FURNITURE STRUCTURE CONVERTIBLE FROM DESK TO BED

Abstract

 A furniture structure convertible from desk to resting-place and vice versa, is described. It comprises a compartment, a platform and two parallel extensions which are integral with the platform and support a shelf of the desk. The shelf can rotate with respect to the extensions to remain always horizontal while the platform moves.
To impart a torque to the shelf, a driving element is connected to the shelf and is mounted to move linearly along a direction orthogonal to the platform's plane, and it is connected to the compartment so as to be moved following a relative rotation between the platform and the compartment.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a furniture structure convertible from a desk to a resting-space, in particular a bed, and vice versa.

[0002] Furniture with a dual function, such as a desk during the day and a bed at night, is well known. The purpose of such structures is to create a piece of furniture that performs different functions without taking up too much space and without requiring too much physical effort on the part of the user.

[0003] A valuable niche concerns furniture convertible from desk to bed and vice versa, having the convenient feature that the shelf of the desk always remains horizontal when the furniture is converted.

[0004] A pioneering design was described in WO2005037021, followed by designs such as that in Italian patent application MI2013A000547. Both suffer from the drawback that the levers for moving the desk shelf are very exposed and during the conversion of the furniture create dangerous scissors that can e.g. injure or crush a finger.

[0005] The main object of the invention is to improve this state of the art.

[0006] A particular object of the invention is to improve convertible furniture structures as in WO2005037021 or MI2013A000547 by making them safer for the user.

[0007] It is then proposed a furniture structure convertible from desk to resting-space and vice versa, comprising:

• a compartment bounded by walls;
• a platform which is hinged to the compartment to be rotatable between two positions:

  a position wherein the platform is upright and contained in the compartment, and

  a position wherein the platform is horizontal and allows to lie on it; and

• two parallel extensions that are integral to the platform and extend orthogonally to the platform's plane outward from the structure;
• a shelf supported by and hinged to the free end of the extensions to form a working surface of the desk; the shelf being able to rotate with respect to the extensions to remain always horizontal while the platform moves from one of said positions to the other,
• a driving element connected to the shelf to impart a torque to it and make it rotate, the driving element being

  mounted to move linearly - more preferably only linearly - in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the platform, and

  connected to the compartment so as to be moved as a result of a relative rotation between the platform and the compartment.

[0008] The peculiar assembly and kinematics of the driving element make it possible to avoid that the organs of the shelf actuation mechanism reach positions too far away, or protruding, from the platform and/or the extensions, thus creating the above-mentioned dangerous scissors.

[0009] Hereafter are advantageous variants for the convertible furniture structure.

[0010] Preferably an extension has an inner cavity, and the driving element is mounted inside the inner cavity. This arrangement avoids any contact between the driving element and the user during the conversion maneuver. More preferably, an extension is a (e.g. parallelepiped) shell delimiting an inner cavity within which the driving element is mounted. This extension structure is very advantageous because it not only avoids any contact between the driving element (or in general between the moving mechanism) and the user during the conversion maneuver, but also protects the driving element (and in general the moving mechanism).

[0011] However, a variant in which the driving element is movably mounted on the outer surface of an extension, is possible.

[0012] The platform has a hinging axis to the compartment, and an extension has a dimension that lies in a plane orthogonal to the hinging axis and is bounded by edges. To facilitate the absence of contact between the user and the driving element (or generally the moving mechanism), the driving element is preferably mounted so as to move while remaining between such edges.

[0013] In order to impart motion to the driving element, a variant envisages a rigid arm connected at a first end thereof to the compartment and at a second end thereof to a mechanism for converting the relative displacement of the second end relative to one extension, during the rotation of the platform, into a displacement of the driving element. Preferably, with the advantages described above, the mechanism for converting is housed within the cavity of the extension.

[0014] To facilitate the motion transmission between the rigid arm and the driving element, the platform has a hinging axis to the compartment, and the mechanism for converting preferably comprises an element mounted rotatable about an axis parallel to said hinging axis, the rotatable element being connected with the driving element to transfer motion to it. This kinematic chain is simple, inexpensive and has all its elements moving within a plane. Therefore such elements can have a short stroke and do not make deviations that would create the aforementioned scissors.

[0015] Among the various possible options, the rotating element is, for example, a disc or a fork.

[0016] To simplify the kinematic chain of motion transmission between the rigid arm and the driving element, preferably the rotatable element is hinged directly at one point with the driving element and at a different point directly with the second end of the rigid arm. However, less compact variants having other components between the rigid arm and the rotatable element, or between the driving element and the rotatable element, are possible.

[0017] For compactness and absence of scissors, the rotatable element is preferably hinged to an extension or inside the extension's cavity. However, variants in which the rotatable element is hinged to the platform, are possible.

[0018] Preferably, the driving element is connected to the shelf by a rotatable support pivoted on an extension about an axis parallel to the hinging axis of the platform to the compartment and/or to the rotation axis of the rotatable element. The rotatable support is mounted outside the extension and serves as a fixing point for the shelf, and facilitates assembly of the shelf. In particular, in a variant, the rotatable support comprises a portion mounted inside the cavity of the extension, and the driving element is connected (e.g. hinged) to said portion.

[0019] Specifically, the driving member is mounted to move linearly along a plane passing through the driving element's hinging axis to the rotatable member and through the driving element's hinging axis to the rotatable support or to the portion thereof mounted within the cavity of the extension.

[0020] The advantages of the invention will be better elucidated by the following description of an example of a convertible piece of furniture, illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

• Fig. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of the piece of furniture in a first configuration;
• Fig. 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the piece of furniture in a second configuration;
• Fig. 3 shows a three-dimensional view of some parts of the piece of furniture;
• Fig. 4 shows a three-dimensional view of the parts in fig. 3 in exploded view.

[0021] In the figures equal numbers indicate equal parts, and objects are described as in use.

[0022] A furniture structure or piece of furniture MC is convertible from a desk to a resting-place and vice versa, and comprises a box-like compartment or cavity 10 and a lowerable platform 20. The compartment 10 is for example bounded by two side walls 12, a ceiling wall 14, a bottom wall 16, and a back wall 18.

[0023] The platform 20 is hinged to the compartment 10 in a known manner about a horizontal axis X1, such that the platform 20 is rotatable between a position where it is upright and contained within the compartment 10 (fig. 1), and a position where it is horizontal and allows a person to lie on it (fig. 2). For this purpose on the surface that can face the compartment 10, the platform 20 optionally comprises slats or a bedspring 22, or a mattress or cushions (not shown).

[0024] Two parallel extensions 30 extend from the platform 20 orthogonally to the plane of the platform 20 toward the outside of the structure MC. A shelf 50 is coupled to the free end of the extensions 30 to form a working surface of the desk. Because the shelf 50 is hinged to the extensions 30 about an axis X2, parallel to X1, the shelf 50 can rotate relative to the extensions 30 about the axis X2 to remain horizontal at all times while the platform 20 moves from vertical to horizontal and vice versa.

[0025] As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, each extension 30 is a parallelepiped shell 34, e.g. fixed to the platform 20 or to a rim 32 of a slatted bedframe. The shell 34 has an internal cavity 36 that contains, protects, and conceals a lever mechanism configured to move the shelf 50 synchronously with the platform 20, such that the shelf 50 remains horizontal at all times as the platform 20 moves. The lever mechanism drives a rotatable support 70 (e.g. a plate) connected to the shelf 50.

[0026] The lever mechanism comprises (Fig. 4) a driving element or arm 40, a rigid arm 42, and a rotatable swiveling element 44 rotatably mounted about an axis X3 parallel to axis X1.

[0027] In the illustrated example, the rotatable element 44 is a V-shaped fork with two segments 46, 48; the vertex of the V is rotatable about the axis X3. The fork shape of the rotatable element 44 makes it unobtrusive; however, the shape of the rotatable element 44 is not essential, and it may also be, for example, a disc. The shape of the driving element or arm 40 may also vary; but preferably the driving element or arm 40 is a straight or angled lever to better accommodate being housed within the extension 30.

[0028] The rigid arm 42 has a first and second end. Said first end is hinged to the compartment 10 about an axis X4 parallel to the axis X1. To such aim, the platform 20 and the arm 42 are preferably mounted on two plates 98, which are in turn fixed to the compartment 10. The two plates 98 reinforce the structure but direct attachment to the walls of the compartment 10 is possible. The second end of the arm 42 is hinged to the segment 46. The segment 48 is hinged to the driving element 40, which is hinged to the rotatable support 70 to impart torque to it and rotate it about the axis X2.

[0029] The mutual hinging axes of the rigid arm 42, the segments 46, 48, and the driving element 40 are parallel to each other and parallel to axis X1.

[0030] The rigid arm 42, the rotatable element 44, and the driving element 40 form a mechanism for rotating the shelf 50 when the platform 20 is rotated relative to the compartment 10. In particular, the rotation of the platform 20 results in a relative displacement between the second end of the arm 42 and the extension 30, and this displacement is converted into a linear displacement of the driving element 40. In fact, by lifting the platform 20, the second end of the arm 42 approaches the free end of the platform 20 (moves away from the axis X1) and pushes (clockwise in Figs. 2 and 4) the segment 46. This thrust causes the element 44 to rotate about the axis X3 (clockwise in Figs. 3 and 4) so that the segment 48 pushes the driving element 40. Therefore the driving element 40 slides linearly inside the extension 30 towards the shelf 50 in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the platform 20. Thus the driving element 40 exerts a torque on the support 70, makes it rotate and also makes the shelf 50 rotate together with it.

[0031] In essence, with respect to the fixed axes X2, X3 the segment 48, the driving element 40 and the support 70 behave as an articulated parallelogram.

[0032] When the platform 20 is lowered, all the movements of the mechanism occur in the opposite direction, and the driving element 40 thus exerts a reverse torque on the support 70 and causes the shelf 50 to rotate in the opposite direction.

[0033] The support 70 that bears and rotates the shelf 50 may have many different embodiments. In the illustrated example, the support 70 comprises one or more plates 72 to which an end of the driving element 40 is eccentrically hinged. The plate 72 is fixed to various shims 74 packed between the ends of the extension 30 and to a block or plate 76 mounted externally to the extension 30. The shelf 50 is mounted on the block or plate 76. It is also possible to directly connect the driving element 40 to the shelf 50 or the block or plate 76.

[0034] A preferred embodiment envisages that the lever mechanism - in particular the driving element 40 and/or the rotatable element 44 - is contained within the cavity of the extension 30, with the advantage of avoiding any dangerous accidental interaction between the levers or the moving parts and the user.

[0035] As a variant, the element 44 and/or the element 40 may also be mounted on the outside of an extension 30.

[0036] As a variant, the shelf 50's movement mechanism is mounted on only one or both extensions 30.

Claims

1. Furniture structure (MC) convertible from desk to resting-place and vice versa, comprising:

- a compartment (10) delimited by walls;

- a platform (20) which is hinged to the compartment to be rotatable between two positions:

one position wherein the platform is upright and contained in the compartment, and

one position wherein the platform is horizontal and allows to lie on it; and

- two parallel extensions (30) which are integral with the platform and extend orthogonally to the plane of the platform towards the outside of the structure;

- a shelf (50) supported by and hinged to the free end of the extensions to constitute a working surface of the desk; the shelf being able to rotate with respect to the extensions to remain always horizontal while the platform moves from one of said positions to the other,

- a driving element (40) connected to the shelf to impart a torque to it and rotate it, the element being

mounted to move linearly along a direction orthogonal to the platform's plane, and

connected to the compartment so as to be moved following a relative rotation between the platform and the compartment.

2. Structure according to claim 1, wherein an extension (30) has an internal cavity, and the driving element is mounted inside the internal cavity.

3. Structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an extension (30) is a shell which forms an inner cavity in which the driving element is mounted.

4. Structure according to claim 1, wherein the driving element (40) is movably mounted on the external surface of an extension.

5. Structure according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the platform has a hinging axis (X1) to the compartment, and
an extension has a dimension that lies in a plane orthogonal to said hinging axis and is delimited by edges, and
the driving element is mounted so as to move remaining between such edges.

6. Structure according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a rigid arm (42) connected at a first end thereof to the compartment and at a second end thereof to a mechanism (44) for converting the relative displacement of the second end with respect to an extension, during rotation of the platform, into a displacement of the driving element.

7. Structure according to claim 6, wherein the platform has a hinging axis to the compartment (X1), and
the mechanism for converting comprises an element (44) mounted rotatable about an axis (X3) parallel to such hinging axis (X4), the rotatable element being connected with the driving element to transfer motion to it.

8. Structure according to claim 7, wherein the rotatable element is a disk or a fork.

9. Structure according to claims 7 or 8, wherein the rotatable element (44) is hinged at one point with the driving element (40) and at a different point with the second end of the rigid arm (42).

10. Structure according to claims 7 and 2 and optionally any other previous claim, wherein the rotatable element is hinged to an extension or inside said cavity of the extension.

Drawing