Bed Hoist

[Willuz]

I would like to take that idea one step forward and run the cables to a forward winch.

Don't run multiple cables into a winch. If you look at the Kayak lift above you will notice that all for cables go into one cable and only the single cable is winched. if all four cables go into the winch they will overlap differently resulting in some winding up faster because the circumference is greater where there are more overlapped cables. Even using the single cable in the diagram is problematic since pulling from four points into one point results in different rates of ascent. The only reliable method I have seen is the aforementioned pole down the center of the ceiling onto which the cables wind. It's not as pretty and the bed won't go flush but each pulley is equidistant from the pole and winds without overlapping other cables.

Anyways, after considering all of the rooftop options I decided that a murphy bed was A LOT more convenient and I'm so happy I made that choice. Here's a very affordable bed frame that comes in custom sizes and includes gas springs to easily lift it against the wall. I can't say enough good things about the quality of this lift. I installed it in a single night and it works perfectly. http://www.liftcoinc.com/?page=beds

[Jack Olsen]

I use four lengths of wire rope (merged into one at the winch) and some pulleys to raise and lower a steel table in my garage.



Don't know. It might give you an idea -- it might not.

[lrrowe]

That is neat. I love projects like this.

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Just my opinion, but,I'd think that the spring system is /would be the way to go.
Find a garage door/overhead door company and explain what you want, build your
bed and weigh it with mattress and all sheets comforters pillows and such. They'll most
likely have some sort of program or "app." that will be able to figure out a pair of Springs
that will make it move with a finger's (or 2 or 3), pressure. "When ya gotta question, go ask
an expert" my Pop, (1920-1985 rip).

hankaye

[Padilen]

It's not all that easy or smooth.
The garage door company that helped really didn't want to because of liability issues. I bought used parts. The first set of springs I was sold were to light - they just said here these would work. They didn't. I went back in and talked to the "spring" guy. He got me another set and said this should do it.
Well it did, lift it up all the way but I couldn't get it down. As I attempted too the pulley ( new not used one) broke. Spring slammed into floor bending it. The parts the flew apart missed me. I did get bruises . I went back in to the spring guy- he had realized his mistake- he wanted to know if I cussed him up. He then gave me another set of springs. Which help lift the bed but are not what I had in my minds eye. I'd still like the old Winnebago system.

[tx63conv]

I mis communicated on the four cables and a winch. Obviously it would go down to one cable on the winch.

I like the spring idea but I would be afraid of a situation like above where parts go flying.

I need to figure out a pulley system. I imagine 4 pulleys mounted at the top of the walls at each corner. Cable would go to corner of bed and othe end of cable would run down wall to another pulley and join at a ring. That ring would attach to my winch cable. Need to figure out the bottom pulley as that will be perpendicular to the plane of the top pulley. Thoughts on this?

[warnmar10]

http://www.amazon.com/Racor-PHL-1R-Heav ... B0009I8AO6

[wanabxtrm]

There's a few examples of gas spring assist ones on here at this point, though I don't think they're cataloged in spot anywhere.

Here's at least 2, mine and one other, though I know there are a few others from my prior research:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=63487&start=30

And not a gas spring, but another loft bed.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=50448&start=75

At some point I'll get a few more pictures of mine now that I've worked out my issues, I had to change a few things but I stuck with the overall principle shown in the pics. The upside of the gas springs is that you can get them in a variety of weights to align with the total weight you're moving, where as the traditional garage springs (excluding the ones that rotate like on ramp doors) are harder to find in set but varying weights. The down side is the range of movement, but this can be overcome by mounting at an angle (can more complicated, and induces sideward stresses) or doubling them up (which can cause issues over time if one starts loosing pressure compared to its twin).

Though I've never seen it, there is no reason you couldn't invert the wire rope setup to compress a gas spring vice extending a coil spring. Doing so combined with pulleys would effectively increase the max movement of the bed while staying within the range of motion of the gas spring. The only other plus is that gas springs are relatively safer than coil springs at heavy loading.

[tx63conv]

Where did you source those gas struts? What size are they and what amount of range do they have? Also not clear how the attach to the unistrut. I assume you have a dolley running inside the unistrut and your gas shock/strut is attached to it somehow? In the down and up position do you have the bed secured to the wall or do you just rely on the gas struts to hold the weight? I was estimating about 80lbs for a full size mattress and frame. Sounds like yours is less?

[wanabxtrm]

Tx- I bought mine on eBay. Strut your stuff I believe was the vendor, had a huge selection. Mine are the heavier duty approx 36" total length. They have about 18" of travel and are 50 lbs each. Placed at corners that totals 200 lbs of force. Between the framing, 3/4 plywood 'floor' and surround, and the memory foam mattress i estimated it was ~175lbs for a queen bed with some stuff thrown in. The struts push it up if in the vertical position and it needs to be physically pulled down. I recently shifted to an angular mount to increase my range of movement closer to the full 36". What you need to realize with angular mounting is that the lift capacity (vertical vector of force) decreases as the struts shift to a horizontal orientation. I had initially done a vertical mount to eliminate that fact. So fully extended they will require force to pull down but as they compress and move horizontal the bed will 'fall' easier toward the bottom. The reverse happens on raising initial force required until the struts become move vertical at which point they take more load. If I you double the struts end to end to keep it uniform vertical force realize they need to be identical load, but they won't lift double the weight. Thus if you put a 20 lb and 50 lb strut together end to end you couldn't place 70 lbs on it as you'd collapse the 20 lb immediately and the 50 to follow. Placing two 70 lb struts end to end will give you 70 lbs of load (not 140) but will double your range of movement.
Securing the struts between 2 pieces of angle iron to make a square clamp along their length is an easy way to join them end to end.
Not sure if that makes sense. If your bed is 80 lbs you need 80 lbs of total force. 4 20's at each corner, or 8 if doubled end to end. If mounted at an angle you need slightly more ( depending on the steepness of the angle, break out that trig!) conversely if you could balance the platform you could put 2 40 at the center of the sides or a single 80 in the dead center of the bed.

Mounting is still not fully optimized on mine. I used the skinny unitstrut so I could get a horizontal member across the trailer structure and then the vertical rails within the width of my trailer. Using the full 1 5/8" deep unitstrut wouldn't allow my bed to fit lengthwise across the width of the trailer. Had I used normal depth struts I'd run a trolley in it. Since a trolley won't fit it basically floats over the vertical rails constrained by the bed frame and brackets the gas struts are mounted to eliminating movement in the horizontal axes. Basically rubs/rides on the vertical but isn't attached. I have one 'shelf' bracket on each vertical that is attached to the vertical that I move as needed that the bed sits on taking the load and basically securing it when in any given position. If needed I could actually secure the bed to the 'shelf' bracket but don't need to, gravity holds it there fine in use. In the up position the struts take most of the weight but if they pop off or fail the bed will rest on the shelf bracket. Down the weight of the bed and occupants rest on the brackets, which in turn transfers the load to the vertical unitstrut channel (because it's physically attached) and then in turn to the trailer structure. So it's nice and solid when sleeping.

The struts mount with standard ball end brackets, like in your car trunk, you'll see plenty of options when you look at the struts themselves and are bolted to the bed and unitstrut framing. I'll try to get some clearer pics next time I'm working on the trailer, probably next weekend.

[wanabxtrm]

Ps, if you didn't look at my thread ( I hadn't linked it). It has a few additional pics.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=60778&start=30

[warnmar10]

http://www.stealthsprinter.com/van-buil ... bed-hoist/

[wanabxtrm]

The happijac was my original plan, that's what most own toy haulers have. After looking at them in person I didn't think it was worth the expense. They are nice though especially when combined with their sofa, you can have a 3 bed loft in one spot.

This is one of the few places I found that would sell it retail. I never got a response from the OEN when I contacted them directly.

http://www.mirageinc.com/happijac-power ... ouble-bunk