The invention herein pertains to furniture and particularly pertains to a sofa which is convertible into a bed by inverting the back cushion.
Over the years many types of sofas and other furniture have been manufactured for dual needs of the user. For example, sofas have been made in the past which include a bed frame concealed beneath the seat cushions. The seat cushions are usually removed and the frame unfolded for use as a bed. Such furniture is generally deemed a “pull-out” and is generally heavy, expensive and often difficult to manipulate by one person. Chairs are also manufactured under various brand names in which a person can sit upright and then, by lever manipulation tilt and extend to furnish horizontal leg support.
Most convertible furniture today is manufactured with complex, mechanical mechanisms to accommodate multiple uses. These mechanisms often become worn, jammed or damaged requiring the owner to repair the mechanism or abandon the convertible features. Such mechanisms have also caused injury to adults, children and pets. In addition, usual convertible furniture is generally heavy due to the weight of the mechanisms, causing the owner difficulty when moving and in rearranging such furniture.
Based on the problems and disadvantages of conventional convertible furniture, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide useful, relatively lightweight furniture and a method of use which allows a dual function for the furniture owner.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide furniture which is stylish and aesthetically pleasing in both modes of use.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a relatively lightweight sofa and method of use for easily converting into a bed by one person.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a furniture in a sofa mode having a back which includes an invertible cushion for use in the bed mode.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide furniture having at least one seat cushion which is tethered to a back cushion by a decorative fabric web.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing furniture in a sofa mode which includes a frame containing back and seat cushions. The frame includes a pair of arms which are opposingly joined to a back support. The arms and back support may be constructed of wood and are covered with a suitable fabric, polymeric material such as vinyl, leather or the like. One or more seat cushions formed from a conventional polymeric fabric such as polyurethane covered with a fabric are individually attached to similarly constructed back cushions by different fabric tethers. In the sofa mode the back cushions are positioned normal to the seat cushions.
When it is desirable to convert the furniture into the bed mode the method includes the steps of grasping the back cushions and manually raising from their normal position relative to the seat cushions. The back cushions are inverted by rotation and are then positioned against the rear surface of the seat cushions within the sofa frame. The seat cushion top surfaces are then coplanar with the inverted bottom of the back cushions and the flexible tethers are fully exposed and extend therebetween in a taut manner to maintain the back and seat cushions in contiguous relation. A rigid shelf attached to the arms positioned along the lowermost part of the back support allows the inverted cushions to rest thereon at the proper height for a level, top bed surface. The tether is sized and positioned so as to hold the inverted back cushions in a substantially seamless posture contiguous the rear edge of the seat cushions. The available width of the furniture when used in the bed mode is extended by the bottom width of the back cushions to thereby form a suitable bed size.
For a better understanding of the invention and its operation, turning now to the drawings, preferred furniture 10 is shown in
In
The method of converting furniture 10 is shown schematically in
In a rear view of furniture 10 in
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
821154 | Brewer | May 1906 | A |
1885974 | Winn | Nov 1932 | A |
1968232 | Thomas | Jul 1934 | A |
2703136 | Masse | Mar 1955 | A |
3469882 | Larsen | Sep 1969 | A |
3513491 | Gordon | May 1970 | A |
3742526 | Lillard | Jul 1973 | A |
3829913 | Bernard | Aug 1974 | A |
3902759 | Monteforte et al. | Sep 1975 | A |
4443901 | Zimmerman | Apr 1984 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
04108409 | Apr 1992 | JP |