US3860307A - Bedside table - Google Patents

Abstract

A swivel top table is provided having a rotatable upper section which mounts a drawer. The rotatable upper section is provided with means for locking the section in several predetermined positions depending upon the position of the user. Two L-shaped doors are provided in a lower section with independent locking means to provide substantially complete access to the inner portion of the lower section. The table is particularly suitable for bedriddent patients who generally are unable to rotate the entire table to obtain access to the drawer or the cabinet portion.

Description

United States Patent [191 Fostel 1 Jan. 14, 1975 1 BEDSIDE TABLE [21] Appl. No.: 339,989

[52] US. Cl. 312/252, 312/324 [51] Int. Cl. A47b 49/00, A47b 88/00 [58] Field of Search 312/252, 324; 108/94, 103, 108/139, 142

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 443,713 12/1890 Mecoy 108/94 846,848 3/1907 Herzog 312/324 X 1,428,275 9/1922 Dahl 108/94 1,781,015 11/1930 Keipp 108/142 1,880,386 10/1932 Gray 108/94 X 2,570,747 10/l951 Bailey 108/142 X 2,680,660 6/1954 Stephens 108/94 2,680,666 6/1954 Orlando 312/252 X 3,343,901 9/1967 Marcus 312/252 X 3,376,086 4/1968 Fisher 312/234 X Primary ExaminerPaul R Gilliam Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pennie & Edmonds [57] ABSTRACT A swivel top table is provided having a rotatable upper section which mounts a drawer. The rotatable upper section is provided with means for locking the section in several predetermined positions depending upon the position of the user. Two L-shaped doors are provided in a lower section with independent locking means to provide substantially complete access to the inner portion of the lower section. The table is particularly suitable for bedriddent patients who generally are unable to rotate the entire table to obtain access to the drawer or the cabinet portion.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIEHIED JAN I 4 I975SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

BEDSIDE TABLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to swivel top tables of the type having a rotatably mounted upper swivel section particularly adaptable for use in hospitals.

2. Description of the Prior Art Bedside tables of the prior art generally provide a pivotally mounted door in the front section and the rear section so as to provide access from either side. This convenience was primarily intended for bedridden individuals to provide ready access to the inner portion of the lower or cabinet section of the table with minimum effort. A drawer was provided generally in the upper section of the table with a provision for front mounting or rear mounting as required by the individual user. A part of the wall section of the bedside table in the rear portion was removable to facilitate inserting the drawer therein. Thus the drawer could be mounted in the front or the rear of the cabinet.

British Pat. No. 634,749 relates to a bedside cabinet which includes a swivelled upper part which can be rotated to provide access to the drawer from several directions. However no means are provided for locking the roatable section in position once a desired position is selected. Thus a slight force exerted against the upper section will result in rotation of the section away from the desired position thereby creating an unnecesssary inconvenience for bedridden patients who may be unable to rotate the upper portion.

It is therefore an object of this invention to create a bedside table of the type described but having a drawer section which may be used from two or more sides without the necessity to perform any conversions such as rotating the entire table for the convenience of a particular user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bedside table of the type described having a swivelling upper part which is capable of swivelling into any desired position and locked in that position. Thus a drawer of the bedside table may be used in such a way that it does not swivel further with the upper part if a slight force is exerted against it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To attain these objects, the invention provides that the upper part which houses the drawer is swivellingly connected to rotate about a vertical axis relative to the lower part, with means for locking the upper part in several predetermined positions. By swivelling the upper part into any desired position the drawer of the bedside table may be used from the one of several sides. The swivelling of the upper part can be done easily by a person in bed and does not provide any difficulties, while a detent means provides for locking the upper part in a selected position.

The invention further relates to the provision of a supporting plate in the lower section at its upper side on which the upper section rests with an appropriate supporting plate by means of a bolt connected thereto. The bolt penetrates the lower support plate.

The object of the invention is solved by the provision of an upper supporting plate with recesses in a circular arrangement for two or more stop balls carried in holes of a lower supporting plate, against which springs are resting from below. By this arrangement of the balls an engaging reception thereof is made possible in several swivelled positions on the one hand, while on the other hand a smooth gliding is ensured'on the lower part while rotating the upper part. The stop balls may be arranged in such a way in this connection that the exact adjustment of the upper part on the lower part is possible if all edges are made to be aligned. The invention also relates to the provision of a bolt member with an adjusting nut supporting itself by way of a spring at the lower end of a guide member which surrounds the bolt. The above-mentioned spring at the end of the guide member provides additional support and the bias of the springs against the stop balls may be selected depending on the particular use intended.

Finally the invention relates to the provision of eight stop recesses in circular arrangement in the upper supporting plate so that the upper part together with drawer may be swivelled and locked at 45 intervals.

Broading stated, a swivel top table is provided having a rotatably mounted upper swivel section which is capable of being locked by a detent means at selected rotational positions. A lower stationary section is provided with at least one door member pivotally mounted thereon to provide access to the inner portion of the lower section. An upper section preferably having a drawer slidably mounted therein, is provided with a substantially planar upper table surface. The upper section is pivotally mounted on the lower section in a manner which permits rotatable swivel movement of the upper section relative to the lower section. Detent means are provided to lock the upper section in selected positions relative to the lower section such that the upper section may be conveniently rotated to any number of positions and locked in the selected position. The preferred table of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in hospitals and thus includes two L-shaped door members which provide substanially complete access to the inner portion of the lower section of the table when opened. Such door members cover portions of an adjacent wall when in a fully opened position. Rotational swivelling support of the upper section is provided by an upper supporting plate which is adapted to rotatably swivel about a vertical axis on a lower supporting plate connected to the lower section of the table by a bolt member. A plurality of stop balls or ball bearing members are positioned in openings in the lower supporting plate while spring members resiliently bias the ball members upwardly in engaging relation with the lower surface portion of the upper support plate. The upper support plate has correspondingly arranged recesses which engageably receive the balls and lock the upper section in position when it is rotated to specified positions. Thus the arrangement as well as the number of balls determines the rotational increments which the upper section may be rotated between locked positions. In the preferred embodiment, eight stop balls are equally spaced to form a circular arrangement while a corresponding arrangement of eight equally spaced recesses are provided on the lower or under surface of the upper support plate. Thus, with such an arrangement, the upper section of the table may be rotated freely while providing locking positions every 45 of rotational movement of the upper section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention are described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bedside table according to the invention with one door shown partially open;

FIG. 2 is an appropriate representation of the bedside table with the upper swivel section shown partially rotated;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the upper section of the bedside table with sidewall portions broken away;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the inner portion of the rotatable upper section taken along section 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the locking feature of the doors of the bedside table;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the connection between the upper and lower sections of the bedside table taken along sections 66 of FIG.- 4; and

FIG. 7 is a one-half portion of a top view of the bedside table with the top table portion removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS From the drawings it may be seen that the bedside table according to the invention includes a lower section with feet and two L-shaped doors, 2, 3 and a storage area therein, preferably having a horizontally supported storage shelf as shown in FIG. 1 Anupper section 4, houses a slidably mounteddrawer 5. Theupper section 4 may be swivelled to such an extent that the drawer may be used from any desired direction as is shown in FIG. 2. For this purpose theupper section 4 is swivellingly connected with the lower part 1 of the bedside table by means of abolt 6. The bolt is also connected to a supportingplate 7 of which the upper part is connected, such as by welding withframe 8 of the upper part. The lower section 1 is provided at itsupper frame part 9 with an appropriate supportingplate 10, which is provided with centre bore 11 and abushing 12. Thebushing 12 is inserted in the plate 11 and serves to guide andsupport bolt 6. At the free end ofbolt 6 there is provided a nut 13. At its free end the bolt supports anintermediate spring 14 at the lower end ofbushing 12. The bolt is secured againstspring 14. Between supportingplate 7 and plate there may be arranged several balls such as 15 to 19 as shown (three balls not shown in FIG. 7) in holes inplate 10 which are held from below and biased upwardly bysprings 20, 21. Thus through the action ofsprings 20, 21 theballs 15 to 19 are engageably received inrecesses 22, 23 in previously determined swivelling positions of the upper section to provide a detent or lock. Such balls may be of any type which is capable of supporting the bearing loads provided by the upper section. Thus for the purpose of this description, these balls may be referred to as ball bearing members.

Bothdoors 2, 3 are locked withdouble hooks 24 in the manner shown in FIG. 5 such that at any time only one door may be opened if desired.

As indicated in FIG. 7, there are provided eight balls equally spaced and circularly arranged such that adjacent balls are spaced by approximately a 45 are on the 6 circle. The appropriate correspondingly arranged recesses 22, 23 in the lower surface portion of the upper supportingplate 7, make it possible to swivel and lock theupper section 4 relative to the stationary lower section 1 every 45 of rotation such that a position such as the position of theupper section 4 may be reached as represented in FIG. 2.

The numbers and arrangements of the balls and recesses can be varied to determine the desirable stop angles provided in the pivotal incremental movements of the upper section of the table. The convenience to bedridden patients unable to rotate the entire table to facilitate the use of the drawer may be clearly seen from the versatility of the table as described.

I claim:

I. A swivel top table which comprises:

a. a first stationary section which defines a lower storage compartment;

b. door members pivotally mounted on adjacent portions of a rear wall of the first section, said members having open and closed positions and being so configured that when at least one door member is rotated to the open position, access is provided to the inner storage compartment of said first section from a plurality of directions;

c. a second section pivotally mounted to an upper portion of said lower section for rotatable swivel movement with respect thereto;

(1. a lower support plate connected to the upper portion of said lower section;

e. an upper support plate supporting said upper section on said lower section;

f. a substantially elongated member connected to said upper support plate and extending through a substantially central opening in said lower support plate, to pivotally support said upper support plate on said lower support plate;

g. bearing means between said upper and lower support plates rotatably suspporting said upper support plate on said lower support plate to thereby provide rotatable swivel movement of said upper swivel section relative to said lower section;

h. a substantially elongated guide member attached to said lower support plate to pivotably support said elongated pivot member with said upper and lower support plates in face-to-face spaced relation;

j. a resilient member received on the free end portion of said elongated pivot member;

k. a locking member received on said free end portion of said elongated pivot member and adapted to adjustably secure said upper and lower sections in assembled relation.

1. a plate member fixed substantially horizontally to the upper portion of said rotatable upper section so as to form a table rotatable with the upper section in a manner such that access to substantially all portions of the upper surface of the table may be provided from one direction by rotating said upper section;

m. a storage receptacle slidably mounted in the upper rotatable section and rotatable therewith such that access is provided to said receptacle from a plurality of directions corresponding to rotated positions of the upper section; and

n. means to fix the upper section in selected rotated positions relative to the lower section such that rotation of said upper section with respect to said lower section facilitates access to the entire upper surface of said table while said lower section is maintained in a stationary position, thereby providing convenient accessibility to substantially all portions of the table.

2. The swivel top table according to claim 1 wherein said upper support plate is supported on said lower support plate by spaced ball bearing means positioned securely therebetween.

3. The swivel top table according toclaim 2 wherein said ball bearing support means comprises: at least two spaced substantially spherical ball bearing members received within openings defined by the lower support plate; resilient means to bias said ball bearing members upwardly against said upper support plate; and at least two correspondingly spaced recesses in a lower surface portion of the upper support plate to engageably receive said ball members therein and to lock the position of said upper section in selected positions relative to said lower section.

4. The swivel top table according toclaim 3 further comprising: eight spherical ball bearing members received within eight spaced openings defined by said lower support plate, said openings being equally spaced in a circular arrangement having 45 of are between adjacent balls and said upper plate having eight spaced recesses in the lower surface portion, said recesses being spaced in a circular arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of said balls; and a spring member associated with each ball and adapted to resiliently bias said balls against the lower surface portion of said upper support plate such that said upper section may be rotated in 45 increments and locked in selected positions by the engageable reception of said balls in the said recesses of said upper support plate.

5. The swivel top table according toclaim 4 further comprising two bshaped door members pivotally mounted on two adjacent corner portions of the lower section, said doors adapted to provide substantially complete access to the inner portion of said lower section when in an open position by being pivotally rotated so as to be substantially parallel to an adjacent wall.

6. The swivel top table according toclaim 5 wherein each of said door is provided with a locking device so as to provide independent opening of said doors.

7. A swivel top bedside table comprising in combinaa. a lower section having a storage portion therein; b. two substantially L-shaped door members pivotally said door members having separate locking means associated therewith;

c. an upper section having a receptacle defining a drawer slidably mounted therein and a substantially horizontal plate member defining an upper table surface;

d. an upper support plate for supporting said upper section, said plate having eight spaced-apart recesses in a lower surface portion, said recesses being distributed in a circular arrangement having approximately 45 of arc between adjacent recesses;

e. a lower support plate connected to said lower section and adapted to support said upper support plate, said lower support plate having a central opening extending therethrough, said lower support plate further defining eight openings equally spaced in a circular arrangement corresponding to said arrangement of recesses in said upper support plate and having approximately 45 of are between adjacent openings;

. a cylindrical bushing member connected to said lower support plate and projecting from a lower portion of said lower support plate, said bushing member having a substantially cylindrical central opening substantially coinciding with the central opening of the lower support plate;

g. ball members positioned in the openings of said lower support plate;

h. spring members positioned on the rearward portion of said lower support plate behind said openings and adapted to resiliently bias said ball members upwardly from said lower support plate;

. a cylindrical bolt member connected to said upper support plate and extending through the central opening of the lower support plate and through said bushing member to pivotally support said upper support plate on said lower support pllate with the lower surface portion of the upper support plate in engaging relation with said ball members;

j. a spring member received on the end portion of said bolt member; and

k. a locking member received on the free end portion of said bolt member against said spring member, said locking member adapted to resiliently assemble said upper section and said lower section such that rotation of said upper section in 45 increments will cause said ball members to be engageably received in the spaced recesses of said upper section thereby locking said upper section in selected positions relative to said lower section.

Claims (7)

1. A swivel top table which comprises: a. a first stationary section which defines a lower storage compartment; b. door members pivotally mounted on adjacent portions of a rear wall oF the first section, said members having open and closed positions and being so configured that when at least one door member is rotated to the open position, access is provided to the inner storage compartment of said first section from a plurality of directions; c. a second section pivotally mounted to an upper portion of said lower section for rotatable swivel movement with respect thereto; d. a lower support plate connected to the upper portion of said lower section; e. an upper support plate supporting said upper section on said lower section; f. a substantially elongated member connected to said upper support plate and extending through a substantially central opening in said lower support plate, to pivotally support said upper support plate on said lower support plate; g. bearing means between said upper and lower support plates rotatably suspporting said upper support plate on said lower support plate to thereby provide rotatable swivel movement of said upper swivel section relative to said lower section; h. a substantially elongated guide member attached to said lower support plate to pivotably support said elongated pivot member with said upper and lower support plates in face-to-face spaced relation; j. a resilient member received on the free end portion of said elongated pivot member; k. a locking member received on said free end portion of said elongated pivot member and adapted to adjustably secure said upper and lower sections in assembled relation. l. a plate member fixed substantially horizontally to the upper portion of said rotatable upper section so as to form a table rotatable with the upper section in a manner such that access to substantially all portions of the upper surface of the table may be provided from one direction by rotating said upper section; m. a storage receptacle slidably mounted in the upper rotatable section and rotatable therewith such that access is provided to said receptacle from a plurality of directions corresponding to rotated positions of the upper section; and n. means to fix the upper section in selected rotated positions relative to the lower section such that rotation of said upper section with respect to said lower section facilitates access to the entire upper surface of said table while said lower section is maintained in a stationary position, thereby providing convenient accessibility to substantially all portions of the table.

2. The swivel top table according to claim 1 wherein said upper support plate is supported on said lower support plate by spaced ball bearing means positioned securely therebetween.

3. The swivel top table according to claim 2 wherein said ball bearing support means comprises: at least two spaced substantially spherical ball bearing members received within openings defined by the lower support plate; resilient means to bias said ball bearing members upwardly against said upper support plate; and at least two correspondingly spaced recesses in a lower surface portion of the upper support plate to engageably receive said ball members therein and to lock the position of said upper section in selected positions relative to said lower section.

4. The swivel top table according to claim 3 further comprising: eight spherical ball bearing members received within eight spaced openings defined by said lower support plate, said openings being equally spaced in a circular arrangement having 45* of arc between adjacent balls and said upper plate having eight spaced recesses in the lower surface portion, said recesses being spaced in a circular arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of said balls; and a spring member associated with each ball and adapted to resiliently bias said balls against the lower surface portion of said upper support plate such that said upper section may be rotated in 45* increments and locked in selected positions by the engageable reception of said balls in the said recesses of said uppeR support plate.

5. The swivel top table according to claim 4 further comprising two L-shaped door members pivotally mounted on two adjacent corner portions of the lower section, said doors adapted to provide substantially complete access to the inner portion of said lower section when in an open position by being pivotally rotated so as to be substantially parallel to an adjacent wall.

6. The swivel top table according to claim 5 wherein each of said door is provided with a locking device so as to provide independent opening of said doors.

7. A swivel top bedside table comprising in combination: a. a lower section having a storage portion therein; b. two substantially L-shaped door members pivotally mounted on said lower section along two adjacent corner portions thereof such that substantially complete access to the inner portion of said lower section is provided from a plurality of directions when said doors are in an open position, each of said door members having separate locking means associated therewith; c. an upper section having a receptacle defining a drawer slidably mounted therein and a substantially horizontal plate member defining an upper table surface; d. an upper support plate for supporting said upper section, said plate having eight spaced-apart recesses in a lower surface portion, said recesses being distributed in a circular arrangement having approximately 45* of arc between adjacent recesses; e. a lower support plate connected to said lower section and adapted to support said upper support plate, said lower support plate having a central opening extending therethrough, said lower support plate further defining eight openings equally spaced in a circular arrangement corresponding to said arrangement of recesses in said upper support plate and having approximately 45*of arc between adjacent openings; f. a cylindrical bushing member connected to said lower support plate and projecting from a lower portion of said lower support plate, said bushing member having a substantially cylindrical central opening substantially coinciding with the central opening of the lower support plate; g. ball members positioned in the openings of said lower support plate; h. spring members positioned on the rearward portion of said lower support plate behind said openings and adapted to resiliently bias said ball members upwardly from said lower support plate; i. a cylindrical bolt member connected to said upper support plate and extending through the central opening of the lower support plate and through said bushing member to pivotally support said upper support plate on said lower support pllate with the lower surface portion of the upper support plate in engaging relation with said ball members; j. a spring member received on the end portion of said bolt member; and k. a locking member received on the free end portion of said bolt member against said spring member, said locking member adapted to resiliently assemble said upper section and said lower section such that rotation of said upper section in 45* increments will cause said ball members to be engageably received in the spaced recesses of said upper section thereby locking said upper section in selected positions relative to said lower section.

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