U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/061,656 filed Oct. 2, 2020.
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The invention pertains to a mattress cover for a mattress, whose underside has a lip that defines a recess cavity that accommodates an adjustable power bed layer or adjustable bed lift mechanism. The lip may have a gap through which extends a power cord to power the adjustable power bed layer or adjustable bed lift mechanism.
Adjustable bed frames, also called power adjustable bases or power beds, have become a commonplace convenience in bedrooms. The ability to raise and lower the head and legs elevations in beds have many proven benefits and comfort qualities. Typical power adjustable bed frames can lift anywhere from 450 to 800 pounds of evenly distributed weight in a bed.
The present inventor devised a mattress whose underside has a perimeter wall or a peripheral flange that partially bounds a recessed cavity, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,925,409 B1, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, so as to accommodate, within confines of the recessed cavity, the adjustable power bed layer of U.S. Pat. No. 10,463,163 B1, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, or the adjustable bed lift mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 10,376,074 B2, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference.
It is desired to provide a mattress cover fitted onto a mattress to form a recessed cavity beneath the mattress to partially bound within the recessed cavity an adjustable mechanism, namely, the adjustable power bed layer or the adjustable bed lift mechanism.
One aspect of the invention relates to a mattress cover that fits onto a mattress and that forms sidewalls of a recessed cavity beneath the mattress. In its flattened, unfolded condition, an adjustable mechanism (e.g., the power bed layer of U.S. Pat. No. 10,463,163 B1 or the adjustable bed lift mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 10,376,074 B2) is fitted into the recessed cavity and thus partially concealed from view by a lip of the mattress cover that projects from outer regions of the mattress cover to overlap with sides of the adjustable mechanism. When actuated, the adjustable mechanism angles the head or foot regions of the mattress relative to a central region of the mattress that separates the head and foot regions from each other by raising or lowering the head or foot regions as the case may be.
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.
Turning to the drawings,
A conventional mattress cover 51 envelops the mattress 50, but with its corner region removed in
The adjustable mechanism 10 of
Alternatively, the adjustable mechanism 10 may include a frame having a fixed portion and having an articulating portion pivotally connected to the fixed portion so that as the articulating portion pivots relative to the fixed portion, an angle of inclination changes between the articulating portion and the fixed portion. Also, there are a plurality of lift mechanisms that actuate successively to exert a respective lifting force on the articulating portion to widen the angle of inclination in succession. An actuator connected structure is provided that moves relative to the fixed portion of the bed frame from a non-actuated position to successive actuated positions where the actuator connected structure triggers successive ones of the lift mechanisms to impart the respective lifting force on the articulating portion accordingly.
That is, the mattress cover 52 has outer peripheral regions from which project outward the lip 62. The lip 62, together with the underside of the mattress cover 52, bounds the recessed cavity 60. The mattress cover 52 has a fabric layer that envelops the mattress 60 and that bounds a peripheral contour of the lip 62. The fabric layer defines a cavity within the lip in which is contained the filler material 65, which is in contact with the fabric layer of the mattress cover 52.
The filler material 65 may be foam, which could be shaped or cut into strips or blocks. The filler material 65 is flexible and preferably of the same stiffness as the base foam of a conventional mattress. Such base foam flexes—the head and foot regions of the conventional mattress that contain such a base foam flex in response to forces imposed from an underlying adjustable lift mechanism urging the head and foot regions to move relative to the central region of the mattress that separates the head and foot regions from each other.
Turning to
Each of the openings or gaps 63 should be at least wide enough to accommodate placement of a DC power cord 11 to extend through for powering the adjustable mechanism 10 by conveying electricity according. For that reason, the DC power cord 11 extends from within the recessed cavity 60 to outside the recessed cavity 60.
The reason the two openings or gaps 63 are at the head and foot side of the mattress cover 52 is to allow for rotation of the mattress 50 over time due to wear between the foot and head sides as is common practice for mattresses over the course of years. If there is a bed frame present that has a conventional headboard and a conventional footboard of a bed frame present, then the opening or gap 63 could really extend the full widthwise distance of the head and foot ends of the mattress 50, because each opening or gap 63 would in effect be blocked from view by the conventional headboard and the conventional footboard of the bed frame.
The recessed cavity 60 is dimensioned to snugly fit therein the adjustable mechanism 10 in its flattened, unfolded condition and thus overlaps the sides of the adjustable mechanism 10 in its flattened, unfolded orientation to conceal the sides from view.
