US3175228A - Sofa bed structure - Google Patents

Description

March 30, 1965 3,175,228

E. S. QUARNGESSER SOFA BED STRUCTURE Filed D86. 3, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIGI FIG

INVENTOR ELWOOB S. OUARNGESSER ATTORNEY March 30, 1965 E. s. QUARNGESSER SOFA BED STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 5, 1962 FIG] 36 INVENTOR ELUoon s OUARNGESSER BY 5% WWW ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,175,228 SOFA BED STRUCTURE Elwood S. Quarngesser, Baltimore, Md. (16801 Collins Ave, Miami Beach 54, Fla.) Filed Dec. 3, 1962, Ser. No. 241,293 2 Claims. (Cl. -17) This invention relates to sofa beds and is directed to the problem of providing a sofa bed structure which is readily convertible from a sofa to a bed, and vice versa, with a minimum of effort, and wherein the structure requires reiatively few parts for the functions which it is capable of performing.

Sofa bed structures known prior to the present invention generally involve some type of linkage whereby one or more parts of the sofa, such as the seat, may be moved in a pivotal manner, or folded, to convert the sofa into a bed. This tends to complicate the structures and makes it relatively expensive. Also, the folding causes excessive wear on the bed linens and mattress. 111 an effort to overcome these disadvantages, slideably moveable seat members have been proposed, thus eliminating pivotal linkages, but insofar as I am aware, the resulting structure is not satisfactorily rigid when closed to from a sofa, nor can the structure be converted from a sofa to a bed with uniform precision. Moreover, even known structures involving slideable seat members are relatively complicated and more expensive than a sofa bed structure according to the present invention.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sofa bed structure which involves relatively few structural parts and is relatively economical for the functions performed.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sofa bed structure which is satisfactorily rigid and strong when used either as a sofa or as a bed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sofa bed structure which is readily convertible from a sofa to a bed, and vice versa, and which includes means to assure proper alignment of the slideably moveable portion as either a seat or as a bed member.

In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects, an important feature of the invention resides in the employment of a combination bed and sofa seat which is independently supported for movement relative to the arms and back-rest of the sofa. The seat is mounted on a rectangular frame having independent ground engaging supports, such as casters, at each corner. A pair of sofa arms are retained in spaced-apart relation by a backrest connected to the upper rear portion of each arm with the back-rest being supported above the bottom of the arm a sufficient distance to permit the rear portion of the seat to pass beneath the back-rest. a brace member is connected to the bottom edge of each of the respective arms and extends toward the other arm, and has guide means which contact the end members of the rectangular frame to guide the seat between the arms of the sofa. An extension on each of the braces extend beneath the end members of the frame to prevent tilting of the backrest and arms by a person seated on the sofa.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sofa bed according to the present invention, said sofa bed being shown in closed position whereby it functions as a sofa;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 wherein the seat portion is pulled out to form a bed;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the FIG. 2 shown with the seat and spring support members omitted to expose the slideably moveable seat supporting frame;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail showing similar to FIG. 4 wherein the seat supporting frame is shown in the closed position;

FIG. 6 is a partial section view taken on line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a partial section view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the sofa bed, designated generally by numeral 10 having a pair of laterally spaced arm members 12 and a back rest 14. Seat 16 is disposed between arms 12 with the rear portion extending beneath back rest 14 so that the unit functions as a sofa. Seat 16 comprises a cushion or a mattress 13 and box spring assembly 20 supported on a generally rectangular frame 22.

Frame 22 has a front member 24- and a rear member 26 which are generally parallel and spaced apart by a pair of end members 28. Preferably, members 24, 26 and 28 are formed from standard structural angles, and releasably joined at the corner of the frame structure as by bolt 3%. To add rigidity to the rectangular frame, braces 32 may be provided at each corner. Mounted near each end of the end members 28 is a caster, or wheeled support 34 to support the frame in spaced relation to the ground surface 36.

