Patent Application
20170049241
The field of the invention is furniture, more particularly a wall bed mattress system.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
In the early 1900's, a California inventor named William K. Murphy invented a space-saving bed that can be folded when not in use. Foldout beds, or “Murphy” beds, have been popular since then. Foldout beds can be mounted to the floor, secured to the wall behind the bed, or housed in free-standing cabinets. Most of the foldout wall beds are coupled with mattresses such that a mattress is vertically placed when the foldout wall bed is not in use. When a user unfolds the foldout wall bed, the mattress is placed horizontally as a support frame coupled with the mattress is placed planar to the floor. Because the mattress of the foldout wall bed is placed vertically for most of the time, and because the mattress changes its position from a vertical to a horizontal position frequently, the position and the shape of the mattress can be often undesirably distorted.
Some efforts have been made to solve the problem. For example, some tried to tie one end of the mattress to the support frame using a strap that is attached to the support frame. However, the mattress tends to sag due to the weight of the inner mass of the mattress and gravity while the mattress is vertically positioned. In addition, pillows or beddings that are placed loosely on the mattress cannot be stabilized when the mattress is vertically positioned. Furthermore, if the support frame is a slat-style, tying the mattress tightly with the support frame may exert excessive pressure to the mattress such that some portion of the bottom of the mattress would be dipped between the slats.
Thus, there is still a need for an improved wall bed mattress system.
The inventive subject matter provides systems, devices and methods for securing mattresses in wall bed system.
One aspect of the inventive subject matter includes a mattress system for a wall bed. The mattress system includes a mattress having a top face, an inner layer and a bottom face. The mattress system further includes a panel placed on the bottom face of the mattress. The panel is coupled with a wire (or a plurality of wires). While one end of the wire is coupled with the panel, at least a portion of the wire passes through the inner layer of the mattress such that the other end of the wire is coupled to the top face of the mattress. The wire, together with the panel, is configured to stabilize the mattress on the support frame of the wall bed.
Another aspect of the inventive subject matter includes a mattress system for a wall bed. The mattress system includes a mattress having a top face and a bottom face. The mattress system further includes a panel placed on the bottom face of the mattress. The panel is coupled with a strap that is configured to stabilize a pillow (or bedding) on the front surface.
Still another aspect of the inventive subject matter includes a mattress system for a wall bed. The mattress system includes a mattress having a top face and a bottom face. The mattress system further includes a panel placed on the bottom face of the mattress. The panel is sized and dimensioned to prevent the bottom face from having a dip when the mattress is placed on slats.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
One should appreciate that the disclosed techniques provide many advantageous technical effects including providing mattress system for foldout beds that provides easy maintenance of the mattress and beddings for users of the foldout beds.
The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.
One inventive subject matter includes a mattress system that stabilize the relative location of the mattress on the support frame so that the mattress does not move, slide, or turn when the foldout wall bed changes its position from an open configuration to a closed configuration and vice versa. Details of the foldout beds or wall beds are described in Applicant's own U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/788,459 and Ser. No. 15/206,193, which are incorporated herein in its entirety.
The fastener 110 on the support frame 105 (or 106) is configured to couple with the fastener 140 on the bottom surface 125 of the mattress 120 such that coupling of two fasteners are configured to stabilize the mattress 120 on the support frame 105 (or 106). In an especially preferred embodiment, the fasteners 110, 140 are hook and loop fasteners (e.g., Velcro®, etc.). However, any suitable type of fasteners, which are configured to reversibly attach the mattress to the support frame, can be used.
While the mattress can be tied and stabilized, at least in part, to the support frame by fasteners that are located on the bottom surface of the mattress as shown in
The anti-sagging mechanism provides several advantages over other commercially available stabilization mechanisms. Most importantly, because the wires pass through the inner layer of the mattress, the anti-sagging mechanism can hold the bottom surface and the top surface of the mattresses tightly without having wires surrounding the entire width of the mattress, which can deform the surface of the mattress. Further, the wires passing through the inner layer can provide more strength to the inner layer of the mattress so that the inner layer is less likely to be sagged due to the gravity when it is standing vertically.
Any number and size of the panels that are suitable to support a portion of the bottom surface 207 of the mattress 105 can be contemplated. For example, the mattress system 200 may comprise two or more panels with at least two or more wires for each panel. In a preferred embodiment, the size of the panel is sufficient enough to cover at least 5%, more preferably at least 10%, most preferably at least 15% of the bottom surface 207 of the mattress 205. However, it is also preferred that the size of the panel is less than 75% of the area, more preferably 50%, most preferably 35% of the bottom surface 207.
In some embodiments, the top surface 205 of the mattress 205 is coupled with one or more elements 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 210e (e.g., a button, a snap button, stitches, etc.) with which each of the wires 215a, 215c, 215d is coupled. Preferably, each of the wires 215a, 215c, 215d is coupled with one element 210a, 210c, 210d. However, it is also contemplated that one of the wires 215a, 215c, 215d can be bifurcated in the inner layer 208 or at the top surface 206 and coupled with at least two of the elements 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 210e.
In some embodiments, the elements 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 210e are aligned in a pattern (e.g., line, square, grid, diamond, spot, etc.). In other embodiments, the elements 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 210e are aligned in a predetermined distances from each other (e.g., every 0.5 inch, every 1 inch, every 2 inch, etc.).
In a preferred embodiment, the pillow panel 330 is a corrugated structure such that it is provides more friction on the bottom surface 307 of the mattress 305, and could be more stably located on the bottom surface 307. In other embodiment, the pillow panel 330 need not be a corrugated structure, but comprises a material (e.g., rubber, etc.) with a high coefficient of friction (e.g., between 0.5 and 1.0, preferably between 1.0 and 1.5, more preferably between 1.0 and 2.0).
The some embodiments, the length of the strap 315 is adjustable so that it can stabilize various sizes of pillows 311 (or beddings). In other embodiments, the strap 315 comprises a fastening element (e.g., a buckle).
The mattress system 300 may also include other fastening mechanisms and/or anti-sag mechanisms described above. For example, the mattress system 300 may include a fastener 320 (e.g., hook and loop mechanism, etc.) on the bottom surface 307 of the mattress as described in
When the support frame of the foldout wall bed is a slat-style deck, prolonged storage of a mattress on the support frame may cause deformation of the mattress. Most significantly, as shown in
Any suitable type of material (e.g., wood, steel, plastic, rubber, etc.) can be contemplated for the bottom panel 410. Preferably, the bottom panel 410 comprises one or material that is stiff enough not to bend by the pressure exerted by the slats 408 or the mattress 405 on the bottom panel 410.
The mattress system 400 may also include other fastening mechanisms and/or anti-sag mechanisms described above. For example, the mattress system 400 may include a fastener (e.g., hook and loop mechanism, etc.) on the bottom surface 407 of the mattress as described in
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commercially practical values. The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value within a range is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “coupled to” is intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). Therefore, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are used synonymously.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/207,289, filed on Aug. 19, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62207289 | Aug 2015 | US |
