Abstract:
A bed is provided for a vehicle with two adjacent seats separated from each other so that a gap is defined therebetween. The bed has a body that includes a first end disposed on one seat and a second disposed on the other seat. The bed bridges the gap between the seats. The width of the body is adjustable for fitting on the seats.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to beds in truck cabs, and more particularly to beds that bridge separated front seats of a truck cab. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Truck drivers frequently wait long hours in their trucks for the truck to be loaded or unloaded. For trucks with back bench seats, sleeping quarters or compartments with beds or cots, the driver can comfortably rest while waiting for the loading/unloading of the truck. An example of such a bed is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,631 issued to Bretz. 
     In smaller truck cabs that do not have a back seat or sleeping compartment, however, the driver has no choice but to stay in the front driver&#39;s seat or front passenger seat if the driver desires to wait in his truck. Frequently, the passenger and driver seats in a truck are split bucket-type seats instead of a single bench seat. These split seats are typically separated by a gap to accommodate a gear shift. With this configuration, a driver has no choice but to remain in the seated position. However, it is difficult to rest or sleep in this position. In addition, the seated position may require the driver to maintain his limbs in positions which cause stiffness or aching. The driver cannot recline on the split front seats because it is difficult and uncomfortable for a person to recline by balancing over the two seats. 
     One solution is to provide a hammock in the front seat, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,521 issued to Light. This system, however, requires relatively expensive permanent and complicated hardware to hang the hammock from the truck cab frame. 
     Another known solution is to simply lie a board of wood, such as a piece of plywood, over the two front seats for the driver to recline upon. This bed-board, however, is large, rigid, and cumbersome. Therefore, it is difficult to place the bed-board into the truck cab and onto the front seats of the truck cab. The bed-board also is not adaptable from truck cab to truck cab of different sizes. For instance, the bed-board may be too wide to fit onto some truck cabs due to the space provided between the seat backs and the dash board or steering wheel. The board may also be too wide to avoid the gear shift, which requires some sort of notch cut in the bed-board so the bed-board fits around the gear shift. The bed-board also cannot be collapsed for easy storage and transport. Such concerns are significant, particularly in the case of day cabs. A day cab driver may not be assigned to the same truck the following day. Further, the bed-board is a personal solution thereby compounding the lack of versatility issue. 
     In addition, it is convenient for the drivers to simply keep the bed-board in the truck cabs instead of carrying the bed-board out of the truck cab in their off hours. If trucks are switched to different drivers or brought to maintenance personnel for upkeep, the bed-boards are frequently discarded as trash. Presumably, the purpose of the simple wood bed-board is not immediately apparent to the maintenance personnel. 
     Thus, the main object of the present invention is to provide an improved bed for split adjacent seats in a vehicle that provides adequate comfort for rest or stretching out ones limbs. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved bed for split adjacent seats in a vehicle that is adjustable to fit many different sizes of seats and vehicles. 
     Yet another of the present invention is to provide an improved bed for split seats in a vehicle that is collapsible for easy storage and transport. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, the problems mentioned above are solved by a bed for a vehicle with two adjacent seats separated from each other so that a gap is defined therebetween. The bed has a body that includes a first end disposed on one seat and a second end disposed on the other seat. The bed bridges the gap between the seats, and the width of the body is adjustable for fitting on the seats. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, the bed has a body with a plurality of rods and a flexible platform defining pockets for receiving the rods and for maintaining the rods in a generally parallel relation to each other. With this structure, the flexible platform provides a flexible width for fitting the bed on the seats and avoiding any gear shift that may be present between the seats of the truck cab. 
