Bed

Abstract

A bed comprising a box spring having secured to each lower side framing member of the spring frame a structural rail connected to the like rail on the opposite side of the bed by a leg structure which is pivoted to the said rails, foldable against the underside of the box spring to provide a compact package for shipment but ready for immediate use by unfolding to a locked, erected position.

Description

This invention relates to beds, and particularly to an adaptation of the familiar box spring to enable it to serve readily as a self-standing bed by the simple expedient of unfolding self-contained legs which are retracted for packaging and shipment.

In recent times, the traditional bedstead has been supplanted in large part, in the home and in commercial establishments such as motels and hotels, by a low metal bed frame familiarly known as the Hollywood bed. This relatively inexpensive metal frame can be used with or without a headboard, and was particularly attractive to newer householders faced with the expense of acquiring furnishings for the first time. The Hollywood frame, however, is packaged and shipped as a separate item in knock-down condition requiring assembly by the purchaser of its several parts and the mounting of the box spring and mattress thereon, a service not universally available, and when available usually representing an unrecoverable cost to the retailer.

Some attempts have been made to convert a box spring directly to a bed by the addition of separate legs lagged into the wooden frame, but these have frequently resulted in damage to the legs and the frame in delivery, and also to the frame in later use, inasmuch as the conventional box spring was designed to be supported upon a bedstead.

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to increase the saleability of bedding and to further reduce the cost of setting up housekeeping by providing a box spring which is in fact a sturdy, serviceable, and self-contained bed when it leaves the factory or which, in one of its forms, readily becomes a bed by the simple attachment thereto of a headboard. It is the object to provide such a bed which avoids the necessity of assembling individual legs with the box spring frame, and which is not subject to the difficulties experienced with the attempted conversion of box springs to beds by the mere attachment of supporting legs.

In essence, the bed of the invention utilizes a box spring of otherwise conventional construction, which at present usually incorporates a slat base frame of lumber but which may be supplanted in future by molded frames or panels utilizing plastic materials, in which the box spring frame is reinforced as a beam along its side framing members by securing thereto a metal rail which is preferably of structural shape, for example, angle iron, which is readily available and widely used in the framing of metal beds. These reinforcing rails, securely attached to the side framing members of the box spring, are cross connected by folding leg structures which are preferably, although not necessarily, made in the form of a bow, the ends of which are pivoted either directly to the aforementioned reinforcing rails or to pivot brackets secured to said rails, so as to be unfoldable from a compact shipping or storage position tight to the underside of the box spring to an erected, use position.

The novel bed of the invention is explained in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bed in accordance with the invention seen from its underside to better illustrate the structure, and showing by dotted outline an omission that may be made to create an alternative form;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view, partly sectioned, of one side of the bed, illustrating the assembly of the reinforcing rail with the box spring frame, and showing also the attachment of the folding leg structure and its snap lock;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view, looking outwardly toward the side of the bed frame;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of the bed frame in which the reinforcing rail is fitted to the inner edge of the side framing member of the box spring for better concealment, and in which the pivot bracket of the preferred, exterior form of mounting of FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive is omitted;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken along the line 6--6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 illustrates yet a further modification which utilizes a tubular leg bow in connection with an exteriorly mounted reinforcing rail similar to the form of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the reinforcing rail and leg mounting of FIG. 7, showing the form of spring lock utilized with a tubular leg bow.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which illustrate the preferred exterior mounting of the reinforcing rails, the bed 10 of the invention utilizes a conventional box spring 12 from which the lower dust cover has been omitted in the drawings so as not to obscure the assembled relationship of the side framing members 14 of the box spring with the reinforcing rails 16 and foldable legs 18 and 19 which transform the box spring into a self-standing bed. The side framing members 14 of the wooden box spring frame are usually of double thickness, a lower wider board 20 and upper narrower board 22 which together form a ledge and abutment to support and contain the cross slats 24 that provide interior support for the usual spring construction or other cushioning structure (not shown). The entire assembly of wooden framing members is secured together by nails, and sometimes additionally by glue at the overlapping surfaces.

The reinforcing rail 16 is conveniently of angle iron but may be of other structural shape suitable to enhance the beam strength of the side framing members 14 of the box spring to enable them to withstand the concentrated load of the weight of a person seated at the side of the bed, in view of the widely spaced points of support of the bed, whether provided by two sets of folding legs, 18 and 19 or, in an alternative form, by a single set of folding legs 18 at or near the foot end of the bed and the floor-engaging supporting posts of a headboard 26.

The exterior placement of the reinforcing rail 16 of the form of FIG. 1 to 3 is preferred over the more concealed, interior fitting of the modified form of FIGS. 4 to 6 inclusive, because it facilitates the attachment of the headboard 26 by the use of a simple angle bracket 28 secured to the end of the reinforcing rail. The reinforcing rail 16 is secured to the side framing members 14 of the box spring with its horizontal flange tightly engaged with the bottom surface of the wider lower board 20 of the side frame member of the box spring, and with its vertical flange extending upwardly in close abutment to the side wall of the box spring frame. The attachment of the rail is made by at least two sturdy wood screws 30 which are long enough to find purchase in both the upper and lower members of the side frames. The use of wood screws is satisfactory where the lumber of the box spring frame is of good quality, but a machine screw through a pre-drilled hole to a T-nut in the upper slat member may be desirable if uniform good quality of the box spring frame cannot be assured.

The attaching screws 30 pass upwardly through slotted holes 32 in the horizontal flange of the reinforcing rails, the slots being made to permit the rails to be shifted as far as possible toward the foot end of the bed so as to bring the headboard attaching brackets 28 tightly to the head end corners of the bed for packaging and shipment. However, because clearance is desired between the headboard 26, when used, and the box spring 12 and its coextensive overlying mattress, the attaching screws 30 may be loosened to shift the rails 16 headward to provide the desired clearance for the attachment of the headboard, and then subsequently retightened when the headboard has been attached and the desired clearance has been found.

In the form of leg 18 shown by FIGS. 2 and 3, and by the solid line portion of FIG. 1, the leg bow is also formed of angle iron. When in its erected, supporting position, the leg bow is preferably not vertical but is rather unfolded past center by approximately 10.degree. for greater stability. Accordingly, one flange of its connecting cross-member is offset (FIGS. 1 and 2) to provide two horizontal surfaces for the attachment either of casters or of the furniture glides 34 illustrated.

As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the folding leg bow is pivoted by means of a shoulder rivet 36 at each end to the vertical flange of a downwardly-extending angle bracket 38, the other flange of which is riveted back-to-back to the horizontal flange of the reinforcing rail 16. It will be noted that the vertical flange of the pivot bracket 38 is of substantial depth so as to provide an extended length of contact between the surfaces of the leg bow 18 and the pivot bracket in order to utilize the resistance of the leg bow to distortion in its own plane as reinforcement for the side rails of the bed frame against twisting loads.

The unfolded or erected position of the leg bow is determined by its abutment with stop pins 40 securely riveted in the vertical flanges of the pivot brackets 38. It is held in that position by a spring lock in the form of a leaf 42 which is pivoted to the leg bow 18 on a shoulder rivet 44 and is biased by a torsion spring 46 to cause the protrusion of a tongue at the free end of the leaf outwardly through a slot 47 in the side wall of the leg bow, and into a registering mating notch in the lower edge of the vertical flange of the pivot bracket. As will be apparent from inspection of FIGS. 2 and 3, the locking tongue is retracted when the leg is in the folded position, the entering tip 43 of the tongue bearing against the vertical flange of the pivot bracket as the leg is erected. When the slot in the leg and the notch in the mounting bracket ultimately register, the torsion spring drives the tongue of the leaf outwardly into locking engagement with the notch, from which it may, however, be easily unseated by thumb pressure should it be desired to refold the leg. Inasmuch as the inadvertent folding of the leg would likely occur only when moving the bed, a single position lock at one side of the leg bow has been found adequate.

The bed 10 may be furnished with leg bows 18 and 19 at both ends of the bed frame for those who do not choose to use a headboard, or who do not wish to purchase one at the same time, or it may be furnished without the leg bow 19 near the head end of the bed, as is intended to be illustrated by the showing of that member in dotted outline in FIG. 1. The leg bow 19 may be omitted from the head end of the bed when a headboard is used, as the reinforcing rail 16 at that end can be carried by the corner posts of the headboard 26 to which the reinforcing rails at the sides of the box springs are securely anchored by means of bolts or screws passing through the bolt slots 50 in the vertical surface of the headboard bracket, and into or through the corner posts of the headboard.

For installations where appearance is thought to be of sufficient importance to dictate the concealment of the reinforcing rails, there is provided a form of interior mounting illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 inclusive. This form is somewhat more costly for reasons which are not apparent from FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, but will be appreciated by the examination of FIG. 5 in connection with the overall setting shown in FIG. 1, viz., that the interior mounting of the reinforcing rails 52 (FIGS. 4 to 6) requires a more elaborate form of headboard bracket to transfer the load from the interior reinforcing rail to the point of anchorage on the corner posts of the headboard while providing suitable resistance to the twisting loading resulting from the lack of alignment of the reinforcing rail and the headboard corner post, particularly when it is desired to omit the leg bow at the head end of the bed.

However, in the interiorly mounted form, the vertical flange of the reinforcing rail 52 is fitted to the inner edge of the lower slat member 20 of the box spring frame where its vertical flange provides for the convenient direct pivotal attachment of the leg bow 54 without an intervening pivot bracket. In that instance, however, the association of the parts makes it desirable to mount the position lock 56 (which may be substantially identical to the lock 42 of FIGS. 1 to 3) on the reinforcing rail, as indicated in FIGS. 4 to 6, which in turn requires the provision of spacers in the form of shoulder rivets 58 between the lower surface of the bottom slot 20 of the box spring and the horizontal flange of the reinforcing rail 52, in order to provide clearance for the position lock assembly 56.

It will be appreciated from an inspection of FIGS. 2 and 3 that a similar and somewhat more interiorly mounted and therefore somewhat more concealed arrangement can also be achieved with the general configuration of FIGS. 2 and 3 by extending the mounting bracket 38 longitudinally so as to constitute the entire rail and by omitting what is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive as the enforcing rail 16. This would in turn require minor readaptation of the headboard mounting bracket but would largely alleviate the twisting problem earlier referred to in connection with the interior or concealed arrangement of FIGS. 4 to 6 when the head end leg bow 19 is omitted in favor of reliance upon the headboard 26 for support.

In the further modification of FIGS. 7 and 8, the general relationship of reinforcing rail 60 and pivot mounting bracket 62 for the leg bow 19 is the preferred exterior arrangement also utilized in the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive, but the leg bow 19 in this instance is formed of round tube instead of from angle iron. In the tubular form of leg 19 and because of its smooth rounded configuration, glides and casters are omitted but the cross member of the bow is elevated by a reverse bend to limit floor contact to the end portions of the bow (FIG. 1) thereby to assure stability.

The tubular leg bow 19 is pivoted to the mounting bracket 62 on the reinforcing rail 60 by means of a shoulder rivet 64 which passes through pivot holes near the end of the bow with the necked down portion of the rivet passing through a suitably sized hole in the flange of the mounting bracket 62 and peaned over or headed up on the opposite side. The normal or erected position of the leg bow 19 is determined, as in the earlier forms described, by means of a stop pin 66 which may be of similar conformation, similarly mounted in and secured to the pivot bracket 62.

However, the use of the tubular bow dictated a change in the form of the position lock which is preferably a spring - loaded detent plunger which includes a locking head proper 68 seated in a mating hole in the tube wall and having a chamfered end for easy entry into the mating notch 70 of the pivot plate 62, a reduced-diameter shank portion 72 which extends through the tube toward a smaller hole in the opposite wall where the threaded end of the shank is received into the threaded hole in the stem of a knob 74 which serves as the detent handle. A compression spring 76 surrounds the plunger shank 72 within the tube, being engaged at one end with the inside wall of the tube and at its opposite end with the locking head 68 of the plunger. When the leg bow 19 is in the folded, retracted position, the plunger is urged against the adjacent face of the pivot bracket under the force of the plunger spring 76 and enters the positioning notch 70 when the leg bow 19 is sufficiently unfolded.

