U.S. patent application number 11/254578 was filed with the patent office on 2006-04-20 for life sized furniture templates and method and system for using the same.
Invention is credited to Melody B. Davidson, Leila Kathryn Wagner.
Application Number | 20060080901 11/254578 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36179259 |
Filed Date | 2006-04-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060080901 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wagner; Leila Kathryn ; et
al. |
April 20, 2006 |
Life sized furniture templates and method and system for using the
same
Abstract
An improved interior design device and an improved interior
design method and system that allows the user to visualize how a
room will appear by using life sized templates of furniture,
pictures and other items placed in the actual room being designed.
For the purpose of visualizing the placement of furniture, life
size templates of furniture items such as tables, chairs, beds, and
the like are provided that the user can place and rearrange as
necessary and desired to determine a satisfactory placement in the
room. Other life size templates for other items, such as
televisions, aquariums, rugs, and the like, also are provided for
complementing the basic furniture items for a room. Further, life
size picture templates having a weak adhesive on one side also are
provided such that the picture template can be adhered to a wall
without damaging the wall or the wall covering.
Inventors: |
Wagner; Leila Kathryn;
(Aventura, FL) ; Davidson; Melody B.; (Prairie
Village, KS) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SONNENSCHEIN NATH & ROSENTHAL LLP
P.O. BOX 061080
WACKER DRIVE STATION, SEARS TOWER
CHICAGO
IL
60606-1080
US
|
Family ID: |
36179259 |
Appl. No.: |
11/254578 |
Filed: |
October 20, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60620535 |
Oct 20, 2004 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/36.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47F 10/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/036.1 |
International
Class: |
A47F 10/00 20060101
A47F010/00 |
Claims
1. A template for representing and visualizing an item to be placed
in a defined location, the template comprising a sheet of material
the actual size of one of a larger representative sample of the
item, wherein the template is styled as a generic version of the
item and further comprises at least one cut line printed on the
sheet of material at at least one predetermined locations
representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller
representative sample of the item.
2. The template as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sheet of
material is made of kraft-type paper.
3. A system for representing and visualizing at least one item to
be placed in a defined location, the system comprising a plurality
of templates, each template comprising a sheet of material the
actual size of one of a larger representative sample of the at
least one item, and a container for containing the plurality of
templates, wherein each template is styled as a generic version of
the at least one item and further comprises at least one cut line
printed on the sheet of material at at least one predetermined
location representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller
representative sample of the at least one item.
4. The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said sheet of material
is made of kraft-type paper.
5. A method for representing and visualizing at least one item to
be placed in a defined location, comprising the steps of: a)
obtaining a template for representing and visualizing the item to
be placed in the defined location, the template comprising a sheet
of material the actual size of one of a larger representative
sample of the item, wherein the template is styled as a generic
version of the item and further comprises at least one cut line
printed on the sheet of material at at least one predetermined
locations representing the actual size of at least one of a smaller
representative sample of the item; b) cutting the template to a
proper and/or desired size; and c) placing the template about the
defined location to see how the at least one item will look and fit
in the defined location in actual life size.
Description
[0001] This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
119(e) to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
60/620,535, filed Oct. 20, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] This invention generally relates to furniture arrangement
and interior design, and specifically relates to devices and a
method and system comprising life-sized two-dimensional templates
of furniture, pictures and other items to be arranged in a room for
assisting the interior designer in selecting and arranging the
furniture and other items to be placed and arranged within a
room.
[0004] 2. Prior Art
[0005] Interior design involves the selection and arrangement of
among other things the furniture within an indoor space such as a
residential or commercial room. Currently, a common method of
selecting and arranging furniture within an indoor space is to
create a scale model or floor plan of the indoor space and to
arrange scale models of the desired furniture on this reduced size
floor plan. One either can draw the desired furniture on the
reduced size floor plan or cut out scale representations of the
furniture pieces to be used and place the pieces on the reduced
size floor plan in different possible arrangements.
[0006] On the one hand, there are commercially available kits for
this process, including pre-drawn furniture representations to
scale and lined papers for drawing scale model floor plans.
