Hi everyone!
I'm in the process of planning the layout for my upcoming 2021 EL high roof build. One thing that is missing to me in my current van and that I'd like to add to the new one is a comfortable seating area, ideally with a table so that I could more easily work on my laptop or have dinner with friends. I am pretty allergic to making the bed, so a solution that require taking sheets on and off every time I want to switch the layout is not appealing to me. I think I came up with a direction that could potentially allow me to get a relatively easy to transition setup using a murphy bed and this mattress, which I currently have in my van and find very comfortable.
Here's the plan I came up with so far - two benches at opposite sides of the van, one having a Lagun table mount on it. They are permanent. Behind them (18" to be exact, which is the width of the mattress when fold into 3), would be a place for it to get stored in a murphy-bed like configuration. The piece that folds up and down would not extend the entire length required for the bed (55", based on 73" mattress minus 18" for the part that doesn't move). At the height I want to mount it, which is just above the benches (so that the bed could rest firmly on them when unfolded), I don't have 55" and even if I did, it would not clear the mule bags I plan on mounting. Instead, that part would only be 35", leaving me a piece sized 52"x20" (the width of the mattress by the remaining length that is not covered by the 18"+35" murphy contraption). That piece would then be used with the Lagun table mount when not bed mode.
I tried CADing some of it up to better explain it:
![144384]( "144384")
![144385]( "144385")
This shows both the folded and unfolded configurations so it could be a bit confusing.
The greenish box on the bottom photo is the folded mattress, stowed away when I want to use the benches. Behind it (on the left of the bottom photo) are the van rear doors.
At the top photo you can see the pieces of wood in both configurations simultaneously. The white boxes on the bottom that are partially under the benches are stuff that would live under the benches (water tank, isotemp, etc).
So far so good, but the problem I am currently facing is how to secure the murphy folding part when it is folded, and also how to secure it and the remaining piece (that serves as the table when unfolded) when unfolded.
In order to secure the murphy-folding piece when it is folded, this is the solution I currently came up with:
![144386]( "144386")
The bed is the bench, and the white piece with the latch on it is a wooden piece that sits at the edge of the bench, providing a mounting point for the pull latch. There also exists a piece that goes behind the board, to prevent it from folding more than 90 degrees:
![144387]( "144387")
This will be symmetrical.
I think that would work but requires having that white piece, which is not that great when the bed is in bed mode. It's not horrible so I think I can live with it but I wonder if there are maybe more interesting solutions.
For keeping the pieces down when in bed mode, the only idea I came up with is to mount folding brackets to the front of the benches, and use a thumb screw to fasten them into the wood:
![144388]( "144388")
So the process for going from bench+table mode to bed mode would be:
1) Disconnect the Lagun mount and put the wooden piece aside
2) Open the folding latch (one on each side) that sits under the murpy bed section
3) Undo the red pull latch and fold the murpy bed down, have it rest on the fold latch (a shim will be necessary, will likely be permanently attached to the table piece)
4) Hope that it aligned properly and use the thumb bolt to secure it in place
5) Open the folding latches that support the piece that was used as the table top and place the table top on top of them
6) Secure it using thumb screws
I think this could work, but requires a bit more crawling under the bed than I would've liked. I'm wondering if anyone has attempted a similar design, or has any thoughts or interesting ideas. I hope I was able to give a reasonably clear explanation of what I'm trying to do.
Cheers!!
I'm in the process of planning the layout for my upcoming 2021 EL high roof build. One thing that is missing to me in my current van and that I'd like to add to the new one is a comfortable seating area, ideally with a table so that I could more easily work on my laptop or have dinner with friends. I am pretty allergic to making the bed, so a solution that require taking sheets on and off every time I want to switch the layout is not appealing to me. I think I came up with a direction that could potentially allow me to get a relatively easy to transition setup using a murphy bed and this mattress, which I currently have in my van and find very comfortable.
Here's the plan I came up with so far - two benches at opposite sides of the van, one having a Lagun table mount on it. They are permanent. Behind them (18" to be exact, which is the width of the mattress when fold into 3), would be a place for it to get stored in a murphy-bed like configuration. The piece that folds up and down would not extend the entire length required for the bed (55", based on 73" mattress minus 18" for the part that doesn't move). At the height I want to mount it, which is just above the benches (so that the bed could rest firmly on them when unfolded), I don't have 55" and even if I did, it would not clear the mule bags I plan on mounting. Instead, that part would only be 35", leaving me a piece sized 52"x20" (the width of the mattress by the remaining length that is not covered by the 18"+35" murphy contraption). That piece would then be used with the Lagun table mount when not bed mode.
I tried CADing some of it up to better explain it:
This shows both the folded and unfolded configurations so it could be a bit confusing.
The greenish box on the bottom photo is the folded mattress, stowed away when I want to use the benches. Behind it (on the left of the bottom photo) are the van rear doors.
At the top photo you can see the pieces of wood in both configurations simultaneously. The white boxes on the bottom that are partially under the benches are stuff that would live under the benches (water tank, isotemp, etc).
So far so good, but the problem I am currently facing is how to secure the murphy folding part when it is folded, and also how to secure it and the remaining piece (that serves as the table when unfolded) when unfolded.
In order to secure the murphy-folding piece when it is folded, this is the solution I currently came up with:
The bed is the bench, and the white piece with the latch on it is a wooden piece that sits at the edge of the bench, providing a mounting point for the pull latch. There also exists a piece that goes behind the board, to prevent it from folding more than 90 degrees:
This will be symmetrical.
I think that would work but requires having that white piece, which is not that great when the bed is in bed mode. It's not horrible so I think I can live with it but I wonder if there are maybe more interesting solutions.
For keeping the pieces down when in bed mode, the only idea I came up with is to mount folding brackets to the front of the benches, and use a thumb screw to fasten them into the wood:
So the process for going from bench+table mode to bed mode would be:
1) Disconnect the Lagun mount and put the wooden piece aside
2) Open the folding latch (one on each side) that sits under the murpy bed section
3) Undo the red pull latch and fold the murpy bed down, have it rest on the fold latch (a shim will be necessary, will likely be permanently attached to the table piece)
4) Hope that it aligned properly and use the thumb bolt to secure it in place
5) Open the folding latches that support the piece that was used as the table top and place the table top on top of them
6) Secure it using thumb screws
I think this could work, but requires a bit more crawling under the bed than I would've liked. I'm wondering if anyone has attempted a similar design, or has any thoughts or interesting ideas. I hope I was able to give a reasonably clear explanation of what I'm trying to do.
Cheers!!
