Patent Publication Number: US-2015067963-A1

Title: Convertible piece of furniture, from sofa use to bed use and vice versa

Description:
The present invention relates to a convertible piece of furniture, from sofa use to bed use and vice versa. 
     Structures with the dual function of sofa and bed have long been known. 
     In general, the purpose of those structures is to provide a piece of furniture that during the day performs the function of a sofa without occupying the space of an actual bed. 
     Another important feature of sofa beds is to constitute a piece of furniture that is equally comfortable both when used as a sofa and as a bed, without renouncing the characteristics that are required of these two types of use. 
     Also, there is an increasingly felt need to provide beds that are comfortable and allow correct posture of the user, from an orthopedic point of view. 
     Such a feature is difficult to achieve with sofa beds of the traditional type, in which the resting surface, in the bed position, is generally constituted by two or usually three sections that are mutually hinged. 
     Only very few sofa beds provide a good performance both as a sofa and as a bed and they can do so at the cost of very complicated mechanisms. 
     Such complicated mechanism are required in order to reduce the size in the sofa position and to provide at the same time a comfortable bed. 
     The problem of reducing the dimensions in the folded (sofa) position significantly, is particularly felt in pieces of furniture that convert from a sofa to a double bed. 
     Another important feature is of course the aesthetic requirements. 
     In this regard, many of the known sofa bed structures limit the styling possibilities of the designer, either because of the bulk of the mechanisms or the impossibility to hide them. 
     DE1729997 relates to a sofa bed having a bedspring pivoted to a frame, which appears to be fastened to a wall. The bedspring is adapted to fold down over a seat from a sofa position into a bed position. When the bedspring is turned into the bed position, the seat slides forward and lowers down, whereby the bedspring rests in the position formerly occupied by the seat. DE1729997 does not disclose a mechanism adapted to move the seat. 
     WO2009/127382 discloses an improved convertible furniture unit constituted by a sofa having an exposed wall and that can be converted into a folding double bed or into two mutually separate single beds. A spring-based balancing system and the entire mechanism is substantially hidden within the supporting structure. The unit also allows, in the day version, to join without gaps the two seats into a sofa and, in the night version, to join the two single beds to form a double sprung base. 
     The aim of the present invention is to provide a convertible piece of furniture, particularly a sofa bed, with an improved motion mechanism, with reduced dimensions, a reduced number of components and a greater reliability. 
     Within the scope of this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a piece of furniture that is perfectly functional in both conditions of use, as a sofa and as a bed. 
     Another important object of the invention is to provide a piece of furniture that functionally and aesthetically has the appearance exclusively of a sofa when it is in the day position and exclusively the appearance of a bed when it is in the night position. 
     This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a convertible piece of furniture, from sofa use to bed use and vice versa, comprising a framework that supports a bed member that can be tilted onto a sofa member in at least two working positions: a day position, in which said bed member is in a vertical position and said sofa member can be used for sitting, and a night position, in which said bed member is rotated in a horizontal position and surmounts said sofa member; said piece of furniture further comprising an articulated system that connects said bed member to said sofa and to said framework; said bed member forming a lying surface in said night position; said sofa member forming a sitting surface in said day position; said lying surface of said bed member substantially corresponding to said sitting surface of said sofa member; said sofa member forming, in said night position, a retracted surface that is different from said sitting surface; said piece of furniture being characterized in that said bed base has a bracket that has a free end hinged in said frame in a first hinge point; said frame is hinged to one end of a lever, in a second hinge point; another end of said lever is hinged to said base, in a base hinge point. 
    
    
     
       Further characteristics and advantages will become better apparent from the description of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a partially sectional lateral elevation view of the convertible piece of furniture according to the present invention, illustrated in the day position, with the bed base in the vertical position; 
         FIG. 2  is a view, similar to the preceding one, of the piece of furniture with the bed base inclined at 15° with respect to the vertical; 
         FIG. 3  is a view, similar to the preceding one, of the piece of furniture with the bed base inclined at 30° with respect to the vertical; 
         FIG. 4  is a view, similar to the preceding one, of the piece of furniture with the bed base inclined at 45° with respect to the vertical; 
         FIG. 5  is a view, similar to the preceding one, of the piece of furniture with the bed base inclined at 60° with respect to the vertical; 
         FIG. 6  is a view, similar to the preceding one, of the piece of furniture with the bed base inclined at 75° with respect to the vertical; 
         FIG. 7  is a view, similar to the preceding ones, of the piece of furniture in the night position, with the bed base in a horizontal position. 
     
    
    
     With reference to the cited figures, the convertible piece of furniture, according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral  1 , comprises a bed member  2 , which can be tipped onto a sofa member  3  so as to define at least two working positions: a day position, in which the bed member  2  is in a vertical position and the sofa member can be used for sitting, and a night position, in which the bed member is rotated in a horizontal position and surmounts the sofa member. 
     The bed member  2  has an exposed wall  4 , which is integral with a bed base  5 , which supports a mattress  6 . 
     The sofa member  3  comprises a frame  7  on which a padding  8  is arranged. 
     The bed base  5  and the frame  7  are mutually pivoted and can tilt with respect to a supporting framework  9  formed by a base  10  and an upright  11 . 
     The base  10  and the upright  11  are preferably constituted by boxlike bodies, made for example of wood. 
     The base  10  includes at least two side walls that are extended upward in order to form two armrests  12 . 
     The upright  11  comprises at least two side walls, a rear panel and an upper panel which are adapted to enclose, in cooperation with the exposed wall  4 , the bed base  5  and the corresponding mattress  6  when the piece of furniture is in the day position. 
     The bed base  5  has a bracket  13  that has a free end hinged in the frame  7  in a first hinge point  14 . 
     The bed base  7  is hinged to one end of a lever  15  in a second hinge point  16 . 
     The other end of the lever  15  is hinged to the base  10  in a base hinge point  17 . 
     The bed base  5  with the bracket  13 , the frame  7  and the lever  15  constitute a system that is articulated to the supporting framework  9  and allows to tilt the bed base of the bed  2  onto the frame  7 , so that the sofa member  3  passes from a raised position, in the day position of the piece of furniture, to a lowered position, below the bed base  5 , which occupies, in the night position of the piece of furniture, substantially the same position as the sofa member, when the piece of furniture is in the day position. 
       FIGS. 1 to 7  illustrate in sequence the steps of the movement of the articulated system, passing from the day position, shown in  FIG. 1 , to the night position, shown in  FIG. 7 . 
       FIGS. 2 to 6  illustrate the piece of furniture in the intermediate positions, with the bed base inclined respectively at 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75° with respect to the vertical. 
     In the initial tilting step, the cantilever connection of the frame  7  with respect to the bed base  5 , due to the bracket  13 , causes the lowering of the rear part of the sofa member  3  and a subsequent combined rotary and translational motion thereof, which brings it to a final position that is lowered and retracted with respect to the initial working position. 
     In this manner, the sofa member  3  is fully hidden from sight and most of all far from the working region of the bed base  5  when the piece of furniture is the night position. 
     In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, providing a convertible piece of furniture whose system for articulation between the bed member and the sofa member allows quick and easy conversion and perfect functionality both in the day position and in the night position. 
     The articulation system is always hidden from sight, even during the transition from one position to the other. 
     An important advantage of the piece of furniture, according to the present invention, is that both the sitting surface of the sofa member and the lying plane of the bed member are arranged at the optimum height, without compromises for one or the other, by virtue of the articulation system that allows to exclude one member from the working space of the other member. 
     In other words, when the bed base is lowered into the night position, it takes the place of the frame of the sofa member, which is lowered and retracted, differently from what occurs in traditional structures, in which the bed base is slightly raised with respect to the ideal plane, since it is simply tilted onto the sofa. 
     An important advantage of the present invention is that the piece of furniture is self-supporting, i.e., it does not require fixing to a wall. 
     A further important advantage of the present invention is that the mechanism for moving the bedspring and the seat is made of a reduced number of components and is therefore more reliable in use and less expensive to manufacture. 
     This application claims the priority of Italian Patent Application No. MI2012A000625, filed on Apr. 17, 2012, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.