Piece of furniture and electromotive furniture drive comprising a charging apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to an electromotive furniture drive comprising at least one adjusting drive (7, 8) for electromotively adjusting at least one movable furniture part relative to further furniture parts, and comprising a control device (9) for actuating the at least one adjusting drive (7, 8), and also comprising a charging apparatus (10) having at least one charging connection (11) for supplying power to an external electronic device. The electromotive furniture drive is distinguished in that the charging apparatus (10) has a cable (13) for connection to the control device (9), wherein the cable (13) leads from the control device (9) to a voltage converter (112) to which the at least one charging connection (11) is connected. The invention further relates to an item of furniture, in particular an item of furniture for sleeping or resting on, comprising an electromotive furniture drive of this kind comprising a charging apparatus (10).

Claims

1. An electromotive furniture drive, comprising: an adjusting drive for electromotive adjustment of a movable furniture part relative to a further furniture part; a control device configured to actuate the adjusting drive; a voltage converter; and a charging apparatus including a charging connection connected to the voltage converter and supplying power to an external electronic device, said charging apparatus including a cable for connection to the control device or for connection to a power supply unit for supplying the control device, said cable leading from the control device or from the power supply unit to the voltage converter, wherein the cable is supplied by the control device with an operating voltage which is greater than a voltage which is provided at the charging connection.

2. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the operating voltage is greater by a factor of at least 4 than the voltage provided at the charging connection.

3. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the operating voltage is greater by a factor of at least 5 than the voltage provided at the charging connection.

4. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the operating voltage is between 24 and 30V and the voltage provided at the charging connection is 5V.

5. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the charging connection is a USB socket.

6. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the voltage converter is a switching converter.

7. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the voltage converter comprises a hybrid module in which a semiconductor component and a passive component are integrated.

8. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 7, wherein the passive component is a power-transmitting passive component.

9. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 7, wherein the hybrid module includes integrated therein a power-transmitting capacitor, whereas a power transmitting coil is located externally from the hybrid module.

10. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, further comprising a common circuit board on which both the charging connection and the voltage converter are arranged.

11. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, further comprising a mounting box configured for arrangement on a piece of furniture or embedded in a piece of furniture, said charging connection being built into the mounting box.

12. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, further comprising a manual control unit having operating elements for controlling the adjusting drive, said charging connection being built into the manual control unit.

13. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 1, wherein the cable is a spiral cable.

14. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 11, wherein the mounting box includes a housing, and further comprising a common circuit board on which both the charging connection and the voltage converter are arranged and which is installed in the housing of the mounting box.

15. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 12, wherein the manual control unit includes a housing, and further comprising a common circuit board on which both the charging connection and the voltage converter are arranged and which is installed in the housing of the manual control unit.

16. The electromotive furniture drive of claim 12, wherein the cable comprises supply cores connected to the voltage converter and control cores connected to the operating elements, with the supply cores and the control cores having a same conductor cross-section.

17. A piece of furniture, in particular sleeping or resting furniture, said piece of furniture comprising: a movable furniture part; a further furniture part; and an electromotive furniture drive including an adjusting drive for electromotive adjustment of the movable furniture part relative to the further furniture part, a control device configured to actuate the adjusting drive, a voltage converter, and a charging apparatus including a charging connection connected to the voltage converter and supplying power to an external electronic device, said charging apparatus including a cable for connection to the control device or for connection to a power supply unit for supplying the control device, said cable leading from the control device or from the power supply unit to the voltage converter, wherein the cable is supplied by the control device with an operating voltage which is greater than a voltage which is provided at the charging connection.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The invention will be explained in more detail below by reference to embodiment examples and figures, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment example of a piece of furniture with an electromotive furniture drive and a charging apparatus;

(3) FIGS. 2a, b show the charging apparatus from FIG. 1 in various illustrations; and

(4) FIG. 3 shows an additional charging apparatus for use with an electromotive furniture drive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(5) FIG. 1 shows a bed 1 as an example of a piece of furniture with an electromotive furniture drive. Bed 1 has at least one support element 3 to accommodate an upholstery or a mattress M, for example. Bed 1 is equipped with at least one support element 3. Bed 1 can be designed as a single bed for one person or as a double bed for several persons. The support element 3 is designed e.g. as a slatted frame, as a flat supporting surface or the like and is mounted on or inserted into a base element 2, here a frame with feet, with which the bed 1 is set up at an installation location, e.g. a floor.

(6) In the example shown, support element 3 has a back part 4 and a leg part 5 which are movably mounted relative to a fixed middle part or relative to the base element 2. This movable arrangement is realized here by means of a so-called motion fitting 6. The movement is designed to be displaceable and/or pivotable.

(7) The movably mounted back part 4 and the leg part 5 are each coupled to an electromotive adjusting drive 7, 8. The back part 4 is coupled to the electromotive adjusting drive 7. The electromotive adjusting drive 8 is provided for moving or adjusting the leg part 5.

(8) The electromotive adjusting drives 7, 8 are designed as linear drives. The linear drives have one or a number of electric motors, wherein each electric motor is followed by a speed reduction gear having at least one gear stage. The speed reduction gear can be followed by another gear, for example in the form of a threaded spindle gear, which generates a linear movement of an output element from the rotary motion of the electric motor. The last gear member or a further member connected to it forms the output member. The output member of the respective electromotive adjusting drive is connected to the respective furniture component (back part 4, leg part 5) or alternatively to a component connected to the base element 2, so that, when the electric motor of the respective adjusting drive 7, 8 is operated, the movable furniture components 4, 5 are adjusted relative to one another or relative to the base element 2.