If it were preferred instead to employ individual legs, i.e., legs not united with the corresponding leg at the opposite side of the bed, whether by the illustrated bow formation or otherwise, it would be desirable to provide a suitable position -- holding lock for each such leg, although in that instance the stop pins against which the legs abut in the final position might in the forms of FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 7 and 8 may be omitted.

By means of the reinforcement described, a box spring of otherwise conventional construction can be readily adapted to serve as a self-standing bed frame, either with or without an associated headboard, without the problems that have heretofore been identified with requiring a box spring to "make do" as a bed. The bed here shown and described is readied in one of its forms for immediate use upon unpackaging by the mere unfolding of its supporting legs. In the other form, which presupposes the immediate availability of a headboard, or in the event it is desired to attach a headboard to a bed frame that comes equipped with both sets of legs, it is necessary only to loosen the anchoring screws sufficiently to shift the reinforcing rails toward the head of the bed to provide the necessary working clearance for the mounting of the headboard to the headboard brackets integrally provided, and then to set the desired clearance between the headboard and box spring frame before again tightening the mounting screws.

The advantage obtained by the purchaser is one of reduced costs over the combined costs of the box spring and separate Hollywood bed frame, and the advantage provided over the mode of use of a box spring as a self-standing bed by the addition of separate individual legs is in having a structure of much greater strength and serviceability. In both comparisons, the labor of installation or erection required is much less than was heretofore necessary, amounting only to the unfolding of the integral legs, and at most to the further attachment of a headboard when one is desired.

The features of the invention believed new and patentable are set forth in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A bed comprising a box spring having secured to its underside at each side thereof a structural metal rail reinforcing the side edges of the box spring frame against vertical loads, said rails being cross-connected beneath the box spring by a unitary folding leg structure capable of supporting both sides of the bed, said leg structure being pivoted to said rails on an axis transverse to said box spring and foldable thereon from a stowed position against the underside of the box spring to an erected position to support the bed upon the floor, and positioning means on said leg structure and said rails for maintaining said leg structure in the erected position.

2. The bed of claim 1 in which the reinforcing rails are each provided at their corresponding ends with a bracket structure for securing a headboard to the bed.

3. The bed of claim 1 in which a second such unitary leg structure is similarly connected between the reinforcing rails and spaced from the first sufficiently to provide stable support for the bed.

4. The bed of claim 1 in which the unitary leg structure comprises a bow and the pivoted connection thereof to the spaced reinforcing rails is made at the ends of the bow, the intermediate connecting portion of which provides the floor-engaging means.

5. The bed of claim 1 in which a lock is provided for securing the leg structure in the erected position against inadvertent folding as when moving the bed longitudinally while supported thereon, said lock comprising a spring-loaded detent on one of said leg structure and rails and engaging the other to obstruct its movement out of erected position.

6. The bed of claim 1 in which the reinforcing rail is of angle iron having one flange secured in facing relation to the underside of the box spring frame at its side edge, and with the other flange in exterior flanking relation to said side edge, and each has an angle bracket secured back-to-back to said first mentioned flange with its other flange disposed vertically parallel to said other flange of the rail, and in parallel facing relation to the said other flange of the angle bracket on the opposite rail, said leg structure being pivoted to said rails through the medium of said brackets and having its side edges in contact with the facing flanges of said brackets from the pivot axis to the edges of said facing flanges.

7. A bed comprising a box spring having secured to its underside at each side thereof a structural metal rail reinforcing the side edges of the box spring frame against vertical loads, said rails each including a flange with a vertical surface arranged in facing relation to the like flange surface of the opposite rail, and a pair of legs pivoted to said rails at said flange on a common axis transverse to said bed, said legs being foldable on said axis to a retracted position against the underside of the box spring to make a compact unit for shipment and unfoldable thereon to an erected position to support the box above the floor, said legs being in bracing contact with said flanges from said axis to the edge of the flange when in said erected position, positioning means on said flanges and legs respectively for maintaining said legs in erected position, and a cross connection bracing the legs against a sideward load.

8. The bed of claim 5 wherein said lock is provided with means for maintaining said detent in an unengaged position while said leg structure is in a stowed position and causing said detent to engage automatically when said leg structure is in the erected position.