US3132897A

US3132897A - Chair bed

Info

Publication number: US3132897A
Application number: US214340A
Authority: US
Inventors: Linden Samuel
Original assignee: BUNNY BEAR Inc
Current assignee: BUNNY BEAR Inc
Priority date: 1962-08-02
Filing date: 1962-08-02
Publication date: 1964-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 1981-05-12

Description

S. LINDEN CHAIR BED May 12, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1962 FIGZ jalrrwzmvzswn FIGZ) WWW S. LINDEN May 12, 1964 CHAIR BED 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1962 Fl 6.6 {MWTOR WW W United States Patent 3,132,897 CHAIR BED Samuel Linden, Swampscott, Mass., assignor to Bunny Bear, Inc., Everett, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 2, 1362, Ser. No. 214,340 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-322) The present invention relates to a novel baby chair-bed, and more particularly to an improved construction which permits the chair-bed to assume an infinite number of positions between a bed position and a seat position.

This application is a continuation in part of my co" pending United States patent application 142,178 filed October 2, 1961, now abandoned. Baby chair-beds have been constructed to permit the chair-bed to assume one of several different selected posi tions. Such construction is illustrated in my copending patent application Serial No. 39,145 filed June 27, 1960. However, in these constructions it is not possible to adjust the back rest and seat to any desired position. Moreover they are not easily adjusted from one position to another.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing objections and provides an improved chair-bed which can be selectively disposed in an infinite number of positions between a bed position and a seat position. In addition the present invention has an easily operable means for adjusting and positioning the back rest and seat of the chair-bed independently of one another. Additionally, the present invention provides an improved means for automatically securing and locking the back rest and seat in any one of an infinite number of positions.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from a consideration of the present invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View of portions of the present invention; 1

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the chair-bed in an intermediate reclining position;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the chair-bed in a bed position;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the chair-bed in a seat position; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentwy cross-sectional detail of a portion of the invention.

In this specification, bed position means an'arrange ment of the back-rest and seat members in or substantially in a single horizontal plane. Seat position means an arrangement of the back rest and seat members in planes at or substantially at right angles to one another.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a chairbed comprising a pair of side panels 10 and 11, secured in spaced parallel relation to one another. Body supporting means comprising a back-rest member 12 and seat member 13 are pivotally hinged together at their adjacent transverse edges along an axis 14 intermediate the

panels

12, 13.

The side panels and body supporting means may be suitably formed of any suitable material, as for example, pressed fiber covered with a conventional cushion pad and fabric covering material. The seat member 13 may be provided with a flap 54 at its outer transverse edge which flap is loosely connected to the edge to provide a protective paneling for the infants legs.

The side panels 10 and 11 are secured in spaced parallel relation to one another by the rearward inverted U-shaped bracket 15 and forward inverted U-shaped bracket 16.

3,132,897. Patented May 12, 19 4 "ice edges along the axis 14 by a pair of hinges 33.

- adjacent ends.

The back-rest member .12 and seat member 13 comprise the body supporting means are in turn supported by support means'best illustrated in'FIGS. 2-5. The support means comprises a pair of

linkage systems

55 and 56 which support respectively the back-rest member 12 and seat member 13. Linkage system 55 is formed with a pair of parallel links 34a, 34b and 35a, 35b, with the links 35a, 35b, of the other pair at

adjacent ends

36, 37. The linkage system 56 is formed of two pairs of parallel links 33a, 38b and 39a, 39b, with the links of one pair 38a, 38b, respectively, pivotally engaging the links 39a, 39b of the other pair at

adjacent ends

40, 41. A set of five parallel brackets or

braces

43, 44, 45, 46 and 47 pivotally'support and interengage the various components of the linkage systems, the side panels and the body supporting means. One bracket 44 is slightly longer than

brackets

43, 45, 46 and 47 and extends transversely across and is secured to the seat member 13 over the hinge and adjacent the axis line 14. The longer length of bracket 44 allows the

brackets

43, 45, 46 and 47 to be spaced slightly, preferably /2 inch, from inner surfaces of panels 10 and 11, thus, preventing rubbing of the panels with the seat and back-rest during movement. The

