Patent Application
20230232995
This application is directed to housing units that can be rapidly deployed and folding furniture components and assemblies therefor.
In a variety of settings, housing units that can be rapidly deployed and set up for use are beneficial. Emergency conditions such as wildfires can erupt in remote areas prompting firefighters and other personnel to be temporarily on-site. While a tent or other temporary shelter may suffice for short deployments in hospitable climates, a more complete shelter often is preferred. In such conditions, having housing that can be rapidly deployed to provide relative comfort and shelter to emergency workers would be beneficial.
In other emergency conditions it would be beneficial to house a population of people displaced by extreme weather conditions. For example, in the case of hurricane, flood or tornado events housing can be temporarily rendered unsafe for human use. In such conditions having a rapidly deployed housing unit that can provide more complete shelter would be useful. Further, it would be useful for such shelter to be compact to simplify and reduce the cost of shipping and use to the affected individuals and to the community if emergency aid funds the use of such housing.
Short to medium term housing units would also be useful for meeting certain acute urban needs. For example, certain segments of the population of many large cities struggle to find housing for a variety of reasons. While many approaches to this difficult problem have been tried in some cases short to medium term solutions are lacking. Many cities struggle to find a suitable location for a long-term shelter. Also, the need for more complete shelter may vary over the course of the year and during unusual weather conditions.
This application is directed to structures for compactly arranging furniture in a shelter. The shelter can be a temporary shelter. The shelter can be a small housing unit. The shelter can be a space where frequent reconfiguration is beneficial.
A folding furniture assembly can be provided that includes a foldable frame and any combination of an upper bunk, a lower bunk, a stowable chair, and a stowable table. The foldable frame is coupled to a wall support (e.g., a free-standing frame that is configured to be placed near a wall, a structure or structures for connecting to a wall, a part or parts of a wall, or any combination thereof) and includes a front leg configured to brace the foldable frame away from the support when unfolded. The upper bunk is configured to support a sleeper and is pivotably coupled with the front leg and the support. The lower bunk can support a sleeper below the upper bunk and is pivotably coupled with the support and the front leg. The stowable chair and/or the stowable table is/are stowably supported by the assembly, e.g., by the lower bunk. The stowable chair and/or the stowable table could be stowably supported by the upper bunk. The stowable chair and/or the stowable table has/have a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration. The stowed configuration can be provided when the foldable frame is unfolded. The stowable chair and/or stowable table can be stowed when the foldable frame is folded. The stowable chair and/or stowable table can have a deployed configuration when the foldable frame is folded.
In one embodiment a folding furniture assembly is provided. The folding furniture assembly can include a wall support, a foldable frame, an upper bunk, a lower bunk, a stowable chair, and a stowable table. The wall support is configured to be anchored to or disposed adjacent to an interior wall of a housing unit. The foldable frame is coupled to the wall support. The foldable frame includes a front leg configured to brace the foldable frame away from the wall support in an unfolded configuration. The upper bunk has an upper bunk support and an upper bunk top configured to support a sleeper. The upper bunk support is coupled with the front leg and forms a part of the foldable frame. The upper bunk support is pivotably coupled with the wall support. The lower bunk has a lower bunk support and a lower bunk top. The lower bunk top is configured to support a sleeper below the upper bunk. The lower bunk support is coupled with the front leg and forms a part of the foldable frame. The lower bunk support is pivotably coupled with the wall support. The stowable chair has a chair frame and a chair top. The stowable chair is stowably supported by a track. The track is coupled with the lower bunk support. The chair frame has a slide configured to move along the track between a stowed position of the chair and a deployed position of the chair. The stowable table has a table frame and a tabletop. The table frame is coupled to the lower bunk support by a hinge connection. The stowable table has stowed configuration when the foldable frame is in the unfolded configuration and a deployed configuration where the table frame and the tabletop are positioned in a horizontal position.
In another embodiment a folding furniture assembly is provided that includes a foldable frame and a gas spring. The foldable frame is configured to be coupled to a wall or a wall support. The foldable frame includes a four-bar linkage comprising a front leg, an upper bunk support configured to support a sleeper, and a lower bunk support. The upper bunk support is pivotably coupled with the front leg. The upper bunk support is configured to be pivotably coupled with the wall or the wall support. The lower bunk support is configured to support a sleeper below the upper bunk. The lower bunk support is pivotably coupled with the front leg and configured to be pivotably coupled with the wall or the wall support. The gas spring has a first end configured to be coupled to a wall or a wall support and a second end. The second end is coupled with the foldable frame. The gas spring applies a load to assist moving the four-bar linkage from an unfolded configuration to a folded configuration.
