Bed unit structured as boxed compartments housing removable equipment

Abstract

 The invention relates to a bed unit having the shelves (3,6) of the foot region and the head region of the bed unit structured with box-shaped compartments accommodating equipment, preferably video equipment (1,2,8) made removable on sliding means, or rotating means in order to arrange said equipment in several positions of use and in the lying hidden position where said equipment (1,2,8) is advantageously closed and hidden in the accommodating box-shaped compartment when said equipment is not used.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a bed unit wherein the boards of the foot region and the head region of the bed unit are produced with box-shaped compartments in order to accommodate removable equipment, preferably removable video equipment and also to accommodate devices suitable for the use thereof. In the following description and in the claims, the terms shelf of the head region of the bed unit and board of the head region of the bed unit indicate the same end element of the bed unit as well as the terms shelf of the foot region of the bed unit and board of the foot region of the bed unit indicate the same end element of the bed unit. The present invention was developed advantageously, even though not exclusively, for accommodating in the board of the foot region of the bed unit a flat television apparatus with liquid crystal, or a flat television apparatus with plasma display. The invention provides a high efficiency in use, that is very appreciated by the user and thus, also provides a pleasant aesthetic character within the field of furniture, or furniture fittings. Since several years, the field of the furniture fittings is oriented towards the production of modular structures, that enable flexible productions according to the needs and the requirements of the user. In fact, in the field of the house furnishing, there is the need of furniture more versatile and transformable for several uses according to the environments where said furniture is arranged or, depending on the circumstances, according to the user's needs.

[0002] Furthermore, the lack of space inside the houses, or the occasional use of some furnishing components, has caused the spreading of multi-purpose furniture that are advantageously hidden when said furniture is not used.

[0003] One of the most felt needs in the room furnishing is to have a bed unit that, when not used for resting and sleeping, can be transformed into a furnishing component designed for another use, in particular a bed unit suitable for and clearly useful for enabling people to watch a television, or on any display showing fixed or moving images. Due to change in habits, a bed is not only used for sleeping, but also for relaxing and having comfort for reading, watching television and listening music, this has originated even more particular requests by the users of multi-purpose furniture of pleasing efficiency and comfort. Actually, staying comfortably in substantially horizontal position, i.e. laying on a bed, enables both the cardiological and the phlebological benefits to be optimized. In fact if the lying person raises the head with the aid of a simple cushion of the head region of the bed, the circulation of blood is stimulated, this resulting in a positive effect for the cardiac functionality, while if the lying person slightly raises the position of the foot region of the bed, he prevents the blood retention in the lower limbs. In both cases above explained, the blood circulation is significantly improved, while the user watches a display or uses a computer-display.

[0004] From the above, the necessity arises of finding a structure of bed unit with box-shaped compartments in order to accommodate several equipment of daily use and said box-shaped structures must be able to receive and hide equipment and devices in order to be satisfying in use and to satisfy criteria of aesthetical furnishing.

[0005] The invention resolves the above-mentioned technical problems and, further, obtains a better positional arrangement of the equipment, preferably video equipment that becomes less bulky in the use of the space. The box-shaped structures of the applicant consist of parallelepiped spaces independent and suitable for being associated with different video equipment. The innovative advantage of the box-shaped structure of the bed unit tested for long time by the applicant is that the user, for reasons of space or simple convenience of tidy application, can accommodate several equipment in several portions and can vary in fanciful way the furnishing since said user can arrange the same equipment according to the best practical and functional use thereof, by inserting said equipment within the spaces of the modular box-shaped structures. It is known to the person skilled in the art that novel improvements in furnishing box-shaped structures have remarkable effects on the winning competition within the sale market. Consequently, the productive units promote to obtain, in the furniture fittings, performances even more effective, with the best result in the practical use and with an acceptable reliability. The research of better performances must find the road to incisively improve all furniture composing the furnishing for housing use, that is structures of better quality with higher technological contents.

[0006] The present invention promotes and realizes improvements of the known art from which the present invention results and that the present invention significantly innovates, resolving several limitations of use still unsolved in the field of application and use of the video equipment, particularly the use of televisions in the box-shaped structure for furniture. These and yet other advantages are reached by a bed unit having the end boards of the foot region and the head region structured with box-shaped compartments dimensioned for accommodating equipment removable on sliding means or rotating means in order to arrange said equipment in several positions of use, or to hide said equipment in the box-shaped housing when said equipment is not used.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the board of the foot region of the bed unit having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a flat television equipment with liquid crystal, or a plasma television, movable in the use position and in the hidden position by means of electric actuators, or by means of similar actuators all known in the prior art, advantageously actuated by a radio control, or by switches located near the board of the head region of the bed unit for a simple and better use. According to a further embodiment the board of the foot region having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a showing screen showing luminous images generated and projected by cameras or by audiovisual projectors. Said showing screen is movable in the use position and in the hidden position by means of actuators known in the prior art actuated by radio controls or by switches located near the board of the head region of the bed unit. According to a further embodiment the board of the foot region of the bed unit having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a computer monitor movable in the use position and in the hidden position by means of mechanical or electrical drives all known in the prior art located advantageously near the board of the head region of the bed unit. According to a further embodiment the board of the head region of the bed unit having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates components servicing the complement and the use of the equipment accommodated in the board of the foot region of the bed unit and said components are movable in the use position and in the hidden position by means of drives known in the prior art. According to a further constructive embodiment the box-shaped compartments of the boards of the foot region and the head region accommodating the equipment and the servicing components thereof are produced in several multiple sizes.

[0008] Further properties and advantages of the structure of the bed unit with box-shaped compartments accommodating the video equipment according to the invention will result more clearly from the following description of some embodiments thereof, made by way of example and not limitative, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

• Figure 1 schematically shows in perspective view a bed unit structured at one end with a shelf of the foot region of the bed unit having a structure of box-shaped compartments in the raised position with the presence of a flat television apparatus having at the sides loudspeakers and at the other end with a shelf of the head region of the bed unit having a structure of box-shaped compartments in the raised position with the presence of devices servicing the boxed apparatuses in the board of the foot region of the bed unit and schematically shows, as well, the connecting side boards of the end boards with a flat transversal element as a connecting joint of the supplying electrical circuits of the equipment and the devices accommodated in the box-shaped compartments of the end shelves of the bed unit;
• Figure 2 schematically shows in perspective view a bed unit structured at the ends with the boards of the foot region and the head region of the bed unit having box-shaped compartments in the closed position and accommodating equipment and devices advantageously hidden when said equipment and devices are not used, and schematically shows, as well, the connecting side boards of the end boards with a flat transversal element as a connecting joint of the supplying electrical and electronic circuits of the equipment and the devices accommodated in the boxed compartments of the end shelves of the bed unit.

[0009] In the figures, corresponding parts, or parts with equal functions, are provided for simplicity with identical reference numbers. In the figures, as well, for clarity of the whole, the leverages which may be present in the box-shaped spaces, or in cooperation for the functional complement of the box-shaped structures, are not illustrated and, consequently, are not described in their operation since already known, and also because they are not necessary to understand the novel features of the present invention. Thus, for example, the connecting means and the constraining means for connecting the equipment and the devices accommodated in the box-shaped compartments of the boards of the bed unit to the supporting structures are not represented. Thus, also the translation or rotation actuating means employed if necessary to transfer in several positions the equipment and the devices is not represented, since said actuating means are widely known in the prior art and thus, consequently, also the electric and electronic circuit details of the equipment, the devices, the radio controls and the actuating switches are not represented and disclosed since all of them in the whole can be made in different ways, all even known in the prior art. In the accompanying figures, a bed unit is disclosed being structured at the ends with a shelf 6 of the head region of the bed unit and a shelf 3 of the foot region of the bed unit. Said end shelves 3 and 6 are produced in the constructive shapes of box-shaped compartments for accommodating equipment, preferably video devices such as television receivers 1, loudspeakers 2 and lighting means 8. The side boards 7, connecting the boards of the foot region 3 and the head region 6 of the bed unit, constitute the supporting structure of the bed unit and thus, as well constitute the support of the flat element 9 assembling the connections of the electric, electronic cables and the several coaxial cables for telephonic communications and data transmissions and any other wire and coaxial conductors related to the equipment 1 and the devices 2. The equipment 1 and the devices 2 exit out from the box-shaped structures of the boards 3 and 6 by means of the rods 5, that are moved by the actuation of similar actuators, all known in the prior art and all positioned and fixed inside the box-shaped structures 3 and 6. Said rods 5, actuated by switches or radio controls of known art, arrange the equipment 1 and the devices 2 in several positions of use as illustrated in Figure 1, or in the lying hidden position as illustrated in Figure 2, where said equipment 1 and devices 2 are completely hidden and closed, when are not used, by the cover 4, resting on the top of the boards 3 and 6 with box-shaped compartments. In the hidden position illustrated in Figure 2 the bed unit takes up its classic shape of appreciated architectural harmony in the function thereof designed for resting and sleeping. In the practical embodiment, the arrangements of executive details may be different from those illustrated, but equivalent thereto, without departing thereupon from the juridical domain of the present invention.

[0010] Thus, the shape even though substantially parallelepiped of the box-shaped compartments, could be different from that relating to the cross section, which shape could differentiate from the rectangular shape for becoming oval, polygonal, circular, square or any other shape even not geometrical: and all that either keeping itself constant or not constant.

Claims

1. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) characterized in that the boards of the foot region (3) and the head region (6) of the bed unit are box-shaped compartments accommodating removable equipment (1) on sliding means (5) or rotating means in order to arrange said equipment (1) in several positions of use and in the lying hidden position where said equipment (1) is completely hidden and closed in the accommodating box-shaped compartment when said equipment (1) is not used.

2. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) according to claim 1, characterized in that the board of the foot region (3) having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a flat television equipment (1) with liquid crystals or a plasma television, said equipment (1) being movable from a use position to a hidden position by means of electric actuators, or by means of similar actuators, all known in the prior art, actuated by a radio control, or by a switch located advantageously near the board of the head region (6).

3. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) according to claim 1, characterized in that the board of the foot region (3) having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a showing screen (1) for receiving luminous images generated by cameras or by audiovisual projectors and said showing screen (1) being movable from a use position to a hidden position by means of rods (5) moved by actuators known in the prior art actuated by radio controls, or by switches located advantageously near the board of the head region (6).

4. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) according to claim 1, characterized in that the board of the foot region (3) having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates a display or monitor of computer (1) being movable from a use position to a hidden position by means of rods (5) moved by mechanical, or electrical drives all known in the prior located advantageously near the board of the head region (6).

5. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) according to any one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the board of the head region (6) having a structure of box-shaped compartment accommodates devices (2) and (8) servicing the complement and the use of the equipment (1) accommodated in the board of the foot region (3) and said devices (2) and (8) are movable from a use position to a hidden position by means of the rods (5) moved by manual or automatic actuators all known in the prior art and all advantageously available at hand for the actuation of the operative use.

6. Bed unit structured at the ends with a shelf of the head region (6) and a shelf of the foot region (3) according to any one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the box-shaped compartments of the boards of the foot region (3) and the head region (6) accommodating the equipment (1) and their servicing devices (2) and (8) are produced in several multiple sizes.

Drawing