Connected to the lower edge of each of the sofa arms 12 is a brace 40 which extends toward the opposite arm. Each of the respective braces is provided with a pair of laterally spaced rollers 42 mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and positioned to engage the edge 44, of member 28. Each of the braces as extends beneath the associated end member 28, in closely spaced relation thereto, to prevent upward movement of the arm with respect to the frame support.

Braces 40 have an upwardly extending portion 46 laterally spaced from edge 44 of end members 28. A pair of stops 43 are mounted near the respective ends of surface 44 and extend outwardly therefrom in position to engage portion 46 of brace 40 to limit in-and-out movement of support 22 relative to the sofa arms and back rest.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the caster-supported frame can be easily moved along the supporting surface 36 and will be maintained in proper alignment with the sofa arms and back support by the pair of laterally spaced guide rollers contacting the vertical surface of each of the end members. The stops mounted on each of the end members are positioned to limit. the movement of the supporting frame relative to the arms and back rest so that the seat can be quickly and easily positioned to function as a sofa as shown in FIG. 1 or to function as a bed as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Also, the braces extending beneath end members 28 prevent tilting of the arms and back rest by a person seated on the sofa.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it understood that I do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, but that I do intend to cover all embodiments thereof which would be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A sofa bed comprising a pair of horizontally spaced substantially vertically extending arms; a back rest connected to the upper portion of each of said arms and extending therebetween; a substantially horizontal seat located between said arms, said seat including a substantially rectangular frame having a front frame member, a rear frame member and a pair of end frame members extending between said front and rear frame members, and ground engaging means supporting said frame for in-and'out movement between said arms, there being an end memher at each end of said seat located adjacent the associated arm and having an edge extending substantially parallel to said arm; a pair of brackets mounted one on each arm adjacent the bottom thereof, said brackets eX- tending freely toward one another and spaced closely beneath said end frame members and terminating at a point beneath said seat; stop means mounted on each end of said rectangular frame and positioned to engage said brackets to limit the in-and-out movement of said seat with respect to said arms; and guide means mounted on each of said brackets to maintain said seat in proper alignment and to facilitate in-and-out movement of said seat with respect to said arm, said guide means including a plurality of low friction members positioned to engage the parallel edge of the associated seat end member.

2. A sofa bed as defined in claim 1 wherein said stop means for limiting the in-and-out movement of said seat includes a pair of stop members mounted on each of said end frame members in position to engage said bracket,

and said guide means includes a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation about a vertical axis in position to engage the parallel edge of the associated seat end member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,631,304 7/12 Weinmann 518 1,455,215 5/23 Levin 5-18 2,118,050 5/38 Martin 5-18 2,200,652 5/40 Bowersox 5-18 2,341,307 2/44 Aronson 5-17 2,370,851 3/45 Eppens-tein 5-17 2,412,628 12/46 McKeoWn et al. 518 2,539,103 1/51 Robinson 5-18 2,619,656 12/52 Crahan 518 2,937,38 5/60 Rehfeld 5-17 2,972,754 2/61 Weidner 517 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A SOFA BED COMPRISING A PAIR OF HORIZONTALLY SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY EXTENDING GARMS; A BACK REST CONNECTED TO THE UPPER PORTION OF EACH OF SAID ARMS AND EXTENDING THEREBETWEEN; A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL SEAT LOCATED BETWEEN SAID ARMS, SAID SEAT INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FRAME HAVING A FRONT FRAME MEMBER, A REAR FRAME MEMBER AND A PAIR OF END FRAME MEMBERS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FRONT AND REAR FRAME MEMBERS AND GROUND ENGAGING MEANS SUPPORTING SAID FRAME FOR IN-AND-OUT MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID ARMS, THERE BEING AN END MEMBER AT EACH END OF SAID SEAT LOCATED ADJACENT THE ASSOCIATED ARM AND HAVING AN EDGE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID ARM; A PAIR OF BRACKETS MOUNTED ONE ON EACH ARM ADJACENT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, SAID BRACKETS EXTENDING FREELY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER AND SPACED CLOSELY BENEATH SAID END FRAME MEMBERS AND TERMINATING AT A POINT BENEATH SAID SEAT; STOP MEANS MOUNTED ON EACH END

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