ends of the bracket 44 are dog-cared and are provided extend through and are each mounted on one side panel as seen in FIG. 1. Thus, pivot pins form a stationary axis spaced adjacent and preferably one inch to the side and one inch below axis 14. The side panels 10 and 11 support and prevent displacement of pins 80 and correspondingly determine the limit of arcuate movement of axis 14 about the axis'formed by the pivot pins 80. Arcuate movement of axis 14 about the axis formedby pins 80 allows a slight lowering or raising of the axis 14 which aids in angular displacement of back-rest member 12 with respect to seat member 13. Two of said

brackets

43 and 45 engage the links 34a, 34b and 35a, 35b and respectively 38a, 38b and 39a, 39b, at their corresponding These

brackets

43 and 45 are also pro vided with dog-ears at their extreme ends with pivot pins projecting through the ends of the aforesaid links to pivotally secure these links to the brackets. The other two

brackets

46 and 47 are rigidly secured to the underside of the back-rest member 12 and seat member 13, respectively. These brackets are provided with dog-ears at their opposite ends having pivot pins which pivotally interengage the remote ends of links 34a, 34b and 38a, 38b respectively;

Motion to pivot the back-rest member 12 and seat 'member 13 rotatably toward one another and about .axis

14 is transmitted through the

linkage systems

55 and 56 independently of one another by first and second expansible means 60 and 61, respectively. Expansible means 60 comprises an internally threaded tube 62 fixed at one end by suitable means to the bracket 43. Such means may comprise a rivet 64 which secures the tube 60 intermediate the ends of the bracket 43. A threaded shaft 66 is adjustably threaded into the tube 62. The threaded shaft 66 is provided with a non-threaded section 68, best illustrated in FIG. 6. This nonthreaded section 68 is loosely journaled in a sleeve 69 which is in turn secured by a clamp 70 and nut arrangement 71 to the cross portion of the rearward inverted U-shaped bracket 15. The

3 interengagement of thenonthreaded section 68 and the sleeve 69 is relatively loose so as to permit adjustable movement of the threaded shaft from a position shown in solid line to a position shown in dotted lines 75 in FIG. 6. The end of the shaft 66 is provided with a handle 77 having an olfset'portion '78 by which the shaft 66 may be rotated for adjustable threading into and out of the tube 62., Expansible means 61 is constructed in a similar manner to expansible means 60 except that the sleeve 69 is secured to the center portion of the forward U- shaped bracket 16"as illustrated in FIG. 3.

By rotating the handles 77 in expansible means 60, the combination length of the threaded shaft 66 and tube 60 may be adjusted. On expansion the bracket 43 is moved in the direction of the arrow A. This translates motion through the linkage system 55 causing back-rest 12 to move downwardly as illustrated by arrow B. A similar expansive movement of expansible means 61 causes movement of bracket 45in the direction of arrow C and a downward movement of the seat member 13 in the direction of arrow D. Thus, by adjusting the

expansible means

60, 61 in a manner as illustrated, the back-rest 12 maybe moved'to any selected position between the positions illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 independently of movement of the seat member 13, which may also .be moved over a considerable distance greater than that illustrated in FIG. 4 or 5.

It should be noted that expansible means 60 and 61 may be made of unequal lengths to correspond with the unequal lengths of the back-rest member 12 and seat member 13. This arrangement provides greater-versatility in the use of the chair-bed. With this arrangement the longer back-rest 12 and shorter seat member 13 may be moved from a position substantially illustrated in FIG.

5 to a position in which the longer back-rest member 12.

is horizontal and the seat member 13 is upwardly inclined, thus allowing a child to recline with more of its torso in a horizontal position than is the case in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:

1. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means interconnecting said panels for maintaining them in spaced relation and comprising a pair of U-shaped members, a body supporting means disposed between said panels and lying above said means interconnecting said panels and including a back-rest member and a seat member hinged together along an axis extending transversely of said panel, support means for said back-rest and seat members, comprising a pair of linkage systems with each system having one end pivotally engaging the other and said supporting means adjacent said axis, and each of said systems pivotally engaging one each of said members at a position remote from said axis, a pair of expansible means each mounted on one of said U-shaped members and interengaged with a diiferent one of said linkage systems intermediate the ends thereof, said expansibie means adapted to be controlled from opposite ends of said chair-bed and to be expanded and thereby transmit movement to said linkage systems for independent movement of each of said members in an infinite number of positions of rotation about said axis.

2. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means interconnecting said panels for maintaining them in spaced relation, a body supporting means disposed between said panels and lying above said means interconnecting said panels and including a back-rest member and aseat memher hinged together along an axis extending transversely of said panel, support means for said back-rest and seat members, comprising a pair of linkage systems, each system comprising two pairs of parallel links with the links of one pair pivotally engaging the links of the other pair at adjacent ends, a set of five parallel brackets for said systems, said brackets each having ends pivotally engaging said linkswithone bracket engaging one of said mem-' bers and each link of said systems adjacent said axis and pivotably supported by said panels, two of said brackets engaging said links one in each system at said corresponding adjacent ends, and the other two of said brackets, one in each system, engaging said links, said other two of said brackets engaging said members at a position remote from said axis, and means engaging said linkage systems for transmitting movement comprising a pair of internally threaded tubes and threaded shafts threaded one into each of said tubes, means interengaging each of said tubes with said two of said brackets, sleeve means rotatably securing said threaded shafts one to each of said means interconnecting each of said panels, and handle means engaging said shafts for rotation thereof, whereby each of said members may be pivoted about said axis through movement of said linkage systems.

3. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means spaced forwardly and rearwardly interconnecting said panels for maintaining them in spaced relation, a body supporting means disposed between said panels and lying above said means interconnecting said panels and including a back-rest member and a seat member hinged together along a first axis extending transversely of said panel, support means for said back-rest and seat members, comprising a pair of linkage systems with each system having one end pivotally engaging the other and said supporting means along a second transverse axis parallel to and closely adjacent said first axis, and each of said systems pivotally engaging one each of said members at a position remote from said axis, a pair of expansible means each interengaged with a difierent one of said linkage systems intermediate the ends thereof, a first one of said pair of expansible means mounted on said forward interconnecting means and a second one of said pair of expansible means mounted on said rearward interconnecting means, said expansible means extending to opposite ends of said chair-bed and adapted to be controlled and expanded from opposite ends thereby to transmit movement to said linkage systems for independent movement of each of said members in an infinite number of positions of rotation about said second axis. 1

4. A baby chair-bed in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means interconnectingsaid panels comprise a pair of inverted U-shaped brackets having legs secured one each to said panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain .]uly 11, 1940

Claims

1. A BABY CHAIR-BED COMPRISING SIDE PANELS, MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID PANELS FOR MAINTAINING THEM IN SPACED RELATION AND COMPRISING A PAIR OF U-SHAPED MEMBERS, A BODY SUPPORTING MEANS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID PANELS AND LYING ABOVE SAID MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID PANELS AND INCLUDING A BACK-REST MEMBER AND A SEAT MEMBER HINGED TOGETHER ALONG AN AXIS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID PANEL, SUPPORT MEANS FOR SAID BACK-REST AND SEAT MEMBERS, COMPRISING A PAIR OF LINKAGE SYSTEMS WITH EACH SYSTEM HAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY ENGAGING THE OTHER AND SAID SUPPORTING MEANS ADJACENT SAID AXIS, AND EACH OF SAID SYSTEMS PIVOTALLY ENGAGING ONE EACH OF SAID MEMBERS AT A POSITION REMOTE FROM SAID AXIS, A PAIR OF EXPANSIBLE MEANS EACH MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID U-SHAPED MEMBERS AND INTERENGAGED WITH A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID LINKAGE SYSTEMS INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF, SAID EXPANSIBLE MEANS ADAPTED TO BE CONTROLLED FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID CHAIR-BED AND TO BE EXPANDED AND THEREBY TRANSMIT MOVEMENT TO SAID LINKAGE SYSTEMS FOR INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT OF EACH OF SAID MEMBERS IN AN INFINITE NUMBER OF POSITIONS OF ROTATION ABOUT SAID AXIS.