Jacknife bed and couch for mobile vehicle

A combination jackknife bed and couch for a mobile vehicle. The jackknife bed and couch allows drivers to wake up and fold their sheets and pillow away from a seamless sleeping surface without the need to remove the sheets, blankets, pillows or other bedding materials. The sheets stay made within the folded up bed now turned into the couch. The couch may be unfolded with the sheets fully made so the driver may catch some well deserved post socializing rest without having to re-install the sheets. These features are made possible by folding the bed in and half and keeping it in the backrest of the couch. The sheets are held in place by stretchable retaining surface that may be extended over the bedding materials. When returned to the bed mode, the stretchable retaining surface must be released and potential energy in the winder may be used to retract the retaining surface.

BACKGROUND

Trucks carry a bulk of the goods within the United States. Driver's have a difficult lifestyle in which they spend much of their time within the cab and sleeper of their over the road tractor trailers. They must comply with federal regulations in the United States that limit the amount of time behind the wheel as well as boredom and discomfort living life within the walls of what has been likened to a small mobile studio apartment. For employers that employ over the road drivers, retention has become a challenge. The general method of moving goods with trucks is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. The results of a survey performed by the inventors of this patent show that during their off-hours, truckers spend an average of 3.6 hours in truck awake. Of these hours, they spend about one hour preparing food, nearly an hour socializing with friends inside their trucks, and about 2.5 hours entertaining themselves with television or books. This invention and the project that it sprang from is intended to:Create a space that drivers will be proud to show to other drivers,Allow for 3–5 truckers to socialize together in the truck comfortably,Create a space for food preparation and storage specific to the eating habits of truckers,Create a bright and entertaining environment,Give drivers a sense of separation between work and leisure,Give drivers a way to isolate their sleeping space from their living space, andOptimize the limited amount of space in a sleeper for storage.

Research pointed heavily towards providing truck drivers with a place to lounge comfortably, and utilizing the lower bunk space for the dual purpose of seating and sleeping is the most efficient way to achieve this. It was very important that the transition from seating to sleeping and back be as quick and effortless as possible. Any amount of extra effort on the driver's would most likely lead to underutilization of the feature. This criterion led us to the combination jackknife bed and couch for a mobile vehicle of this invention. The invention focuses on providing mobile vehicle furniture that may be a comfortable couch when the driver is socializing. The combination bed and couch is converted into the socializing truck furnishing from a bed fully made up with sheets, blankets, and pillow without the sheets and bedding material being removed.

Jackknife beds have been used in the Recreation Vehicle (RV) industry in the past because of their ease of use. The unit is transformed from bed to sofa and back in seconds. One only needs to lift under the seat and pull out, and the sofa drops into a bed. Returning it to a sofa is just as easy. Though its use is simple, it has had two major flaws:When pulled out the bed has a gap running down the middle of the sleeping surface.The bedding has to be made and put away every time it is transitioned from sofa to bed or bed to sofa.
These flaws led to innovation that differentiates the combination jackknife bed and couch solution of this invention from other solutions currently on the market through two defining features:Keeps sheets madeSeamless sleeping surface
These features are made possible by folding the bed in half and keeping it in the backrest.

SUMMARY

This invention relates to a combination jackknife bed and couch for a mobile vehicle. The jackknife bed and couch allows drivers to wake up and fold their sheets and pillow away from a seamless sleeping surface without the need to remove the sheets, blankets, pillows or other bedding materials. The sheets stay made within the folded up bed now turned into the couch. The couch may be unfolded with the sheets fully made so the driver may catch some well deserved post socializing rest without having to re-install the sheets. These features are made possible by folding the bed in and half and keeping it in the backrest of the couch. The sheets are held in place by stretchable retaining surface that may be extended over the bedding materials. When returned to the bed mode, the stretchable retaining surface must be released and potential energy in the winder may be used to retract the retaining surface. When the unit is put into bed mode, this unit requires two more simple steps than a typical prior art jackknife bed, but eliminates the need to remake the bedding and removes the uncomfortable gap in the middle of bed.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

A motor vehicle101, specifically a tractor trailer, includes a cab103engaged to a drive train bearing chassis102. The cab103has a driver's seat106. For over the road tractors, there will be a sleeper compartment104that includes driver living space. The sleeper compartment104includes a mounting floor105as well as the off duty living space for the driver or drivers. The vehicle101shown inFIG. 4has a combination jackknife bed and couch119made in accordance with the invention resting on the mounting floor119and mounted within the sleeper compartment104.

