A slatted mattress

Abstract

 A slatted mattress (1) having a bad frame comprising two longitudinal beams (2,3) on which brackets (6) for receiving each time an end of a support slat (7) are mounted, each of said longitudinal beams (2,3) is lengthwise divided into at least two parts (2a,2b;3a,3b) and wherein two successive parts of a same longitudinal beam are connected together by means of a hinge (8), the knuckle (9) of which being situated offset with respect to said beam (2,3) and the leaves (11,12) of said hinge (8) being fixed along the beam (2,3), said hinge (8) being provided for enabling a folding together of said beam in his respective parts.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a slatted mattress having a bed frame comprising two longitudinal beams on which brackets for receiving each time an end of a support slat are mounted.

[0002] Such a slatted mattress is well known on the market and offers a comfortable support for a mattress. The support slats are placed into the brackets mounted on the longitudinal beams. The slatted mattress can either be mounted into a bed structure or placed on the ground.

[0003] A drawback of the known slatted mattresses is that their transport is uneasy, in particular with a normal average car. The customer most of the time needs to wait until the retailer furnishes him the slatted mattress at home, as he can not put the longitudinal beams into the trunk of his car.

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a slatted mattress which can be easily transported, for example in the trunk of a car and which can be stored in a container which is easy to carry.

[0005] A slatted mattress according to the present invention is therefore characterised in that each of said longitudinal beams is lengthwise divided into at least two parts and wherein two successive parts of a same longitudinal beam are connected together by means of a hinge, the knuckle of which being situated offset with respect to said beam and the leaves of said hinge being fixed along the beam, said hinge being provided for enabling a folding together of said beam in his respective parts. Due to the presence of the hinge, the longitudinal beam can be folded in as many parts as he is divided, thus limiting the length of the beam when folded and rendering the beam much easier to store and transport. Since the knuckle is situated offset the beam, the latter does not prohibit the unfolding of the beam and enables the different beam parts to contact each other at their contact surface when the latter are unfolded, thus restoring the original longitudinal shape of the beam. The fact that the hinge leaves are applied along the beam also causes the leaves not to prohibit the unfolding of the beam.

[0006] It should be observed that even if the skilled person could divide the longitudinal beam into two or more parts, he would not do so, as the common general teaching is to use a one piece longitudinal beam in order to safeguard the rigidity of a uniform one piece beam. It is however the particular application of the leaves and the knuckle, according to the present invention, which enables this division of the longitudinal beam without affecting his rigidity.

[0007] A first preferred embodiment of a slatted mattress according to the present invention is characterised in that each leave of said hinge presents a fold forming a transition between a first and a second leave part being substantially perpendicular to each other, said first leave part being applied at an underside of said beam and said second leave part at a lateral side of said beam. The first and second leave parts enable to provide a strong hinge giving the beam the required rigidity. The perpendicular construction of the first and second leave parts enables to apply the hinge as well along the under as along the lateral side of the beam, thus compensating the force applied by the human body on the separation of the beam.

[0008] Preferably said second leave part is applied on an inner lateral side of the beam. This offers a more esthetic aspect on the one hand and on the other hand takes care that the hinge does not form an obstacle when the slatted mattress is mounted on a bed frame.

[0009] A second preferred embodiment of a slatted mattress according to the present invention is characterised in that one of said leaves comprises a stopping element provided for limiting the hinging movement of the hinge. By limiting the movement of the hinge a too frequent or a too heavy impact of the beam parts against each other is avoided.

[0010] A third preferred embodiment of a slatted mattress according to the present invention is characterised in that the rotational axis of said hinge extends perpendicular to a lateral side of said beam and is situated under said beam. In such a manner the rotational axis is outside the beam surface and will not hinder a contact between the beam parts when unfolded.

[0011] Preferably the beams and the slats form a kit of parts. The presentation as a kit of parts makes the slatted mattress more attractive for selling purposes.

[0012] The invention will now be described in more details by means of an example shown in the drawings wherein :

figure 1 shows an example of a slatted mattress according to the invention;

figure 2 shows the inner side of a longitudinal beam as part of a slatted mattress at the place where the hinge is applied;

figure 3 shows the hinge applied on the longitudinal beam, in folded state, and

figure 4 shows a lateral view of the hinge.

[0013] In the drawings a same reference sign has been assigned to a same or analogous element.

[0014] The slatted mattress 1, shown in figure 1, has a bed frame comprising two longitudinal beams (2,3) connected by two transversal beams (4,5). According to another embodiment the transversal beams do not belong to the bed frame and the longitudinal beams are fixed to the bed structure itself. Each longitudinal beam comprises a series of brackets 6 for receiving each time a respective end of a support slat 7.

