Untitled record

Application filed November 17, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, William Ott, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinios, have r invented certain new and useful Improvements ⁰ in Sofa-Beds; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Hitherto in sofa - beds, wherein provision _I0 has been made for the storing of the bedclothes, the various contrivances for affording such provision have tended to render the article cumbersome both in size and appearance, and access to them for the purpose of !3 storing away or removing the bedclothes is rendered inconvenient, since to gain such access it is necessary to move the sofa-bed.

It is my object to overcome these objections and to provide a sofa-bed in which the differ20 ent parts shall correspond in proportion to present greater symmetry in the appearance of the article.

To this end my invention consists in providing the back with a receptacle to contain 23 the bedclothes, and constructing it to be low^a ered without removing the sofa-bed, of which the seat forms the couch portion, from its position against the wall.

My invention further consists in providing 30 means for sustaining the back iu a vertical position when raised, and means for releasing it to permit it to be lowered in a forward direction from such position; and my invention still further consists in certain details of con33 struction and combinations of parts, all as hereinafter particularly set forth.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of a sofa-bed provided with my improvement, and showing the back 40 in its vertical position after the bedclothes shall have been stored within the receptacle provided within it; Fig. 2, a similar view showing the back lowered and ready to receive the bedclothes; Fig. 3, a rear elevation of the 45 same, having parts broken away to show the mechanism for sustaining the back when raised to a vertical position, and showing the mechanism whereby it is released when it is desired to lower the back from its vertical position; 50 and Fig. 4, a perspective view of the mechanisms employed for the purpose of sustaining the back in its vertical position and for releasing it to permit it to be lowered from such position.

A is a sofa-bed comprising the folding parts 55 i and t', constructed to operate in the usual manner.

B is the back, upholstered on its front side, and provided on its rear side with a receptacle, 0, for the bedclothes. The back B is hinged 60 to the rear side of the frame of the sofa-bed in a manner to permit it to be lowered in a forward direction, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and is supported when raised to a vertical position upon the backward-pro- 65 jecting ends s and s' of the frame and upon a projection, /, extending backward from the rear portion of the frame. The under side of the frame of the back B is provided with longitudinal recesses, q and /, into each of which 70 a spring-lock, D, of ordinary construction is secured, and directly in line with the projecting bolt of each lock D, and secured upon the projection F and upon the projecting end s of the frame of the sofa-bed are sockets, /, to re- 75 ceive the bolts when the back is raised to a vertical position, the bolts on being brought into contact with the sockets being forced back against the resistance of springs in the locks of usual construction, to permit the bolts to 80 pass the edges of the upper surfaces of the sockets and cause them to enter the sockets by the recoil of the springs when they shall have cleared such edges. Both bolts of the locks D are adjusted to permit them to engage 85 with the sockets / from the same side, in order that they may be released from such en gagement to allow the back to be lowered by pulling upward upon a wire or cord, E, provided with a suitable handle, 0, adjusted up- 90 on the inner side of one end of the frame of the back B, as shown in Fig. 3. Upon the rear end of each bolt, where it projects from ’ its housing,, a ring, n, is provided to afford means for connecting the bolts together by the 95 cord or wire E, which extends from a ring, n, to the handle 0 around an intermediate pulley, m, suitably located.

To lower the back B, for the purpose of removing bedclothes contained within the recep- 10c taele 0 therein, the part t of the sofa-bed is unfolded, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,

320,676 and the back is lowered on releasing the bolts of the locks D from engagement with the sockets/,by pulling upward upon the handle o.

Straps I, provided with buckles, are ad5 justed to the receptacle C to afford means for. holding the bed clothes within the receptacle when the back shall occupy its vertical position; and, if desired, a curtain may be hung from the upper side of the receptacle C to lie o underneath the straps Z and cover the bedclothes to protect them from dust and assist in holding them in place. If preferred, a hinged cover or other suitable retaining device for the bedclothes may be provided, though the 5 means shown are considered to be the simpler and more effective.

From the foregoing it will be seen not only that a eonveniently-accessible receptacle for the bedclothes is provided, but that by iu3 creasing the width of the back to afford such receptacle the size of the back is caused to correspond with the couch portion of the sofa, thereby enhancing the appearance of the sofabed as an article of furniture.

; It is obvious that access to the receptaclecould be had from the front side of the back of the sofa-bed by hinging the upholstered front of the back within the frame of the latter to permit it to be swung open in an up) ward or downward direction to reach the receptacle. It is not absolutely necessary that the back shall rest upon the projections s and s', as it could be constructed to be supported between them, when the lower side of the back ; could extend below the top of the bed-frame a distance equal to the extent of projection of the parts s and s' without rendering it necessary to move the device to lower the back.