Divan-bed which can be converted via operating means of the continuous-balancing type with variation of the height of the seat

Abstract: Divan-bed comprising a fixed frame (1) resting on the floor, a backrest (8) and a seat (14), in which at least two longitudinal sides (1a) of the said frame (1) are formed by rails (2) guiding a carriage (3) movable in translation along a horizontal plane, said carriage having pivotably hinged on it the backrest (8) and a shaped lever (10), the opposite ends of which are rotationally connected, respectively, to the said backrest (8) via a rod (12) and to the seat (14), there also being provided locking means (19, 18, 15, 16) cooperating with said adjusting means for fixing the relative position of the backrest (8) and seat (14) and their inclination with respect to the horizontal plane of the floor.

Description: The present invention relates to a divan-bed which can be converted via operating means of the continuous-balancing type and with variation of the height of the seat. In the production technology for divan and/or chair-beds, it is known of the need to have mechanisms which can be easily and cheaply made and which allow the configuration of the divan to be varied by conversion from the normally closed arrangement to a fully extended bed arrangement. Numerous types of mechanisms which allow this conversion from divan to bed are also known, said mechanisms however having some drawbacks including the difficulty of operation, particularly for those users who are inexpert or have a limited amount of physical strength, said difficulty of operation being due mainly to the lack of equilibrium of the divan in the various intermediate positions when changing from the initial configuration to the final configuration. Furthermore, with said mechanisms it is not possible to vary easily the relative position of the backrest and seat and lock them in prechosen intermediate positions, or, where this is possible, the divans are equipped with electric or pneumatic operating devices which are subject to wear and which require costly installation and maintenance operations. The technical problem which is posed, therefore, is that of providing a divan-bed which is always balanced in its various positions, so as to make conversion easy and effortless also for users who are inexpert or have little physical strength. Within the scope of this technical problem a further need is that the divan-bed should be able to assume intermediate positions of greater comfort both in the divan configuration and in the bed configuration and that it should be possible to lock/release it easily in/from said intermediate positions. A divan bed according to the introductory part of claim 1 is known from DE-A-1 529 585. These results are obtained by the present invention, according to which there is provided a divan-bed according to the features of claim 1. Further details may be obtained from the following description, with reference to the acompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the frame of the divan-bed according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a partially sectioned front view of the device for operating and locking the frame; Figure 3 shows a detail of the mechanism for locking/releasing the wheel supporting the footrest; Figure 4 shows a side view of the frame according to Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a partially sectioned side view of the divan folded down horizontally with the footrest still inserted in the seat; Figure 6 shows a partially sectioned side view of the frame totally extended in the bed position; Figure 7 shows the divan according to the invention with a foldable mattress; Figures 8a and 8b show the divan extended in intermediate positions in the divan configuration and bed configuration, respectively. Figure 9 shows the divan totally extended in the flat bed configuration. Figures 10a and 10b show an example of a variation of embodiment of the devices for adjusting and locking the relative position of the backrest and seat. As shown in Figure 1, the divan-bed according to the invention comprises a fixed frame 1 arranged so as to rest on the floor, the opposite longitudinal sides 1a of which are formed, over at least part of their overall length, by rails 2 with a cross-section forming a pair of opposite vertical guide channels 2a and a horizontal upper channel 2b inside which rollers 3a and 3b, respectively, of a carriage 3 are able to travel, said carriage therefore being movable in translation in the longitudinal direction with respect to the frame 1 itself. The rear part of the frame 1 also has fixed to it a horizontal bar 4 extending in the transverse direction over the entire width of the frame, the purpose of which will become clear below, and a headboard 5. Each movable carriage 3 has mounted on it a vertical flange 7, the top part of which is shaped in the manner of two extensions, a front extension 7b and rear extension 7a: the two front extensions 7b of each flange 7 are connected together by a fixed bracing strut 7c, while the rear extensions 7a have rotationally connected to them eyelets 8a projecting from the backrest 8 of the divan, the backrest 8 therefore being pivotably hinged on the flange 7 of the movable carriage 3, relative to which it is able to rotate. In the proximity of its top part, the backrest 8 is moreover pivotably hinged on a first end 11a of a lever 11, the other end of which is pivotably hinged on a gusset 11b fixed to the rear part of the frame 1. A spring 11c is arranged between said lever 11 and gusset 11b in order to balance the weight of the backrest 8 during its movements described below. Said vertical flange 7 of the carriage 3 also has attached to it the following (Figs. 1 and 2): a fixed rack 9 in the form of a circle segment with radial notches 9a formed on its external circumference, and a shaped lever 10 hinged on a fixed pin 10a with a horizontal axis on which it is able to rotate. The rear end of the shaped lever 10 is pivotably hinged on a first end