I just came into possesion of an early 70's bunk setup, thanks to my dear forum-friend, Lowell. (thanks, Lowell!!!)
This'll work out just fine as a sleeping arrangement for my youngster. But...I'm wondering how it folds up to form a seat-back to make the lower twin bunk into a couch, or if it was ever intended to do that. anyone know?
It is constructed of square alluminum tube, with a simple canvas "sling" stretched across it. it is hindged in the middle, and folds lengthwise. these are the brackets:
for the ceiling: (the round one on the left)
and has this wall-mounted bracket:
you can plainly see how square tubing would just sit in that square 'hook".
So I'm poking around on the forums, trying to find some pics of what it might look like in its folded/couch-back position, and I come across this, from the 1975 owner's manual:
this is NOT what I have. looks like in this pic, the wall brackets also act like a hinge, allowing the section of bed closest to the wall to pivot down to a vertical position, without detaching from the wall, while the forward section presumeably folds underneath the wall section. From this diagram, I would assume that the split foam mattress sections are stitched together with upholstery fabric, allowing them to split and fold in the middle, much like my front gaucho does.
my frame is also not made of 2 seperate 4-sided rectangular frames, either. it is a single 4-sided frame, with canvas stretched across it...like an army cot. But it does fold in half lengthwise, and has the same hinge as shown in the above diagram.
so...is my bunk meant to form a couch back? if so, how is this accomplished? if not, why does it fold in the middle? I don't see the purpose of folding it this way, if not meant for "double-duty". It wouldn't make it any easier to store when not in use, either in the trailer or out. (the unwieldy part is its length, not its width or weight). and that hinge creates a potential weak spot (potential for collapse) for the person sleeping on it.
what do you think?
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