The combination jackknife bed and couch119shown inFIGS. 1 and 2includes a support base120. There is a sofa backrest122and seat121. The sofa backrest122and seat121are hinged together through a hinge123so that the backrest122and seat121may moved in a jackknife fashion relative to each other to form a couch or sofa depending on the desired mode. The seat121slides along the support base120. The seat121contains a seat cushion129as well as a rigid seat frame124. The backrest122contains a seat cushion125as well as a rigid backrest frame126. There is a mattress127that has a surface area roughly equal to the sum of the upper surfaces of the backrest122and seat121when the jackknife bed and couch119is in the bed mode. The mattress127covers both the backrest122and seat121so as to provide a driver with a seamless sleeping surface.

In order to preserve the bedding in the made position on the combination jackknife bed and couch119including a pillow and bedding130, there is an elastomeric cover128rolled up like a window shade, but constantly in tension, that covers one half of the mattress127sleeping surface. The elastomeric cover128is mounted at the front of the bed (top of the backrest122). The elastomeric cover128is pulled out via a rigid pole131running the width of the combination bed and couch119that is attached to the exposed end of the elastomeric fabric cover128. This rigid pole131hooks into a hinging mechanism132at the midpoint of the combination bed and couch119covering the front half with the fabric cover128and pinching the sheets and bedding130against the foam bed cushion125creating a hinge point. The hinging mechanism132may be in the shape of a hook allowing one end of the rigid pole to be “hooked” with the elastomeric cover128being under tension. There may be one hinging mechanism on each side of the combination bed and couch119so as to engage both ends of the rigid pole131. This embodiment provides enhanced stability to the engagement of the bedding material by the elastomeric cover128against the inner surface of the mattress127. The elastomeric roll128, mounted at the front of the combination bed and couch119provides tension keeping the bedding130in place while it is folded back into sofa mode. The use of an elastomeric fabric allows the cover128to conform to the contours of various bedding items130left on the bed such as pillows or clothing. SeeFIGS. 5,6, and7.

The combination jackknife bed and couch119may be transformed from bed to couch or sofa and back in seconds. One only needs to lift under the seat and pull out, and the sofa drops into a bed, essentially de-jackknifing the combination of the backrest122and seat121. Returning the combination bed and couch119to a sofa is just as easy. The combination bed and couch119has two distinct advantages over the prior art:Keeps sheets madeSeamless sleeping surface
These features are made possible by first using the elastomeric cover128to hold the bedding in the last position used by engaging the rigid pole131into the hinging mechanism132, and then folding the mattress127in half and keeping it against the backrest122. When the unit is put into bed mode, this unit requires two more simple steps than a typical jackknife bed, but eliminates both the need to remake the bedding and the uncomfortable gap in the middle of the bed. Once the unit is flat, (typical Jackknife bed position) the backrest122sits higher than the seat. The mattress127then folds over (hinged at the bottom of the backrest and middle of the bed) exposing the bedding130. In the bed position, the sofa backrest122and seat121are touching and become padding for the front half of the bed. The mattress127is one piece of foam that spans the entire unit bridging the gap in the middle.

As described above, the combination jackknife bed and couch of this invention and vehicle made with the bed and couch provide a number of advantages, some of which have been described above and others of which are inherent in the invention. Also modifications may be proposed to the combination jackknife bed and couch and vehicle made with the bed and couch of this invention without departing from the teachings herein.