of an additional rod 12, the other end of which is pivotably hinged on the backrest 8. The front end of the lever 10, on the other hand, is pivotably hinged on a tubular cross-piece 13 at the opposite ends of which there is hinged, by means of associated flanges 14b, the surface 14 forming the seat of the divan. At the opposite ends of the tubular cross-piece 13 and coaxial with the latter there are arranged two levers 15 which terminate in a ball-grip 16 and which are located on the sides of the divan-bed in a position which can be easily reached by the user. The said levers 15 (Fig. 2), moreover, have keyed on them eccentric cams 17 operating a connecting rod 18 actuating a transverse pin 19 designed to be inserted into the notches 9a of the rack 9 for locking the divan in a preferred position. The seat 14 of the divan is in turn formed by at least two opposite longitudinal guides 14a, the top part of which contains the support surface 14c, while the bottom part serves as a guide and for sliding and housing the footrest 18 which is able to pass from a totally retracted inside the seat to a position totally extracted therefrom. The external surface of the guide 14a (Fig. 5) has hinged to it, via spring means 14d, an arm 14e supporting a wheel 14f for resting the seat 14 on the floor; said arm being lockable/releasable via a rotating pawl 14g. More particularly, the footrest 18 consists of a frame, the opposite longitudinal flanks of which are formed by guides 18a which have attached to them wheels 19 mounted on a support arm 19a pivotably hinged at 19b on the guide 18a. Said arm 19a supporting the wheel 19 has pivotably hinged on it, via elastic recall means 20b, a second arm 20, the free end 20a of which is designed to engage with a horizontal pin 21a mounted on the inner end of a rod 21 sliding on the inner surface of the guide 18a and moved in translation by a cam 22 connecting the opposite end of the rod 21 to the guide 14a of the seat 14. Said cam 22 is associated with locking means 22a known per se and shown only in schematic form in Fig. 3, by means of which it is possible to lock the footrest 18 so as to prevent it from being extracted. Starting from the divan configuration shown in Fig. 4, where the footrest 18 is fully retracted inside the seat 14, the backrest 8 is in the erect position and the carriage 3 is pushed fully backwards towards the headboard 5, operation of the divan-bed is as follows: the lever 15 is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, causing rotation of the eccentric cam 17 by means of which the connecting rod 18 is actuated, pulling the pin 19 in the radial direction so that it comes out of the notch 9a of the rack 9, releasing the frame operating mechanism which is free to vary its position; pulling the free end of the seat in the direction of the arrow T pulls outwards the carriages 3 which, guided by the longitudinal rails 2 of the frame 1, move forward parallel, being attached together by the strut 7c; translation of the carriages 3 causes rotation, in a clockwise direction, of the backrest 8 which, rotating about the pins 7a, causes rotation of the lever 11, against the action of the spring 11c and pushes downwards the levers 12 which, pushing against the rear end of the shaped levers 10, causes rotation thereof in a clockwise direction about the fixed pins 10a; said rotation of the levers 10 causes raising of the front ends which, during the forwards travel of the carriages 3, causes the simultaneous raising of the seat 14 and the downwards rotation of the arms 14e carrying the wheels 14f for resting on the ground; at the end of rotation, which has been performed in conditions of continuous equilibrium owing to the action of the spring 11c, the backrest 8 is totally lowered in the horizontal position and rests on the rear transverse bar 4, the seat 14 is totally extracted and raised with the upper surface coplanar with the surface of the backrest and resting on the transverse strut 7c; at this point it is possible to rotate the lever 15 into the initial position, re-inserting the pin 19 into the rack 9 and locking the mechanism; subsequently it is possible to pull the footrest outwards and upwards so as to release the stop means 22a - continuing extraction of the footrest, the end-of-travel device is reached, causing rotation of the cam 22 and consequent engagement of the arm 20 of the wheel 19 which in the meantime is rotated towards the arm recalled by the spring 20b, with the pin 21a of the rod 21: in this way the frame is totally extended and locked in the horizontal position in the bed configuration. In order to close up the bed, returning to the divan configuration of Fig. 2, it is sufficient to perform the aforementioned operations in reverse. Figs. 6 et seq. show the divan according to the invention completed with a foldable spring mattress 25; in the divan configuration the backrest part 25a (Figs. 7, 8a) rests on the transverse strut 7c and is supported by the latter also during rotations of the backrest 8 so as to avoid undesirable slipping of the mattress itself. As illustrated, it is possible to arrange the divan (Fig. 7) in positions with different variable relative inclinations of the backrest 8, 25a and seat 14,25b (Fig. 8a): in this case it is sufficient to rotate the lever 15, causing extraction of the pin 19 from the rack 9, and rotate the backrest into the desired position where the lever 15 is rotated in the opposite direction, locking again the frame. As illustrated in Figs. 8a and 8b, this positional variation may be performed both with the footrest retracted, i.e. in the divan configuration, and with the footrest 18,25c extracted, i.e. in the bed configuration; in this latter case (Fig. 8b) these intermediate positions with the footrest and backrest inclined as required may be easily achieved, also starting from the totally horizontally extended position, i.e. returning to the initial configuration, since the continuous equilibrium of the frame requires a minimum additional force in order to obtain the positional variation. From the figures it can be seen also that the divan may be provided with rear wheels 26 for displacing it from one place to another, said wheels being provided with stop means of the conventional type and hence not illustrated. Figs. 10a and 10b illustrate a different embodiment of the devices for adjusting and locking the relative position of the backrest and seat, whereby, in this case, a substantially continuous adjustment of the said position is possible. The devices are in fact designed such that each of said levers 15 is pivotably hinged on the free end 117a of a shaped lever 117, the other end of which is pivotably hinged via a pin 117b on the vertical flange 7 of the carriage 3. Said lever 117 also has pivotably hinged on it at 117c a first end 118a of a plate 118, the other end 118b of which causes the translatory movement of the rod 120a of a brake 120 comprising a shoe 120b housing a pad 120c made of friction material. Said eccentric lever 117 is also designed to act against the thrusting action of resilient means 121 and its travel designed to be limited by end-of-travel elements 119 integral with the pin 119a. In this way, by rotating the lever 15 from a locking position (Fig. 10a), where the brake 120 is lowered into contact with the rail 2 and the carriage 3 is kept braked, into a released position (Fig. 10b), the plate 118 acts as a connecting rod which causes raising of the brake 120, allowing the relative position of the backrest and seat to be varied. Bringing the lever 15 back into its normal position, the connecting rod causes the brake 120 to be lowered again and the carriage 3 is locked in the desired position. Many variations may be introduced as regards the realization of the parts which make up the invention, without thereby departing from the protective scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims which follow.

Claims: Divan-bed comprising a fixed frame (1) resting on the floor, a backrest (8) and a seat (14), comprising at least two longitudinal sides (1a) of the said frame (1) formed by rails (2) guiding a carriage (3) movable in translation along a horizontal plane, said carriage having pivotably hinged on it the backrest (8) and a shaped lever (10), the opposite ends of which are rotationally connected, respectively, to the said backrest (8) by means of a rod (12) and to the seat (14), characterized in that each carriage (3) has fixed to it a vertical flange (7) on which said shaped lever (10) is pivotably hinged and to which there also being provided adjusting means (9,9a) and locking means (19, 18, 15, 16) cooperating with said adjusting means for fixing the relative position of the backrest (8) and seat (14) and their relative inclination with respect to the horizontal plane of the floor. Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that each side of said backrest (8) has rotationally connected to it an additional lever (11) hinged on the fixed frame (1) and rotating with the backrest itself against the balancing action of elastic means (11c) arranged between said lever and frame. Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said position adjusting means consist of a rack (9) in the form of a circle segment having on its external circumference radial notches (9a) designed to cooperate with said locking means (19, 18). Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said locking means consist of a transverse pin (9) which can be actuated in the radial direction with respect to the rack (9) by means of a connecting rod (18) operated by an eccentric cam (17) keyed onto a lever (15). Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said seat consists of a frame, the longitudinal sides of which are formed by guides (14a), the rear end of which has flanges (14b) hinged on a transverse bar (13) connecting said shaped levers (10). Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said footrest has longitudinal sides formed by guides (18a) designed to slide inside said guides (14a) of the seat for the extraction/insertion of the footrest from/into the seat, there being provided end-of-travel and locking means. Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said seat (14) has associated with it wheels (14f) for resting on the ground, mounted on an arm (14e) rotating on the guide (14a) subject to the recall action of elastic means (14d), there also being provided locking means (14g). Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said footrest (18) has associated with it wheels (19) for resting on the ground, mounted on arms (19a) rotating on the guide (18a) subject to the recall action of elastic means (20b), there being provided moreover locking/release means (21a, 21, 22). Divan-bed according to Claim 8, characterized in that said means for locking/releasing the wheels of the footrest are substantially formed by a rod (21) parallel to the guide (18a), one end of said lever having a pin engaging with the arm of the wheel and the other opposite end being connected to a cam (22) for synchronized actuation with extraction/insertion of the footrest from/into the seat. Divan-bed according to Claim 1, characterized in that said means for locking the relative position of the backrest (8) and the seat (14) comprise a shaped lever (117) pivotably hinged on the flange (7) of the carriage (3) and acting on a connecting rod (118) operating a brake (120) acting on the rail (2). Divan-bed according to Claims 1 and 10, characterized in that said lever (117) is operated by the lever (15). Divan-bed according to Claims 1 and 11, characterized in that said brake comprises a rod (120a) sliding with respect to the flange (7) and connected to said connecting rod (118). Divan-bed according to Claims 1 and 11, characterized in that resilient means (122) for opposing the rotation of the shaped lever (117) and end-of-travel means (119) therefor are provided.

Inventors: BORTOLUZZI GUIDO, BORTOLUZZI, GUIDO
Applicants: FLOU SPA, FLOU S.P.A.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A47C17
IPC codes: A47C17