Abstract:
Disclosed is a sofa or the like that has an end cushion having a lower stationary member approximating the height of an armrest of the sofa and a rotatable upper member that may be rotated to overlie an armrest of the sofa. A back support may be provided for sitting crosswise on the sofa. A lower front panel that is rotatable to a position overlying a seat cushion so as to act as an armrest for a person sitting crosswise on the sofa is also possible.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to adjustable sofas and more particularly to a sofa that is configurable to be a sofa, a lounger, or a sofa-bench. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    People often lie across a sofa; that is, with their head resting on a standard armrest of the sofa and their bodies stretched lengthwise across the sofa, from armrest to armrest. Lying this way, at times, is for comfort and at other times, is for viewing TV or conversing with someone located generally seated near an opposite armrest of the sofa so that both people are seated likewise on the sofa facing each other. 
         [0003]    Generally, when a person is seated in such a manner, he cannot comfortably rest his head and upper body on the sofa&#39;s armrest as the armrest is typically not at a comfortable height for such use. The only option is to attempt to provide support for the otherwise unsupported head and upper body using a firm cushion or other object that is unconnected to the couch such as a pillow, wall or another firm article. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Embodiments of the Sofa Lover&#39;s Sofa permit a person to enjoy support for both arms while sitting lengthwise across a sofa with the person&#39;s back resting against the rotated backrest atop the traditional standard armrest of the sofa and the person&#39;s feet extended toward an opposite armrest of the sofa. For example, support for a person&#39;s unsupported arm (referred to herein as the “outward arm”) can be provided by rotating a front lower panel upward so that a resulting upper edge thereof is at a height generally equal to that of a standard armrest of the sofa. Equality of armrests is not necessary, as an embodiment of the present sofa includes armrests that are adjustable in height. 
         [0005]    Also, an upper portion of a rear backrest of a sofa can rotate or slide to a position overlying the sofa armrest thereby providing backrest support and possibly a headrest for a person sitting lengthwise on the sofa. The remaining stationary (lower) portion of the traditional backrest (which remains after the upper portion has been rotated away) becomes an armrest for the person&#39;s arm now resting at the traditional rear/back of the sofa. 
         [0006]    Further, a rotatable rod can be positioned within a front lower panel such that the front lower panel can rotate up, with the rotatable rod as an axis of rotation of the front lower panel, the panel, so raised then serves as an armrest for a person&#39;s outward arm. The front, lower panel can lock into place using a locking mechanism such as a ball- and socket. A torsion spring can be wrapped around the rod to bias the front lower panel to either a stowed position or a raised position. 
         [0007]    In accordance with a further embodiment of the present sofa, a four-bar linkage can be attached to the front lower panel and to the sofa&#39;s frame such that the front lower panel can rotate up to serve as an armrest for a person&#39;s outward arm. The front lower panel can lock into place in this embodiment with a spring. 
         [0008]    Yet another embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa is a sofa-bench. A sofa-bench is a sofa having no standard armrests or backrest. Front, rear and side panel end portions can be used on the sofa-bench to rotate upward and lock in place in any manner described above to serve as armrests. 
         [0009]    A particular embodiment of the inventive sofa includes a sofa that is usable as a lounge chair and includes a backrest that has a backrest upper section that is vertically adjustable and a lower section that supports the upper section and is vertically adjustable. The backrest lower section has a backrest guide track in a top surface thereof. At least one armrest extends perpendicularly from the backrest. The armrest has an upper armrest portion and a lower armrest portion. The upper armrest portion has an armrest guide track located in a top surface of the upper armrest portion that corresponds with the backrest guide track when the backrest lower section is in a raised position. And, a support post extends from a bottom surface of the backrest upper section into the backrest guide track such that the support post is slidable to the armrest guide track to a position where the backrest upper section overlies the upper armrest portion. 
