The present invention relates generally to furniture, and more specifically a furniture unit that is convertible into a bed.
Furniture units that are convertible into beds are popular with consumers because of their multifunctionality. Many consumers find it very convenient to have a sofa or chair that can provide a bed for a guest, as such a unit can eliminate the need for an additional, separate bed. One popular sofa-bed design includes its own complete mattress that is folded within the cavity of the sofa during periods of non-use. One such example is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,941 to Gill et al. This type of sofa-bed can be quite heavy, and typically requires not only the separate mattress, but also a relatively intricate mechanism to control the unfolding and folding of the mattress.
Other furniture units lack a complete mattress, but instead are constructed of separate sections that serve as support surfaces of the sofa and unfold to form a flat, mattress-like sleeping surface. One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,131 to Vogel et al.; others are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,194 to Bradley, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0283491 to Murphy, and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0010847 to Murphy, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. The bed shown in the latter of the Murphy publications includes three separate sections that serve as the mattress of the bed: a seat section; an intermediate section; and a head section. A folding mechanism controls the movement of the head, intermediate and seat sections between a folded position, in which the head, intermediate and seat sections are positioned in vertically stacked relationship, with the head section below the intermediate section and the seat section above the intermediate section, the head and intermediate sections being positioned in the cavity of the housing and the seat section serving as the “seat” for the sofa, and an unfolded position, in which the head, intermediate and seat sections are horizontally disposed and serially aligned to form a sleeping surface.
In spite of the existence of these different foldable beds, it may be desirable to offer additional furniture units that can house foldable beds.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are direction to a seating unit that includes a foldable bed. The seating unit comprises: a base with an internal cavity; a foldable bed that includes a plurality of sections, wherein in a folded position, the bed sections are folded relative to each other and stored within the base cavity, and in an unfolded position, the bed sections are generally horizontally disposed and in serial alignment with each other, with a first bed section being positioned forwardly of the base; a bed folding mechanism that is attached to the base and the bed sections that controls the movement of the bed between the folded and unfolded positions; a foldable leg attached to the first bed section, and a leg folding mechanism attached to the leg and the first bed section, the leg folding mechanism configured to extend the leg downwardly from the first bed section when the bed is in the unfolded position, and to fold the leg under the first bed section when the bed is in the folded position, the leg being pivotable about an axis that is parallel with the forward direction. This configuration can provide a variety of leg styles and can improve seating comfort of the seating unit.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directed to seating unit that includes a foldable bed, the seating unit comprising: a base with an internal cavity; a foldable bed that includes a plurality of sections, wherein in a folded position, the bed sections are folded relative to each other and stored within the base cavity, with a seat section serving as the seat for the seating unit, and in an unfolded position, the bed sections are generally horizontally disposed and in serial alignment with each other, with the seat section being positioned forwardly of the base; and a bed folding mechanism that is attached to the base and the bed sections that controls the movement of the bed between the folded and unfolded positions. The seat section includes a plurality of cushions and a plurality of corresponding subframes underlying the cushions, wherein each subframe includes a central opening beneath its corresponding cushion. Once again, a seating unit of this configuration can improve seating comfort.
As a third aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a seating unit that includes a foldable bed, the seating unit comprising: a base with an internal cavity; a foldable bed that includes a plurality of sections, wherein in a folded position, the bed sections are folded relative to each other and stored within the base cavity, and in an unfolded position, the bed sections are generally horizontally disposed and in serial alignment with each other, with a first bed section being positioned forwardly of the base; a bed folding mechanism that is attached to the base and the bed sections that controls the movement of the bed between the folded and unfolded positions; two foldable legs, each attached to opposed outer edge portions of the first bed section, and a leg folding mechanism attached to the legs and the first bed section, the leg folding mechanism configured to extend the legs downwardly from the first bed section when the bed is in the unfolded position, and to fold the legs under the first bed section when the bed is in the folded position such that the legs extend inwardly.
The present invention will be described more particularly hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention is not intended to be limited to the illustrated embodiments; rather, these embodiments are intended to fully and completely disclose the invention to those skilled in this art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Thicknesses and dimensions of some components may be exaggerated for clarity. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein the expression “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
In addition, spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “under” can encompass both an orientation of over and under. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Referring now to the figures, a seating unit, designated broadly at 10, is illustrated in
Referring to
The bed 15 is movable between a folded position, in which the seat, intermediate and head sections 16, 20, 24 are generally horizontally disposed and positioned in vertically stacked relationship, with the head section 24 below the intermediate section 20 and the seat section 16 above the intermediate section 20, and with the head and intermediate sections 24, 20 being positioned in the cavity 17 of the base 11 (see
The movement of the sections 16, 20, 24 of the bed 15 is controlled by a pair of bed folding mechanisms 30 and a pair of leg folding mechanisms 100, which will be described in greater detail below. The bed folding mechanisms 30 are mirror images of each other about a vertical plane P (
For the sake of clarity, the bed 15 will be described initially in the unfolded position of
In addition, some components of the bed and leg folding mechanisms 30, 100 are illustrated herein as a series of pivotally interconnected links. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that the pivots between links or other components can take a variety of configurations, such as pivot pins, rivets, bolt and nut combinations, and the like, any of which may be suitable for use with the present invention. Also, the shapes and configurations of the links themselves may vary, as will be understood by those skilled in this art. Further, some links may be omitted entirely in some embodiments, and additional links may be included in some embodiments.