     This flexibility is accomplished by providing each rod with a wide range of lateral or transverse positions relative to an adjacent rod. When the flexible platform is made of a fabric that is folded in two layers to define the pockets for receiving the rods, the flexible platform can be folded, rolled or otherwise moved to form any outer width for the body or bed. This allows for instantaneous adjustment of the bed&#39;s width to fit any seat as well as the ability to be compacted for easy storage and transport. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above mentioned and other features of the present invention and the manner of obtaining them will be apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-section of a truck cab showing the bed of the present invention placed on seats of the truck cab; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the bed in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the bed along line  3 — 3  in FIG. 2, and also showing the bed in position on a seat and adjacent a gear shift in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the bed in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing the bed rolled-up for storage or transport in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a bed  10  is disposed in a vehicle, such as a truck cab  12  of a truck so that a driver  14  can recline on the bed to sleep, rest or stretch his limbs on the front seats of the truck cab  12  while waiting for the truck to be loaded or unloaded. The front seats include a passenger seat  16  separated from a driver&#39;s seat  18  by a gap  20 . A gear shift  22  is typically disposed between the seats  16 ,  18 . 
     The bed  10  provides support for a driver&#39;s back so that the driver can comfortably rest his head on a raised portion  16   a  of the passenger seat  16 , while resting his feet on the driver&#39;s seat  18  (or vis-à-vis). The bed  10  is easy to place on the seats  16 ,  18  as well as easy to remove from the seats. The bed  10  can also be positioned to avoid the gear shift  22 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the preferred configuration for the bed  10  has a body  24  composed of a plurality of rods  26  disposed in a flexible platform  32  made of a material such as a fabric. The flexible platform  32  has two layers  28 ,  30  that are sewn together to enclose the rods  26  in generally parallel relation to each other. The rods  26  act as beams to form a bridge from seat to seat (i.e. span the gap between the seats  16 ,  18 ) while the layers  28 ,  30  indirectly attach the rods  26  to each other, provide the actual surface  34  that a driver  14  reclines upon and provides flexibility to instantly change an outer width (shown in FIG. 3) of the flexible platform  32 . 
     For the typical bucket seats with 15″ to 18″ widths, it has been found that eight-⅞″ diameter wooden rods spaced at 1½″ on center is adequate. The rods  26  are preferably 48″ long to span a typical 20″-28″ gap between front truck cab seats. With this length, the rods  26  are long enough to adequately support the weight of a driver  14  while being short enough to provide room on the seats  16  or  18  for the driver to rest his head on an edge cushion portion  16   a  of the seat  16  that is typical of bucket-type seats. When a small gap is present between the seats  16 ,  18 , the rods  26  can be positioned so that a longer portion rests in the seat  18  that support the driver&#39;s feet to ensure the cushion portion  16   a  remains unobstructed to support the driver&#39;s head. 
     It will be appreciated that the rods  26  may be made of plastic, steel, bamboo or any other suitable material strong enough to support the weight of a human being. However, steel has been found to be too heavy and certain plastic is not sufficiently rigid. It will also be appreciated that the rods  26  may have any length adequate to span gap  20  while supporting the weight of a person without failing or buckling. 
     The flexible platform  32  is preferably a single piece of fabric, such as cotton or polyester, or a flexible fabric-like plastic for high durability and easy maintenance. The platform  32  is folded over to form the two layers  28 ,  30 . The layers  28 ,  30  are then sewn together by parallel stitching  36  at 1½″ spacing to form separate elongated pockets  38  that receive the rods  26 ; here seven lines of parallel stitching  36  are required to enclose eight rods  26 . The lateral sides  60  are preferably formed by the folding of the fabric of the flexible platform  32  and, therefore, do not need to be sewn in the preferred embodiment. The actual lateral ends  62  of the fabric used to form the flexible platform  32  are sewn together at one of the parallel stitching lines  36  as shown in FIG.  3 . Longitudinal end stitching  40 ,  42 , performed after the rods  26  are placed in the pockets  38 , secures the rods  26  between the layers  28 ,  30 . In order to perform the stitching  40 , 42  at the longitudinal ends, the flexible platform  32  must be slightly longer than the rods  26  to provide space for the stitches. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, with this structure the width of the body  24  is selectively and instantaneously adjustable to fit any seat width and to avoid the gear shift  22 . As shown by the dashed arrows A, any single rod  26   a  has an approximately 360 degree outer range of lateral or transverse positions relative to an adjacent rod  26   b.  It will also be appreciated that since arrow A shows the outer range of positions, the rod  26   a  could be positioned closer to adjacent rod  26   b  anywhere within the circle created by arrows A. This includes moving the rods  26  laterally and closer to each other, instead of folding/rolling the rods over each other, to change the width W without changing the order of the rods  26 . This flexibility is provided by either the flexibility of the material of the flexible platform  32 , the pockets  38  being larger than the cross-sectional areas of the rods  26  so that the rods are provided further freedom to move laterally within the pockets or both. 
