GB2220850A - Folding bed - Google Patents

Abstract

A collapsible bed collapses into a chest 10 or sideboard (30, Fig 3). The front wall of the chest makes a footboard 18 and the lid makes a headboard 16. The side rails are concertina foldable or telescopic. <IMAGE>

Description

FOLDING BED This invention relates to a folding bed of the type which is designed to be capable of use in its alternative stowed configuration as a normal article of furniture. It is well-known to provide folding or collapsible beds which can be used alternatively as other items of furniture, particularly in small rooms or other situations where space is at a premium. Various proposals have been made for this general purpose and it is an object of the invention to provide an improved folding bed which occupies minimal space and is economical to manufacture and easy to erect and fold away.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a collapsible bed comprising a chest or other container, a pair of concertina-foldable side rails normally housed within the chest, at least one support for supporting the side rails off the ground and a supporting surface or structure extending between the rails and capable of carrying a mattress or the like and also of collapsing with the side rails into the chest.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a collapsible bed comprising a chest or other container, a pair of telescopically extensible side rails normally housed within the chest, at least one supporting leg on each of the side rails, and a supporting surface or structure extending between the rails and capable of carrying a mattress or the like and also of collapsing with the side rails into the chest.

According to yet another aspect of this invention there is provided an article of furniture comprising a chest having an upper sliding drawer above a lower cavity in which is housed a collapsible bed.

The invention may be performed in various ways and three specific embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a first embodiment of collapsible bed according to the invention; figure 2 is a diagrammatic top plan view illustrating folding of the rails of the bed of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a second embodiment of collapsible bed according to the invention; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the lower part of a chest of drawers with a third embodiment of collapsible bed according to the invention folded away into the lower compartment; Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the chest and bed of Figure 4 showing the bed extended, and Figure 6 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the extended bed of Figure 4.

The first embodiment of collapsible bed illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 collapses into a chest 10. The chest has back and side walls 12 and 14 permanently secured together, a lid 16 hinged to the side walls and a front wall 18 forming the footboard of the bed. The bed comprises two concertina-foldable side rails 20 attached at one end to the side walls 12 of the chest and at the other end to the front wall 18. Each rail consists of a series of pivotted rail elements with alternate pivots having transverse spacer rods 24. Legs 22 support the rails off the ground. The spacer rods 24 serve to support a mattress 26 when the bed is extended. To the inner lower part of the front wall 18 is attached a locker 28 for receiving a folded mattress 26.

To collapse the bed from extended position, the front wall is pushed back towards the remainder of the chest, collapsing the rails concertina-fashion so that they are stowed above the locker 28 when the bed is fully collapsed.

The lid 16 is padded on its inner surface and serves as a headboard when open.

Referring now to Figure 3, in this example the unit comprises an outer casing or box 30, resembling a chest of drawers and having a sliding top drawer 31 and a sliding intermediate drawer 32. The space 33 below the centre drawer is "empty" in the sense that no drawer is provided, but there is a front board or flap 34 which is hinged to the chest along its upper edge and can be swung upwards from its lower position to a raised position 38 where the back side of the board faces the front. The reverse side of the board is padded or otherwise decorated to act as a headboard for the bed.

The bed itself is capable of being folded into a compact configuration, entirely within the bottom cavity 33. From this position it can be withdrawn, pulled forwards and erected to form a bed, as illustrated in Figure 3. For this purpose the bed comprises a main frame having side members 45, which are hinged at two positions 46,47 to form three effective lengths such that the frame can be folded over with the attached mattress 48 to form a triple layer compact package. The bed is supported vertically by four legs or supports 50,51,52,53. The two supports 50,51 are parallel and their lower ends are pivotally connected to an extending pair of runners 56 having castor wheels 57 at their front ends.The other two legs or supports 52,53 are pivotally attached to the frame of the bed and can be folded upwards to lie flush with the frame, or can pivot downwards into a vertical attitude, as shown in Figure 3, where the legs are held in position by struts or braces 59.

The design of the frame and supporting legs is such that when unfolded and withdrawn from the lower cavity the supporting legs automatically move into their correct vertical positions as the three sections of the bed are unfolded into a generally horizontal plane. To collapse and fold the bed for storage it is only necessary to lift and fold the bed sections one over the other, while the legs automatically fold flat into position, and then the runners 56 can be slid back into position within the bottom cavity 53 after which the headboard 34 is lowered. The chest of drawers is then capable of being used in the normal way apart from the bottom cavity, and resembes a normal chest with three drawers.

In the third example illustrated in Figures 4 to 6, the invention is again applied to a folding bed designed to retract into the space normally occupied by the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers. For this purpose the drawer itself is omitted and only the front wall of the drawer is included, as indicated at 60 in Figure 4.

This is provided with handles 61 and other fittings to match those of the upper drawers. This front panel 60 is connected to a pair of telescopic side rails 62,63 each of which is attached to a series of depending legs 64.

The legs are hinged to the side rails and can be folded upwards to assist packing into the chest and each of the legs -has a castor or ball 65 at its bottom end to facilitate movement over the floor. In an alternative construction each of the legs is of channel section (not shown) so designed that when moved towards each other they nest, one inside the next.

The side rails may take various forms. In the simplest construction illustrated in Figure 6, each side rail is a circular section hollow pole formed in a number of separate sections 63A,63B etc. of progressively varying diameter so as to be capable of sliding one into the next for storage in the chest. The inner end of each section has an enlargement or stop to prevent it being withdrawn too far and there may be anti-friction bearings between the different sections to aid the necessary movement inwards and outwards. The side rails may be extended and collapsed manually simply by applying the necessary force to the end board 60.

Alternatively the whole movement may be mechanised; for example a motor may be arranged to drive a semi-rigid but part-flexible thrust rod which extends from end to end within the hollow tube tube sections 63A,63B etc. By activating the motor in one direction or another the two side rails 62 and 63 will thus be extended or withdrawn.

In this example the bed also includes a flexible supporting sheet 75 on to which a mattress is placed in use. This supporting sheet is connected to the side rails 62,63 by a series of springs 76, the outer end of each spring being attached to the respective side rail so as to apply tension to the sheet. If the sheet is fully flexible and can be folded to match the movement of the side rail sections these connections may be rigid. Preferably, however, each connection is designed to allow for movement along the side rail.

It is to be understood that sone of the features of the three embodiments can be combined to form modified embodiments.

Claims (9)

1. A collapsible bed comprising a chest or other container, a pair of concertina-foldable side rails normally housed within the chest, at least one support for supporting the side rails off the ground and a supporting surface or struct ure extending between the rails and capable of carrying a mattress or the like and also of collapsing with the side rails into the chest.

2. A collapsible bed according to Claim 1, wherein each rail comprises a series of rail portions pivotted together.

3. A collapsible bed according to Claim 2, wherein each rail is provided with a supporting leg.

4. A collapsible bed according to Claim 3, wherein the foot end of the bed includes a container for receiving a folded mattress.

5. A collapsible bed according to any preceding claim, wherein the chest has a movable lid which, when open, defines a headboard.

6. A collapsible bed comprising a chest or other container, a pair of telescopically extensible side rails normally housed within the chest, at least one supporting leg on each of the side rails, and a supporting surface or structure extending between the rails and capable of carrying a mattress or the like and also of collapsing with the side rails into the chest.

7. An article of furniture comprising a chest having an upper sliding drawer above a lower cavity in which is housed a collapsible bed.

8. An article of furniture according to Claim 7, in which the collapsible bed is arranged to fold for compactness or to open out into the full bed configuration.

9. A collapsible bed substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any of the accompanying drawings.