U.S. patent number 3,634,893 [Application Number 04/879,719] was granted by the patent office on 1972-01-18 for sofa bed assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Lear Siegler, Inc.. Invention is credited to John F. Hern, Bob D. Michaluk, Zygmunt M. Surletta.
United States Patent |
3,634,893 |
Hern , et al. |
January 18, 1972 |
SOFA BED ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A sofa bed assembly including a support means, a seat frame, a
back frame, and connection means supporting the frames on the
support means for pivotal movement relative to one another and
movement between an upright seat position and a lowered bed
position. A pair of reaction plates extend from the back frame and
a pair of cam members are rotatably connected to the seat frame in
a pendulum manner and include lower cam surfaces which engage the
top surfaces of the reaction plates upon upward pivotal movement of
the seat frame when the bed position so that upon downward movement
thereafter the back frame is moved to the upright seat position.
Upon slight upward pivotal movement of the seat frame when in the
seat position, the cams will fall under the force of gravity to a
release position whereby the frames may be moved to the bed
position. There is also included a latch means comprising a flange
extending from the support means to coact with a slot in a rear
member of the seat frame. The slot is disposed in an overlapping
position above and rearwardly of the flange when the assembly is in
the seat position whereby the flange may be moved through the slot
to the overlapping position as the frames are moved to the seat
position to prevent movement of the frames by coaction of the
flange and the rear member of the seat frame until the seat frame
is pivoted upward slightly to align the slot with the flange
whereby it may be moved forwardly to move the rear member forwardly
of the flange.
Inventors: |
Hern; John F. (Orchard Lake,
MI), Surletta; Zygmunt M. (Detroit, MI), Michaluk; Bob
D. (Redford Township, MI) |
Assignee: |
Lear Siegler, Inc. (Detroit,
MI)
|
Family
ID: |
25374745 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/879,719 |
Filed: |
November 25, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/37.1; 5/47;
5/57.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
17/17 (20130101); A47C 17/161 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
17/17 (20060101); A47C 17/00 (20060101); A47c
017/14 (); A47c 017/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;5/37-39,47,48,55,77
;297/63,92-94,112,354 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nunberg; Casmir A.
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A sofa bed assembly comprising; support means, a seat frame, a
back frame, connection means supporting said frames on said support
means for pivotal movement relative to one another and movement
between an upright seat position and a lowered bed position, and
cam means movable to a locked position reacting between said frames
for moving said back frame from said bed position to said seat
position and for automatically moving to a release position when
said frames are in said seat position and said seat frame is
pivoted upwardly relative to said back frame to allow said frames
to be moved to said bed position.
2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cam means
includes reaction means extending from said back frame and a cam
member rotatably connected to said seat frame for engaging said
reaction means in the locked position and for pivoting to said
release position out of engagement with said reaction means under
the force of gravity.
3. An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said reaction means
extends forwardly from said back frame when in said bed position
and includes a front end and a top surface extending rearwardly
from the upper extremity of said front end, said connection means
includes pivot means movably supported by said support means and
pivotally interconnecting with said seat frame and said reaction
means at a point rearwardly of said front end of said reaction
means, said cam member including a downwardly facing cam surface
when said cam member is in said release position and said assembly
is in said bed position, said cam member being rotatably connected
to said seat frame forwardly of said front end of said reaction
means so that said cam member engages said front end of said
reaction means as said seat frame is pivoted upwardly from said bed
position until said cam member clears the upper extremity of said
front end and rotates under the force of gravity to a position
where said cam surface engages said top surface of said reaction
means as said seat frame is pivoted downwardly for moving said back
frame to said seat position.
4. An assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said cam surface of
said cam member is closer to the axis of rotation of said cam
member in a rearward direction as said cam member is in said
release position for allowing said cam member to rotate under the
force of gravity from said locked position where said cam surface
engages said reaction means to said release position out of
engagement with said reaction means in response to upward pivotal
movement of said seat frame when in said seat position.
5. An assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said reaction means
includes a reaction plate attached to each side of said back frame,
and including a pair of cam members with one rotatably connected to
each side of said seat frame.
6. An assembly as st forth in claim 5 including latch means for
retaining said frames in said seat position and for allowing said
frames to be moved to said bed position.
7. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said support means
includes a track to support said pivot means for forward and
rearward movement.
8. An assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said connection
means further includes a linkage means pivotally connected at a
first extremity thereof of said back frame and pivotally connected
at a second extremity thereof to said track.
9. An assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein said linkage means
comprises a link on each side of said back frame and pivotally
connected thereto intermediate the front and rear extremities of
said back frame.
10. An assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein said linkage means
comprises an auxiliary frame pivotally connected to said back frame
at the rear extremity thereof and being a part of the bed when the
assembly is in said bed position.
11. An assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein said reaction
plates are attached to said back frame with means for allowing a
limited amount of relative pivotal movement between said reaction
plates and said back frame.
12. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said latch means is
defined by a flange extending from said support means, a rear
member of said seat frame having a slot therein which is disposed
in an overlapping position above and rearwardly of said flange when
the assembly is in said seat position so that said flange may be
moved through said slot and to said overlapping position as the
frames are moved to said seat position for preventing forward
movement of said frames by coaction between said flange and said
rear member until said seat frame is pivoted upward slightly to
align said slot with said flange and moved forwardly to move said
rear member forwardly of said flange.
13. A sofa bed assembly comprising; support means, a seat frame, a
back frame, connection means supporting said frames on said support
means for pivotal movement relative to one another and movement
between an upright seat position and a lowered bed position, a
flange extending from said support means, said seat frame including
a rear member with a slot therein, said rear member being movable
from one side of said flange to the other in moving between said
seat and bed positions, said slot being disposed in an overlapping
position above and rearwardly of said flange when the assembly is
in said seat position so that the flange may be moved through said
slot to said overlapping position as said rear member is moved
rearwardly therepast in moving to said seat position for preventing
forward movement of said frames by coaction between said flange and
said rear member until said seat frame is pivoted upward slightly
to align said slot with said flange and moved forwardly to move
said rear member forwardly of said flange.
Description
This invention relates to a sofa bed of the type which may be
converted from a sofa to a bed. Such sofa bed assemblies normally
include a seat frame and a back frame which are normally disposed
in a coplanar relationship with one another when in the bed
position and wherein the back frame is disposed in an upright
position extending upwardly from the seat frame when in the seat
position.
There are numerous prior art assemblies which interconnect the seat
frame and back frame for moving the frames between the bed and seat
positions. Normally, such assemblies are fairly complex and include
a plurality of interconnected components. Such assemblies very
frequently include latching members which coact between the seat
and back frames. Such an assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
2,343,642 wherein there is disclosed a latch member which coacts
between the seat frame and the back frame but wherein the seat
frame must be pivoted forwardly and upwardly as the back frame is
moved to the bed position and thereafter pivoted forwardly to
unlatch the assembly to allow the seat frame to move to the bed
position.
Accordingly, it is an object and feature of this invention to
provide a sofa bed assembly including an improved and simplified
cam means for facilitating the movement of the seat and back frames
between the seat and bed positions.
In correlation with the foregoing object and feature, it is another
object and feature of this invention to provide such a sofa bed
assembly including cam means movable to a locked position for
moving the back frame from the bed position to the seat position
and for automatically moving to a release position when the frames
are in the seat position and the seat frame is pivoted upwardly
relative to the back frame to allow the frames to be moved to the
bed position.
In correlation with the foregoing objects and features, it is
another object and feature of this invention to provide such as
assembly wherein the cam means includes a reaction means extending
from the back frame and a cam member rotatably connected to the
seat frame in a pendulum manner for engaging the reaction means in
the locked position and for pivoting to the release position out of
engagement with the reaction means under the force of gravity.
Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention
will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood
by reference to the following detailed description when considered
in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the
instant invention shown in the seat position;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of
FIG. 1 shown in the bed position;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of
FIG. 1 showing the seat frame raised in preparation for moving the
back frame to the seat position;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the camming means
interconnecting the seat and back frame and looking from the center
of the assembly outwardly;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially
along line 5--5 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the latch means
utilized with the instant invention;
FIG. 7 is an elevational side view partially broken away of another
preferred embodiment of the instant invention; and
FIG. 8 is a view taken substantially along line 8--8 of FIG. 7.
Referring now to the drawings, sofa bed assemblies constructed in
accordance with the instant invention are generally shown at 10 and
10' respectively. The two embodiments 10 and 10' differ from one
another only in that the embodiment 10' includes an auxiliary frame
12' in place of the links 12 in the embodiment 10 so that the
auxiliary frame 12' defines additional bed area whereby the
embodiment 10' forms a wider bed than the embodiment 10. Since the
other components of the two embodiments are the same, the two
embodiments will be described concurrently, with like numerals
indicating like or corresponding parts throughout the several
views. Further, it will be understood that throughout the several
views, only one end or side of the sofa bed is shown and that the
parts are duplicated on the other side.
The sofa bed assembly includes a support means generally indicated
at 14. The support means 14 includes a channel or C-shaped member
defining a track. The track is supported on a wall 16 by elongated
wood members 18 which are in turn secured to the wall 16. The sofa
bed assembly of the instant invention is particularly well suited
for installation in mobile homes by attaching the wood members 18
to the support structure in a mobile home.
Also included is a seat frame generally indicated at 20 and a back
frame generally indicated at 22. The seat frame 20 also includes
legs 21 for supporting the seat frame 20 on a floor or the
like.
A connection means supports the frames 20 and 22 on the support
means 14 for pivotal movement relative to one another and movement
between the upright seat position and a lowered bed position. The
connection means includes a pivot means comprising a roller 24
movably supported by the support means or track 14 with a pin or
shaft 26 extending therefrom to pivotally interconnect the seat and
back frames 20 and 22.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the connection means also includes the
links 12 which are pivotally connected at a first extremity 28 to
the back frame 22 and are pivotally connected at a second extremity
30 to the track 14. The links 12 are connected to the back frame 22
intermediate the front and rear or top and bottom extremities
thereof. A plate 32 is welded or otherwise secured to the track 14
and pivotally supports the lower end of the associated link 12. In
the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8, the connection means includes the
auxiliary frame 12' which is pivotally connected to the back frame
22 at the top or rear extremity 34 and at the opposite end at 36 to
a bracket 38, the bracket 38 forming a part of the support means
and being attached to the track 14.
The assembly also includes cam means including reaction means or
plates 42 and cam members 40. Cam members 40 are movable to a
locked position, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, for
moving the back frame 22 from the bed position to the seat position
and for automatically moving to a release position, as shown in
FIG. 2 when the frames 20 and 22 are in the seat position and the
seat frame is pivoted upwardly relative to the back frame to allow
the cam members 40 to disengage the reaction plates 42. The
reaction plates 42 extend from the back frame in a forward or
downward direction depending upon the disposition of the back frame
22. The cam members 40 are rotatably connected to the seat frame 20
in a pendulum fashion for engaging the reaction plates 42 in the
locked position and for pivoting to the release position out of
engagement with reaction plates under the force of gravity.
The reaction plates 42 each include a front end 44 and a top
surface 46. Each top surface 46 extends rearwardly from the upper
extremity of the front end 44 when the reaction plates 42 are in
the bed position as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The shaft 26,
which pivotally interconnects the seat and back frames 20 and 22,
pivotally interconnects the seat frame 20 and the reaction plates
42 at a point rearwardly of the front end 44 of the reaction plates
42. The reaction plates 42 are attached to the back frame 22 with
rivets 48 or the like for allowing a limited amount of relative
pivotal movement between the reaction plates 42 and the back frame
22. The reaction plates 42 pivot relative to the back frame 22
about the axis of the upward or rearward rivet 48 and such pivotal
movement is limited by the elongated slot in the reaction plates 42
which extends about the lower or forward rivet 48.
Each cam member 40 includes a downwardly facing cam surface 50 when
the cam member 40 is in the release or pendant position as when the
assembly is in the bed position as illustrated in FIG. 2. The cam
member 40 is rotatably connected to the seat frame 20 forwardly of
the front end 44 of the reaction plate 42 so that the cam members
40 engage the front ends 44 of the reaction plates 42 as the seat
frame 20 is pivoted upwardly from the bed position, as illustrated
in phantom in FIG. 3. Each cam 40 engages the front end 44 of the
adjacent reaction plate during this movement until the cam member
40 clears the upper extremity of the front end 44 and rotates under
the force of gravity to a position where the cam surface 50 thereof
engages the top surface 46 of the reaction plate, as illustrated in
full lines in FIG. 3. Thereafter the seat frame 20 is pivoted
downwardly and the force thereof is transmitted through the cams 40
to the reaction plates 42 to raise and move the back frame 22 to
the seat position. The cam surface 50 of each cam member 40 is
closer to the axis of rotation of the cam member in a rearward
direction as the cam member is disposed in the release position
shown in FIG. 2. In other words, the axis of rotation of the cam
member 40 is defined by the pin or rivet 54 and the camming surface
50 moves in a straight path rearwardly from the point 56 of the cam
member 50 and then in an arcuate path inwardly toward the axis of
rotation as defined by the pin or rivet 54. Because of the
configuration of the cam surface 50, cam member 40 is allowed to
rotate under the force of gravity from the locked position
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7, where the cam surfaces 50 engage the
reaction plates 42, to the release position out of engagement with
the reaction plates in response to upward pivotal movement of the
seat frame when the latter is in the seat position. In other words,
when the assembly is in the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 or 7,
the seat frame 20 may be pivoted upwardly slightly at its front end
to disengage the cam members 40 from the reaction plates 42 whereby
the cam members 40 will rotate under the force of gravity to the
pendant position out of engagement with the reaction plates 42.
Thereafter, the seat frame 20 may be pulled forwardly and the seat
back frames will move and pivot relative to the seat frames 20 to
the bed position illustrated in FIG. 2. As the seat frame 20 is
moved between the seat and bed positions, the rollers 24 move along
the tracks 14.
The assembly also includes a latch means for retaining the frames
20 and 22 in the seat position and for allowing the frames to be
moved to the bed position. The latch means is shown in FIGS. 5 and
6 and is defined by a flange 70 which extends horizontally and
laterally from the support means. The flange 70 is actually part of
a right-angle member which includes an upstanding flange 72 which
is secured to the support means or track 14. A rear member 74 of
the seat frame 20 has a slot 76 therein which is disposed in an
overlapping position above and rearwardly of the flange 70 when the
assembly is in the seat position as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.
The flange 70 may be moved through the slot 76 and into the
overlapping position illustrated in FIG. 6 as the frames 20 and 22
are moved to the seat position for preventing forward movement of
the frames by coaction between the flange 70 and the rear member
74. The frames 20 and 22 are thusly prevented from moving to the
bed position until the seat frame 20 is pivoted slightly upwardly
to align the slot 76 with the flange 70 whereupon the seat frame 20
is moved forwardly to move the rear member 74 forwardly of the
flange 70 as the flange 70 moves through the slot 76.
The operation may be explained by referring to FIGS. 1 through 6.
Assuming that the assembly is in the bed position illustrated in
FIG. 2, and it is desirable to move the assembly to the seat
position, the seat frame 20 is pivoted upwardly as shown in FIG. 3.
As the seat frame 20 is pivoted upwardly, the cam 40 moves along
and engages the front or forward end 44 of the reaction plate 42
until it passes the upper extremity thereof whereby it is free to
rotate under the force of gravity to the pendant position where its
cam surface 50 will engage the upper surface 46 of the reaction
plate 42 upon downward pivotal movement of the seat frame 20. This
downward pivotal movement of the seat frame 20 forces the back
frame 22 to move upwardly to the seat position as the roller 24
moves rearwardly along the track 14. As the assembly approaches the
seat position, the rear member 74 of the seat frame is positioned
to align the slot 76 therein with the flange 70 to move the rear
member 74 to a position rearwardly of the flange 70 whereupon
release of the seat frame 20 to allow the leg 21 to contact the
floor, the flange 70 and the rear member 74 will be disposed in
mechanical overlapping relationship preventing forward movement of
the seat frame 20 to retain the assembly in the seat position.
If it is desirous to move the assembly from the seat position to
the bed position, the seat frame 20 is raised slightly whereupon
the cams 40 will disengage the reaction plates 42 and rotate under
the force of gravity to a pendant position. At the same time, slot
76 will be aligned with the flange 70 and the seat frame 20 moved
forwardly until in the bed position shown in FIG. 2.
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it
is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is
intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of
limitation.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is,
therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described.
* * * * *