Beds – Invalid bed or surgical support – Sectional user supporting surface
Patent
1997-04-23
1998-11-03
Dorner, Kenneth J.
Beds
Invalid bed or surgical support
Sectional user supporting surface
5616, 5617, 5634, A47C 2004, A47C 2018
Patent
active
058290770
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns items of furniture such as beds or armchairs part of which can be tilted. It applies more particularly to beds the top end and/or bottom end of which can be raised or tilted.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such beds are well known, particularly in the medical field. Originally, the top and bottom ends of beds were raised manually. Currently, particularly in the field of domestic beds, the trend is to motorize controls for tilting the top end and/or bottom end of a bed.
It is in this context that special bed bases have been proposed, in particular with slats, comprising different hingedly connected parts and electric actuators to lift each of these parts.
However, such bed bases equipped with numerous hinges are difficult to make and therefore relatively expensive.
The primary objective of the present invention is to convert all types of bed into beds with top ends and/or bottom ends that can be raised or tilted.
A device has already been proposed, for example document WO-A-92 09520, for tilting the top end and/or bottom end of a bed comprising two hingedly connected support means or frames and a motorized control unit for adjusting the spacing there-between, said device being removably installable on a conventional bed, between the bed base and the mattress. Unfortunately, the control unit is located inside the perimeter defined by the frames so that it is not possible to achieve a horizontal position or, in this position, to benefit from the cooperation of the mattress with the bed base.
To overcome this disadvantage a device of the above kind has also been proposed according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,990 in which the control unit is not located within the perimeter defined by the frames: unfortunately, this is designed so that a completely horizontal position can also not be achieved in this case and the lifting angle is limited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to propose a device for tilting the top end and/or bottom end of a bed that does not have the aforementioned disadvantages.
To achieve this, the invention proposes a device for tilting the top end and/or bottom end of a bed, including two hingedly connected support means or frames and a control unit operably connected thereto for adjusting the spacing there-between, said device being removably installable on a bed comprising a bed base and a mattress, wherein one, fixed frame is supported on said bed base while the other, movable frame supports one end of said mattress, said frames being disposed in an adjustable V-shaped opening, and wherein the fixed frame comprises two parallel coplanar tubes and the movable frame consists of a U-shaped frame pivotably mounted on and between said tubes, said control unit being attached to the fixed frame and controlling the longitudinal translation of slide blocks by means of worm screws, said blocks being slidable along said tubes, to tilt the movable frame relative to the fixed frame, characterized in that the worm screws associated with the slide blocks are mounted in said two tubes which extend longitudinally and the control unit is located outside the area encompassed by the fixed frame.
The use of this device therefore makes it possible to turn a conventional fixed bed into a bed with a top end and/or a bottom end that can be tilted under the control of a motor. The present invention, which does not require the use of hinged bed bases, solves the problems, in particular those of cost, of currently known beds with top ends and/or bottom ends that can be tilted.
In addition, because the device according to the present invention is removably installable, it can be used in alternation on several beds, or even other furniture such as reclining chair frames.
Advantageously, the fixed frame also consists of a U-shaped frame, said control unit being motorized and including a motor installed along the web of said U-shaped frame, outside the area encompassed by said U-shaped frame; preferably, the motor is mounted in a housing which extends along the ba
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patent: 5191198 (1993-03-01), Travis
Dorner Kenneth J.
Santos Robert G.
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