Folding bed

A folding bed is disclosed. A folding frame has a plurality of legs and a plurality of upper and lower connecting elements which connect the plurality of legs with one another. The plurality of legs include a first set of four legs which extend slantingly and upward through the upper connecting elements in a lengthwise direction of the bed and a second set of two legs which extend slantingly and upward through the upper connecting elements in a crosswise direction of the bed. A seat is fixed to the upper connecting elements and has a first set of four pockets into which the upper ends of the first set of four legs are inserted, respectively. A pair of support sheets are stitched to both sides of the seat, respectively. The pair of support sheets have a second set of two pockets into which the upper ends of the second set of two legs are inserted, respectively. The upper ends of the second set of two legs are fastened to the support sheets. A pair of guide bands are stitched to corner portions of the seat at one end of the bed, respectively. The other ends of the pair of guide bands are stitched to the pair of support sheets, respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a folding bed, and more particularly, the 
present invention relates to a folding bed which can be folded to afford 
easy portability and has an improved structure as compared to a folding 
bed of the prior art, to allow a user keep a comfortable and tranquil 
posture upon lying in the bed. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Up to now, various types of a folding bed or a sofa-bed have been developed 
and used. However, these beds have complicated structures, so that folding 
procedures are much involved and portability and storage thereof are 
affected due to limitations in minimizing the volume of a bed. In 
addition, as a folding bed or a sofa-bed is manufactured to have a 
narrower width in view of portability, it is not uncommon to find the bed 
is not big enough to fully accommodate the whole body of a person, leaving 
a portion of the body hanging off the bed. Accordingly, the use of the bed 
becomes inconvenient. Also, in an extreme case, the user can fall out of 
the bed resulting in personal injury. 
In the Korean Utility Model Publication No. 96-1441 filed by the applicant 
of the present invention, there is disclosed a folding bed to solve the 
problem described above. Referring to FIG. 1, the folding bed includes a 
seat 1 and a folding frame 2. The folding frame 2 has a plurality of legs 
20 and a plurality of upper and lower connecting elements 30 which connect 
the plurality of legs 20 with one another. The plurality of legs 20 
includes four legs having upper ends which extend slantingly and upward 
through the upper connecting elements 30 at corner portions and in a 
lengthwise direction of the bed. The plurality of legs 20 can be folded 
due to the fact that two adjacent and associated legs are also connected 
with each other substantially at their middle portions by a pin. 
The seat 1 being made of fiber is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30 
by fastening means such as bolts. The seat 1 has four pockets 1a, 1b, 
1cand 1d which are formed at the corner portions of the bed and into which 
the upper ends of the four legs are inserted, respectively. A pair of 
guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to two corner portions of the seat 1 
at one end and run in the lengthwise direction of the bed, respectively. 
The other ends of the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to the 
seat 1 at points where two upper connecting elements 30 adjacent to the 
other end of the bed are positioned parallel to each other. The pair of 
guide bands 14 and 14' pass through a pair of annular bands 15 and 15' 
which are stitched to the seat 1. A pair of support bands 16 are stitched 
to a lower surface and at a center portion of the seat 1 such that they 
cross each other. The drawing reference numeral 18 represents a binding 
string used for binding the bed which is folded for carrying or storage. 
When a user lies in the seat 1 for sleep or rest, the pair of guide bands 
14 and 14' prevent the user from falling out of the bed or a portion of 
the user's body such as the shoulder from hanging off the bed. Also, the 
pair of support bands 16 can prevent the seat 1 made of fiber, such as 
fabric, from excessive sagging. Therefore, a safety factor upon using the 
bed is increased. 
However, the folding bed of the prior art constructed as mentioned above, 
suffers from defects in that since the pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are 
stitched to the seat 1 after passing through the pair of annular bands 15 
and 15' and the seat 1 is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30 which 
are positioned adjacent to the one end of the bed by the separate 
fastening means such as bolts each having an eyelet, when a user lies in 
the seat 1 of the bed for sleep or rest, a weight of the user acts 
vertically and downward on the seat 1, and by this, the pair of guide 
bands 14 and 14' stitched to the seat 1 are expanded. Due to the weight of 
the user which acts continuously and vertically and the expansion of the 
pair of guide bands 14 and 14', a load is concentrated onto points where 
the seat 1 is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30. Therefore, the 
seat 1 is protruded upward by horizontal expanding force at the points 
where it is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30. 