     The lateral/transverse range of positions for the rods is available between any adjacent rods  26  although it requires that the flexible material  32  be folded, rolled or otherwise moved to permit such positioning. With this range of positions provided, it is simple to adjust the width W by reconfiguring flexible material  32  accordingly by moving rods  26  laterally, folding the flexible material  32  or rolling it to the desired width in order to fit the bed  10  on the seats  16 ,  18  and to avoid the gear shift  22 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, the rods  26  and flexible platform  32  also make it possible to roll up the entire body  24 , fold it in accordion fashion or in any other way to compact or collapse the body for easy storage and transport. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2-4 and  5 , when the bed  10  is rolled up or collapsed, tie straps  44  can be wound around the body  24  and secured by any known means, such as VELCRO® brand hook and loop fastener pads  46  or metal snap fasteners (not shown). Once the bed  10  is secured in the collapsed configuration (shown in FIG.  5 ), it can be carried by handle  48 , which is attached at its ends to support straps  50 . In one embodiment, the tie straps  44  and support straps  50  are attached to the body  24  through slits  52  and secured by anchor knots  54  (shown in FIGS. 2-3) at the ends of the straps  44 ,  50 . The straps  44 ,  50  are of any known material for such purposes such as plastic or fabrics such as nylon. 
     Referring to FIG. 6, a more preferred configuration attaches the handle  48  directly to the tie straps  44  rather than attached to separate support straps  50 . With this configuration, only two separate attachment areas  70  are required rather than six attachments (six slits and six anchor units) as required by the configuration shown in FIG.  5 . Here, one end of each tie strap  44  is sewn to an end of the handle  48 , and the end of the handle  48  is thereby sewn to the body  24 . Instead of sewing to the body  24 , however, the same slit and anchor unit arrangement can be used at the ends of either the handle  48  or tie straps  44 . VELCRO® brand hook and loop fastener pad  46  can also be placed at attachment area  70 . 
     The bed  10  is easy to place in the vehicle  12 . A driver merely unties the straps  44  and unfolds the bed  10  to the desired width on the front seats  16 ,  18 . The process is reversed to remove the bed. Once the bed  10  is rolled up and the straps are secured to remove the bed  10 , the driver can simply carry the bed by the handle  48  out of the truck cab  12  or store the rolled-up bed in a storage compartment in the truck cab. 
     It will be appreciated that in another alternative to rods  26 , any generally parallel beam structure that spans the gap between separate seats may be used to form the flexible platform as long as the system attaching these parallel structures to each other provides some lateral or transverse flexibility so that at least the width of the body may be instantly adjusted or reduced to fit any vehicle seat or chair. It is also preferred that the body is flexible enough or has a folding structure so that it may be folded or rolled in some manner to compact the bed for convenient storage and transport of the bed. This may include elongated flat plates that are attached to each other by hinges on their lateral edges and fold in accordion fashion. 
     It will also be appreciated that the bed can be used with any two adjacent, separate seats, whether bucket seats or bench-type seats. This includes any vehicle with a split seat or even on adjacent chairs that are not in a vehicle. 
     The advantages of the present bed are now apparent. The bed  10  has a body  24  with parallel structures or rods  26  disposed between two layers  28 ,  30  of a flexible platform  32 . The flexible platform  32  maintains the rods  26  in parallel relation while providing a wide range of lateral or transverse positions for the rods. This structure provides for instantaneous and simple adjustment of the width of the body  24  as well as convenient compaction of the bed  10  for transport and/or storage. 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that other modifications and alternatives can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which should be determined from the appended claims.