Foldable Bed with Offset Support Brackets to Reduce Folded Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional foldable beds have a large overall thickness when folded, leading to increased transportation costs due to larger packaging sizes.
Innovation Solution
A foldable bed design featuring multiple bed units with rotatable connections and offset-arranged support brackets, allowing the units to be folded or laid into each other without interference, and a stop unit to prevent relative rotation at the unfolded state, thereby reducing the overall thickness and improving stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the bed is folded to reduce size for packaging, then the bed size is reduced, but the overall thickness becomes large
Solution Approach 1:
The bed is divided into multiple independent bed units (first bed unit, second bed unit, etc.), each with its own support bracket and platform part. These segmented units can be folded independently and stacked vertically, transforming the folding mechanism from a horizontal spread-out structure to a vertical stacked structure, thereby reducing the overall thickness when folded.
Solution Approach 2:
The support brackets are arranged in the lateral direction (offset-arranged) rather than only in the longitudinal direction. This dimensional change allows the bed units to be stacked vertically with improved spatial arrangement, reducing interference between support brackets and minimizing the overall thickness when folded, while still maintaining stability when unfolded.
2Volume of stationary object
If multiple bed units are folded into each other, then the packaging size is reduced, but the support brackets may interfere with each other
Solution Approach 1:
The support brackets are offset-arranged in the lateral direction, creating a three-dimensional spatial arrangement that prevents interference between adjacent support brackets during folding. This lateral offset positioning allows the bed units to be stacked vertically without the support brackets colliding or interfering with each other, simplifying the folding mechanism while reducing packaging volume.
3Ease of operation
If the bed units are rotatable for folding, then the bed can be compacted, but the bed may rotate unintentionally when unfolded
Solution Approach 1:
The stop unit is pre-configured between the first bed unit and second bed unit to automatically engage when the bed reaches the unfolded position. This preliminary action prevents over-rotation or unintentional rotation of the bed units once unfolded, while still allowing the rotatable folding mechanism to function freely during the folding operation. The stop unit acts as a pre-set constraint that activates only when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable bed includes a first bed unit, a second bed unit rotatably connected to the first bed unit such that the bed is rotatable between a folded state and an unfolded state, and a stop unit arranged between the first bed unit and the second bed unit for preventing the first bed unit and the second bed unit from rotating relative to each other when the bed is at the unfolded state. The first bed unit includes a first support bracket and a first platform part supported on the first support bracket. The second bed unit includes a second support bracket and a second platform section supported on the second support bracket. When the bed is at the unfolded state the second platform section and the first platform section cooperatively form a platform of the bed for supporting a load.