US3742532A

US3742532A - Body supporting device

Info

Publication number: US3742532A
Application number: US00174075A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Bernstien
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-08-23
Filing date: 1971-08-23
Publication date: 1973-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-03

Abstract

A body supporting device, such as a chaise lounge, which includes a generally rectangular flexible body supporting sheet, which may be of fabric or the like, and which is supported at its short ends by a frame, the frame including a single continuous tubular member having a Z-shaped base portion and two end portions, the end portions having first members connected to the free ends of the Z-shaped base portion and extending upwardly and outwardly in a generally vertical longitudinal plane and at an angle to the horizontal and second members connected to the free ends of the first members and extending transversely in a generally horizontal plane and to which the ends of the body supporting sheet are attached.

Description

United States Patent Bernstien July 3, 1973 1 BODY SUPPORTING DEVICE Primary Examiner-Casmir A Nunberg [76] lnventor: Joseph Bernstien, 5117 Hesperia Alwmeyflpaul Adams Avenue, Encino, Calif. 91316 a [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Aug. 23, 1971 Appl. No.: 174,075

US. Cl 5/110, 5/112, 297/439 A body supporting device, such as a chaise lounge, which includes a generally rectangular flexible body supporting sheet, which may be of fabric or the like, and which is supported at its short ends by a frame, the frame including a single continuous tubular member having a Z-shaped base portion and two end portions, the end portions having first members connected to the free ends of the Z-shaped base portion and extending upwardly and outwardly in a generally vertical longitudinal plane and at an angle to the horizontal and second members connected to the free ends of the first members and extending transversely in a generally horizontal plane and to which the ends of the body supporting sheet are attached.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures BODY SUPPORTING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to body supporting devices and is particularly adaptable to a hammocklike chaise lounge for supporting a person in a reclining position. Of course, hammock devices have long been known in the prior art including devices in which the flexible body supporting member is supported from a frame rather than to fixed objects that form no part of the entire device. The difficulty with the prior art devices is that such frames have awkward or unsightly appearances in order to achieve the measure of stability required to support a hammock. Another disadvantage of the prior art devices is that the frames were constructed of a plurality of structural members, such as tubing, and required welding or fasteners to fabricate a completed frame. Obviously, the labor costs involved in fabrication have materially increased the manufacturing cost of such devices. Another difficulty is that such devices have had a frame which was large and cumbersome after fabrication and not capable of being collapsed so as to complicate and increase the cost of shipping and storage of such devices. Other disadvantages of such prior art devices which the present invention overcomes also exist.

GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In light of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a body supporting device which will comfortably support a person in the reclining position and which includes a frame of one piece construction that is extremely stable and is pleasant in appearance. It is another object to provide a frame for a body supporting device as above described which has frame members connected to the body supporting sheet that are cantilevered from a base portion and constructed of a resilient material to permit the frame to flex under load and provide a comfortable reclining position. It is another object and advantage of the present invention to provide a body supporting device in which the frame and body supporting sheet may be easily assembled without the use of fasteners, connectors, or the like. Still another advantage of the present invention is to provide a body supporting member which includes a stretcher bar adjacent the ends of the body supporting sheet to prevent the sheet from gathering or collapsing transversely when supporting a person in a reclining position. In one embodiment of the invention, there is incorporated the advantage of collapsibility so as to facilitate shipping, storage and ease of assembly from the I collapsed to the operative position.

Generally stated, the body supporting device of the present invention for comfortably supporting one or more persons in a sitting or a reclining position includes an elongated body support connected at its opposite ends to a frame which has a base portion of elongated Z shape, and a pair of side portions each having a first upwardly extending member connected at its lower end to one of the free ends of the Z-shaped base portion a nd a second member connected at one end to the upper end of the first member and disposed generally in a horizontal position to which the elongated body support is connected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a body supporting device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the frame of the body supporting device shown in FIG. 1 with the elongated body support shown in phantom lines;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation view of the device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view .of the elongated body support and a portion of the frame illustrating the details of the connecting means;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view of a portion of the frame base illustrating exemplary means for collapsing the frame during storage and/or shipping; and

FIG. 7 is a detailed sectional view of the collapsing means shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing, there is shown a body supporting device which includes a frame indicated generally at 10, and an elongated body support indicated generally at 30. The body supporting device of the exemplary embodiment may be constructed as a chaise lounge or hammock for supporting one or two persons in a seated position or for supporting a person in a reclining position. It will be obvious that the supporting device of the present invention may take other forms and shape which utilize the proportions and the arrangement of the frame members as more fully described hereinafter to provide the advantage of the invention.

The frame 10, in the exemplary embodiment, comprises a single continuous frame member having a base portion 11 and

side portions

12, 13. The single continuous member may be in the form of tubing although other cross-sectional shapes may be employed. The tubing is preferably of metal, such as steel, although other types of tubing, such as fiberglass, which has the requisite structural rigidity and resiliency could also be utilized. The base portion 11 has an elongated Z shape (when viewed from the bottom having a diagonal member 14, connected at its opposite ends to a pair of transversely positioned members or

legs

15, 16 which, as may be seen in FIG. 3, are in a flat horizontal plane. The transversely extending

legs

15, 16 are connected to the diagonal member 14 through arcuate portions l7, 18 which have a radius convenient for fabrication from a single continuous steel tubular member.

The

side portions

12, 13 each comprise a first upwardly extending

member

19, 20, respectively, connected to the free ends of the Z-shaped base portion transversely extending

legs

15, 16 respectively. In the exemplary embodiment, the upwardly extending

members

19, 20 are disposed in longitudinally extending substantially vertical planes on opposite sides of the supporting device. The

first members

19, 20 of the

side portions

12, 13 also extend outwardly away from one another at an angle to the horizontal of approximately 45". While the present invention is not limited to the specific angular orientation of the first members with respect to the horizontal, it has been found that such angle is preferable to provide proper height and stability proportions and permit resilient flexing when a person is supported on the elongated body support 11.

Each of the first members 19, are attached to the base portion transversely extending

member

15, 16, through

arcuate portions

21, 21a having a radius suitable for fabrication.

At the upper ends of each of the

first members

19, 20 there are provided

second members

22, 23 extending transversely in a generally horizontal plane and spaced above the surface upon which the supporting device rests. The

second members

22, 23 are also connected through

arcuate portions

24, 25 to the

first members

19, 20 with a bend radius suitable for the material and size of the member used to construct the frame 10.

In the drawing, the frame 10 is substantially to scale so as to disclose the proportions and arrangement of the members comprising the frame as required to obtain the stability which forms an important feature of the present invention. In a typical construction, the longitudinal distance between the side portion

second members

22, 23 may be approximately 92 inches where the device is suited to accommodate a person in the reclining position. The longitudinal distance between the transversely extending

members

15, 16 of the Z-shaped portion may be approximately 48 inches and the transverse or lateral dimension of the device may be approximately 28 inches. The first members'l9, 20 of the side portions have a length of approximately 33 inches so as to position the

second members

22, 23 approximately 24 inches above the surface upon which the supporting device rests. The exemplary construction having the size and proportions just described, is made of 1 k inch O.D. steel tubing having a 0.095 inch thickness wall and may bee cold rolled. A frame of this type of material may have typical bend radii of approximately 4 to 5 inches. It will be noted that the

base portion legs

15, 16 are longitudinally spaced from one another a distance at least one half the longitudinal distance between the side portion

second members

22, 23.

In the exemplary embodiment, the elongated body support 30 may comprise a flexible sheet of fabric, plastic material or the like, indicated at 31. As seen best in FIG. 5, the flexible sheet 31 may have a return portion indicated at 32 to form a loop 33 which extends transversely and receives the second members of the side portions of the frame. In the exemplary embodiment, there is also disclosed a rigid stretcher member 34 which may be of metal, wood or the like and which is secured to the undersurface of the sheet 31 in a loop formed by stitching or heat sealing the return portion of the sheet at 35, 36. The stretcher bar or member 34 prevents the sheet 31 from gathering or collapsing transversely when supporting a person. For this purpose, the ends of the loop in which the stretcher bar 34 is received are closed by stitching or sealing (not shown).

In FIG. 6, there is shown a modification of the exemplary embodiment described in FIGS. 1 through 5 wherein each of the

legs

15, 16 of the Z-shaped base portion are provided with means to permit collapsing of the frame for storage and/or shipment. In this exemplary embodiment, such means may comprise modified base portion transversely extending legs including a piece 16' fixedly secured to the base portion diagonally extending member and a second portion 16" fixedly connected to the first member 20 of the side portion 13. A solid bar 41 is fixed within the tube portion 16' so as to extend beyond the end thereof and is secured therein against rotation by a plurality of fasteners 42. The portion of the bar 41 extending beyond the edge of the tubular portion 16' includes a radial opening in which is disposed a spring 43 bearing against a plunger 44 and the frame portion 16" has an opening for receiving the plunger 44. The side portion attached to the frame portion 16" may thus be rotated with respect to the base portion 16' and collapsed or may be extended to its erect position whereupon the plunger 44 will be biased into the registered opening in the tubular portion 16" so as to fix the side portion against rotation with respect to the base portion.

It will be understood that the means 40 described above for permitting the

side portions

12, 13 to be rotated with respect to the base portion 11 is only exemplary and various other locking devices may be used which are conventional and would be well known to one having skill in the art.

From the preceding description, it will be apparent that the above-described exemplary embodiments of the body supporting device incorporate all of the advantages previously mentioned and accomplishes the objects set forth. Aside from the specific indications that certain features of the present invention are only exemplary, it will be obvious to those having skill in the art that various other modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A body supporting device for comfortably supporting one or more persons in a sitting or reclining position, comprising:

a frame including a base portion having an elongated Z shape disposed in a horizontal plane and adapted to rest on a supporting surface, and a pair of side portions each having a first upwardly extending member connected at one end to the upper end of said first member and disposed generally in a horizontal plane; and

an elongated body support connected at its opposite ends to said frame second members.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said frame tubing comprises a single continuous piece.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said side portion first members diverge from one another.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said first members are disposed in a longitudinally extending generally vertical plane.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said side portions are pivotally mounted with respect to said base portions so that said side portions may be folded from their erect operative position to a collapsed position.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said Z-shaped base portion legs are longitudinally spaced from one another a distance at least one-half the longitudinal distance between said side portion second members.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said elongated body support comprises a flexible sheet and including a rigid stretcher member transversely secured to said sheet adjacent its connected ends to prevent the sheet from gathering toward its longitudinal axis when a person is supported thereby.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein said sheet ends have a return portion secured adjacent each end to form a transversely extending loop for receiving said frame second members and a second transversely extending loop with closed ends for receiving said rigid stretcher member concealed therein.

6 9. A frame for a generally rectangular supporting deaway from one another and second members exvice including an elongated support carried at its short di f m h upper d f id fi membgrs ends by the frame Compnsmg: in a generally horizontal plane and carried by said a single, continuous, tubular member having an elongated Z-shaped central portion disposed in a gener- 5 10 Th f f l 9 h ally horizontal plane and adapted to rest on a supe tame o 6 31m w elem Sal pomo'n porting surface and end portions first members are disposed in a generally vertical plane said end portions including first members extending at an angle of approximately to the horizontalfrom said central portion upwardly and outwardly support.

Claims

1. A body supporting device for comfortably supporting one or more persons in a sitting or reclining position, comprising: a frame including a base portion having an elongated Z shape disposed in a horizontal plane and adapted to rest on a supporting surface, and a pair of side portions each having a first upwardly extending member connected at one end to the upper end of said first member and disposed generally in a horizontal plane; and an elongated body support connected at its opposite ends to said frame second members.

9. A frame for a generally rectangular supporting device including an elongated support carried at its short ends by the frame, comprising: a single, continuous, tubular member having an elongated Z-shaped central portion disposed in a generally horizontal plane and adapted to rest on a supporting surface and end portions, said end portions including first members extending from said central portion upwardly and outwardly away from one another and second members extending from the upper ends of said first members in a generally horizontal plane and carried by said support.

10. The frame of claim 9 wherein said side portion first members are disposed in a generally vertical plane at an angle of approximately 45* to the horizontal.