WO2003090583A1

WO2003090583A1 - Device on a convertible bed and how to change performance between bed and sofa

Info

Publication number: WO2003090583A1
Application number: PCT/SE2002/000780
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sven-Olof Ekelund
Original assignee: Rol Ergonomic Ab
Priority date: 2000-10-24
Filing date: 2002-04-23
Publication date: 2003-11-06
Also published as: SE517503C2; SE0003834D0; SE0003834L

Abstract

Device on a convertible bed and how to change between the furniture alternatives preferably a permanently arranged full length bed and a temporary arranged armchair or sofa (1), mainly characterized by the bed's five-sectioned bedstead (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) with a thick mattress (8) fixed to the section wise springing bed botton, and that they all together are movable fixed in a sofa basement with swinging arms (9), guides (10) sliding in S-curved cut lines (11), making it possible to smoothly, quickly and totally risk free fold, and thereby convert the bed and mattress, without the bedding, into a sofa (1), so that the fabric coated mattress's foot section forms the visible fabric coated cushion (2) in the sofa, thereby hiding all comprising parts of the inventive device.

Description

DEVICE ON A CONVERTIBLE BED AND HOW TO CHANGE PERFORMANCE BETWEEN BED AND SOFA.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention complices a device on a single or double bed, for safe and gentle conversion between the furniture alternatives a full length bed and a sofa.

The invention complices especially a device on a bed with a multi-sectioned bedstead and a permanently fixed mattress, which bed without the bedding, after conversion into a sofa, utilizes the fabric coated mattress's foot section as the visible fabric coated cushion in the sofa.

The invention also complices how to, when the bedding has been removed, with only one grip in the bedstead's foot section, lift and along a smoothly curved motion, fold the bedstead sections and the mattress together until the foot section of the bed and the coated mattress form the visible cushion.

BACKGROUND.

For temporary over-night-guests there are normally some form of extra beds available in most houses. Sufficient space even allows permanently arranged beds to be placed in extra rooms or carrying collapsable beds to be stored for completion with mattrasses when needed. Extra beds may also be built in and/or collapsed and hidden into furnitures. These furnitures are then, in the first place designed with respect to their main functions, to be good looking and comfortable to sit in. The alternative function to be able to be temporary converted into an extra bed, makes it neccessary to use simplyfied bed constructions with simpel sprung beds and thin mattresses, which alltogether make these beds uncomfortable and completely impossible to be used as other than temporary over-night-beds.

For the category students in rental rooms and persons living alone in small flats with limited space, there is a need for the opposite function. A comfortable bed for permanent use, with the possibility to hide the bed and arange one or more extra places to sit if temporary guests come for a visit.

The inventive device described in the following is designed to be built in into a comfortable and suitable bed aimed for permanent arrangement and use, having a solid but multi-sectioned bedstead, an sectionwise flexible sprung bed and a normal thick mattress, where the main task of the device is to offer a completely new and safe way to gently fold the full length bed and the mattress into a compact furniture, so that the fabric coated mattress at the foot section of the bed forms the visible fabric coated cushion in e.g. a temporary arranged armchair or sofa.

CHARACTARIZAΗON OF THE INVENTION

The inventive device issues from a multi-sectioned bedstead specified within the ingress of the attached claim 1, and is mainly charactaiized by the principals that the device is folding the bedstead and the mattress into a furniture for sitting and that the fabric coated mattress at the foot section of the bed, after the bedding has been removed, always is identical with the fabric coated cushion in the sofa. Charactarizing for the inventive device and how to use it is the construction that, instead of having spiral springs and dangerous scissor-like slewing brackets at each side, has a non-reachable, softly swinging arm, completely hidden deep down in the sofa, under the head section of the bedstead, and in the front part of the same section, also at each side, a non-reachable guide sliding along a smoothly curved cut line inside each frame of the furniture, resulting in a smooth and safe motion process when the bedstead and the mattress shall be unfolded to a bed or be folded back to form the cushion in the sofa.

Further charactarizing for the inventive device is that the whole mattress, or at least the part covering the foot section of the bedstead, preferably can be coated with the same decorative fabric that is coated over the rest of the furniture, thus eliminating the need to for further cushions on top of the mattress.

The inventive device and how to use it, is defined in the attached patent claims.

The invention will hereafter be described as a non-restrictable example of a full length bed, that, with only one grip in the foot section of the bedstead and along a smooth and safe motion, can be folded either in or out of the sofa, exposing the fabric coated foot section of the mattress as the fabric coated cushion in the sofa.

The drawings start from showing the bed converted into a sofa and all reference numbers are running all through the figures.

DRAWING

All figures in the patent drawing show with a serie of sequences, seen from beside, the inventive device, unvisibly built-in into a symbolic sofa or armchair, and visibly described in the same furniture, the mechanical motion sequence, how to change performance from a sofa into a full length bed. Figure 1 shows symbolically and in a side view an example of a sofa (1) that alternatively could be an armchair as well, and where the cushion (2) preferably is coated with the same as or a matching decorative fabric to the rest of the sofa, and where the cushion is hiding both the device and the bedstead.

Figure 2 shows in a transparent manner and still from beside, the inventive built in device (1), with the special five-sectioned bedstead (3,4,5,6,7), corn- pricing the head section (3), the longer fold section (4), the centre section (5), the shorter fold section (6) and the foot section (7) of the bedstead. The mattress (8) is fixed to the bedstead, and the foot section of the mattress forms the cushion (2) in the sofa (1). The inventive device also comprices two swinging arms (9), revolvable fixed and protected deep down on each side of the inner basement of the sofa (1), and accordingly also revolvable fixed to each side of the head section (3) of the bedstead. A bit further ahead on each side of the bedstead's head section (3) there is a fixed or rolling guide (10), that is safely hidden and smoothly can slide or roll along a cut line (11) on each inner side of the front part of the sofa, when the sofa shall be changed into a full length permanent bed.

Figure 3 also shows as a transparent side view, however without the mattress for a simplier presentation, the starting position with the bedstead compactly folded into the sofa (1) with the guide (10) positioned at the lower end of the cut line (11) and the swinging arm (9) in a corresponding downward / backward starting position. Figure 3 then also shows, with three dashed line sequences the motion process (12) for the upper three sections of the bedstead, the foot section (7), the shorter fold section (6) and the centre section (5), when the foot section of the bedstead is grabbed, lifted and pulled along the ergonomically smooth and naturally formed motion process (12) to unfold the bedstead until the bottom side of the centre section (5) reaches the inner front edge (13) of the sofa. Figure 4 shows, as a continuation of the motion process (12) in figure 3, how the centre section (5) of the bedstead and the longer fold section (6) together form a lever arm balanceing over the front edge (13) of the sofa, and when the bedstead is further pulled out, the lever arm lifts the head section (3) inclined up- and backwards since the guides (10) are forced to follow the, at the bottom backwardly angeled cut lines (11) and accordingly force the swinging arms (9) to be furthermore backwardly angeled before the cut line (11) turns forwards and upwards so that the bedstead reaches further out of the sofa. When also the foot section (3) adds up as a lever arm over the front edge of the sofa and the motion process (12) continues outwardly, the swinging arms (9) are pulled around, forwards and then upwards until neither the cut lines (11) nor the length of the swinging arms allow further extension. At this point all the bedstead sections form a streight lever arm over the front edge (13) of the sofa, so that the full length bed can be pushed backwards and let the guides (10) automatically enter into the upper cut lines (14) and fall down and be secured into their interlocking ends (15), which motion also places the swinging arms in a vertically upright end position (16) ready to carry the load of a person.

Figure 4 also shows the neccessary two pairs of legs (17,18), of which the pair of legs (17) attached to the shorter fold section (6), by a prefixed position, automatically folds out into the right angle during the motion process (12) while the hinge-assambled pair of legs (18) automatically falls down by gravity.

Figure 5 finally, shows symbolically and transparent from beside, the sofa (1) being changed into a full length bed, where the two pair of legs (17,18), the front edge (13), the guide's (10) interlocking ends (15) in the upper cut lines (14) and the swinging arm's vertical end positions (16), all together form ten supporting points for the bed and where the foot section of the mattress (8) is fabric coated to be exposed as the cushion (2) in the sofa (1).

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS

1. Device on a bed, preferably aimed to be a permanently arranged full length bed, but convertible into a temporary armchair or sofa (1) c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y, that the device comprices a five-sectioned bedstead (3,4,5,6,7) with a thick mattress (8), permanently fixed onto the sectionwise springing bed bottom, and that the head section (3) of the bedstead, has two swinging arms (9), one at each side and both with a revolving and protected fixation deep down to each inner side and far back in the sofa (1), which both inner sides in the front comprices an S-curved cut line (11), aimed to protect and steer a fixed or rolling guide (10) at both sides of the head section, so that the complete bedstead and the mattress, with only a simple hand grip in the foot section (7), and a supporting lever arm effect over the front edge (13) of the sofa, can be lifted and, along a smooth and ergonomically perfect motion process (12), pulled out and extended into a full length bed, supported underneath by two pairs of legs (17,18), the front edge (13) of the sofa, the final end positions (15) for the guides (10) in the upper part of the cut lines (14), and upon the swinging arms (9) in their vertical end positions (16), and that the whole mattress (8), or at least the part above the foot section (7), is coated with the same as or a matching fabric with the fabric on the sofa (1), and that the bedstead's foot section and mattress without bedding, after the bed has been changed into a sofa, forms the cushion (2) visibly coated with the fabric mentioned, so that no more cushions are needed to hide all comprising parts of the inventive device.

2. Method with a device according to claim 1, to change a full length bed into an armchair or sofa (1), c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y, that the five-sectioned, sectionwise springing bedstead with a thick and permanently fixed mattress, manually can be folded by the means of swinging arms (9 ) and guides (10), sliding along S-curved cut lines (11), to be totally bidden in the sofa (1), except for the bedstead's foot section (7) and the fabric coated foot section of the mattress (8), that always will stay visible and automatically form the fabric coated cushion (2) when converted into a sofa, and thereby hide all comprising parts of the inventive device.