Furniture bench with hidden pet ramp
View Patent ↗A piece of household furniture in the form of a bench seat that is equipped with a pet ramp. The pet ramp is stored under a cushion portion of the household furniture and hidden from view until deployed so that a pet can ascend the ramp to the cushion and therefrom to a bed. The pet ramp is slideable from the hidden position and extended from the side of the bench seat to form an incline. A pet can thus move from the floor to the cushion via the inclined ramp, and from the cushion to the bed. When the pet ramp is not in use and stowed to the hidden position, the bench seat appears as a typical piece of furniture.
1 . An item of household furniture, comprising:
a bench seat that includes four legs and a cushion support supported by said legs;
a cushion supported by said cushion support, said cushion for sitting on by a user thereof;
a ramp that is constructed so as to be overall rigid, and said ramp is extendable from a hidden position under said cushion to a position extended from one side of said bench seat, said ramp having a top surface on which a pet can move;
an edge of said ramp accessible for grasping to extend said ramp outwardly from under said cushion;
said ramp is pivotally mounted at one side thereof to said bench seat so that when said ramp is pivoted until an opposite side of said ramp engages with a floor, said ramp provides an inclined surface; and
whereby when said top surface of said ramp is hidden under said bench seat, said bench seat appears as conventional household furniture.
2 . The item of household furniture of claim 1 , wherein said ramp top surface is planar and slideable from the hidden position under the cushion.
3 . The item of household furniture of claim 1 , wherein said bench seat is constructed with opposing spaced-apart slotted rails, and said ramp includes opposing spaced-apart pegs, where each said peg is adapted for sliding in a respective slot of one said rail.
4 . The item of household furniture of claim 3 , wherein each slot of said slotted rails includes a stop at opposing ends thereof so that said pegs are adapted for abutting against respective said slots at extreme endpoints of ramp movement.
5 . The item of household furniture of claim 1 , wherein said cushion support, said legs and said ramp are all constructed of wood and stained to provide a furniture appearance.
6 . The item of household furniture of claim 5 , wherein said bench seat is upholstered with a soft cushion.
7 . The item of household furniture of claim 1 , further including a handle attached to said edge of said ramp for grasping and moving said ramp with respect to said bench seat.
8 . The item of household furniture of claim 1 , wherein said ramp further includes a first leg and a second leg, each of said first leg and said second leg pivotally mounted adjacent to the edge of said ramp that is opposite said one side of the ramp adjacent to said bench seat, each said leg of said first leg and said second leg being pivotal from a position under said ramp and parallel to said ramp, to a position substantially perpendicular to said ramp, and each said leg of said first and second legs having a length so that when said furniture rests on the floor, said ramp is substantially parallel to said floor, and said ramp effectively enlarges a top surface of said bench seat.
9 . The item of household furniture of claim 8 , when said ramp is extended from said bench seat, said first and second legs can be folded and pivoted to the position under said ramp and the edge of said ramp can pivot to rest on the floor, and said ramp provides an inclined surface.
10 . An item of household furniture, comprising:
an upholstered seat covered with a fabric including one of cloth, vinyl or leather;
a seat support constructed of wood for supporting an outer periphery of said upholstered seat, said wood seat support having four sides, each said seat support side stained with a suitable color to provide a household furniture appearance;
four wooden legs supporting said wood seat support, said four wooden legs stained to match the stain of said wood seat support;
a pet ramp constructed of wood and stained with said suitable color to match that of said wood seat support and said wood legs, said pet ramp slideable horizontally from a position under said upholstered seat and generally hidden from view, to a position extended from one side of said wood seat support;
an edge of said pet ramp accessible for grasping to extend said pet ramp outwardly from under said upholstered seat; and
said pet ramp pivotally mounted to said wood seat support so that the edge thereof can be pivoted downwardly and rest on a floor, whereby said pet ramp is inclined with respect to said wood seat support.
11 . The item of household furniture of claim 10 , wherein said pet ramp is hidden from view under said upholstered seat except for said edge.
12 . The item of household furniture of claim 11 , wherein said edge of said pet ramp includes a handle for pulling said pet ramp from the hidden position to said extended position.
13 . The item of household furniture of claim 10 , wherein said pet ramp includes pegs on opposite sides thereof, and said wood seat support includes a slide arrangement, said slide arrangement including a respective slot in opposite sides of said wood seat support for receiving therein a respective said pet ramp peg, whereby said pet ramp can be moved from said hidden position to said extended position using said pegs sliding in said respective wood seat support slots.
14 . The item of household furniture of claim 13 , wherein each said wood seat support slot is elongated and includes respective first stops at one end thereof, and including second stops located at an opposite end of said wood seat support from which said pet ramp extends, said slots adjacent to said second stops each include a downwardly depending depression into which a respective said peg drops when said pet ramp is in the extended position, whereby said pet ramp is prevented from being moved from said extended position to said hidden position until said ramp is raised to remove said pegs from the respective depressions.
15 . The item of household furniture of claim 10 , wherein said pet ramp further includes a pair of legs pivotally located at an outer part thereof so that when said pet ramp is moved to the extended position, said pair of legs can be pivoted downwardly to support said pet ramp in a horizontal position, whereby said upholstered seat forms a first seat, and said horizontal pet ramp forms a second seat.
16 . The item of household furniture of claim 10 , wherein said seat support further includes a side opening through which said pet ramp moves from a position under the upholstered seat outwardly to an inclined position, and further including a door hinged to a closed position to hide said side opening.