(9) The electromotive adjusting drives 7, 8 are connected to a control unit 9. This connection can be designed, for example, as a pluggable cable connection, which is not shown here in detail.

(10) In the example shown, control unit 9 is connected to an external power supply unit 9′, which can be connected to a mains plug with a mains connection via a mains cable not shown in this example. The external power supply 9′ provides a DC voltage in the range of 24-30V for the power supply of the electromotive furniture drive, in particular the electromotive adjusting drives 7, 8. In an alternative embodiment, a power supply unit can be integrated in the control unit 9 so that the external power supply unit 9′ can be dispensed with and the control unit 9 can be connected directly to the mains with a mains cable.

(11) Connected to the control unit 9 is a charging apparatus 10 with two charging connections 11 shown here. In the illustrated example, the charging connections 11 are designed according to the USB specification and are therefore also referred to as USB sockets 11 in the following. The USB sockets 11 are easily accessible in a mounting box 12 in the area of the base element 2 on bed 1. The exact positioning is exemplary here and should only show that an arrangement in the furniture is possible in an easily accessible place, even if the control unit 9 is not positioned so easily accessible and more remotely in the furniture. The mounting box 12 is connected via a cable 13 with plug 14 to a connection socket of the control unit 9. The cable 14 is shown dashed in FIG. 1.

(12) In FIGS. 2a and 2b the charging apparatus 10 from FIG. 1 is shown separately. In FIG. 2b the mounting box 12, which is shown in FIG. 2a in the assembled state, is shown open in the form of an exploded view to allow a view into the inner structure.

(13) The mounting box 12 has a housing 121, which in this example is inserted into a cut-out in the furniture and fastened in the area of a flange resting thereon, e.g. it is screwed in. A snap-on mounting is also conceivable. The flange is then covered by a cover plate 122. The housing 121 has openings at the front through which USB sockets 11 can be accessed. A circuit board 111 is positioned in the housing 121, which is connected to the cable 13.

(14) A rear cover, which is not shown in these figures, can also be provided for the housing 121, which preferably also offers a strain relief for the cable 13.

(15) As can be seen from FIG. 2b, the USB sockets 11 are soldered onto circuit board 111, on which a voltage converter 112 is also directly positioned. The voltage converter is connected to the cable 13 and then to the plug 14. It is used to convert the operating voltage of the furniture drive supplied via cable 13 into a voltage suitable for the USB socket 11, in accordance with the USB specification a DC voltage of 5V. A DC voltage in the range from 24V to 30V is supplied via cable 13.

(16) The voltage converter 112 is designed as a switching converter (step-down converter), wherein a high conversion efficiency in the range of 90% or more is achieved. A hybrid module is preferably used, which, in addition to integrated semiconductor components, also includes required passive elements such as inductors and/or capacitors. This makes it possible to achieve a particularly small size, which makes integration into the recess 12 a sensible option in the first place.

(17) Due to the high conversion efficiency, the current in cable 13 acts in relation to the current supplied by the USB sockets 11 approximately inversely to the ratio of the input voltage to the output voltage of the voltage converter 112. The voltage ratio for the above voltages (24-30V versus 5V) is approximately in the range 5:1 to 6:1. Accordingly, the current in cable 13 is 5 to 6 times smaller than the current supplied by the USB sockets 11. At a specified maximum current, which the USB sockets 11 can supply, the cross-section of the wires in cable 13 can be selected to be 5 to 6 smaller by the same factor, without increasing losses in cable 13.

(18) FIG. 3 shows another embodiment example of a charging apparatus 10 that can be used in conjunction with the bed shown in FIG. 1, for example. In this case, the charging apparatus 10 has a manual control unit 12′ or is integrated with it, wherein the manual control unit 12′ is used to operate the electromotive furniture drive.

(19) Accordingly, the housing 121 of the charging apparatus 10 is shaped as a hand-held device and carries operating elements 15, for example push-buttons, for operating the adjusting drives 7, 8 of the electric furniture drive, among other things.

(20) Again, a USB socket 11 is arranged on the housing 121, which is easily accessible; in the present case exactly one USB socket 11 by way of example.

(21) In FIG. 3 the circuit board 111, which carries the voltage converter 112, is shown dashed. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the USB socket 11 inside the housing 121 or the USB sockets 11 are soldered onto the circuit board 111. Cable 13 is designed as a spiral cable with a spiral section 131. The reduction of the current, which has to be transmitted via cable 13 to supply the USB charging socket 11, is particularly advantageous.

(22) In cable 13, in addition to the cores which supply the input voltage for the voltage converter 112 (hereinafter referred to as supply cores), further cores (hereinafter referred to as control cores) may be present which are connected to the operating elements 15 and transmit control signals to the control device 9. Because the currents in the supply cores for the voltage converter 112 are 5 to 6 times smaller than with a direct supply to the USB socket 11, the supply cores can have the same (small) cross-section as the control cores. This allows the use of a standard spiral cable as cable 13.

(23) In an alternative embodiment of the charging apparatus 10, the control information for the control device 9 may be digitally transmitted in serial coded form. In this case, only one control core (with common ground line) or two control cores are required in addition to the supply cores.

(24) In a further development, the serially coded control information can be modulated onto the supply cores in the manner of a so-called PLC (Power Line Communication) transmission. In this case, only the two supply cores need to be present in cable 13.