         [0010]    A further particular embodiment of the inventive sofa includes a sofa that is usable as a lounge chair and includes a backrest having an L-shaped upper section that is vertically adjustable and a backrest lower section that supports the L-shaped upper section. The backrest lower section has a backrest guide track in its top surface. The L-shaped upper section extends in a wrapped fashion from the backrest such that a first portion of the L-shaped upper section serves as a backrest and a second portion of the L-shaped upper section serves as an armrest. At least one lower armrest portion extends perpendicularly from the backrest. The lower armrest portion has an armrest guide track located in its top surface that corresponds with a backrest guide track located in the lower portion of the backrest. A support post extends down from a bottom surface of the L-shaped upper section into the guide track such that the upper section is slidable to a position overlying the lower armrest portion where the first portion of the L-shaped upper portion overlies the armrest lower portion and the second portion of the L-shaped upper portion is parallel with the center portion of the backrest. 
         [0011]    Yet another particular embodiment of the inventive sofa includes a bench that is useable as a sofa having a center portion having a lower end and a frame anchored to and surrounding the center portion at its lower end. The frame conforms to the shape of the center portion and has four side frame sections and four corner frame sections. Each of the four side frame sections and four corner frame sections has a telescoping member base beam extending out from the center portion. Each of a plurality of corner portions is connected to a respective base beam of the frame. And each of a plurality of outer portions is connected to the frame at a respective side section of the frame such that the corner portions and the outer portions are all raiseable to a position with respect to the center portion to be usable as an armrest. 
         [0012]    The above and other features, objects, and advantages, together with the best means contemplated by the inventor hereof will become more apparent from reading the following description of embodiments and perusing the associated drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1A  shows a preferred embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa in a sofa configuration; 
           [0014]      FIG. 1B  is an alternative embodiment of the sofa shown in  FIG. 1A ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa in a lounge configuration; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  shows wheel-and-post assembly of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  shows a further embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa having an L-shaped backrest in a raised position; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a further embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa in a lounge configuration; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  shows the further embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa having raiseable side panel in a raised position; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  shows an additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa in a partial lounge configuration; 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  shows a frame of the additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa; 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  shows the additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa in a lounge configuration; 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  shows a bracket-and-pin assembly attached to the frame of the additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa; 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  shows the bracket of the additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa having a through hole and a slot; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  shows an alternative frame of the additional embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa having base beams. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    An embodiment of the present inventive sofa is  2  generally depicted in  FIGS. 1   a ,  1   b  and  2  of the accompanying drawings and includes at least one slideable backrest  4 , at least one armrest  6 , at least one raiseable rear panel  8 , and a center portion  10 . For the sake of discussion, only the right side  12  of the sofa when viewing the sofa from the back is discussed herein; however, a person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that the opposite side  14  of the sofa  2  can be made and used by applying the principles disclosed herein in an oppositely oriented fashion. 
         [0027]    The disclosed sofa can rest in two ultimate configurations: 1) a conventional sofa configuration as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B  and  2 ) a lounge configuration as shown in  FIG. 2 . Optionally, a third configuration (shown in  FIG. 1   b ) is available wherein the sofa  2  can be configured as a sofa with a raised backrest  4 . In the sofa configuration, the raiseable rear panel  8  is positioned beneath the slideable backrest  4 .  FIG. 1B  shows an alternative of this embodiment  2 ′ includes a back rest portion  4 ′ that is slidable along track  24 ′ to a position overlaying the armrest  6 ′. As many conventional sofas are configured such that the back rest portion thereof extends higher than the armrest portions, the user of the sofa will not find any dissimilarity between the present embodiment and a conventional sofa when the backrest is in a position overlying a rear-panel. 
         [0028]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , positioning rods  16  and  18  are used to raise and lower rear panel  8 . Both the raiseable rear panel  8  and the slideable backrest  4  are vertically adjustable along positioning rods  16  and  18 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , an inner positioning rod  16  is connected to the sofa  2  at the inner positioning rod&#39;s lower end  28  to a base frame  30  and at the inner position rod&#39;s upper end  32  to a center frame (not shown) contained within the center portion  10  of the sofa  2 ; and an outer positioning rod  18  is connected to the base frame  30  of the sofa  2  at the outer positioning rod&#39;s lower end  34  and to a side arm rest  6  at the outer positioning rod&#39;s upper end  36 . The raiseable rear panel  8  connects to the positioning rods  16  and  18  through the use of sliding tubular brackets  38  and  40 . 