Referring now to
A coupling link 68 is attached to the front swing link 38 via a pin 38a on the front swing link 38 that is received in a slot 68a in the coupling link 68. In the unfolded position of
Referring once again to
The bed folding mechanism 30 also includes a folding assist unit 79. A connecting link 80 extends between pivots 82, 84 with, respectively, the intermediate section mounting bracket 70 and a drawing link 86. A spring link 88 is pivotally attached to the mounting bracket 32 at a pivot 89 and to the drawing link 86 at a pivot 90. A spring 92 (which in the unfolded position is in a stretched or tensioned state) extends between the rear end of the mounting bracket 32 and the upper end of the spring link 88. A control link 93 is attached to the mounting bracket 32 at the pivot 36 and engages a pin 90a on the spring link 88 with a slot 93a. In the unfolded position of
Referring now to
Folding of the legs 94 is controlled by the leg folding mechanisms 100 as noted above (only one of which will be described herein). Each leg folding mechanism 100 includes a front intermediate section bracket 102 that is mounted beneath the foot end of the intermediate section 20; the front intermediate section bracket includes a vertical flange 102a, on which is mounted a cam 103. A seat section bracket 104 with a side flange 104a and an end flange 104b is mounted below the seat section 16 such that the brackets 102, 104 are adjacent to each other when the bed 15 is in the unfolded position and are connected at a pivot 105. A gear drive link 106 is mounted to the front intermediate section bracket 102 at a pivot 108 and extends forwardly therefrom. A gear 110 with teeth 112 is mounted to the seat section bracket 104 at a pivot 116 to rotate about a transverse axis. The gear drive link 106 is attached to the gear 110 at a pivot 114. A sprocket 120 with an extension 126 is fixed to one of the uprights 95 of the leg 94 and is attached to the end flange 104b of the seat mounting bracket 104 at a pivot 124 that defines a longitudinal pivot axis. The teeth 122 of the sprocket 120 mesh with the teeth 112 of the gear 110. The sprocket 120 also includes a hole 128 slightly offset from the pivot 124. A stop link 130 is mounted to the seat section mounting bracket 104 via two pins 104c, 104d that are received in slots 130a, 130b. A post 132 extends inwardly from one end of the stop link 130 in position to interact with the cam 103. A projection 138 extends from the opposite end of the stop link 130 and is aligned with the hole 128 of the sprocket 120. A spring 136 is mounted to the side flange 104a of the seat section bracket 104 and to the stop link 130 near the projection 138.
A bracket 150 is mounted to the underside of the foot end of the seat section 16. A vertical panel 151 is fixed to the bracket 150 and includes two quarter-circular slots 150a, 150b. A tab 150c extends inwardly; a post 150d is mounted on the tab 150c. An extension member 152 is mounted to an upright 95 of the leg 94 and extends upwardly to a pivot 160 with the vertical panel 151. One branch of the extension member 152 extends laterally and includes a pin 152a that is received in the slot 150a. A shorter branch of the extension member 152 extends inwardly and includes a pin 152b that is received in the slot 150b. A spring 156 extends between the pin 152a and the post 150d.
To move the bed 15 from the unfolded position of
It can be envisioned from examination of
It can also be seen that, as the seat section 16 rises and the intermediate section 20 begins to rotate about the pivot 74, the connecting link 80 is driven rearwardly. This movement forces the drawing link 86 rearwardly, which causes the spring link 88 to rotate about the pivot 90. This action is aided by the contraction of the stretched spring 92. As a result, an operator receives some assistance in folding the bed 15 during this portion of the folding operation. Rotation of the spring link 88 ceases when the pin 88a reaches the rear end of the slot 93a (
It can further be seen that as the intermediate section 20 rotates about the pivot 74, the stop link 64 moves rearwardly and forces the transition link 58 to rotate counterclockwise about the pivot 40. Rotation of the transition link 58 begins approximately when the intermediate section 20 reaches the position of
Referring now to
As an operator lifts the seat section 16 to move the bed 15 to the folded position, the relative pivoting of the intermediate section 20 relative to the seat section 16 about the pivot 101 rotates the cam 103 relative to the stop link 130, which enables the spring 136 to contract to draw the stop link 130 rearwardly, thereby removing the projection 138 from the hole 128 in the sprocket 120. After the projection 138 is withdrawn from the hole 128 (
Unfolding of the bed 15 from the folded position of
One of the advantages of the arrangement and movement of the legs 94 can be understood with reference to
In addition, a typical seating unit would have sufficient width that multiple people could be seated thereon (e.g., a love seat would have two spots for sitting, a couch would have three spots, etc.). However, prior multi-seat seating units would include only a single wide cushion that covered the entire seat section. This provided an appearance that was undesirable for some consumers. However, the seat section 16 can provide a multi-cushion appearance for multi-seat seating units, which may be more desirable to consumers.
Those skilled in this art will appreciate that seating units according to embodiments of the present invention may take a number of different forms. For example, while legs supporting the seat section in the unfolded position and pivoting about a longitudinal axis may be employed with seating units that fold in the manner described, such legs may also be employed with seating units of different varieties. For example, the seating units described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,740,131; 4,200,191; and 4,737,996 and in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2007/0283491 and 2011/0010847 may be suitable for use with the present invention. In addition, either or both of the folding assist unit and the folding resist unit may be omitted as desired.
In addition, the mechanism employed to rotate the legs that support the seat section may vary. For example, rather than inducing rotation in the legs via intermeshing gears, the mechanism may employ a series of pivoting links. Also, while the illustrated embodiment is configured such that the legs are essentially fully unfolded by the intermediate position shown in
Further, the configuration of the legs themselves may vary. For example, although each of the legs is illustrated as a single generally U-shaped member, it may be configured instead as a U-shaped loop. Alternatively, the seating unit may include four separate leg members, each a straight member, rather than two legs with two upright each. In other embodiments, only two or three uprights may be included rather than four. Other configurations may be apparent to those of skill in this art.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
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