US451842A

US451842A - Folding bed

Info

Publication number: US451842A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1891-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 1908-05-05

Description

(No Model.) 4 -"Sheeiss---Sheet 1.

F. N. POTTER.

FOLDING BED.

No. 451,842. 7 Patented May 5,1891.

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FOLDING BED. I No. 451,842. Patented May 5, 1891.

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1 FOLDING BED. No. 451,842. Patented May 6, 1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

P. N} POTTER. FOLDING BED.

'No. 451,842. I Patented May 5, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT IOFFICEQ FRANK N. POTTER, OF ELKHART, INDIANA.

FOLDING BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 451,842, dated May 5,1891.

Application filed April 30, 1890. Serial No. 350,040. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK N. POTTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Beds, of which the following is a specification. The object of my invention is to produce a folding or wardrobe bedstead which is at once simple, light, inexpensive, substantial, and neat in appearance, and which may be readily operated by persons of moderate strength.

The bed is mounted on trunnions secured to the side rails and resting in bearings upon a stationary frame. The weight of the hinged bed is counterbalanced by a vertical tension spring or springs attached at its or their lower ends to the base of the stationary frame and at its or their upper ends to a horizontal beam, which slides in vertical ways in the standards of the frame and is connected to the head of the bed by thrust-bars suitably guided and jointed to permit their lower ends to follow the curve upon which the head of the bedframe moves, while their upper ends impart a direct thrust to the horizontal sliding beam, as hereinafter described. A pillow holder or support is provided by means of sliding wires attached behind the head-board of the moving bed-frame, so as to be out of sight when the bed is lowered for use, and passing up behind the stationary head-board and through apertures in the horizontal sliding beam, or vice versa, so as to allow the said wires to conform to the variation in distance between the head-board and the horizontal sliding beam as the bed is raised and lowered.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a rear perspective View showing the bed lowered for use. Fig. II is a rear perspective view showing it elevated. Fig. III is a front perspective view showing it partly elevated. Fig. IV is a vertical section showing the mode of mounting the side rails upon trunnions in bearings upon the stationary frame. Fig. V is a detail view of one of the jointed thrustbars which connect the head of the pivoted bed with the sliding beam. Fig.VI is a perspective view showing the adjustable connection between the upper end of a thrust-bar and an end of the beam. Fig. VII is a perspective view of a hanger which is secured to a frame-standard. FigVIII is a perspective view of a trunnion, plate, washer, and nut, which are secured to a side rail of the bedframe. I

1 represents the standards of the stationary frame, and 2 the stationary head-board attached thereto.

3 3 are the side rails of the hinged bedframe, connected by the foot-board 4 and with a suitable facing 5, forming a wardrobe-front when the bed is in elevated position, which may be provided with a mirror, as shown, in customary manner. On the said wardrobefront are mounted brackets 6 6, in which are pivoted feet 7 7, connected by a roller 8, so that they may be placed at right angles to the'bed-frame to support the foot thereof when it is lowered for use, or folded against the wardrobe-frontwhen elevated in the day-time. Ornamental handles 9 are also provided on the wardrobe-front for manipulating the bed. To the side rails 3 are secured the trunnions 10, which rest on bearings in hangers 11, fixed to the inner faces of the frame-standards 1.

The trunnions 10 are supported in recesses 11 in the hangers, are secured by plate 10, washers 10 and nuts 10, and are located a sufficient distance from the head extremities of the side rails 3 to provide for counterbalancing the weight of the hinged bed-frame by means of tension-springs 12, which are attached at their lower ends to the base 13 of the stationary frame, and at their upper ends to a horizontal beam'14, which has a vertical sliding movement in or upon guides 15 on the inner faces of the standards 1, and is connected at its slotted extremities by jointed thrust-bars 16 to lugs 17 upon the inner ends of the side rails 3 of the pivoted bed-frame. The thrust-bars 16 have an adjustable connection at their upper ends with the sliding horizontal beam 14: by a number of holes 18, as shown in Fig. VI, to receive pins 19, passing through the sliding beam 14, so as to adjust the tension of the springs to correspond with the weight of the bed. The upper members of the thrust-bars 16 are guided in the vertical grooves 15, and are jointed to the lower members 16 by rivets 20, so as to permit the lower ends of the thrust-bars to conform to the arc described by the extremities of the lugs 17, by which the said thrust-bars bars are concealed from view when the bed is unfolded. It will be seen that when the bed is unfolded the lugs project rearwardly and occupy a position to the rear ofthe headboard beneath the thrust-bar and the beam. For single and very light bedsteads a single counterbalance, spring 12 will suffice; for very heavy bedsteads three or more may be used for ordinary double beds of medium weight two such springs as shown in the .present illustration are found to operate with good effect, permitting the bed to be raised or lowered with ease by a child. By the varying leverage thus afforded in the attachment between the pivoted bed-frame and the verti-i tical sliding beam the resistance of the springs 12 increase, with the increasingweight of the I bed-frame as it is lowered. Wheregreater resistance is required to counterbalance a heavy wardrobe-front or additional bedding, this is provided by changing the connection between the thrust-bars 16 and thes-liding beam 14 by means of the pins 19.

For the purpose of a pillow-holder, when the bed is in an elevated position for the day-time, I provide a number of sliding wires 23, attached attheir upper ends to the sliding horizontal beam 14 and passing downward through eyes in the head-

boards

2 and 3, so as to conform to the slightly varying distance between the head-board 3 of the pivoted bedframe, which moves in the arc of a circle,-and the sliding beam 14, which has a rectilinear movement. \Vhen the bed is lowered in position. for use, the wires 23 are concealed behind the fixed head-board 2 of the stationary frame and the headboard 3 of the bedframe.

The pivoted bed-frame may be readily detached from the stationary frame by removin g the pins 24, which connect the lower members 16 of the thrust-bars to the lugs 17 onthe bed-rails 3. The trunnions 10 may then be freely lifted out of their bearings "and the;

'bed-t'rame removed.

Having thus described my invention, the

following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of the frame having standards 1, provided with guides 15 on the inner faces thereof, the fixed head-board 2, secured to the standards in front of the guides,

the hinged bed-frame having a head adapted to assume a position in line with the headboard and to fit against thelatter, the rearwardly-projecting lugs 17, secured over the head of the bed-frame, the beam 14, sliding in the guides at the rear of the head-board, the

jointed thrust-bars 16 16, located at the rear of the head-board, securedto the ends of the beam at their upper ends, and pivoted to the lugs at the rear of the head at their lower ends, and a tension-spring 12, secured at its upper enddirectly to the beam and at its lower end attached to the base of the frame,

substantially as described.

2. The combination of the frame having standards 1, providedwith guides 15, the

fixed head-board, the hinged bed-frame having ahead, the rearwardly-projecting lugs 17,

"secured over the head of the bed-frame, the

the thrust-bars to the slotted ends of the beam, "and a tension-spring 12, secured at its upper end directly to the beam and at its lower end attached to the base of the frame, substantially as described.

3. The combination ofthe frame having standards 1, provided with guides 15, the head-board 2, secured to the standards, the hinged bed-frame, the lugs 17, secured to the inner end of the bed-frame,the beam 14, sliding in the guides at the rear of the headboard, the jointed thrust-bars 16, secured to the beam at their upper ends and pivoted to the lugs at their lower ends,'a tension-spring 12, secured at its lower end to the base of the frame and at its upper end to the beam, and the slidingwires extending from the beam to the head of the bed-frame, substantially as described.

FRANK N. POTTER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES W. FISH, JULIUS D. W001).