         [0029]    In this embodiment of the present inventive sofa, the raiseable rear panel  8  and the slideable backrest  4  can be raised and lowered together. As such, in a raised position, the slideable backrest  4  serves as a headrest and the raiseable rear panel  8  serves as a backrest. The sliding tubular brackets  38  and  40  are positioned at lower ends  28  and  34  of each of the positioning rods  16  and  18  when the raiseable rear panel  8  and the slideable backrest  4  are in a standard sofa configuration and are positioned at upper ends  32  and  36  when the raiseable rear panel  8  and the slideable backrest  4  are in a sofa configuration having a raised backrest. A locking means (not shown) keeps the tubular members  38  and  40  in place when they are positioned at the upper ends  32  and  36  of the positioning rods  16  and  18 . The locking means can include, for example, a ball-and-socket assembly, an engaging pin type of assembly, and a frictional screw type of assembly; however, a person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that the locking means will be any type of mechanism, which is mechanically, electronically or electromechanically controlled, and that serves to maintain the slideable backrest  4  in a raised position while a person is leaning against it. 
         [0030]    With further reference to  FIG. 2 , a recessed raiseable rear panel guide track  20  is located in the top surface  22  of the raiseable rear panel  8  and a recessed side arm guide track  24  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) is located in the top surface  26  of the armrest  6 . The tracks  20  and  24  are positioned in the raiseable rear panel  8  and the armrest  6  such that when the raiseable rear panel  8  is in a raised position, the guide track  20  of the raiseable rear panel  8  corresponds with the guide track  24  of the armrest  6  such that a single continuous guide track  42  is formed. 
         [0031]    The slideable backrest  4  includes at least a single post  44  or some other type of member that engages the raiseable rear panel guide track  20  when the sofa  2  is in a conventional configuration and which engages the recessed side arm guide track  24  when the sofa is in a lounge configuration. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the post  44  has a column  46 , a horizontal wheel  48 , and a vertical wheel  52 . The rotation of each wheel  48  and  52  can be enhanced by the use of ball bearings  50 . As shown more particularly in  FIG. 3A , the post  44  is received and restrained inside the guide tracks  20  and  24  by the tracks themselves, which each have a plus-sign shaped cross-section  54 . In order to change the slideable backrest  4  from a position overlying the raiseable rear panel  8  to a position overlying the armrest  6 , a person must simply slide the slideable backrest  4  to such an overlying position. Alternatively, an additional post (not shown) or an additional plurality of posts (also not shown) can be used to increase the stability of the slideable backrest  4 . 
         [0032]    A further embodiment of the present inventive sofa is generally depicted in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6  of the accompanying drawings. With reference to  FIG. 4 , a sofa  102  includes at least one slideable L-shaped backrest  104 , a raiseable rear panel  106 , a raiseable side panel  108 , and a center portion  110 . For the sake of discussion, only the right side  112  of the sofa when viewed from the back is discussed herein; however, a person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that the opposite side  114  can be made and used by applying the principles disclosed herein in an oppositely oriented fashion. 
         [0033]    The sofa of the present embodiment can rest in two ultimate configurations: 1) a conventional sofa configuration (not shown) and 2) a lounge configuration as shown in  FIG. 5 . Optionally, a third configuration is available wherein the sofa can be configured conventionally with an L-shaped backrest  102  in a raised position as shown in  FIG. 4 . The raiseable rear panel  106  is vertically adjustable along positioning rods as described in the previous embodiment. 
         [0034]    As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , positioning rods  116  and  118  are used to raise and lower the side panel  108 . The raiseable side panel  108  is vertically adjustable along these positioning rods  116  and  118 . The rear positioning rod  116  is connected to the base frame  120  of the sofa  102  at its lower end  122  and to a sofa cushion support frame  126 , which supports the sofa&#39;s cushions  128 , at the rearward positioning rod&#39;s upper end  124 . And, a forward positioning rod  118  is connected to the base frame  120  of the sofa  102  at its lower end  130  and to a forward column  134  at the forward positioning rod&#39;s upper end  136 . 
