BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention to folding beds and more particularly concerns a folding bed with an improved central dolly.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] It is known that folding beds with a central dolly essentially comprise three mutually hinged parts, namely a central part consisting of the dolly, and two side parts connected to the central one so as to be pivotable between a substantially horizontal position, in unfolded or open condition of the bed, and a substantially vertical position, in folded or closed condition of the bed.

[0005] Both the upper part of the dolly and the side parts of the bed are equipped with means, for instance wooden staves, defining a bed plane in open condition of the bed. The side parts comprise a respective frame to which the staves are secured, and suitable support means connected to the frame near the end remote from the dolly and arranged to keep the side parts at the same level as the central part in open condition of the bed.

[0006] At present, the dolly is made by two suitably spaced tubular bar members bent to form a U with an elongated base. Such members are secured to each other by two pressed steel plate pieces horizontally arranged on top of the stems of U-shaped tubular bar.

[0007] Said pressed steel plate pieces laterally extend at both sides of the top of the stems of the respective U-shaped tubular bar member and seats for the pivotal connection of the side parts of the folding bed are formed in such extensions.

[0008] The shape of the seats in said extensions, together with a suitable choice of the length of the portion of the side part frame extending beyond the pivotal axis, give rise to the known coupling whereby upward rotation of the side parts (for closing the bed) is allowed, whereas rotation of the side parts beyond the plane of the central part is impossible.

[0009] The known folding beds have a number of drawbacks.

[0010] The dolly is expensive to manufacture and strongly affects the production costs of the folding beds. Moreover, the pressed steel plate pieces in the dolly and also the kind of coupling provided therein give rise to a great risk for the safety of the persons using the folding beds, due to the presence of sharp edges and the easy accessibility to the hinged parts while they are moving.

[0011] Also, the commercially available folding beds equipped with the central dollies described above require, for assembling, the use of tools which are available to the manufacturers but not to the ordinary users. Thus, said beds are to be delivered already in assembled condition so that large storage rooms are required and packaging and transport costs are high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] It is an object of the present invention to provide a folding bed in which the production cost is lower and any risk for the safety is substantially eliminated.

[0013] The novel features of the invention lie in that the dolly is made with a different structure. Indeed the dolly is made by two separate parts easy to manufacture and to assemble: one part consists of a trestle made of a single tubular member shaped so as to form two side shoulders and a supporting base; the other part consists of two box members that are mounted on the trestle shoulders and snap fastened thereto.

[0014] Said box members have side extensions at the ends of which the seats for the pivotal connection of the side parts of the folding bed are formed. The hinge pins are conventional cylindrical pegs which can be readily inserted and removed, and they do not comprise rivets or nails as at present employed in connection with the pressed steel plate members of the dollies of the commercially available folding beds.

[0015] Advantageously said box members are made of a plastic resin material capable of performing a valid resilient coupling with the top of the shoulders of the supporting trestle. The box members of plastic material can be obtained simply by molding. The coupling of the box members on top of the trestle shoulders readily takes place by a simple snap fitting, as said above.

[0016] The folding bed according to the invention no longer includes a dolly with a bearing structure comprising pressed steel plate members that cannot be removed. Thus the folding bed made in accordance with the invention can be stored and delivered with the different parts disassembled, whereby assembling is left to the user. The folding bed in which the parts are left separate moreover requires smaller storage room and lower packaging and transport costs.

[0017] The box members to be assembled with the trestle have no sharp surfaces and reduce the gaps that, in the prior art dollies, allow finger introduction into the moving parts. Thus the folding bed according to the invention is safer.

[0018] The box members are cheap to manufacture. The cheapness of the folding bed in accordance with the invention is due also to the easiness of construction of the supporting trestle, which is obtained from a single tubular bar suitably bent by means of a conventional tube-bending machine.

[0019] The pivotal coupling with the side parts of the folding bed, as stated above, takes place through conventional pegs that can be readily inserted and readily removed. Thus disassembling of the folding bed into the component parts is as easy as is assembling.

[0020] The folding bed made in accordance with the invention, disassembled into its various parts, may be contained in packages of reduced size.

[0021] It is to be appreciated that the trestle of the dolly is so constructed that it can be readily stacked with similar trestles, and this also contributes to reducing storage room and packaging and transport costs.