Although these scale model kits are satisfactory for providing an
overall picture of how a representation of a room will look, they
are not satisfactory for providing a life-sized idea of how an
actual room will look. Further, as these kits generally are
two-dimensional, they lend themselves only to floor plans.
[0007] On the other hand, to the inventors' knowledge, there are
not commercially available devices or kits for assisting in the
selection and arrangement of pictures for hanging on the wall of a
room. Currently, the hanging of a picture is an experimental
process in which the picture is held by one person and viewed by
another person to determine where the picture should be hung.
[0008] Therefore, the present invention is generally directed to a
series of devices, namely life size templates of furniture,
accessories, and/or pictures, and kits comprising at least two such
templates, that can be used and reused simply and easily by both
professional and amateur interior designers in creating and
representing interior designs, without the difficulty and expense
involved in obtaining artistic renditions, without the potential
for error involved in using a scale model of a room and scale
models of the furniture, accessories and pictures, and with the
ability of allowing the designer to visualize the actual room being
designed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention provides improved interior design
devices and an improved interior design method and system that
allows the user to visualize how a room will appear by using life
sized templates of furniture, pictures and other items placed in
the actual room being designed. For the purpose of visualizing the
placement of furniture, life size templates of furniture items such
as tables, chairs, beds, and the like are provided that the user
can place and rearrange as necessary and desired to determine a
satisfactory placement in the room. Other life size templates for
other items, such as televisions, aquariums, rugs, and the like,
also are provided for complementing the basic furniture items for a
room. Further, life size picture templates having a weak adhesive
on one side also are provided such that the picture template can be
adhered to a wall without damaging the wall or the wall
covering.
[0010] The life size templates of the present invention can be
provided in a system form comprising one template representing each
category of furniture, accessory, and picture. For example, a kit
comprising two or more templates can be provided so that the user
can arrange an entire room without having to resort to finding
and/or purchasing several individual templates. Similarly, each
template of the present invention is designed in a generic fashion
to represent a category of furniture and can be cut along
pre-existing cut lines to standard sizes in the industry.
[0011] The present invention also includes a method for using the
life size templates. When a person desires to design the interior
of a room, the person utilizes the kit of templates of the present
invention. By using the kit of templates, the user can decide what
sized furniture and accessories can fit in the room or can
determine whether furniture and accessories already owned by the
user can fit in a room. Then, the user can determine the best
placement for the furniture in the room.
[0012] The foregoing and other objects are intended to be
illustrative of the invention and are not meant in a limiting
sense. Many possible embodiments of the invention may be made and
will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification
and accompanying drawings comprising a part thereof. Various
features and subcombinations of invention may be employed without
reference to other features and subcombinations. Other objects and
advantages of this invention will become apparent from the
following description taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example,
an embodiment of this invention and various features thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] A preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrative of the
best mode in which the applicant has contemplated applying the
principles, is set forth in the following description and is shown
in the drawings and is particularly and distinctly pointed out and
set forth in the appended claims.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a life size room with
representative samples of the templates of the present invention in
places about the room.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a representative template for china cabinets and
servers of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a representative template for chairs of the
present invention.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a representative template for round and oblong
dining tables of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a representative template for rectangular dining
tables of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a representative template for a picture of the
present invention.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a representative kit comprising several of the
life size templates of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] As required, a detailed embodiment of the present inventions
is disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the
disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the principles of the
invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore,
specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not
to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims
and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art
to variously employ the present invention in virtually any
appropriately detailed structure.
[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a life size room with
representative samples of the templates of the present invention in
places about the room. This figure shows how each of the templates,
as disclosed in more detail below, can be used. FIGS. 2 through 5
are representative templates for china cabinets and servers,
chairs, round and oblong dining tables, and rectangular dining
tables of the present invention. These figures give illustrative
examples of templates that are contemplated by this invention. FIG.
6 is a representative template of a picture of the present
invention hanging on a room wall. This representation is an
illustrative example of the structure of such a hanging template.