         [0035]    A recessed raiseable rear panel guide track  136  is located in the top surface  138  of the raiseable rear panel  106  and, as best shown in  FIG. 4 , a recessed raiseable side panel guide track  140  is located in the top surface  142  of the raiseable side panel  108 . The tracks  136  and  140  are positioned in the raiseable rear panel  106  and the raiseable side panel  108  such that when the raiseable rear panel  106  is in a raised position, the guide track  136  of the raiseable rear panel  106  corresponds with the guide track  140  on the raiseable side panel  108  such that a single continuous guide track is formed as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0036]    As further shown in  FIG. 4 , the slideable L-shaped backrest  104  includes at least one post  144  that engages the raiseable rear panel guide track  136  when the sofa  102  is in a conventional configuration and which engages raiseable side panel guide track  140  when the sofa  102  is in a lounge configuration. The post  144  has a column and a wheel, the rotation of which can be enhanced by the use of ball bearings. The post  144  is received inside the guide tracks  136  and  140  and is maintained therein by the track, which has an upside down plus-sign shaped cross-section. Alternately, the post can be provided with both vertically and horizontally oriented wheels to ease travel along the guide tracks. 
         [0037]    The raiseable rear panel  106  and the raiseable side panel  108  are not necessarily formed integrally with one another, although they can be. The advantage to the raiseable rear panel  106  being separate from the raiseable side panel  108  is that when the slideable L-shaped backrest  104  is positioned over the raiseable side panel  106  such that the sofa is in the lounge configuration, the slideable L-shaped backrest  104  can rest at a standard level and the raiseable rear panel  106  can be raised to a level equal to the height of the slideable L-shaped backrest  104 . As such, when the sofa  102  is in the lounge configuration, a person has support for both of the person&#39;s arms and the person&#39;s back. 
         [0038]    A further embodiment of the sofa lover&#39;s sofa is a sofa-bench (backless sofa)  202  and is depicted in  FIGS. 7 through 11 . The sofa-bench  202  depicted in  FIG. 7  includes a plurality of sections, which are the cushions for the bench. Including a center section  234 , this particular embodiment of the sofa-bench  202  includes nine sections, some or all of which can be adjustable in various fashions. Corner sections  204 ,  206 ,  208 , and  210  of the sofa-bench, a front center section  212  of the sofa-bench, and a rear center section  214  of the sofa-bench can each individually or collectively rotate out away from the center of the sofa-bench to an upward position to provide an armrest for a person lying in various positions on the sofa-bench  202 . Each of the aforementioned sections is attached to a frame  216 , shown in  FIG. 8 . Also, sections along a lateral side  218  of the sofa-bench, which would include two corner sections, for example section  206  and section  208  of the sofa-bench  202  and a corresponding center edge section  214  of the sofa-bench  202 , can be raised collectively thereby creating a conventional sofa from the sofa-bench  202 . Alternatively, sections along a transverse side  220 , which would include two corner sections  204  and  206  of the sofa-bench  202  and a corresponding center section  222  of the sofa-bench  202  can be raised simultaneously thereby creating a lounge chair from the sofa-bench  202 . 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , a left center section  224  or a right center section  222  can pop out of its sofa-bench position to a position that makes the right center section  222  or left center section  224  useable as a backrest or a headrest when a person is using the sofa-bench  202  as a lounger. For ease of illustration, the right side of the sofa-bench  226  will be discussed here. A slideable telescoping member  230  connects the right center section  222  to an anchoring section  252  of the frame  216 . The anchoring section  252  has a track  254  in which the slideable telescopic member  230  is anchored such that it is allowed to slide away from the center section  234  of the sofa bench  202 . To make the right center section  222  usable as a backrest or headrest, a person must simply cause the center section to elevate from its bench position, either manually or through an automatic means, to a level wherein the bottom of the right center section  222  is completely above the rest of the cushions as shown in  FIG. 9 . In this manner, a person can cause the right center section  222  to rotate ninety degrees and then slide back toward the transverse side  220  of the sofa-bench  202 . Again this can be done manually or through some automatic means. When in the lounge position, a void is left by the absence of the right center section  222 . The void left by the absence of the right center section is filled by a center flap  232 , which can be attached to the center section  234  or the frame  216  to be at a level equal to the other sections. The center flap  232  can be locked in place by use of a locking means (not shown), which can be a pin, knob, lever, switch or other means that is strong enough to support the weight of an above average sized person resting on the sofa-bench in any of the aforementioned configurations. Each above-identified sections can be stiffened through the use of a stiff plate, panel or arm so that, when a section is used as an armrest, a headrest or a backrest, the section can provide firm support for a person&#39;s body. 