Even if the lip 62 only extended about the periphery of the underside of the mattress along the foot facing side and adjacent two sides of the mattress (but not along the head facing side), the adjustable mechanism 10 would still be in effect concealed from view in its flattened, unfolded condition. This is because the widthwise head end of a mattress 50 typically has a headboard that would block one's view of the underside of the mattress 50 from the head end. Even if there is no headboard, then the head end of the mattress 50 is typically positioned adjacent a bedroom wall and thus the bedroom wall would block one's view of the underside of the mattress.
In the case where the bed frame also has a footboard, the footboard would block one's view of the underside of the mattress 50 from the widthwise foot end so in that case the lip 62 would not need to extend along the foot end to conceal from view the adjustable mechanism 10.
Turning to
The mattress cover 52 may be in the form of the sleeve 56 of
Alternatively, the mattress cover 52 may be in the form of the enclosure 70 of
With the mattress 50 inside confines of the mattress cover 52 and the recessed cavity 60 accommodating within the adjustable mechanism 10, an underside of the mattress cover has an outer peripheral edge where the lip 62 projects downward and is adjacent to the outer peripheral edge. The lip 62 may extend in a discontinuous manner and in that sense extends about the outer peripheral edge of the mattress cover by less than an entirety of the outer peripheral edge. Such discontinuity provides for openings or gaps to accommodate placement of the DC power cord 11. Alternatively, the lip 62 may extend in a continuous manner but have sections that have a smaller height than the rest of the lip 62 so as to define one or more recesses (e.g., gaps) to accommodate placement of the DC power cord 11.
The lip 62 may define only a single pair of opposite walls 61 of the recessed cavity 60 with no further walls between the single pair. Alternatively, the lip 62 may define that single pair 61 and another wall 61 that extends between the single pair, but no further wall between the single pair 61. Otherwise, the lip 62 may define two pairs of opposite walls 61 of the recessed cavity 60.
There may be a risk that the lip 62 may not be enough to prevent all types of mattresses from sliding off the end of the adjustable mechanism 10 when the head side is raised (i.e., performing the function of the typical mattress retainer bar at the foot). This is probably a larger concern when no weight is on the mattress. Thus, it is preferred that some form of fastening be provided to deter the mattress from sliding off. This form of fastening can be broad sections of hook-loop (VELCRO type) material glued or sewn to the mattress cover 52 that fastens to the adjustable mechanism 10, or even providing for mating snaps, or straps, or clamps to effect the fastening of the mattress cover 52 to the adjustable mechanism 10. To enable the easy placement of a fitted sheet onto the mattress, the fastening method may include a mechanism to allow the fasteners to lift or release when the bed is in a flattened state, while still holding the mattress in place without user intervention when the bed adjusts into an articulated state.
For the sake of brevity, the drawings do not show the adjustable mechanism 10 in its actuated positions shown in FIGS. 13, 16, 20 and 22 of U.S. Pat. No. 10,463,163 B1 although FIGS. 14, 15 and 19 of U.S. Pat. No. 10,463,163 B1 are reproduced as
The adjustable mechanism 10 in
There are folding hinges 16 between one of the two center frames 12D and the head-side articulating frame 12A. There are folding hinges 18 between the foot-side articulating frame 12B and the other of the two center frames 12C. The foot-side articulating frame 12B has two sections 22, 24 between which are folding hinges 26. Folding hinges 16, 18 and 26 each axially connect the outer frame to the inner frame. There are also links 36 pivotally connected via hinges 38 to the foot-side stationary frame 14B and via hinges 40 to the section 22 of the foot-side stationary frame 12B.
There is also a head-side actuator 28 that includes a head-side motor 28A that imparts a force to drive a head-side sliding member 28B (such as a pull bar) to slide back and forth along a track 30. There is a head-side connected structure 28C that operatively connects pivotally the head-side sliding member 28B and the head-side articulating frame 12A. Thus, the head-side connected structure 28C moves in unison with the head-side driven member 28B to pivot the head-side articulating frame 12A about the folding hinges 16 to travel between its flattened and adjusted states.
