Foldable bed guard rail

Claim 1

A foldable side guard rail assembly for beds comprising, in combination: a pair of spaced mounts for engaging the bed; a pair of parallel posts, each associated with a respective one of said mounts; a pair of pivot bars, each of said pivot bars at one end being rigidly connected to a respective one of said posts at the lower end thereof and extending in a perpendicular direction from said respective post; pin means pivotally connecting each of said pivot bars at the other end thereof to a respective one of said mounts so that each of said posts is pivotally connected with a respective one of said mounts; at least one rail connected between said posts so that said posts are interconnected and being pivotally secured therewith at locations above the lower ends of said posts; said posts being simultaneously pivotable between a first vertical position and a second folded substantially horizontal position while said rail maintains a substantially horizontal orientation during the pivoting of said posts and said pivot bars assuming a horizontal position upon positioning of said posts in their vertical position; spacer means disposed between said rail and said posts for horizontally offsetting said rail with respect to said posts to prevent a person''s fingers grasping said rail from being caught between said rail and said posts when said posts are pivoted into said folded position; limiting means preventing said posts from moving beyond the vertical position when said posts are pivoted from their second position to their vertical position; locking means for releasably locking said posts in their vertical position, said locking means including a lever pivotally mounted on one of said mounts and said lever having two sections approximately perpendicularly arranged with respect to each other, said first section when said lever is in a first position being operatively engaged with the bottom of the respective pivot bar at a position spaced from said pin means when said posts are in a vertical position so as to prevent downwward movement of said pivot bar thereby preventing movement of said posts, and said lever being capable of being pivoted into a second position when a force is applied in a downward direction to said second section of said lever for enabling pivotal movement of said posts to occur; and bias means for resiliently biasing said lever into its first position.