Background and summary of the invention Although there have been several patents issued for various devices to raise or lower portions of a bed to improve comfort and change position of the occupant, most have not been widely accepted. With an increasing need for care for those bed-ridden for either short or long duration, there is an increasing need for such occupants to move to different places without losing the convenience of the adjustable bed. However, the adjustable beds that are available on the market are often very heavy and cumbersome to move so that the bed-ridden occupant must often remain at the same location for longer time periods than desired because the adjustable bed cannot be moved. There is a need for a device that would enable bed-ridden occupants to conveniently move the adjustable bed from the bed structure at home to another bed structure without having to give up the adjustable features of the bed at home.

The present invention is a method of using a foldable and adjustable bed bottom on a bed structure.

The bed bottom has a head portion rotatably attached to a back portion that is rotatably attached to a sit portion, that in turn, is rotatably attached to a thigh portion.

The thigh portion is rotatably attached to a first leg portion and a second leg portion so that the first leg portion is separate from the second leg portion. The bed bottom may be placed on a bed structure and easily removed therefrom by simply lifting the bed bottom therefrom. The bed bottom could then folded into a compact size. The bed bottom may be expanded from the compact size to an expanded size and placed on a second bed structure.

Brief description of the drawings Fig. 1 is a top view of the foldable bed bottom of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the foldable bed bottom in an expanded position showing the dividable leg segments; Fig. 3 is a side view of the foldable bed bottom in the expanded position; Fig. 4 is a side view of the foldable bed bottom in a flat position; Fig. 5 is a side view of the foldable bed bottom with a raised leg section; Fig. 6 is a side view of the foldable bed bottom in a folded position; Fig. 7 is a detailed perspective view of the folding mechanism; Fig. 8 is a detailed perspective view of the folding mechanism; Fig. 9 is a top view of the foldable bed bottom with inflatable pillows; Fig. 10 is a detailed view of the inflatable pillows of Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a side view of the inflatable pillows of Fig. 10.

Detailed description With reference to Fig. 1, the foldable and adjustable bed bottom 10 has a head portion 12 that is rotatably attached to a back portion 14 that, in turn, is rotatably attached to a sit portion 16. The sit portion 16 is rotatably attached to a thigh portion 18 that is rotatably attached to leg portions 20,22.

The head portion 12 has an upper cross-bar 24 that extends between side bars 26,28. A lower cross-bar 30 also extends between the side bars 26,28.

The back portion 14 has an upper cross-bar 32 that

extends between side bars 34,36. A lower cross-bar 38 also extends between the side bars 34,36.

Similarly, the sit portion 16 has an upper cross-bar 40 that extends between side bars 42,44. A lower cross-bar 46 also extends between the side bars 42, 44. The thigh portion 18 has an upper cross-bar 48 that extends between side bars 50,52. A lower cross-bar 54 also extends between the side bars 50,52.

The leg portion 20 has an upper cross-bar 56 that extends between side bars 58,60. A lower cross-bar 62 also extends between the side bars 58,60.

Similarly, the leg portion 22 has an upper cross-bar 64 that extends between side bars 66,68. A lower cross-bar 70 also extends between the side bars 66,68.

The leg portions 20,22 are located side by side and rotatably attached to the same lower cross-bar 54 so that a gap 72 is defined between the bars 60,66.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the head portion 12 is attached to the back portion 14 by a hinge 74 that is attached to an underside 76 of the head portion 12 and an underside 78 of the back portion 14. The back portion 14 is attached to the sit portion 16 by a hinge 80 that is attached to an upper side 82 of the back portion 14 and an upper side 84 of the sit portion 16.

The sit portion 16 is attached to the thigh portion 18 by a hinge 86 that is attached an upper side 88 of the sit portion and an upper side 90 of the thigh portion 18. The thigh portion 18 is attached to the leg portions 20,22 by a hinge 92 that is attached an under side 94 of the thigh portion 18 and under sides 96, 98 of the leg portions 20,22, respectively.

As best shown in Figs. 7-8, each side bar 50, 52 has an internal shiftable rod 100. The rod 100 may be shifted from a retracted position (Fig. 7) to an extended position (Fig. 8) by handles 102,104 that extend through slits 106,108, respectively. When the rod 100 is in the extended position, the leg portion 22 may be locked in an

angular position, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the leg portion 22 is not parallel to the thigh portion 18. When the rod is in the retracted position, one of the leg portions may be put in a position that is substantially parallel to the thigh portion 18, as shown by leg portion 20 in Fig. 2.

With reference to Fig. 3, the foldable bed bottom of the present invention has a first motor 110 pivotally attached to a central pivot 118 below the sit portion 16. The motor 110 is operatively attached to a first rod 112 to shift the rod 112 along and below the sit portion 16, as shown by the arrows A.

As best shown in Figs. 4-5, the foldable bed bottom 10 may be removably placed in a bed frame 116 so that the bed bottom 10 may easily be removed from the bed frame 116 and placed in another bed frame. In this way, it is not necessary to bring the entire bed when the person needs to move to another place. The bed bottom 10 may come in different widths so that it exactly fits inside a variety of bed frames 116. In other words, the bed frame 116 only provides support of the bed bottom 10, but none of the segments of the bed bottom 10 is preferably secured to the bed frame 116. The side bars of the bed bottom 10 only rest on the bed frame 116. It should be understood that the bed bottom 10 may also be placed on top of a conventional bed bottom, as desired, and it may not be necessary to attach the bed bottom of the present invention to the bed or the conventional bed bottom.

The rod or piston 112 is pivotally attached to a first pivot arm 114 that is attached to the underside 94 of the thigh portion 18. When the rod 112 is extended, the thigh portion 18 may be raised and pivoted about the hinge 86. Fig. 5 shows the thigh portion 18 in the raised position and Fig. 4 shows the thigh portion 18 in the lowered position so that the thigh portion 18 is parallel to the sit portion 16. When

the thigh portion 18 is in the lowered position, the motor 110 pivots about the central pivot 118, as best shown in Fig. 4.

The bed bottom 10 also has a second motor 120 pivotally attached to the central pivot 118. A rod 122 is operatively attached to the second motor 120 so that the rod 122 may also be moved back and forth, as shown by the arrows A. The rod 122 points in a backward direction that is opposite a direction of the rod 112. The rod 122 is pivotally attached to a pivot arm 124 that is pivotally attached to the back portion 14. The pivot arm 124 in turn is pivotally attached to a rod 126 that extends along the underside 78 of the back portion 14.

The rod 126 extends to a pivot arm 128 that is pivotally attached to the head portion 12.

When the motor 120 is activated, the head portion 12 is first raised until the head portion 12 reaches an end position, such as, at 45 degrees relative to the back portion 14. The back portion 14 may then be raised until a desired position is reached or until the back portion reaches an end position, such as, at 50 degrees relative to a horizontal plane. In this way, the positions of the head portion 12 and the back portion 14 may be raised or lowered to a desired position.

Similarly, the thigh portion 18 may be raised or lowered by activating the motor 110. The back portion 14 may be lowered while the head portion 12 remains in the raised position. Once the back portion 14 is horizontal again, the head portion 12 may also be lowered to a desired position or all the way down to a horizontal position.

Because the bed bottom has two leg portions 20,22, only one leg may be raised or lower, as desired by activating the rod 100.

An important feature of the present invention is that the bed bottom may be folded into a compact position that is easy to bring. With reference to Fig. 6, the head portion 12 may be folded against the

back portion 14 by moving the head portion backwardly.

The back portion 14 may be folded against the sit portion 16 by moving the back portion 14 together with the head portion 12 forwardly. The leg portions 20,22 may be folded about the hinge 92 by moving the leg portions 20,22 against the underside 94. The thigh portion 18 may then be folded against the sit portion 16 by moving the thigh portion 18 against the upper surface 88 of the sit portion. In this way, the foldable bed bottom may easily carried to another place before expanding the foldable bed bottom 10 again. Preferably, the motors 110,120 are first removed before the bed bottom is folded into the compact position.

With reference to Figs. 9-11, the back portion 14 may have an inflatable first pillow section 130 and a second pillow section 132. The pillow sections 130,132 are pivotally attached to a central segment 134 of the back portion 14. The pillow sections are, preferably, operatively connected to an inflation source so that the pillow sections may be pumped to a desired hardness. A special feature is that when the pillow sections are pumped up an upper corner of an outer side of each pillow section, adjacent the side bars 34, 36, respectively, and the upper cross-bar 32, is raised so that the body position of the person laying on the bed bottom may be changed and the load on certain part of the body of the person may be reduced or increased, as desired. This is particularly important if the person must lay in bed for a very long time.

While the present invention has been described in accordance with preferred compositions and embodiments, it is to be understood that certain substitutions and alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims.