U.S. patent application number 10/437879 was filed with the patent office on 2004-11-18 for integrated angle brace and furniture foot and manufacturing method.
Invention is credited to Gonzalez, Alex, Real, Francisco, Real, Michael.
Application Number | 20040227039 10/437879 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33417474 |
Filed Date | 2004-11-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040227039 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Real, Michael ; et
al. |
November 18, 2004 |
Integrated angle brace and furniture foot and manufacturing
method
Abstract
A hardware leg for both bracing furniture joints and providing
an integrated friction reducing foot pad for supporting the
furniture item. The leg has an angled bracket portion mountable to
individual panels or a pair of corner adjacent surfaces through
screw or nail fastener holes, staple engageable nibs or through the
penetratable plates of the bracket itself. The bracket and foot pad
can be formed integrally through injection molding from a strong,
durable, slick, non-scratching plastic material such as graphite
impregnated acetal resin. Further, colored dyes can be selected and
mixed with the material during molding to provide a leg color
matched to the furniture piece.
Inventors: |
Real, Michael; (San Diego,
CA) ; Real, Francisco; (San Diego, CA) ;
Gonzalez, Alex; (San Diego, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHARMASSON & BUCHACA & LEACH LLP
1545 HOTEL CIRCLE SOUTH
SUITE 150
SAN DIEGO
CA
92108-3412
US
|
Family ID: |
33417474 |
Appl. No.: |
10/437879 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/188.8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 91/06 20130101;
F16B 12/48 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
248/188.8 |
International
Class: |
A47B 091/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. (Cancelled).
2. A hardware leg for furniture comprises: an oblong bracket having
an upper end and a opposite lower end; and a pad mounted to said
lower end, wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount to a
pair of corner-adjacent surfaces, and, wherein said bracket and
said pad are formed integrally from a first material.
3. The leg of claim 2, wherein said first material is selected from
the group consisting of: polypropylene, ABS, polybutylene,
polystyrene, and acetal resin.
4. The leg of claim 2, wherein said material comprises graphite
impregnated plastic.
5. The leg of claim 2, wherein said material comprises a dye
selected to match a color of a piece of furniture.
6. The leg of claim 2, wherein said bracket has a thickness of
between about 1/8" and {fraction (3/16)}".
7. The leg of claim 2, which further comprises a cushion bonded to
a lower surface of said pad.
8. The leg of claim 7, wherein said lower surface is formed to have
a socket and said cushion is bonded within said socket.
9. The leg of claim 2, wherein said bracket comprises a first
substantially planar face and a second substantially planar face
oriented at a first angle to said first face.
10. The leg of claim 9, wherein said first and second faces are
oriented substantially orthogonally to each other.
11. The leg of claim 9, wherein said first face is formed to have
at least one mounting hole extending therethrough.
12. The leg of claim 11, wherein said mounting hole is
substantially cylindrically shaped about a central axis.
13. A hardware leg for furniture comprises: an oblong bracket
having an upper end and a opposite lower end; and a pad mounted to
said lower end, wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount
to a pair of corner-adjacent surfaces; wherein said bracket
comprises a first substantially planar face and a second
substantially planar face oriented at a first angle to said first
face; wherein said first face is formed to have at least one
mounting hole extending therethrough wherein said mounting hole is
substantially cylindrically shaped about a central axis; and,
wherein a second angle is formed between said central axis and a
direction normal to said first substantially planar face.
14. The leg of claim 13, wherein said second angle ranges between
about 15 and 45 degrees.
15. A hardware leg for furniture comprises: an oblong bracket
having an upper end and a opposite lower end; and a pad mounted to
said lower end, wherein said bracket is sized and shaped to mount
to a pair of corner-adjacent surfaces; wherein said bracket
comprises a first substantially planar face and a second
substantially planar face oriented at a first angle to said first
face; and, wherein said first face further comprises a first nib
extending from a first edge of said face.
16. The leg of claim 9 which further comprises at least one spike
extending from an upper surface of said pad.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to mechanical support structures and
more particularly to hardware used in the construction of
furniture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Many types of furniture, particularly wood frame furniture
such as bureaus, hutches, couches, armoires, and wall units require
the fixing together of various panels of wooden material at angled
junctions. Typically, the fastening of such junctions requires
additional strengthening or support in the form of one or more
braces formed from wood blocks or other material. Many furniture
items also utilize foot pieces for contacting the floor. In order
to provide for easier movement and to avoid scratching the floor
surface during movement, it has been found useful to include bottom
surface coasters or cushions mountable to these foot pieces and
made from non-scratching materials such as nylon, felt or other
soft materials. The foot pieces are often located along the lower
periphery near a corner junction of two panels to provide
structural stability to the furniture. The implementation of the
foot structure and any brace structures must be done with skill and
care and, therefore, can be time-consuming and expensive. Further,
the foot pieces act as an elevating device to raise the bottom of
the furniture pieces above the floor, thereby avoiding damage to
the furniture piece during moving when contact is made with the
floor.
[0003] In the past, low friction, non-scratching coasters or
cushions are usually sold separately and are attached by the
consumer to the foot piece using an adhesive or some other fastener
such as a nail or screw. Adhesives can be problematic in that they
deteriorate over time and may not be strong enough to withstand the
rigors of repetitive movement. Those coasters or cushions attached
using fasteners can sometimes become dislodged leaving only the
fastener portion which is typically made of metal and can gouge
floor surfaces.
[0004] Many prior devices such as foot pieces and coasters are made
from a material which is of a color different from the furniture
and, therefore, can be less aesthetically appealing.
[0005] The invention results from an attempt to develop furniture
hardware which reduces or avoids the above-identified
disadvanges.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The principal and secondary objects of this invention are to
provide an inexpensive, durable, and easy to use piece of hardware
which accomplishes both panel junction bracing and provides a low
friction, non-scratching foot piece.
[0007] These and other objects are achieved by an integrated
hardware leg having a bracket portion providing two angled faces
for bonding to corner adjacent furniture panels and terminating at
a foot pad which provides a lower low friction surface for
optionally carrying a non-scratch cushion. The leg is made from a
strong, durable, but low friction and non-scratching plastic
material such as graphite impregnated acetal resin. The
injection-molded integrated leg can be formed using material in
which colored dye has been added where the color of the dye is
selected to match the color of the furniture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an integrated
furniture leg having bracket and foot pad portions mounted on the
inside of a pair of corner-adjacent panels of a piece of furniture
according to the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the integrated leg of FIG.
1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional top plan view of the leg
of FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional top plan view of the leg
of FIG. 2 as mounted on a single partial planar surface;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the foot pad of
a leg having a felt cushion mounted in a lower socket; and
[0013] FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a section of a plate
of the bracket portion of the leg showing various fastening
means.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 a
hardware leg 1 for bracing a joint or junction 2 formed between a
pair of corner adjacent panels 3, 4 for a piece of furniture. The
leg 1 is formed to have a bracket portion 5 which comprises a pair
of vertically oblong plates 6, 7 which form planar outer faces 8, 9
for contacting the furniture panels oriented at an angle A to one
another, and rigidly held in place by a central spanning plate 10
and by a cross-piece 11 at a top end and by a foot pad 12 at a
second end for supporting the furniture. The foot pad 12 is
generally dish shaped having a lower convex surface 13 for
contacting the floor. A substantially planar upper surface 14
typically orthogonal to the outer faces to bear against the lower
edges 15 of the panels 3, 4. A concave cavity 16 into the upper
surface to reduce material usage. Rigidizing ribs 17, 18 span
laterally across a medial portion of the concave upper surface of
the pad.
[0015] The leg provides means for mounting the leg to a pair of
corner-adjacent panels 3, 4 as shown in FIG. 1 or to a single
planar panel 20 as shown in FIG. 4. In this specification, the
characteristic of "corner-adjacency does not require orthogonality,
nor that the panels are planar. Those skilled in the art will
readily appreciate adaptation of the shape of the bracket to bond
to non-orthogonal and non-planar corner adjacent panels.
[0016] Means for fastening the leg to a panel include screw or nail
holes 21, 22 through the plates. A first set of generally
cylindrical nail holes 21 are arranged to have a central axis
substantially orthogonal to the planar outer and inner surfaces of
the plate. A second set of holes 22 are substantially cylindrical
and have a central axis 23 oriented at an angle B measured from the
direction normal 24 to the outer surface of the plate. These angled
holes are substantially parallel in orientation through both the
first and second plates and allow the bonding through fasteners 25
to a single panel 20 as shown in FIG. 4. Those skilled in the art
will understand that the orientation of these holes need not be
exactly parallel and are oftentimes more preferably at a slight
angle away from normal to the surface into which the screw-type
nail or staple fasteners adhere so that forced extraction of the
fastener is discouraged. For brackets in which the angle A between
the outer faces is about 90.degree., the angle B is preferably
between 15.degree. and 60.degree..
[0017] Further means for mounting the leg include a plurality of
conical spikes 26 projecting upwardly from the upper surface 14 of
the foot pad 12 to help bond the leg in place during attachment and
to prevent slippage in the plane of the upper surface.
[0018] The leg is preferably formed integrally including both the
bracket portion 5 and foot pad 12 by injection-molding. It is
therefore efficient to form the entire leg from a single type of
material or uniform mixture of materials which is strong and
durable, and which allows the formation of a low friction
non-scratching outer convex surface of the bottom of the pad.
Preferred materials include polypropylene, ABS, polybutylene,
polystyrene and graphite impregnated acetal resin. Such material is
available from the DuPont Company and sold under the brand name
DELRIN.
[0019] Since the part is injection-molded, it allows the addition
of various dyes into the molding material mixture prior to
injection so that the finished leg will have a color or appearance
more aesthetically in concert with the appearance of the furniture
to which it is mounted.
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 5, the lower outer convex surface 30
of the foot pad 31 can be further shaped to have a central socket
32 sized and shaped to provide upper and lateral bearing surfaces
to securely mount a cushion 33 made from enhanced non-scratch
material such as felt. Such cushions can be attached through
adhesive into the socket. The lateral bearing surfaces provide
additional securement against lateral forces occurring during
furniture movement. Further, should the cushion become dislodged,
the socket structure provides a minimum decrease in a
non-scratching profile for the foot pad.
[0021] Referring now to FIG. 6, although the leg may be fastened to
furniture pieces through fasteners utilizing the holes through the
plates described above, alternately, the plates can be made from a
material and have a thickness which allows the fasteners to
penetrate through from the inner to outer surface of the plate.
Fasteners such as screws, nails, brads, or staples may, therefore,
be used to fasten the leg. For most commercial furniture
manufacturing using automated nail or staple guns a plate of acetal
resin having a thickness of between about 1/8" and {fraction
(3/16)}" will allow adequate penetration and fastening.
[0022] Each oblong plate 40 can be further shaped along a free
lateral edge 41 to have one or more nibs 42 extending from the
lateral edge laterally and are sized and shaped to provide a
bearing surface 43 for an attachment staple 44 as shown in FIG.
6.
[0023] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been
described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be
devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the
scope of the appended claims.
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