Patent Publication Number: US-2017347806-A1

Title: Electric folding apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to folding apparatuses for being leaned by the back and more particularly, to an electric folding apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional folding apparatus such as a folding bed, chair, and etc., whose chair back or bed back is adjustable by a user, so that the user can choose taking a rest on the folding apparatus in a lying posture or a sitting posture freely. In addition, the user can change postures for back supporting by adjusting the folding apparatus, so as to achieve different usage demands such as reading a book, taking a nap, or watching TV on the folding apparatus in suitable postures. Some of the folding apparatuses even have a waist supporting apparatus corresponding to user&#39;s waist and protruded from the chair back or the bed back to support user&#39;s waist, so as to further elevate comfortable feeling. However, a conventional waist supporting apparatus is fixed on the folding apparatus in general and can&#39;t be removed when the user don&#39;t want to use it. Alternatively, a conventional waist supporting apparatus&#39;s protruding extent protruded from chair back or bed back thereof is not adjustable by the user. Therefore, these folding apparatuses having waist supporting apparatus are still in many ways inconvenient to use and need to be improved. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is an objective of the present invention to provide an electric folding apparatus which can let a user adjust a position of a waist supporting apparatus with convenient. 
     To attain the above objective, the present invention provides an electric folding apparatus which includes a lower body unit, a back unit, a waist unit, a back actuator, and a waist actuator. The back unit is rotatably connected with the lower back unit. The waist unit is rotatably connected with the back unit and located between the lower body unit and the waist unit. The back actuator&#39;s two ends are rotatably connected with the lower body unit and the back unit, and the back actuator has a first cylinder and a first push rod movable into and out of the first cylinder. The back unit is swung with the waist unit relative to the lower back unit by the back actuator when a first push rod moves into or out of a first cylinder. The waist actuator&#39;s two ends are rotatably connected with the back unit and the waist unit, and the waist actuator has a second cylinder and a second push rod movable into and out of the second cylinder. The waist unit is swung relative to the back unit by the waist actuator when the second push rod moves into or out of the second cylinder. 
     Accordingly, a protruding extent of the waist unit relative to the back unit can be adjusted when the waist actuator drive the waist unit to swing, so as to satisfy different usage demands of user for different waist supporting extents. In addition, the user can adjust the waist unit to be level with the back unit easily in a situation that the user don&#39;t want to use the waist supporting function. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electric folding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom view of the electric folding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of a part of the electric folding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing that a back unit is at a lying position and a waist unit is at a non-waist supporting position. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a part of the electric folding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing that the back unit is at a back supporting position and the waist unit is at the non-waist supporting position. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view of a part of the electric folding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing that the back unit is at the lying position and the waist unit is at a waist supporting position. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of a part of the electric folding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing that the back unit is at the back supporting position and the waist unit is at the waist supporting position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-3  showing an electric folding apparatus  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention, the electric folding apparatus  1  includes a lower body unit  10 , a back unit  20 , a waist unit  30 , a back actuator  40 , a waist actuator  50 , and four brackets  60 . The electric folding apparatus  1  can be an electric bed or an electric chair and is adapted for a bed mattress or a soft mattress (not shown) to be placed thereon. 
     The lower body unit  10  includes a hip unit  11  corresponding to user&#39;s hip, a thigh unit  12  connected with the hips unit  11  and corresponding to user&#39;s thigh, and a shank unit  13  connected with the thigh unit  12  and corresponding to user&#39;s shank. In the following description, the direction would be defined according to a view of  FIG. 2 . The hip unit  11  has a hip frame  111 , a hip supporting board  112  disposed on a top of the hip frame  111 , and an actuator pivoting portion  113  located at a right side  111   a  of the hip frame  111 . The thigh unit  12  has a thigh frame  121  connected with the hip frame  111  and a thigh supporting board  122  disposed on a top of the thigh frame  121 . The shank unit  13  has a shank frame  131  connected with the thigh frame  121  and a shank supporting board  132  disposed on a top of the shank frame  131 . 
     It should be noticed that, the lower body unit  10  of the present embodiment is composed of three units, however, a structure thereof can be modified, and the lower body unit  10  may be composed of a single unit, two units, or more than three units. Nevertheless, the lower body unit  10  at least has a lower body frame  14  (as the hip frame  111  of the present embodiment) and a lower body supporting board  15  (as the hip supporting board  112  of the present embodiment) disposed on a top  141  of the lower body frame  14 . 
     The back unit  20  includes a back frame  21  rotatably connected with the lower body unit  10  by a right side  21   a  thereof and a back supporting board  22  disposed on a top  211  of the back frame  21 . The back frame  21  has a upper back portion  212 , a lower back portion  213  extended toward a right side of  FIG. 2  from the upper back unit  212  and rotatably connected with the lower body unit  10 , a back pivoting portion  214  extended downwardly and rightwardly from the lower back portion  213 , and a waist pivoting portion  215  extended downwardly from the upper back portion  212 . The back unit  20  is corresponding to a position of user&#39;s back. 
     The waist unit  30  includes a pivoting base  31  and a waist supporting board  32 . The pivoting base  31  has a connecting portion  311  and a pivoting connecting portion  312  extended downwardly from the connecting portion  311 . The waist supporting board  32  is disposed on a top  313  of the connecting portion  311 . In this embodiment, two hinges  70  are connected with the back supporting board  22  of the back unit  20  and the waist supporting board  32  of the waist unit  30 , respectively, so that the waist unit  30  is rotatably connected with the lower body unit  10 . In addition, the waist unit  30  is located between the lower body  10  and the back unit  20  and corresponding to a position of user&#39;s waist. 
     It should be noticed that, these hinges  70  are used for the waist unit  30  to be swingable relative to the back unit  20 . In other embodiments, structures of the back frame  21  and the pivoting base  31  can be modified, so that the pivoting base  31  is rotatably connected with the back frame  21  without disposing these hinges  70 . In addition, the lower body unit  10 , the back unit  20 , and the waist unit  30  of the present embodiment are a structure that a supporting board (such as the lower body supporting board  12 , the back supporting board  22 , or etc.) is disposed on a frame (such as the lower body frame  11 , the back frame  21 , or etc.) or the pivoting base  31 . In other embodiments, the aforementioned structure of the units can be modified, for example, the frame and the supporting board can be replaced by a net rack, the frame or the pivoting base  31  can be respectively embedded in corresponding supporting boards, a bed mattress, a soft mattress, or any cushion object which can be leaned by the user conveniently and comfortably can be placed on the supporting board, or the supporting board can be eliminated. 
     Two ends of the back actuator  40  are rotatably connected with the lower body unit  10  and the back unit  20 , and the back actuator  40  has a first cylinder  41  and a first push rod  42  movable into and out of the first cylinder  41 . In this embodiment, the first cylinder  41  is rotatably connected with the actuator pivoting portion  113  of the lower body unit  10 , and the first push rod  42  is rotatably connected with the back pivoting portion  214  of the back unit  20 . In other embodiments, the positions of the first cylinder  41  and the first push rod  42  can be swapped, i.e., the first cylinder  41  is rotatably connected with the back pivoting portion  214  of the back unit  20 , and the first push rod  42  is rotatably connected with the actuator pivoting portion  113  of the lower body unit  10 . 
     Two ends of the waist actuator  50  are rotatably connected with the back unit  20  and the waist unit  30 , and the waist actuator  50  has a second cylinder  51  and a second push rod  52  movable into and out of the second cylinder  51 . In this embodiment, the second cylinder  51  is rotatably connected with the waist pivoting portion  215  of the back unit  20 , and the second push rod  42  is rotatably connected with the pivoting connecting portion  312  of the waist unit  30 . In other embodiments, the positions of the second cylinder  51  and the second push rod  52  can be swapped, i.e., the second cylinder  51  is rotatably connected with the pivoting connecting portion  312  of the waist unit  30 , and the second push rod  52  is rotatably connected with the waist pivoting portion  215  of the back unit  20 . 
     It should be noticed that, two ends of the back actuator  40  and the waist actuator  50  are rotatably connected with the actuator pivoting portion  113  of the lower body unit  10 , the back pivoting portion  214  of the back unit  20 , the waist pivoting portion  215  of the back unit  20 , and the pivoting connecting portion  315  of the waist unit  30 , respectively, however, this structure can be modified, the back actuator  40  has only to be rotatably connected with the lower body unit  10  and the back unit  20 , respectively, and the waist actuator  50  has only to be rotatably connected with the back unit  20  and the waist unit  30 , respectively. 
     These four brackets  60  are respectively disposed on a top side of the back supporting board  22  and a tail side of the lower body supporting board  12 , two by two, for preventing the bed mattress or the soft mattress from displacing. It should be noticed that, in other embodiments, an amount and positions of the aforementioned brackets  60  can be modified or even be eliminated. 
     The aforementioned description is related to a structure design of the electric folding apparatus  1 , in the following, a control method of adjusting the back unit  20  and the waist unit  30  would be described later with  FIGS. 3-6  based on this structure design. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , when the first push rod  42  of the back actuator  40  moves out of the first cylinder  41  as the back actuator  40  is stretched, the back actuator  40  can drive the back unit  20  to swing upwardly with the waist unit  30  relative to the lower body unit  10 . When the first push rod  42  is stretched to its limit, the back unit  20  would stop swinging upwardly and be located at a back supporting position B 1  as shown in  FIG. 4 . On the other hand, when the first push rod  42  moves into the first cylinder  41  as the back actuator  40  is shortened, the back actuator  40  can drive the back unit  20  to swing downwardly relative to the lower body unit  10 , and eventually the back unit  20  would be swung to a lying position B 2  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Accordingly, the user can drive the back unit  20  to be swung by the back actuator  40  easily, the back unit  20  can be lifted without effort, and the user can choose using the electric folding apparatus  1  in a lying posture or a sitting posture easily. It should be noticed that, the back actuator  40  can be designed to drive the back unit  20  to be stopped at any position between the back supporting position B 1  and the lying position B 2 , to satisfy user&#39;s demands for different situations such as reading a book, watching TV, sleeping, and etc. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , when the second push rod  52  of the waist actuator  50  moves out of the second cylinder  51  as the waist actuator  50  is stretched, the waist actuator  50  can drive the waist unit  30  to swing upwardly relative to the back unit  20 . When the second push rod  52  is stretched to its limit, the waist unit  30  would stop swinging upwardly and be located at a waist supporting position W 1  as shown in  FIG. 5 . On the other hand, when the second push rod  52  moves into the second cylinder  51  as the waist actuator  50  is shortened, the waist actuator  50  can drive the waist unit  30  to swing downwardly relative to the back unit  20 , and eventually the waist unit  30  would be swung to a non-waist supporting position W 2  as shown in  FIG. 3 , in the meantime a top  301  of the waist unit  30  is leveled with a top  201  of the back unit  20 . 
     It should be noticed that,  FIG. 5  shows the waist actuator  50  drives the waist unit  30  to swing in a situation that the back unit  20  is located at the lying position B 2 . Then referring to  FIG. 6 , when the back unit  20  is driven by the back actuator  40  to stop at the back supporting position B 1 , the waist unit  30  still can be driven by the waist actuator  50  to swing and stop at the waist supporting position W 1 . Accordingly, the user&#39;s waist can be supported because of a protrusion of the waist unit  30  when he/she sits. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited in such scenario that the back unit  20  is stopped at the back supporting position B 1  or the lying position B 2 , the waist unit  30  still can be swung by the waist actuator  50  even during the back unit  20  swings between the back supporting position B 1  and the lying position B 2 . 
     Accordingly, the waist unit  30  can be protruded from the back unit  20  by the waist actuator  50  in the embodiments of the present invention, to support user&#39;s waist. When the user do not want to prop waist thereof against the waist unit  30 , simply control the waist actuator  50  to let the waist unit  30  be swung to the non-waist supporting position W 2 . In addition, the waist actuator  50  can be designed to drive the waist unit  30  to be stopped at any position between the waist supporting position W 1  and the no-waist supporting position W 2 , so that the user can adjust a protruding extent of the waist unit  30  protruded from the back unit  20  to change an effect of supporting waist. 
     The above description represents merely the preferred embodiment of the present invention, without any intention to limit the scope of the present invention. The simple variations and modifications not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.