Apparatus for controlling expansion or contraction of cover cloth with respect to bed base

In a massaging-type bed provided with a bed base, a flexible sheetlike cover positioned so as to extend over an upper surface of the bed base, and a movable roller assembly mounted on the bed base below the cover to permit massaging of a body positioned on the cover, the improvement comprising:

• said bed base including first and second generally U-shaped bed base members each including a bight part and a pair of leg parts which project generally perpendicularly from opposite ends of the respective bight part in generally parallel relationship to another, the leg parts of one bed base member being slidably telescoped generally into the leg parts of the other bed base member so as to permit the lengthwise dimension of the bed base to be selectively extended to contracted;
• locking means coacting between said first and second bed base members for permitting the bed base members to be selectively fixedly locked together in a selected one of a plurality of lengthwise positions to permit selective expansion or contraction in the length of the bed base;
• a guiding member mounted on said bed base adjacent the bight part of said first bed base member and extending transversely thereacross, said sheetlike cover having one end edge disposed adjacent and fixedly anchored relative to the bight part of said second bed base member, said cover having an upper portion which extends transversely across the bed base and which extends from said one end edge to a point of engagement with said guiding member, said cover having an intermediate portion which wraps downwardly around said guiding member and joins to a lower portion which is disposed downwardly from the upper portion and projects away from the guiding member in a direction toward the bight part of said second bed base member, said lower portion terminating in another end edge;
• and
• a compensating mechanism coacting between said bed base and said another end edge of said cover for maintaining the upper portion of said cover in a taut condition while still fully covering the upper surface of said bed base when said bed base is expanded or contracted.