6/7/2006The Great Team1 Week 4 : Conceptual Designs Bunk Bed Converter Adam Brown Blaine Gardner Sarah Gleaton Jimmy Jiang Addisu Lemlem Lee Tschaepe.

6/7/2006 The Great Team 1

Week 4 : Conceptual Designs

Bunk Bed Converter

Adam Brown

Blaine Gardner

Sarah Gleaton

Jimmy Jiang

Addisu Lemlem

Lee Tschaepe

6/7/2006 The Great Team 2

Hinge Design• This design allows the

top mattress to be moved down to an even level with the bottom mattress using two hydraulic or spring arms.

• The arms are mounted on a brace below the bottom mattress, with the rear arm slightly offset below the front arm. They are attached to the top mattress frame

• Additionally, it has a leg that can be pulled out for support in the king position.

6/7/2006 The Great Team 3

Pros+ Can be done by one

person, and does not require a large amount of upper body strength

+ The bed is stable in both the bunk and king positions

+ The bed can still be aesthetically pleasing

- Safety may be an issue, as the top mattress needs to always come down at a controlled speed

- The process may take multiple steps, as you may have to unlatch the top mattress from its stable position before pulling it down

Cons

6/7/2006 The Great Team 4

Diagonally Sliding DesignDescription• The frame and lower bed are stationary• The upper bed is attached to the frame at one end and a diagonal

track at the other• The upper bed can be detached from the frame and held as it

slides down next to the lower bed

6/7/2006 The Great Team 5

Diagonally Sliding Design

• Pros (+)– Few moving parts

– Simple to use design

– One-person operation is possible

– Easy to lower – equal vertical force is needed from user throughout the descent

• Cons (-)– Frame would remain even when converted to king-size bed

– Much harder to raise into bunk-bed position than to lower

6/7/2006 The Great Team 6

Fold Over

6/7/2006 The Great Team 7

Diagonally Sliding Design

• Pros (+)– Very Stable– Simple to use design– Few moving parts

• Cons (-)– Difficult for one person to do– Requires removal of various bolts to flip the bed

assembly

6/7/2006 The Great Team 8

Slotted Design

6/7/2006 The Great Team 9

Description:

• Lower bunk slides in/out on rails

• Upper bunk slides up/down in slots

•Upper bunk is held in place by a rotating latch assembly

• A cable and wound spring provide lift assistance

Pros:

• Slides straight up/down

Cons

• Lower bed would be in the way when lowering the upper bed

• Large amount of moving parts/complex design & higher cost

•Hard to keep front and back of upper bed synchronized when moving the assembly up/down

6/7/2006 The Great Team 10

•Lower bunk slides out through a track sub-assembly•Foldable corner legs provide support for lower bunk bed in extended position•By turning a crank, the upper bunk bed flips and falls into alignment with extended lower bunk•Reversing the direction of the crank will pull bed back up and lower bunk can then be pushed back in for the compressed position.

Flipper Design

6/7/2006 The Great Team 11

Design Advantages and Disadvantages

• Pros (+)– Lower bunk can slide in/out easily– Upper bunk bed aligns well with lower bed after the

upper piece is lowered.

• Cons (-) – Difficult to move top bunk up and down– Crank arm requires a great deal of force to move the

upper bed

• Interesting– How to improve the mechanical advantage to allow

the user to move the top bed up/down more easily

6/7/2006 The Great Team 12

Summary

• Hinge Design

• Diagonal Design

• Fold Over Design

• Slotted Design

• Flipper Design