There is also a foot-side actuator that includes a foot-side motor 32A that imparts a force to a foot-side sliding member (such as a pull bar) to slide back and forth along a track 34. There is a foot-side connected structure 32C that operatively connects pivotally the foot-side sliding member 32B and the foot-side articulating frame 12B. Thus, the foot-side connected structure 32C moves in unison with the foot-side sliding member 32B to pivot the foot-side articulating frame 12B about the folding hinges 18 to travel between its flattened and adjusted states. Such pivoting action about the folding hinges 18 also result in pivoting action about the hinges 26 because the foot-side articulating frame 12B has the two sections 22, 24 pivotally connected to each other at the hinges 26, with section 22 pivotally connected via the hinges 40 to the links 36, which are pivotally connected via the hinges 38 to the foot-side inner frame 14B.
The outer frame nests about the inner frame. The actuators 28 and 32 remain within a height of the inner frame during an entirety of the sliding movements of the respective head-side and foot-side connected structures in the respective tracks 30, 34. That is, the actuators 28 and 32 remain within confines of a volume defined between upper and lower planes of the articulated bed frame and bounded on the sides and ends by the outer and inner frames 12, 14 of adjustable mechanism 10. During an entirety of a lifting movement of the articulating frame, the associated actuator remains above the lower plane of the adjustable mechanism 10.
The inner frame 12 folds in half at the folding hinges 16, without requiring the use of tools to do so. The actuators 28, 32 remain in the same plane as the inner frame 14 in its flattened condition throughout the lifting procedure for the mattress. As an alternative, the actuators 28, 32 each start flat within the same plane as the inner frame 14 and then raise slightly above the plane of the inner frame 14 during the lifting procedure.
The basic principle behind the concept of the power layer of
The lifting mechanism of the power layer includes a first stage and second stage mechanism tied to a single actuator. The first stage mechanism is optimized to lift the bed from flat up to a certain distance and angle. As a result, an angle of inclination between the articulating portion 124 of the bed frame 120 and the fixed portion 122 of the bed frame 120 widens as the actuator connected structure moves from its non-actuated position to its first-stage actuated position.
This first stage is designed to most efficiently transmit maximum force from the actuator to the bed while the bed is nearly flat or only partially lifted. However, the limitation of this optimization is that the first stage cannot complete the full travel lifting of the bed, which typically would be 60 to 70 degrees for the head section.
Once that maximum lifting angle is achieved by the first stage, a second stage mechanism that is optimized to lift the bed past maximum first stage angle takes over that lifts the bed the remainder of its intended travel. The second stage mechanism is optimized for lifting once the bed has already been lifted to the angle of the first stage mechanism. As a result, the angle of inclination between the articulating portion 124 of the bed frame 120 and the fixed portion 122 of the bed frame 120 further widens as the actuator connected structure 140 moves from its first-stage actuated position to its second-stage actuated position. The actuator connected structure pulls a “pull-bar 140”, which connects to the linkages. The pull-bar 140 travels along a channel in the fixed portion of the bed frame and has a smooth and continuous movement, allowing infinite number of bed articulated positions.
There is an eight-bar articulated linkage 130 in the bed frame 120. The bed frame 120 includes a fixed (inner) portion 122 and an articulating (outer) portion 124 that are pivotally attached to each other. There are first- and second-stage lift mechanisms 131, 135 that are actuated respectively by moving the pull bar 140 to the actuator connected structure accordingly from a non-actuated position to a first-stage actuated position that actuates the first-stage lift mechanism 131 and then to a second-stage actuated position that actuates the second-stage lift mechanism 135. The pull bar 140 to actuator connected structure may pulled to move its actuator or alternatively pushed.
The first-stage lift mechanism 131 includes articulated linkages 132, 133, which pivot about a first-stage lift pivot 134 and are pivotally connected to the fixed (inner) portion 122 of the bed frame 120. The second-stage lift mechanism 135 includes the articulated linkages 36, 137, which pivot about a second-stage lift pivot 138 and are pivotally connected to the fixed (inner) portion 122 of the bed frame 120. For instance, the linkage 137 is pivotally connected at one end to the bed frame 120 at pivot 141.
If desired, the adjustable mechanism may be equipped an elongated stationary frame from which legs extend downwardly. The legs may be permanently fixed or may instead be pivoted to move between a stowed position (extending adjacent the frame, such as in the same plane of the frame) and an actuated position (extending perpendicular to the frame to extend downwardly). The elongated stationary frame may be pivotally connected to the two articulated frames.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17061656 | Oct 2020 | US |
Child | 17512353 | US |