         [0040]    As can be seen in  FIG. 10 , each cushion can be connected to the frame  216  of the sofa-bench  202  by means of a bracket-and-pin assembly  236  attached to the frame  216 . The bracket-and-pin assembly  236  generally includes first and second pins (not shown), and a bracket  242 , shown more particularly in  FIG. 11 , comprised of a hole  238  in a first end  244  and a slot  240 . The slot  240  is comprised of a pin retaining portion  246  at a second end  248  of the bracket  242  and a constriction  250  separating the pin retaining portion  246  from the slot  240 . A first pin is positioned in the frame  216  through a hole  238  in the bracket  240  such that it serves as an axis of rotation for each section and a second pin is positioned in each section such that it engages with the slot  240  in the bracket  242  and serves as a locking means when each section is in an raised position. 
         [0041]    To rotate any of cushions,  204 ,  206 ,  208 ,  210 ,  212 , or  214  to a raised and locked position, the bracket  242  slides around the first pin until the second pin is in contact with the pin retaining portion  246 . The first pin, and thus the corresponding cushion, can be held in a raised position with the slot constriction  250 . Once the second pin slides past the slot constriction  250  in the bracket  242 , the bracket  242  is locked in the raised position and cannot be replaced into a sofa position without human intervention. 
         [0042]    An alternative frame used in this embodiment of the inventive sofa is shown in  FIG. 12  and includes a frame  302  anchored to and surrounding the center section  234  at its lower end, the frame  302  conforms to the shape of the center section  234  and has four side frame sections  304  and four corner frame sections  306 . Each of the four side frame sections  304  and each of the four corner frame sections  306  has a telescoping member base beam  308  extending out from the center portion  234 ; each of the cushions  204 ,  206 ,  208 ,  210 ,  212 ,  214 ,  222  and  224  is connected to a respective base beam  308  of the frame  302  through a telescoping member  310 , whereby the cushions  204 ,  206 ,  208 ,  210 ,  212 ,  214 ,  222  and  224  are all separately raiseable to a heightened position with respect to the center portion  234  to be used as an armrest, backrest or headrest. 
         [0043]    A person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that other locking means can be used in place of the bracket-and-pin assembly  236  such as a ball and spring assembly, a cotter-pin type assembly, etc. Further a person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that, rather than using rotatable means, various extension means can be used in this embodiment of the sofa lovers&#39; sofa to configure each section in a raised position. For example, an extendable rod or a sliding mechanism can be used in place of the bracket-and-pin assembly  236 . In this manner, each cushion slides, rather than rotates, upward. Also, a person having ordinary skill in the art will also understand that movement of the cushion in any of the above embodiments can be motorized and powered either by direct- or alternating-current. 
         [0044]    A person having ordinary skill in the art will further understand that variations on the sofa lover&#39;s sofa are possible. For example, the above inventive disclosure can be applied to chairs, and armless sofas. In the case of the sofa-bench, several lower panels can be raised to form a baby crib. And, in the case of a chair, a backrest can be lowered to form an ottoman or vice-versa. 
         [0045]    Once given the above disclosure, many other features, modifications and improvements will become apparent to the skilled artisan. Such features, modifications and improvements are, therefore, considered to be a part of this invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the following claims.