The protruded section of the seat 1 depresses a portion such as the pelvis 
or the back, of the body of the user who lies in the bed. Hence, 
inconvenience is caused to the user who sleeps and takes a rest for a long 
time, and reliability of the folding bed is deteriorated in that the user 
feels discomfort in some portions of the body after sleeping or taking a 
rest in an unstable posture. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the 
problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present 
invention is to provide a folding bed in which a pair of support sheets 
each having a pocket are stitched to both sides of a seat, respectively, 
and upper ends of two legs are inserted into the pockets of the pair of 
support sheets, respectively, the upper ends extending slantingly and 
upward through upper connecting elements in a crosswise direction of the 
bed. The folding bed uniformly disperses a weight of a user, which acts 
downward on the seat, over the entire area of the seat. By this, the 
folding bed can prevent a portion of the seat from being protruded by 
horizontal expanding force generated at points where the seat is fixed, 
and the user can keep a comfortable and tranquil posture upon lying in the 
bed for sleep or rest, whereby reliability of the bed can be enhanced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of 
the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying 
drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used 
throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like 
parts. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 through 6, a folding bed of the present invention 
includes a seat 1 and a folding frame 2. The folding frame 2 has a 
plurality of legs 20 and a plurality of upper and lower connecting 
elements 30 which connect the plurality of legs 20 with one another. The 
plurality of legs 20 include a first set of four legs 20a, 20b, 20cand 
20d, the upper ends of which extend slantingly and upward through the 
upper connecting elements 30 at corner portions and in a lengthwise 
direction of the bed and a second set of two legs, the upper ends 22 and 
22' of which extend slantingly and upward through the upper connecting 
elements 30 at middle portions and in a crosswise direction of the bed. 
The plurality of legs 20 can be folded due to the fact that two adjacent 
and associated legs are also connected with each other substantially at 
their middle portions by a pin. 
The seat 1 is fixed to the upper connecting elements 30 by a pair of 
fastening means such as bolts. The seat 1 has a first set of four pockets 
1a, 1b, 1cand 1d which are formed at the corner portions of the bed and 
into which the upper ends of the first set of four legs 20a, 20b, 20cand 
20dare inserted, respectively. A pair of support sheets 10 and 10' are 
stitched to both sides of the seat 1, respectively. The pair of support 
sheets 10 and 10' have a second set of two pockets 12 and 12', 
respectively, into which the upper ends 22 and 22' of the second set of 
two legs are inserted, respectively. The upper ends 22 and 22' of the 
second set of two legs are fastened to the support sheets 10 and 10' by 
fastening means such as bolts 17 after being inserted into the second set 
of two pockets 12 and 12' . A pair of guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched 
to two corner portions of the seat 1 at one end and run in the lengthwise 
direction of the bed, respectively. The other ends of the pair of guide 
bands 14 and 14' are stitched to the pair of support sheets 10 and 10', 
respectively. The drawing reference numeral 18 represents a binding string 
used for binding the bed which is folded for carrying or storage. 
Hereinafter, operations of the folding bed constructed as mentioned above 
will be described in detail. 
First, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, when manufacturing the folding bed of 
the present invention, the pair of support sheets 10 and 10' having the 
second set of two pockets 12 and 12' which are formed on lower surfaces 
thereof, are stitched to both sides of the seat 1, respectively. Then, the 
pair of guide bands 14 and 14' having a predetermined length are stitched 
to two corner portions of the seat 1 at one end and run in the lengthwise 
direction of the bed, respectively. Further, the other ends of the pair of 
guide bands 14 and 14' are stitched to the pair of support sheets 10 and 
10', respectively. Thereafter, the seat 1 is assembled to the folding 
frame 2 such that the upper ends 22 and 22' of the second set of two legs 
20 of the folding frame 2 are inserted into the second set of two pockets 
12 and 12' of the pair of support sheets 10 and 10', respectively. In this 
way, the folding bed can be manufactured in an easy and simple manner. 
When using the folding bed manufactured as described above, the folding bed 
is unfolded after being moved to a proper place. At this time, if a user 
lies in the seat 1 of the bed for sleep or rest, the pair of guide bands 
14 and 14' disposed at both sides of the seat 1 prevent the user from 
falling out of the bed or a portion of the user's body such as the 
shoulder from hanging off the bed. Therefore, it is possible to obtain 
effects which are the same as those of the folding bed described in the 
Korean Utility Model Publication No. 96-1441 filed by the applicant of the 
present invention. In addition, by the present invention, a load which is 
induced by a weight of the user and acts downward on the seat 1 is 
uniformly dispersed over the entire area of the seat 1 by the pair of 
support sheets 10 and 10' and the upper ends 22 and 22' of the legs 20. 
Accordingly, a portion of the seat 1 is prevented from being protruded 
upward, and the user can keep a comfortable and tranquil posture upon 
lying in the bed for sleep or rest. 
As a result, according to the present invention, advantages are provided in 
that since a load which is induced by a weight of a user and acts downward 
on a seat is uniformly dispersed over entire area of the seat by a pair of 
support sheets stitched to both sides of the seat, respectively, and upper 
ends of legs, inserted into the pair of support sheets, respectively, it 
is possible to prevent a portion of the seat from being protruded upward 
at points where it is fixed to a folding frame, and the user can keep a 
comfortable and tranquil posture upon lying in the bed for sleep or rest, 
whereby reliability of the folding bed is enhanced. 
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical 
preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are 
employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not 
for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in 
the following claims.