. MULDER I 3,535,717

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Filed Jan. 27, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. ANTON J. A. MULDER Attorney Oct. 27, 1970 J, LD 3,535,717

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Filed Jan. 27, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. ANTON J. A. MULDER Attorney I Oct. 27, 1970 J. A. MULDER 3,53

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Filed Jan. 27, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 74 lu llllll IIL 116 B luuilil U| I 7 78 I INVENI'OR. ANTON J. A. MULDER W W W Attorney United States Patent 3,535,717 CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Anton John Alexander Mulder, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, assignor t0 Mariton Limited Filed Jan. 27, 1969, Ser. No. 794,079 Int. Cl. A47d 7/00, 9/00 U.S. Cl. -93 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rectangular cot has a base with apertures to receive legs which support the cot by flanges; the legs are withdrawable to convert the cot to a playpen and this in turn may be dismantled to provide a bed formed of opposed sides placed end to end on the floor, each side having a transverse ledge to hold a mattress support.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to convertible furniture and has particular relation to a crib which may be easily dismantled for conversion either into a bed or a playpen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Constructions of collapsible cribs have been proposed and utilized, some with the object of making them more easily stored, whilst others have an added objective of conversion into a playpen, the upper portion of the crib practically serving this purpose.

SUMMARY With the increase in apartment living, the advantages of convertible furniture are apparent, and it is an object of this invention to provide an easily assembled crib construction which may be just as easily disassembled to provide a playpen or a bed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled crib;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a playpen formed from the crib shown in FIG. 1 by removal of the legs;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bed formed from the playpen shown in FIG. 2 by removal of the side rails and realignment of the ends rails;

FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view of one of the end rail sections with part of a connected side rail section;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the crib shown in FIG. 1 but from the opposite side and showing the movement of the releasable side rail section;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are detailed views showing the construction and operation of the release mechanism for the movable side rail section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIG. 1, the crib, generally denoted by the numeral 10, is formed of similar, opposed

end rail sections

12 and 14, a removable side. rail section 16, another opposed side rails section 18 capable of being lowered on release of the mechanism, generally denoted by the numeral 20, see FIG. 7, a mattress support 22 and

withdrawable legs

24, 26, 28 and 30.

The

end rail sections

12 and 14 each comprise a horizontally disposed top wall 32 integral with spaced-

apart side walls

34 and 36, which project inwardly with respect ice to the top wall 32 when the crib 10 is assembled and the

end rail sections

12 and 14 are facing each other.

An integral, horizontally disposed lower wall 38 connects the

side walls

34 and 36, and the lower wall 38 also projects inwardly with respect to the top wall 32 when the crib 10 is assembled. The lower wall 38 has an inwardly disposed, downward step 40 formed of a base 42 and a riser 44. The mattress support 22 rests on the base 42, the lateral movement of the mattress support being limited in the direction of the

end rail sections

12 and 14 by the riser 44.

The top wall 32,

side sections

34 and 36, and the lower wall 38 are preferably made of plastic material having a tubular section as shown in FIG. 5.

The

end sections

12 and 14 are provided with vertically disposed, spaced-apart rails 46, preferably of tubular construction and made from a somewhat flexible plastic material; for easier assembly of the rails 46, the lower wall 38 has a series of spaced-apart, conical projections 48; the upper ends of the rails 46 are located in spacedapart apertures, and the lower ends of the rails 46 are snapped into position over the respective cones 48.

The underside of each lower wall 38 of the

end sections

12 and 14 has a pair of spaced-apart, comically shaped recesses or sockets 50, each of which is adapted to receive the cone-shaped upper portion 52 of 3. respective leg, generally denoted by the numeral 54. The lower portion 56 of each leg 54 is of larger diameter than the base of the conical portion 52, thus providing a flange 58 for support of the lower wall 38 when the cone-shaped portion 52 is inserted into the socket 50. It will be appreciated that this construction of the leg 54 permits instant withdrawal with the conversion of the crib 10 into the playpen, generally denoted by the numeral 60, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The

side rail sections

16 and 18 are of the same construction and each comprises horizontally disposed, spaced-

apart bars

62 and 64, which, as illustrated more particularly in FIG. 7, are preferably of a rectangular, tubular construction. Vertically disposed, spaced-apart, tubular rails 66 connect the

bars

62 and 64 in the same manner as that already described with respect to the rails 46 in the

end sections

12 and 14. The side rail section 16 is removably secured to the

end rail sections

12 and 14 by means of threaded pins 68, the free ends of which are located in the

bars

62 and 64, as shown more particularly in FIG. 4, the pins 68 passing through the side wall 36.

The vertically movable side rail section 18 is carried on a pair of spaced-apart, vertically disposed

rods

70 and 72 which pass through the opposed end rails 64 in the side section 18.

The upper end of each of the

rods

70 and 72 is provided with an internal thread which receives a threaded pin 74 passing through the arm 76 or a rectangular member 78, the vertical arm 80 of which is secured to the upper end of the side walls 34 by removable, threaded pins '68, as already described. The lower end of each of the

rods

70 and 72, which extends through the lower, horizontally disposed bar 64, is tapered, as shown in FIG. 7. Each of the

rods

70 and 72 is also provided with respective slots 82 and 84, which are disposed just below the underside of the bar 64 when the side rail section 18 is in the fully raised position.

The release of the movable side rail section 18- is effected by a mechanism 20, see FIG. 7, which is constructed of a rod 86 held to the underside of the bar 64- by means of spaced-

apart spring clips

88 and 90. Between the pair of

clips

88 and 90, rod 86 is of arcuate form thus providing a handle 92 for rotation of the rod 86 in the

clips

88 and 90. The rod 86 is provided with further

arcuate portions

94 and 96, disposed one of each side of the handle 92, and the rod 86 is further held to the bar 64 by

clips

98 and 100, and 102 and 104, disposed respectively on the sides of the

arcuate portions

94 and 96. In the raised position of the side rail section the

arcuate portions

94 and 96 are located respectively in the slots 82 and 84 being biassed therein by means of

torsion springs

106 and 108 gripping the rod 86 and held in the

clips

100 and 102.

As already explained, the crib 10 is converted to a playpen 60 simply by withdrawal of the legs 54 from the respective sockets 50. To convert the playpen 60 into a bed, generally denoted by the numeral 116, see FIG. 3, the

side rail sections

16 and 18 are released by removing the threaded pins 68.

I claim:

1. A crib, convertible to a playpen or bed, comprising two opposed end walls, the vertical and lower sides of which project inwards with respect to the top side; a substantially horizontal, inwardly disposed, downward step on the lower side of each of said end panels; a 20 pair of detachable, opposed side panels connecting said end panels; a mattress support disposed between said end panels and said side panels, the opposed ends of said mattress being sustained by said steps; and four spaced-apart legs, flanges on each of said legs, each of said legs having a reduced upper portion with respect to said flanges, said reduced upper portion being disposed in respective, spaced-apart apertures in the underside of said crib, said flanges supporting said crib.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,518,904 8/1950 King 5-99 3,309,719 3/1967 Bader et a1. 5-93 3,427,669 2/1969 Swenson 5-93 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 599