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Because of the volume of historical information on
this important topic it will have to be presented in
two parts. Part one (following) is our historical look
at the engineering developments that occurred in the
early 80's through about 1987. Part two (to be printed
in the Winter issue), will focus on developments from
1988 to the present. Some very interesting details about
the history of the first sucessful bi-fold (Ron Massey's
T.H.I.S. frame, produced by National Woodcraft of Montreal)
can be found on our web site (www.futonlife.com) in
the archive of the Spring 1996 issue (V8 N1) which featured
Massey.
Since this is a story about mechanisms and not the
personalities who created them, we will be using illustrations
from certain patents as well as some of our own drawings.
These later drawings may not be mechanically accurate
in their dimensions or design, but should be accurate
enough for our purposes.
The
Brouwer Bed 1982-83
The Brouwer Bed utilized a simple ladder hinge as its
main converting tool (See Figure1).
This simple locking hinge could only operate in one
direction and therefore acted as a stop when converted
to the bed position. Built in legs, attached to the
outer slat racks, helped stabilize the frame in the
bed position.
Brouwer achieved his conversion by cutting a groove
into the end of the slat rack end caps and used the
ladder hinge as his pivot point.
These early frames spared no expense and used heavy
5/4 and 6/4 oak, maple and cherry to sustain the forces
exerted by the sixty to eighty pound futon mattress
during the conversion process.
 To
keep the slat racks attached to the base, Brouwer used
a wooden slide with a brass pin. The pin fit into a
hole in the center slat rack end cap and the wooden
slide fit into a routed groove in the base. (See Figure
2). This sliding block and pin, in one form or another,
became a standard part of many future mechanisms. An
interesting historical note is that William Brouwer
once built weaving looms and used his experience as
a loom maker in the design of his convertible futon
frames.
When the frame was assembled, the slat rack end caps
and frame base were flush (See Figure 3).
The Brouwer Bed was the first design to find its way
into South American factories where low priced knockoffs
were manufactured. The Brouwer bed, though not technologically
perfect, was none-the-less awarded the 1983 Daphne Award
for the best new design at the High Point Furniture
Market.
One of the drawbacks of this early design involved
an issue that puzzled many of the pioneer designers.
During the conversion process the base of the frame
had to move. If the frame sat in the middle of the room
it wasn't as bad as when it sat against a wall. Another
drawback involved having to get behind, or at least
near, the back of the frame to convert it from a bed
into a sofa.
1985
- The Apart or T.H.I.S. frame
This early frame design breakthrough came at the request
of a Canadian retailer to designer/manufacturer Ron
Massey. Massey had been making RTA furniture for
ten or twelve years. He had been making futon furniture
for about two. His first design was a simple lounger
with a thirty-nine inch (twin futon mattress) width.
He had fashioned three slat racks that connected at
the ends of the middle rack. The Lounger utilized a
sisal rope with a wooden block attached at its end.
The block fit in between the slats and, with a twist
of the block, locked the rope to a specific length,
thereby locking the frame into several lounge positions
(See Figure 4). Massey then decided to use a variation
of this design in a much wider, seventy-five inch frame.
He fashioned a 3/4 inch peg and attached it to a rawhide
lanyard. The peg would be the locking device. His frame's
arms would attach with stretchers, forming the seventy-five
inch base
The slat racks forming the back rest and the seat were
attached with a simple bolt or cotter pin at the hinge
point. The peg locked the back rest in a vertical position
through a hole at the top of each arm. The vertical
back rest's end cap was long enough to touch the floor,
thereby making the frame very stable. When each peg
was removed the backrest would drop to a horizontal
attitude and the seat would also lay flat from its pitched
attitude. When both the back rest and seat were horizontal,
the pins could be pushed into a second hole at the bottom
of the arm, locking the slat racks into the sleeping
position.
Neither the Brouwer Bed or the T.H.I.S. were technological
marvels, but they were the first frames of their kind
to be manufactured at high enough volumes to provide
the fuel for the initial growth of a young futon furniture
industry.
1985
- The Fireman Factor
On January 8, 1985 Bob Fireman applied for a patent
for a new futon frame which was the basis for several
later designs. He was eventually assigned the patent
in 1987. This new mechanism allowed the frame to convert
from seating to sleeping without having to move it away
from the wall. Hence the term "wall-hugger".
This mechanism utilized a sliding block and pin similar
in design to the earlier Brouwer Bed but on a full seventy-five
inch wide sofa-bed. It also employed a braced pivot
point that attached to the rear base stretcher. The
frame converted in the following manner. By lifting
up on the front of the seat (while in the sitting position)
one would disengage a simple locking device and the
seat could be pulled out, towards the person converting
the frame. The backrest would begin to drop but would
not extend backward, as the frame design allowed the
seat and backrest to move towards the front of the frame
at the same time. A leg, attached to the underside of
the seat, dropped down to support the front of the seat,
which now extended almost eighteen inches beyond the
front of the base frame. The backrest and remainder
of the seat were supported by the base frame (See Figure
5). This inaugural Fireman frame, called the Vida, was
the first of a long line of frames developed while Bob
was with From The Source. It was also the first wall-hugger.
Fireman was never fully satisfied with the Vida. He
always felt the mechanism could be improved. After many
weeks of trial and error in a Tennessee wood shop he
finally discovered a solution. Using two pencils tied
together with a piece of string Fireman imitated the
movement of two wheels which he envisioned would travel
in two grooves. One would move vertically in a groove
cut into the leg portion of the arm assembly while the
other moved horizontally in the arm's cross member.
The design of the moving parts had to achieve three
distinct and separate goals, all at the same time. First,
all the parts had to move simultaneously. Second they
had to move smoothly from close to open and back again.
And thirdly they had to lock securely in both the sitting
and sleeping positions. Fireman left Tennessee for home
not knowing whether or not the idea would work. By the
time he arrived in New York the jury was in. His partners
in Tennessee called to confirm that it worked, and the
SI mechanism was born (See Figure 6).
1988
- Who's on First?
Two companies claim the origination of the famous kicker
apparatus. Patent applications for two very different
overall mechanisms were placed with the US Patent office
in the early months of 1988. On March 18, 1988 a patent
was applied for by Gilles Tremblay of Futonair in Canada
and on April 8, 1988 Bob Fireman and Gary Shaffield
applied for their design. Both designs were issued patents
the following year. Fireman et al. received a patent
on May 16, 1989 and Tremblay received one on October
24, 1989. Each frame employed two small wooden blocks
that greatly aided the conversion process. The "kicker,"
as it would be called, used the force of gravity to
do its work. The kickers were attached to the end caps
of the seat slat rack (See Figures 6&7;). As a person
began to convert the frame from the horizontal sleeping
position they would simply lift the seat rack to an
almost ninety degree angle. As this angle was acheived
the kickers would wedge themselves between their stationary
pivoting points and the end caps of the back rest. When
locking occurred the person converting the frame could
now easily push back the entire assembly into the sitting
position from the front of the frame.
Several other interesting facts about the differences
in two frames are evident in their design. The new Futonair
mechanism was a wall hugger and the SI mechanism was
not. The Tremblay design, originally a Canadian patent
application of March 1987, worked solely on a horizontal
track like the one used in the Brouwer bed design. This
tactic allowed the frame to be a wall hugger. The SI
mechanism worked on both the horizontal and vertical
planes giving it a very stable feeling. Both of these
designs are still on the market, the SI or "slider"
mechanism has been used extensively by many manufacturers
and is probably the single most popular futon frame
mechanism to date.
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