Patent Application
20100269255
The present invention relates to sofa beds, and more particularly to a sofa bed with a roll out mechanism under its seat deck used in connection with convenient roll out wheels that are concealed beneath the seat deck.
A sofa is an upholstered item of furniture for the comfortable seating of more than one person and typically has an armrest on both sides of the sofa along with a back rest. Sofas are usually to be found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge. They are covered in a variety of textiles or in leather.
Sofas may be convertible into a bed. This type of furniture is often referred to as a “sofa bed.” Many of these sofas require substantial effort to open the sofa, to convert the sofa to a bed or to close the bed to form a sofa. The substantial effort may be due in part to having the frames require intricate mechanisms to maintain the bed in a rigid position when the sofa is open into a bed and to maintain the sofa back and seat firmly in position when the sofa is in the closed position.
Further, when these sofas are converted into a bed, the size of the bed is small, much smaller than a typical sized bed. People often prefer sleeping in a “regular bed,” such as a full-size bed.
Hence, there is a need in the art for a sofa bed that can be easily converted to a bed as well as easily returned to the sofa position. Further, there is a need in the art for a sofa bed which can be converted into a regular bed, such as a full-sized bed. In addition, there is a need for a sofa bed that retains the good qualities of a sofa, when the sofa bed is in the sofa position, and retains the good qualities of a bed, when the sofa bed is in the bed position.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for converting a sofa into a bed comprises lifting up a seat deck of the sofa off the ground from its resting horizontal position. The method further comprises pulling and rolling out the seat deck until roll out wheels underneath the seat dock lock into place. Additionally, the method comprises placing the seat deck back into its resting horizontal position. Furthermore, the method comprises pushing down an approximately vertical back rest of the sofa towards the pulled out seat deck until the back rest is level with the pulled-out seat deck thereby forming a bed.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a sofa that converts into a bed, comprises a frame that includes a horizontal track mechanism. The sofa further comprises a horizontal seat deck having a top side and a bottom side comprising at least two roll out wheels attached to and engaged with the seat deck, where the roll out wheels are placed on the track mechanism. Additionally, the sofa comprises a back rest rotatably engaged with the frame to allow rotation of the back rest from an approximately vertical position to a horizontal position. Upon the seat deck being pulled and rolled out, the roll out wheels roll out along the track mechanism until the roll out wheels are locked into place at a location on the track mechanism furthest away from the back rest and upon the back rest being collapsed into the horizontal position, a bed is formed.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a sofa that converts into a bed, comprises a frame that includes a horizontal track mechanism. The sofa further comprises a horizontal seat deck having a top side and a bottom side comprising at least two roll out wheels attached to and engaged with the seat deck, where the roll out wheels are placed on the track mechanism. In addition, the sofa comprises a back rest rotatably engaged with the frame to allow rotation of the back rest from an approximately vertical position to a horizontal position, where the back rest is rotatably engaged with the frame by using at least one hinge. Furthermore, the sofa comprises a left and a right armrest, where the right and left armrests are each connected to the frame via a metal hook plate attached to the frame. Upon the seat deck being pulled and rolled out, the roll out wheels roll out along the track mechanism until the roll out wheels are locked into place at a location on the track mechanism furthest away from the back rest and upon the back rest being collapsed into the horizontal position, a bed is formed.
The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technical advantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the present invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject of the claims of the present invention.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
The present invention comprises a method and sofa for converting the sofa into a bed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a seat back of a sofa bed is pulled and rolled out using roll out wheels concealed underneath the seat back as they glide across a track mechanism (also concealed underneath the seat back) until the roll out wheels lock into place. The back rest is pushed down until the back rest is level with the pulled-out seat bed thereby forming a regular-sized bed. In this manner, a sofa bed may be easily converted from the “sofa” position to the “bed” position while forming a regular-sized bed.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details.
As discussed in the Background section, sofas may be convertible into a bed. This type of furniture is often referred to as a “sofa bed.” Many of these sofas require substantial effort to open the sofa, to convert the sofa to a bed or to close the bed to form a sofa. The substantial effort may be due in part to having the frames require intricate mechanisms to maintain the bed in a rigid position when the sofa is open into a bed and to maintain the sofa back and seat firmly in position when the sofa is in the closed position. Further, when these sofas are converted into a bed, the size of the bed is small, much smaller than a typical sized bed. People often prefer sleeping in a “regular bed,” such as a full-size bed. Hence, there is a need in the art for a sofa bed that can be easily converted to a bed as well as easily returned to the sofa position. Further, there is a need in the art for a sofa bed which can be converted into a regular bed, such as a full-sized bed. In addition, there is a need for a sofa bed that retains the good qualities of a sofa, when the sofa bed is in the sofa position, and retains the good qualities of a bed, when the sofa bed is in the bed position.
The sofa bed of the present invention can be easily converted to a bed as well as easily returned to the sofa position as discussed below in connection with FIGS. 1-4, 4A-D, 5, 5A-B, 6 and 7. Further, the sofa bed of the present invention can be converted to a regular-sized bed, such as a full-sized bed, as discussed below in connection with
Referring to
Additionally, sofa bed 100 may include armrests 104A-B used primarily to rest the arms of the user of sofa bed 100. Armrests 104A-B may collectively or individually be referred to as armrests 104 or armrest 104, respectively. Armrests 104 may be connected to the frame via a metal hook plate as discussed further below in connection with
Referring again to
Sofa bed 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular embodiment. Sofa bed 100 may include other components than depicted. Further, certain components depicted, such as pillows 103, may not be required for the functionality of sofa bed 100.
A method for converting sofa bed 100 from a “sofa” position to a “bed” position is discussed below in connection with
Referring to
Referring to
In step 202, seat deck 101 is pulled and rolled out until the roll out wheels are locked into position as illustrated in
Returning to
In step 204, back rest 102 is pushed down towards the pulled out seat deck 101 until back rest 102 is level with the pulled out seat deck 101 thereby forming a regular-sized bed as illustrated in
As a result of the above, it has been shown that sofa bed 100 can be easily converted from the “sofa” position to the “bed” position and that it can be converted to a regular-sized bed, such as a full-sized bed. Sofa bed 100 may be returned to the original “sofa” position by reversing the steps outlined above, such as by pulling up back rest 102 to its normal vertical resting position; and pushing and rolling seat deck 101 back towards back rest 102 until roll-out wheels 501 are locked into position.
Method 200 may include other and/or additional steps that, for clarity, are not depicted. Further, method 200 may be executed in a different order presented and the order presented in the discussion of
Although the method and sofa bed are described in connection with several embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications and equivalents, as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
