Heretofore there have been many different types of support legs provided for metal bed frames. It always has been, and still is, a problem to provide sturdy support legs for metal bed frames, but yet to make the support legs at competitive costs. The legs should be of attractive appearance and still provide effective, dependable frame and load support action. Quite a few patents have been issued on various types of support legs including U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,911,656 and 2,772,424; and 2,828,376 on a typical molded plastic support leg.
While the foregoing patents show support legs that have good properties and operating characteristics, it still is desirable to provide a sturdy metal support leg having improved operating properties, which leg can be inexpensively formed in quantity production.
The general object of the present invention is to provide a novel, improved bed frame support leg formed from a metal plate shaped to be of substantially flattened U-shape in horizontal section at its upper end and which plate has an upper edge of L-shape to provide for reenforcing supporting engagement with the lower surface of a horizontal flange of a bed frame side rail operatively engaged with the support leg in a bed frame unit.
Other objects of the invention are to provide a support leg having substantially annular form at its lower end and having a vertically extending split in such leg with the edges of the plate being inwardly turned at the split and extending the vertical length of the tubular portion of the leg for reenforcing action; to form the lower end of the leg so as to aid in engaging and supporting a caster receiving socket in the leg; to provide one or more reenforcing ribs on the leg; to provide a reenforcing and cross rail supporting tab extending upwardly and then horizontally of the support leg from its upper surface, which tab has a reenforcing notch or rib provided therein; and to provide a sturdy support leg of attractive appearance and of a design that can be produced economically in large quantities from metal plate to obtain high strength therefrom.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds.