US2897519A - Folding bed - Google Patents

Description

A. CARLETTI Aug. 4, 1959 FOLDING BED 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March l1, 1957 A. CARLETTI Aug. 4, 1959 FOLDING BED Filed March 1l, 1957 Allg. 4, 1959 A CARLETT] 2,897,519

FOLDING BED Filed March 11. 195'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 /nVen/ar aff/'s /fae War/67W Aug. 4, 1959 Filed March 11, 1957 A. CARLETTI FOLDING BED 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 y www nited States Patent FOLDING BED Aristide Carletti, Rome, Italy Application 'March 11, 1957, Serial No. l645,159 Claims priority, application Italy March 12, 1956 7 Claims. (Cl. 5-177) This invention relates to a bed that may be dismounted and folded as to have a minimum cumbersomeness and that may be readily hand carried and stored in a relatively reduced space.

-It is well known that many attempts were hitherto made to provide a bed that may be dismounted and folded to be used mainly as a bed for camps, barracks, hospitals, hotels or as a reserve bed in private houses. Most of these existing beds of the prior art still have such disadvantages as to limit their use on a large scale. For instance, some dismountable beds had a fabric rest surface which was too rigid and uncomfortable. Other beds of the described character were formed of many small elements and related connections, which may be separated from one another, so

that the loss of one of these elements or connections could easily occur. Other existing beds were formed only by folding portions which could not be detached from one another. The main defect of the last mentioned beds consisted in the fact that, although many folding methods were pro-vided, such beds, when folded, still had such a large volume as to discourage the hand transport thereof.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bed that may be dismounted and folded, having such characteristics as to remove or at least considerably reduce the above mentioned disadvantages of the existing beds. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a bed comprises three portions which may be detached from one another and are formed by elements which may be foldedV so as to give a minimum cumbersomeness, one of such portions being formed by a springy metal fabric that may be completely separated from the other two portions of thev bed and is provided with means by which it is possible toV adjust at will the tension of said metal fabric.

A further object of my invention is to provide a bed that may be dismounted and folded so as to give a minimum cumbersomeness, substantially comprising ahead frame portion to which partial lengths of longitudinal elements of the bedstead are pivotally connected, a foot frame portion to which the remaining partial lengths of.

said longitudinal elements of the bedsteady are pivotally connected, and a rest surface portion formed by a springy metal fabric; the bed forming portions being detachable from one another, and then foldable so as to give a minimum cumbersomeness and finally joined with one another as to obtain a unit that may be readily hand carried.

Another object of my present invention is to provide a bed of the above described character that may be dismounted and folded, and wherein some of said partial lengths of the longitudinal elements of the bedstead, when said bedstead is in its operative unfolded position, are subjected to axial compression and operate as struts, while other partial lengths of the longitudinal elements of the bedstead are subjected to axial pull and operate as tierods for allowing adjustment of the tension of the rest surface portion.

Afurtherobject of the present'invention is to provide each provided with a hinge 17 adjacent the end attached ice abed'of the described character that may be dismounted and folded, and wherein the partial lengths of the longitudinal elements of the bedstead which are, pivotally connected with the head frame portion and the foot frame portion, respectively, may be folded in the planes defined by said head and foot frame portions, so as to form two folded structures which may be overlapped to form a unit that may be readily hand carried, the rest surface portion being placed in a space provided between said folded and overlapped structures. p

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description which is to be read in connection with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the bed according to my invention, shown in condition for use;

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the bed shown in Fig. 1, but in various dismounting and folding stages;

Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of another embodiv ment of the invention, with the parts thereof shown in partially and fully folded conditions, respectively; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views of still another embodiment of the invention, with the parts thereof being shown partially folded and in condition for storage or transport, respectively.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that the bed there illustrated substantially comprises only three separable portions, i.e. a head portion 1, a foot portion 2 and a rest surface 3. The head portion 1 comprises a metal frame `4 bent into the shape of an inverted U and suitable to form a back 5 'and legs 6 and 7. The foot portion 2 is similar to the head portion and comprises a metal frame 4 formed by a horizontal back 5 and legs 6 and 7. The other elements which form the separable portions 1 and 2 are also the same, so that it will be sufficient to provide a detail description only of the elements of the portion 1 and to identify the corresponding elements of the other portion 2 by the same reference numbers but with the letter a appended thereto.

The legs 6 and 7 of the metal frame 4 are connected to one another by horizontal and parallel cross bars 8, 9, 10; the bars 9 and 10 being fixed, while the upper bar 8 is connected to the legs of the frame 4 so as to be free to rotate round its axis. Moreover, the upper cross bar 8 is provided with rings 11 and a pair of bores 12 at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said bar. The ends of the cross bar 9, which is preferably of tubular shape, are surrounded by two turnable coupling sleeves 13, 14 to which there are welded two tubular struts 15 and 16,

tothe related coupling sleeve. The tubular struts 15 and 16, when extending in a straight line, are at right angles tothe bar 9-and have free ends 18 which are so shaped as lto be threaded on the free ends 18a of the corresponding tubular struts 15a and 16a connected to the cross bar 9a 'of the foot frame 4'. Tie rods 19, 20 are connected by turnable sleeves 21 and 22 to the end of the lower tubular bar lll and each tie-rod is provided with a hinge 23 at a location adjacent the end attached to the related sleeve 21 or 22. The free ends of the tierods 19 and 20 are provided with a pair of openings 24, (Fig. 2), while the free ends of the corresponding tie-rods 19a and 20a are provided with a pair of bolts 25 suitable to be threaded in the openings 24 when the tie- rods 19 and 20 and 19a and 20a are extended in a straight line in such a way that the tie rods are at right angles with respect to the corresponding bars 10 and 10a, the free ends of said tie-rods may be coupled by means of theengagement of bolts 25 in the openings 24, as shown `1`n Fig. l. Stilening members 26, pivoted to the legs of the frames 4A and 4 and suitable to engage with the longitudinal struts and 16, serve to prevent undesired distorsions of the elements of the bed when this bed is assembled in its normal position of use (Fig. 1).

The third separable portion ofthe bedv shownin` Figs. 1; 2 and 3 is formed by the rest surface 3 comprising for instance a simple or springy metal fabric 27'. The end edges of said metal fabric have rigid strips 28 and 29 provided with rings 30; and under the strip 28L thereare weldedy two tapped bosses 31 theaxes of which are at right angles with the corresponding edge of the metal fabric and located to register axially with the bores 12 provided in the cross bar S of thehead portion I1.

For mounting the rest surface 31 on the bed supporting structure, formed by the portions 1 and 2 coupled to one anotherrin the manner shown in Figure 1, `first the rings 30 of the strip 29 of the metal fabric 27 are connected to the rings ,11a of the cross bar 8a, eg. by belts, bands, double hooks or similar members whichv are not visible in Fig. 1. Successively, two threaded pins 32 (Fig. 1') freely turnable in the bores 12 of the cross` bar 8 are engaged with the tapped bosses 31 of the metal fabric, so as to tighten said metal fabric to the desired degree by screwing` said threaded pins 32. When the strip 2S is drawn near the cross bar S by means of said threaded pins 32, the rings 11 and 30 may be connected by any coupling member (eg. metal tongues 33 bent into the shape of an S), and thereafter the threaded pins may be partially or fully unscrewed.

It is to be understood that, in the embodiment now being described, the rest surface 3 exerts a pull on the cross bars 8, 8a, of the frames 4, 4 which may swing relative to the longitudinal struts 15, 15a and 16, 16a, due to the turnable sleeve connections 13, 13a, 14 and 14a, and the angular positions of the frames 4, 4 relative to the longitudinal struts are defined by the fixed tie- rods 19, 19a and 20, 20a which are under tension. However, in a slightly different embodiment, means may be provided for adjusting at will the length of said tie-rods.

For reducing the bed to the condition of minimum cumbersomeness, the surface 27 is tightened by means of the threaded pins 32 until the tongues 33 are disengaged. Then the threaded pins 32 are completely unscrewed and the opposite edge of the rest surface 3 is detached from the foot portion 2 of the bed. Successively the free ends of the longitudinal elements 15, 16, 19 and 20 are detached from the corresponding longitudinal elements 15a, 16a, 19a and 20a (Figure 2). Then the longitudinal elements 15 and 16, and 19 and 20 are folded at their respective hinges 17 and 23 (Fig. 2), while the coupling sleeves 13, 14, 21 and 22 are turned, and the longitudinal elements and coupling sleeves of the frame 4 are similarly manipulated, so as to bring the elements 15, 16, 19 and 20 in the plane of the head frame 4 and the elements 15a, 16a, 19a and 20a in the plane of the foot frame`4 (Fig. 3). 1 and 2 may be placed in confronting relation and there fixed by any suitable means. The rest surface 3 is suitably folded or rolled up and held between the portions .1y

and 2.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is also substantially formed by three portions that may be separated from one another that is, a head portion 101, a foot portion 102 and a rest surface (not shown). The portions 101 and 102 are identical and each portion is formed by a frame 104 or 104 provided with cross-bars 108, 109, 110 or 108a, 109a, 110a, with the bars 109 and 109a bearing longitudinal folding end elements 115, 116' or 115a, 116awhich cooperate with one another as to form spacing struts for the frames 104 and 104.

Each of the frames 104 and 104 comprises two'tubular legs 36- and 37 into which the parallel and tubular arms 38--and- 39 of an inverted, U-shapedtubular back 40-may slide, and the upper vertices of a zig-zag bentv metal wirel At last the two portions 48a, 49a of folding backs 50 and 50a.

4 l 42 may be welded to the horizontal length 41 of said tubular back 40.

The tie-rods, which cooperate with the struts 115, 116 and er, 116a for tightening the rest surface 3, are exible and adjustable in the embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5.

More particularly, said tie-rods comprise cables 43 and 44 permanently connected to the detachable head portion 101 at the cross-bar 110 and similar cables 43a and 44a permanently connected to the foot portion 102. When the bed is mounted in normal position of use, the cables 44 and 44a extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bed and are connected to one another by a threaded sleeve 45. It is, apparent that, by rotating the sleeve 45, the lower ends of the legs 36, 37 may be moved more or less toward the lower ends of the corresponding legs 36a, 37a so that, since the portions 101 and 102 are turnable relative to the struts about the axes of the cross-bars 109 and 10951, the rest portion connected to the upper cross-bar 108 is: more or less'tensioned.

According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the frames 204 and 204 comprise curved legs 46, 47 andl at'46 and 47', the free ends of curved arms 48, 49 and mounted in its normal position of use, the backs 50 and 50a are ixed in such a way that the curved arms 48, 49, 48a and 49a together with the respective curved lges 46, 47, 46a and 47a form elements having the shape of an S,

as shown in Fig. 6. On the contrary, for reducing the cumbersomeness of the bed in its condition for transport or storage, the backs 50 and 50a are folded as to draw the respective arms 48, 49 and 48a, 49a over the corresponding legs 46, 47 and 46a, 47a; and then, after having folded and rotated all the longitudinal strut and tie-rod elements as generally illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, so as to dispose such elements in the semi-cylindrical planes defined by the curved legs, the portions 201 and 202 are placed facing one another as to dene a cylindrical or tubular structure into which the rolled up rest surface 203 is inserted. The Whole cylindrical unit obtained in such a way is bound by means of belts or like means 52 to which a handle 51 or other holding member is eventually fixed (Fig. 7)..

It will be understood that the rest surface 203 of the bed in Figs. 6 and 7 is joined to the cross-bars 208 of the end portions 201 and 202 in the same manner as has been defscribed above in connection with the bed of Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Although illustrative embodiments of this invention have been described in detail herein it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by Way of example and that numerous moditications and changes in the details may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bed comprising head and foot portions each including a transverse support frame, longitudinal elements rocking axes of the related support frames, a rest surface,V

portion of a resilient metal fabric, and means detachably connecting the opposite ends of said rest surface portion to the support frames of said head and foot portions at locations above said lateral rocking axes of the support frames sothat theV rocking of said support frames induced by tensioning of said rest surface portion isopposed; by

When the bed issaid tension accepting means, each of said longitudinal elements including a rst short section extending radially with respect to said lateral rocking axis of the related support frame and a second, relatively long section hingedly joined to said rst section to swing relative to the latter between an operative position in axial alignment with said first section and a stored position where said second section is parallel to said rocking axis of the related support frame.

2. A bed as in claim l; wherein said tension accepting means includes tie-rods pivotally connected at one end to the support frame of each of said head and foot portions and having cooperative securing means at the opposite ends of the tie-rods for detachably connecting the tie-rods of said head portion to the tie-rods of said foot portion; and wherein each of said tie-rods includes a first short section extending radially with respect to the pivoting axis of the tie-rod on the related support frame and a second, relatively long section hingedly joined to said rst section of the tie-rod to swing relative to the latter between an operative position, where said second and first sections of the tie-rod are in axial alignment With each other, and a stored position, where said second section of the tie-rod is parallel to said pivoting axis of the tierod on the related support frame, so that, with said second sections of the longitudinal elements and tie-rods in said stored position, said first sections of the longitudinal elements and tie-rods can be turned about said rocking axis and pivoting axis, respectively, to dispose said longitudinal elements and tie-rods of each support frame in the plane passing through said rocking and pivoting axes of the related support frame.

3. A bed as in claim 2; wherein each of said support frames has parallel, spaced apart, transversely extending upper, lower and intermediate cross-bars, said intermediate and lower cross-bars of each support frame defining said rocking and pivoting axes, respectively; and wherein said means detachably connecting the opposite ends of said rest surface portion to said support frames are secured to said upper crossbars of each support frame.

4. A bed as in claim 3; wherein said means detachably connecting the opposite ends of said rest surface portion to said support frames includes, two threaded members extending rotatably through said upper cross-bar of each support frame at right angles to the axis of said upper cross-bar, tapped bosses on the ends of said rest surface portion into which said threaded members can be screwed to draw said ends of the rest surface portion toward the related support frames, and releasable means on said upper cross-bars and said ends of the rest surface portion engageable when said ends of the rest surface portion are drawn toward the support frames.

5. A bed as in claim 4; wherein said releasable means includes rings on said upper cross-bar and the adjacent end of said rest surface portion, and S-shaped clips engageable in said rings when said ends of the rest surface portion are drawn toward the support frames.

6. A bed comprising head and foot portions each including a transverse support frame, longitudinal elements pivotally connected, at one end, to said support frame to permit rocking of the latter about a lateral axis, the opposite ends of said longitudinal elements having cooperative securing means for detachably connecting the longitudinal elements of said head portion to the longitudinal elements of said foot portion with the connected longitudinal elements in axial alignment with each other, tension accepting means detachably connecting the support frame of said head portion to the support frame of said foot portion at locations disposed below said lateral rocking axes of the related support frames, a rest surface portion of a resilient metal fabric, each of said support frames having a cross-bar extending laterally above the rocking axis of the support frame, and means detachably connecting the opposite ends of the rest surface portion to the support frames including rings projecting from said cross-bar of each frame and from the adjacent end of said rest surface portion, S-shaped clips engageable with related rings on said cross-bar and adjacent end of the rest surface portion, tapped bosses on each end of said rest surface portion, and bolts rotatably extending through each cross-bar and adapted to be screwed into said tapped bosses for drawing said ends of the rest surface portion toward the adjacent support frames so that said clips can then be engaged with, and released from, said related rings.

7. A bed comprising head and foot portions each including a transverse support frame, longitudinal elements pivotally connected, at one end, to said support frame to permit rocking of the latter about a lateral axis, the opposite ends of said longitudinal elements having cooperative securing means for detachably connecting the longitudinal elements of said head portion to the longitudinal elements of said foot portion with the connected longitudinal elements in axial alignment with each other, tension accepting means detachably connecting the support frame of said head portion to the support frame of said foot portion at locations disposed below said lateral rocking axes of the related support frames, a rest surface portion of a resilient metal fabric, and means detachably connecting the opposite ends of said rest surface portion to the support frames of said head and foot portions at locations above said lateral rocking axes of the support frames so that the rocking of said support frames induced by tensioning of said rest surface portion is opposed by said tension accepting means, each of said support frames including curved legs and an upper part having curved side arms hingedly connected to said curved legs so that said upper part can be displaced between an erected position, where said curved side arms extend upwardly from said legs and curve in the opposite direction with respect to the curvature of said legs, and a stored position, where said curved side arms nest against the related curved legs, so that both support frames can be disposed in confronting relation to define a generally cylindrical space for receiving said rest surface portion following rolling of the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 987,736 Olson et al. Mar. 28, 1911 1,255,675 Wheatley Feb. 5, 1918 1,577,205 Davis Mar. 16, 1926 1,693,012 Wright Nov. 27, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 431 Great Britain Ian. 30, 1880 6,109 Great Britain Mar. 15, 1909

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