The present industrial invention refers to a rotating support for sun-beds.

Nowadays, on the market, it is possible to find more or less sturdy, more or less long, more or less costly sun-beds, made of a metal or wooden frame, coated with net-type cloths with different arrangements and materials, but all of them aimed to be static with their legs abutting the ground.

In order to change position with a traditional sun- bed, it is necessary to go down from the sun-bed in order to manually move it, a normal operation that everybody currently does, but that obviously creates unconveniences and sometimes even problems for elderly people.

WO-A-08/022364 discloses a rotating support for sub- beds according to the preamble of Claim 1, which however deals with a semiautomatic sun-bed and beach-umbrella arrangement aimed to provide shade for users.

The main object of the present invention is being able to make a universal or non-universal rotating support for all existing sun-beds without compelling anybody to change the already-purchased traditional sun- bed.

Another very important object that the present invention aims to reach is making a support rotating at a slow rotating speed for sun-beds which can be manually actuated by an operator resting onto the sun-bed.

Still another very important object that the present invention aims to reach is fastening to the moving part of the rotating support a beach-umbrella or the like to allow the resting operator to go under the shade at any time without having to go down from the sun-bed in order to move it as before till the shaded area of the beach- umbrella.

A further very important object that the present invention aims to reach is being able, in the arrangement with a single sun-bed, to make one sun-bed independent from another, while now they use the same beach-umbrella fastened to the ground.

Another important object that the present invention aims to reach is being able to slowly rotate the sun-bed in order to change position with respect to the sun in order to make the sun-bathing more homogeneous in all body parts without running the risk of having localised burns which are typical of lazy people that with difficulty rise to change the position of their sun-beds. Another object of the present invention, in its arrangement with two sun-beds, is realising a rotating support that is able to support and rotate by 360 degrees two coupled sun-beds in order to save space with respect to the pairs of traditional sun-beds currently located on the beaches.

Still another very important object that the present invention aims to reach is to be able to rotate the sun- beds and also to be able to orient the beach-umbrella according to needs remaining comfortably resting on the sun-beds themselves.

A further very important object that the present invention aims to reach is being able to place above the rotating support a straight sun-bed and a contrary sun- bed so that two people can look at themselves and speak and at the same time rotate.

Last but not least important object that the present invention aims to reach is being able to fasten the two sun-beds to the support in order to prevent them from being stolen.

These and other objects are reached by the present invention according to Claim 1, by means of a rotating support that has been devised exclusively for being assembled to a normal sun-bed and made according to the following claims. The features and the advantages of the invention will better result from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, provided as a non-limiting example with reference to the enclosed figures, in which: figure 1 shows in a three-dimensional view a sun-bed fastened to the rotating support, in which the arrows show the directions of the sun-bed that can rotate by 360 degrees continuously; figure 2 shows the sun-bed of figure 1 detached by- its rotating support; figure 3 shows the sun-bed of figure 1 seen laterally; figure 4 shows a side exploded view of the rotating support; figure 5 shows the central section of the rotating support; figure 6 shows the sun-bed fastened to the rotating support of figure 1; figure 7 shows the sun-bed of figure 1 with a particular shaped framework to protect from the sun fastened to the rotating support arm; figure 8 shows a variation of the rotating support which is anchored to another type of sun-bed by fastening with pins or bolts; figure 9 shows a three-dimensional view of the rotating support with two sun-beds abutted thereon; figure 10 shows the same drawing of figure 1, with a single sun-bed placed above the rotating support, in order to better point out the central carrier pin with its, downwards elongation suitable to be driven into the ground or sand; figure 11 shows a side view of the rotating support with the elongation of the carrier pin driven into the ground below; figure 12 shows a three-dimensional view of the rotating support without beach-umbrella and without sun- beds ; figure 13 shows a variation of the rotating support seen from above; figure 14 shows the sectioned carrier pin; and figure 15 shows another variation of the rotating support that points out the central pin anchored to a circular base.

With reference to the mentioned figures, the rotating support for sun-beds 3, 91, 92 according to the invention comprises: fixed supporting means 6, 93;

- rotary supporting means 8, 9, 96, 98 operatively coupled to the fixed supporting means 6, 93 and adapted to house therein at least one sun-bed 3, 91, 92 for rotating it with respect to the fixed supporting means 6, 93; rotation-controlling means 10, 911, placed below or above the sun-beds 3, 91, 92 for controlling the rotation of the rotary supporting means 8, 9, 96, 98; and

- braking means (not shown) adapted to stop the rotation of the rotary supporting means 8, 9; 96, 98 when a desired position is reached, the braking means being equipped with fastening means (not shown) adapted to block the rotary- supporting means 8, 9; 96, 98 in the desired position.

The braking means can be made in several forms, for example disk-type braking means with one or more disks (not shown) attached to and rotating integral with the rotating support and one or more disk-clamping means (not shown) actuated by actuating means (for example a handle, not shown) in order to clamp and block the rotation of the disk(s) .

Preferably, the fastening means can further be equipped with a key (not shown) or similar arrangement, to prevent the fastening means from being undesiredly unfastened, for example by children, in order to prevent dangerous situations from occurring. Figures 1 to 8 show a first embodiment of the rotating support of the type adapted to support one sun- bed.

Figure 1 shows a sun-bed (globally identified with reference 1) which is fastened and supported by a rotating support (globally identified with 2), said support being equipped with a static basement 6 equipped with an annular protuberance 6' .

A central pin fastened to the basement 6 has a hand- wheel 10 that in turn is static and integral with the basement 6; on the central pin, a calibrated cylinder 7 has been inserted, equipped idle on bearings or the like, while two opposed arms 8 welded to the rotating cylinder 7 have at their ends a shaped fastener 9 for locking the legs 5 going out of the frame 3 of the sun-bed.

Figure 2 better shows the rotating support 2 that is detached from the sun-bed 1: it is possible to note the hand-wheel 10 locked with the nut 11 on the central pin elongation, and on the bottom it is possible to see the basement 6 with the protuberance 6' that is located near the two opposed arms 8. The annular protuberance 5' operates as bearing point for the two opposed arms 8 that can be flexed when a person is seated at the ends of the sun-bed: obviously, if the person is resting, the two arms 8 return by resiliency to go near the annular protuberance 6' , allowing the sun-bed 1 to rotate without metallic sliding.

Always in figure 2 it is possible to see that at the end of the two opposed arms 8 suitable seats 9 have been obtained to house the legs 5 of the sun-bed 1, that can be clearly seen above with all the net-type cloth 4 taut in -its frame 3.

Figure 3 shows a side view of the rotating support 2 with the fastened sun-bed 1: it is possible to note the legs 5 inserted in their suitable seats 9 fastened at the ends of the two arms 8 welded to the idle cylinder 7, whole suitable welded squares 12 guarantee the holding. Always in this figure, it is possible to note the hand- wheel 10 immediately below the frame 3 of the sun-bed, a position that can be easily reached by the resting operator's hands (not shown); on the bottom. it is possible to note the basement 8 with the annular protuberance 6' that goes near and below the surface of the two arms 8. It is also possible to note that the arm 8 from the back part is shorter that the other arm, this to ensure a weight distribution on the sun-bed barycentre.

Figure 4 shows the rotating support 3 seen in a lateral exploded view: it is possible to note the structure aimed to rotate, composed of the calibrated cylinder 7, the squares 12 and the opposed arms 8 ending with the supports 9 for the sun-bed legs. The bearing 14 and the brass 15 guarantee a perfect assembling when idle, the two arms 8 could also be telescopic in order to adapt their length.

Figure 5 shows the central part of the rotating support 2 sectioned to point out the central pin 13 inserted in the calibrated cylinder 7; the thrust bearing 14 takes care of supporting the weight of the loaded sun- bed and of preventing seizures, while at the cylinder 7 mouth it is enough to assemble a brass 15 or the like in place of the radial bearing to create tie right rotation friction. In this section, it is possible to see the elongation of the pin 13 that goes outside of the bearing 14, ready to be joined with the hand-wheel 10 blocked by the nut 11.

The hand-wheel 10, the pin 13 and the basement 6 are integral one with the other, while the cylinder 7 with the arms 8 are idle on the pin 13 and free of rotating thereon.

Figure 6 shows a sun-bed 1 coupled with the rotating support 2: this sun-bed has a framework 18 fastened to the sun-bed shoulder that is equipped with a cloth 19 or the like that operates as beach-umbrella, while suitable handles 20 are used for adjusting the sun-shade inclination; the arrows show that the sun-bed can rotate in both directions .

Figure 7 shows another type of framework 16 equipped with cloth 17 or the like to protect from the sun: the shaped framework 16 in this case is fastened to the shaped seat 9 or to another point of the rotating support 2.

Figure 8 shows another type of sun-bed with the arms 8 of the rotating support anchored to the sun-bed by bolts or pins 9' .

The operation of the sun-bed 1 fastened to its rotating support 2 is as follows: first of all, the operator must place the rotating support 2 on a possibly- plane ground, then he must take the sun-bed 1 and place its legs 5 above the suitable shaped supports 9 observing the indication that points out the head part (this is important because, since the lengths of the arms 8 are not the same, the carrier pin of the rotating support must coincide with the sun-bed barycentre) , and after this the operator must manually rotate the sun-bed remaining standing to make sure that there is no type of obstacle to the rotation.

After the above preparation, the operator can rest onto the sun-bed and, in order to orient it towards the sun, he/she must grasp with a hand the hand-wheel 10 that is immediately below the sun-bed plane and slightly press thereon (similarly to turning a car steering wheel) : the sun-bed immediately starts rotating in the opposite direction to the direction of the force exerted with the hand on the hand-wheel 10.

Grasping the hand-wheel or putting a hand on the ground provides the same result: the operator needs an abutment point to rotate the sun-bed and comfortably he/she finds it on the hand-wheel 10 that is integral with the basement 6.

When the operator is tired of sun-bathing, he/she must rotate the sun-bed till the sun is on his/her back, and he/she will be completely under a shade due to the sun-shade 16/17 or 18/19 (fig. 7 and 6) embedded into the rotating support or the sun-bed.

The advantages of using a sun-bed assembled on a rotating support are several: the first is not having to go down from the sun-bed for changing its position, the second is being able to extremely accurately dose the exposure times to the sun for affected body parts. At the first feeling of excessive heat, for example, on a flank it is enough to rotate by 180 degrees to change flank, or by 90 degrees to sun-bathe frontally or by 90 degrees in the contrary direction to be under the shade and so on.

A third advantage is being able to observe the panorama at 360 degrees without having to rotate the head or extend the neck; another advantage could be to play by slowly continuously rotating; still another advantage could come from being able to turn one's shoulders to sudden and fastidious wind gushes, even with dirt or sand; another advantage could be that a series of rotating sun-beds placed on a line at the right distance one from the other create perfection, even if because, once placed, there is no reason to move them, contrary to before, where the disordered displacement of sun-beds was performed for placement reasons, somebody under a shade, somebody sun-bathing, somebody on the right, somebody on the left, etc.

It must be taken into account that the rotating support for sun-beds is not excessively costly, its structure can be made of painted or zinc-coated iron, of aluminium or of stainless steel, and even of plastics or metal/plastics, different materials with different costs suited for all users.

A very important consideration is that the rotating support equipped with a central pin with a cylinder assembled idle provides for a coupling equipped with a good friction to prevent inertial rotations, actually the sun-bed assembled on the rotating support according to the invention is not a roundabout and in order to make it rotate it is necessary to operate with a certain force on the hand-wheel 10: the force is minimum in order to slowly start from stop, but increases when the rotation speed increases; this as a precaution to prevent the sun- bed from being used by boys as playing unit that afterwards could also generate accidents.

Should the sun-bed be rotated with an external thrust, namely a standing boy that pushes the sun-bed with another boy resting thereon, it would be difficult to make the sun-bed rotate for a complete revolution, since the rotating support would stop before due to friction: in this way the play satisfaction would be missing and anybody would stop playing.

From what has been described and shown above, the invention has no counter-indications, and instead finds favourable applications, particularly for its use in private houses or in hotel swimming pools or in reserved beaches, etc., also for elderly people that could see the rotating sun-bed according to the invention as a solution for their problems.

Figures 9 to 15 show a second embodiment of the rotating support of the type adapted to support two sun- beds.

Figure 9 shows two coupled sun-beds 91 and 92 with their legs 910 placed above the shaped ends 97 and 98 of the rotating structure; on the bottom, it is possible to note the elongation 93 of the carrier pin that has been made in ^' order to be driven perpendicularly to the ground 915 in order to stiffly support the whole rotating structure with two people resting on the sun-beds. It is possible to clearly note the hand-wheel 911 that operates as bearing point for the operator's hand that must exert a force to rotate the structure with the sun-beds 91, 92 without putting his/her hands onto the ground; it is also possible to note the handle 911" of the beach-umbrella 913 inserted in the hand-wheel 911 centre, that is equipped with a joint 912 near the operator resting on the sun-bed.

Figure 10 shows the same three-dimensional view of figure 1, and it is immediately possible to note that the sun-bed 92 has been removed, this in order to better point out the idle rotating cylinder 94, the downwards elongation 93 of the carrier pin and the upwards elongation 914 of the carrier pin that operates as hand- wheel and as beach-umbrella carrier; it is also possible to clearly see the four tie-rods 99 with calibrated spacers 95 and 96. It is possible to note that the tie- rods 99 and the spacers 95 and 96 all converge on the rotating cylinder 94 assembled on the bearings of the internal carrier pin. Figure 11 shows a side view of the rotating structure with sun-beds laid thereon: it is possible to clearly see the tie-rods 99 that are used as reinforcement for the spacers 95 and 96 in order to make rigid the shaped ends 97 and 98 that house the legs 910 of the sun-beds; it is also possible to note the elongation 93 of the carrier pin that is driven in the below ground 915. It is further possible to note that the rotating support is clearly spaced from the ground in order to allow a 360-degree rotation without obstacles, and above it is possible to see the elongation 914 of the carrier pin equipped with a hand-wheel 911 in which the pole of the beach-umbrella 913 houses: in this case the pole is slanted on the joint 912.

■ In figure 12 it is possible to see a three- dimensional view of the whole, completely "bare" rotating structure; here it is possible to see all components such as: the four tie-rods 99 welded to the idle calibrated cylinder 94 on one side and welded on the other side to the shaped ends 97 and 98; also the two spacers 95 and 96 are welded in the cylinder 94 and then at the centre of the shaped ends 97 and 98, the tie-rods 99 are subjected to ^■ a traction force, while the spacers 95 and 96 are subjected to a compression force: all forces are supported by the bearings inside the cylinder 94 of the carrier pin; the structure has been computed to support all forces relevant to the service that it must perform.

• Figure 13 shows a top view of a rotating support supported by a basement abutting onto the ground: the basement is made of five spokes ending with a shaped sheet 916; the spokes, with a tubular shape, are engaged into the tubes 917 welded to the carrier pin. Also the spacers 95 and 96 are of a tubular shape and are inserted, on one side, in the two pipe crop ends 95" and 96" welded to the rotating cylinder 94 and on the other side in the two tube crop ends 95' and 96' welded at their centre to the shaped terminals 97 and 98. The four tie-rods 99 are also movable and connect the rotating cylinder 94 with the shaped ends 97 and 98: it is clear that in this variation the rotating support can be easily disassembled to be transported and used in other places.

Figure 14 shows the section of the carrier pin 918 with all the components: it is possible to note the elongation 93 of the carrier pin 918 driven into the ground 915, then the radial bearings 920 and 921 and the axial bearing 922 that support the calibrated cylinder 94 which is idle. The seger 923 takes care of locking the calibrated cylinder 94, while the tubular spacer 926 keeps the position of the bearing 921; the seger 924 goes near the calibrated cylinder 94 and is used only to prevent the cylinder 94 from being withdrawn with the bearking package during their transport. In the upper part of the carrier pin 918 it is possible to find the elongation 914 that is screwed on the threading 919 and locked by the screw 925 that prevents its unscrewing; the elongation 914 is eguipped with a cylindrical seat 911' for housing the beach-umbrella pole, and is also equipped with a small hand-wheel 911 that is used by the operator resting on the sun-bed as manual bearing point to generate the 360-degree rotation of the rotating support with the two sun-beds placed over it. Always in this figure, it is possible to see the tie-rods 99 fastened to the upper part of the cylinder 94 and the spacers 95 and 96 fastened to the lower part of the cylinder 94, thereby creating a rigid force arm for supporting the weight.

Figure 15 shows another variation of the basement aimed to block the carrier pin; it is possible to note the elongation 93 of said pin fastened to a disc 927 equipped with three holes 928 for passing bolts aimed for fastening with the floor. In particular, this type of basement is aimed for cruising ships and the like or with villas with gardens with floors.

The rotating support according to the invention is characterised in that it allows two people to sun-bathe homogeneously and at the same time to remain nearby, much nearer than before in two traditional sun-beds that, on a beach, were spaced by the beach-umbrella support equipped with an object-carrier plate.

If ^• the existing beach-umbrella assemblies were replaced on a beach with the double-sun-bed rotating supports according to the invention, it would be immediately clear that there would be more space around and at the same time much more order, there would not be any more transversely-placed sun-beds, arranged irregularly like it happens now for obvious reasons, the main cause being the sun "turning" and the fact that necessarily everyone moves his/her sun-bed either for being protected therefrom or for sun-bathing.

^• The insertion of rotating supports can find a high interest in cruising ships and the like and in all solariums or swimming-pools, but also in private houses can the rotating support with two sun-beds be used in place of the support with a single sun-bed.

Should there be a slanted floor, it would be necessary to place the support base on a plane lifting it from the ground by what is necessary to allow the rotation without the shaped ends 95 and 96 touching the higher part of the floor in the operating radius of the rotating support: the ideal solution would be driving the elongation 93 perpendicularly to the plane and letting it project from the ground by what is necessary to allow the above-mentioned rotation.

Other consideration to make is enriching the rotating support with various optionals, namely inserting a box-shaped structure between one sun-bed and the other, this allowing to have: a glass-carrier, a bottle-carrier, a small drawer with key for a wallet, for a cell-phone, etc., an insulated tank with ice for refrigerating beverages, anti-theft chains or blocks and the like, even one or more drawers with key placed below the sun-beds and integral with the rotating structure to place therein bags and the like.

A last but not least consideration to make regarding the use of a rotating support according to the invention is understanding the difference between a rotating support aimed for a single sun-bed and a rotating support aimed to rotate two coupled sun-beds simultaneously.

The difference between a rotating support aimed for a single sun-bed and a rotating support aimed to support two coupled sun-beds according to the invention is that the first one has a central support hinged below the sun- bed and mating with the weight barycentre, while it is clearly understood that it is not possible that the second one insteady complies with the weight barycentre, since two different people must rest: the computation of weights in this solution does not exist any more, and therefore the support must necessarily be sturdy and unflexible.

From what has been written and shown, it is possible to establish that it is in practice impossible to put a hand-wheel below the plane of the two sun-beds without making it project laterally in order then to easily reach it with the hand of the resting operator. The problem would be finding room for the hand-wheel, namely the hand-wheel would have such sizes (about twice the width of a standard sun-bed) that it touched both internal legs of the two coupled sun-beds before laterally projecting from the two mentioned sun-beds. Therefore this would be an unfeasible solution but with the new technical art the hand-wheel has been downsized and taken above the plane of the sun-beds, so that it can be reduced to a handle, also because the whole rotating support is assembled on a single pin, idle and rotating on bearings that in practice can be considered free from frictions.

Preferably, the rotating support can further be equipped with motored moving means (not shown) adapted to move the rotary supporting means 8, 9; 96, 98 when actuated by switching means or remote control means .