In another embodiment, a rapid deploy housing unit is provided that includes an enclosure having a housing exterior and a housing interior the housing interior enclosing a space for sheltering one or more occupants. A folding furniture assembly is disposed in the rapid deploy housing unit. The folding furniture assembly includes a bunk support, a front leg, and a stowable table. The bunk support has a first edge pivotably coupled to a wall support or directly to the housing interior. The front leg is pivotably coupled to a second edge of the bunk support. The front leg is configured to brace the bunk support when the folding furniture assembly 100 is unfolded. The stowable table has a table frame coupled to the bunk support. The stowable table has a stowed configuration when the foldable frame is in the unfolded configuration and a deployed configuration where the foldable frame is in a folded configuration and the stowable table is positioned in a horizontal position.
Features of the inventions can be better understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying schematic drawings, which are for illustrative purposes. The drawings include the following figures:
While the present description sets forth specific details of various embodiments, it will be appreciated that the description is illustrative but should not be construed in any way as limiting. Furthermore, various applications of such embodiments and modifications thereto, which may occur to those who are skilled in the art, are also encompassed by the general concepts described herein. Each and every feature described herein, and each and every combination of two or more of such features, is included within the scope of the present inventions provided that the features included in such a combination are not mutually inconsistent.
This disclosure relates to folding furniture, which has particular utility in rapid deploy housing. Such furniture enables a small space to be reconfigured for different uses over the course of the day, e.g., for sleeping at night and to provide a table or worksurface during the day.
The folding furniture assembly 100 includes a bed assembly 104. The bed assembly 104 can include one or more bunks. For example, the bed assembly 104 can include an upper bunk 112. The bed assembly 104 can include a lower bunk 118. The bed assembly 104 can include the upper bunk 112 and the lower bunk 118. The foldable frame 108 can be configured to unfold the upper bunk 112 and the lower bunk 118 simultaneously in some embodiments.
The foldable frame 108 can have a variety of configurations. In one embodiment the foldable frame 108 includes a front leg 109 configured to brace or support an upper bunk support 114 and a lower bunk support 120. The front leg 109 can be pivotably coupled to one end of the upper bunk support 114 at an upper portion of the leg. The front leg 109 can be pivotably coupled to one end of the lower bunk support 120 adjacent to a lower end of the leg.
The folded configuration seen in
The folding and unfolding of the foldable frame 108 can also be facilitated by a hinge connection 128 coupling a lengthwise edge of the upper bunk support 114 and the lower bunk support 120 to the wall support 110.
The bed assembly 104, including the foldable frame 108, the upper bunk 112, and the lower bunk 118, can be heavy. Folding the foldable frame 108 can require more force than some users would be able to provide. In one embodiment, the folding furniture assembly 100 includes a gas spring 134 that can provide a load for folding the foldable frame 108. The gas spring 134 can assist moving the foldable frame 108 to the folded configuration.
The folding furniture assembly 100 also includes a stowable table 180.
Many variations of the foregoing device are possible. For example, while it is useful to have two stowable chairs, the stowable chairs can be omitted. The stowable table 180 can be provided. Separate chairs or no chairs can be provided in some applications. Although coupling the stowable table 180 with the lower bunk 118 provides a good height for seating, a table similar to the stowable table 180 or a work bench could be coupled with the upper bunk 112. In one variation a stowable table is coupled with each of the upper bunk 112 and the lower bunk 118 so that the user can deploy the table that has the desired height.
Although the gas spring 134 is provided to apply a load to the upper bunk 112, a gas spring could be coupled with the lower bunk 118 to apply a load thereto. Also, although gas springs are preferred, other devices for storing strain energy or for providing mechanical advantage can be used instead. A coil spring could be provided to move the foldable frame 108 to the folded configuration. A pulley and cord could be used to pull up the foldable frame 108 to the folded state.
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the systems and methods described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present inventions is defined only by reference to the appended claims.
Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described in this section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The protection is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The protection extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.
Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and the combination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Moreover, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Other operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Further, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in the processes illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shown in the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps described above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.
For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.
Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”, “generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount. As another example, in certain embodiments, the terms “generally parallel” and “substantially parallel” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 15 degrees, 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, or 0.1 degree.
The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the specific disclosures of preferred embodiments in this section or elsewhere in this specification, and may be defined by claims as presented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or as presented in the future. The language of the claims is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to the examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.
The present application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/303,857, filed Jan. 27, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63303857 | Jan 2022 | US |