[0015] Each longitudinal beam is lenghtwise divided into at least two parts (2a, 2b; 3a, 3b). In the example shown in figure 1, each longitudinal beam is divided into two parts, which are connected together by means of a hinge 8. The knuckle 9 of the hinge 8 is situated offset with respect to the beam on which the hinge is mounted in such a manner as to enable a folding together of said longitudinal beam in its respective parts (see figure 3). The rotational axis 10 of the hinge extends perpendicular to the lateral side of the beam and is situated under the beam, when the latter is in his unfolded state. In such a manner the rotation of the hinge is outside the beam surface and does not hinder two successive beam parts to contact each other in their unfolded state.

[0016] As shown in figures 2 and 4, the hinge 8 comprises two leaves 11, 12 wherein each leave comprises a first (11-a, 12-a) and a second (11-b, 12-b) leave part. The first leave parts of the leaves being applied at the under side of the beam, i.e. the side opposite to the one on which the brackets are applied, whereas the second leave parts being applied on the lateral inner side of the beam. The application on the inner side of the beam offers the advantage of a more esthetical effect on the one hand and on the other hand the hinge will in such a manner not form a problem when the beam has to be fixed on a bed structure.

[0017] Each leave presents a fold 13, forming the transition between the first and second leave parts. In such a manner the first and second leave part are made of a same piece of material thus forming a rigid leave. The first and second leave part are substantially perpendicular to each other in order to match with the geometry of the longitudinal beam 2, 3 on which they are mounted. Moreover the perpendicular positioning of the leave parts also strengthens the hinge and causes the hinge to guarantee the rigidity of the beam, even if the latter is now in parts.

[0018] One of the leaves of the hinge is provided with a stopping element 14 limiting the rotation of the hinge in such a manner that once the beam parts extend successively with respect to each other, no further rotation of the beam parts towards each other is possible The stopping element takes care of the fact that once the beam parts are unfolded and extend successively with respect to each other, the leave 12 abuts against the stopping element and the beam parts abut against each other so as to form a longitudinally extending beam and prohibits that the beam parts would further fold downwards and destroy the longitudinal character of the beam.

[0019] When the longitudinal beam is in its unfolded state and forms part of a bed frame, the weight of the person lying on the slatted mattress will cause the beam parts to abut against each other as well as the leave 12 to abut against the stopping element 14, thus preventing the beam parts from further folding.

[0020] As shown in figure 3, the hinge enables the beam parts 2-a and 2-b to be folded over 180°, in such a manner that the beam parts extend in parallel with respect to each other. The total length of the beam can thus be reduced by folding the different parts, in order to make the slatted mattress of a more compact dimension, which offers an easier transport. The offset position of the knuckle causes that at the location of the hinge a gap 15 is formed when the beam parts are folded.

[0021] In order to form the hinge, leave part 12-b (see figure 4) and leave part 11-b end in respective knuckle parts which overlap each other. Knuckle part 16 shows a bent section situated at the height of an extremity of the first leave part. Knuckle parts 16 and 17 are connected by a pen situated on the rotational axis.

[0022] The folding possibility of the beam offers the advantage of a compact storing and an easy transport of the slatted mattress. The slatted mattress can thus be stored in a compact box together with the support slats and a set of screws and sold as a kit of parts.

Claims

1. A slatted mattress having a bed frame comprising two longitudinal beams on which brackets for receiving each time an end of a support slat are mounted, characterised in that each of said longitudinal beams is lengthwise divided into at least two parts and wherein two successive parts of a same longitudinal beam are connected together by means of a hinge, the knuckle of which being situated offset with respect to said beam and the leaves of said hinge being fixed along the beam, said hinge being provided for enabling a folding together of said beam in his respective parts.

2. A slatted mattress as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that each leave of said hinge presents a fold forming a transition between a first and a second leave part being substantially perpendicular to each other, said first leave part being applied at an underside of said beam and said second leave part at a lateral side of said beam.

3. A slatted mattress as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said second leave part is applied on an inner lateral side of the beam.

4. A slatted mattress as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that one of said leaves comprises a stopping element provided for limiting the hinging movement of the hinge.

5. A slatted mattress as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the rotational axis of said hinge extends perpendicular to a lateral side of said beam and is situated under said beam.

6. A slatted mattress as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterised in that said knuckle is formed by an overlap of two leave segments.

7. A slatted mattress as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 6, characterised in that said beams and said slats form a kit of parts.

Drawing