FIG. 7 is a representative of a kit comprising several of the life
size templates of the present invention. This figure is an
illustrative example of the system of the present invention, which
system can be used in carrying out the method of the present
invention.
Templates
[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention provides improved
interior design devices and an improved interior design method and
system that allows the user to visualize how a room 10 will appear
by using life sized templates 12 of furniture, pictures and other
items placed in the actual room 10 being designed. For the purpose
of visualizing the placement of furniture, life size templates 12
of furniture items such as china cabinets 14, chairs 16, tables 18,
20, beds (not shown), sofas 30 and the like are provided that the
user can place and rearrange as necessary and desired to determine
a satisfactory placement in the room 10. Other life size templates
12 for other items, such as televisions, aquariums 22, rugs, and
the like (most not shown), also are provided for complementing the
basic furniture items for a room 10. Further, life size picture 24
templates having a weak adhesive 26 on one side also are provided
such that the picture template 24 can be adhered to a wall 28
without damaging the wall 28 or the wall covering.
[0024] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the templates 12 can be arranged
throughout the room 10 as the designer desires. Furniture templates
16, 18, 20, 30 can be arranged on the floor 32 in whatever design
desired. Accessory templates such as aquarium template 22 can be
placed so as to accent the decor of the room. Picture template 24
can be placed on the wall 28. Each of the templates 12 can be moved
and templates 12 can be added or removed until the room has the
desired design. Because the templates 12 are life size, the
designer will know exactly how much floor 32 or wall 28 area each
piece of furniture, accessory and picture will require and how the
completed room 10 will look.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 2, a representative template for a china
cabinet and servers 14 is shown. The actual template 14 is a full
size sheet of material, namely 80 inches long by 22 inches wide, as
shown on FIG. 2, representing the typically largest china cabinet
and servers. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 14 at common
industry dimensions. For china cabinets and servers, these cut
lines 40 are placed at dimensions 18 inches in width and 36 inches,
42 inches, 48 inches, 60 inches, and 74 inches in length. Cut lines
40 can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template
manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use
template 14, the user simply cuts the template 14 to the desired
size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired
location.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 3, a representative template for a chair
16 is shown. The actual template 16 is a full size sheet of
material, namely 30 inches long by 27 inches wide, as shown on FIG.
3, representing the typically largest chair. Cut lines 40 are
placed on the template 16 at common industry dimensions. For
chairs, these cut lines 40 are placed at dimensions 21 inches and
24 inches in width. Cut lines 40 can be placed at any desired
dimensions during the template manufacturing process, and also can
be added by the user. To use template 16, the user simply cuts the
template 16 to the desired size and places it on the floor 32 of
the room 10 at any desired location.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 4, a representative template for round and
oblong tables 18 is shown. The actual template 18 is a full size
sheet of material, namely 84 inches long by 48 inches wide, as
shown on FIG. 4, representing the typically largest round and
oblong tables. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 18 at common
industry dimensions. For round tables, these cut lines 40 are
placed at dimensions 42 inches and 48 inches in diameter. For
oblong tables, these cut lines 40 as placed at 42 inches in width
and 72 inches and 78 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be placed
at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing
process, and also can be added by the user. To use template 18, the
user simply cuts the template 18 to the desired size and places it
on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired location.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 5, a representative template for
rectangular tables 20 is shown. The actual template 20 is a full
size sheet of material, namely 102 inches long by 48 inches wide,
as shown on FIG. 5, representing the typically largest rectangular
tables. Cut lines 40 are placed on the template 20 at common
industry dimensions. For rectangular tables, these cut lines 40 are
placed at dimensions 36 inches and 42 inches in width and 60
inches, 72 inches, 84 inches, and 96 inches in length. Cut lines 40
can be placed at any desired dimensions during the template
manufacturing process, and also can be added by the user. To use
template 20, the user simply cuts the template 14 to the desired
size and places it on the floor 32 of the room 10 at any desired
location.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 6, a representative template for pictures
24 is shown. The actual template 24 is a full size sheet of
material, namely 102 inches long by 48 inches wide, as shown on
FIG. 6, representing the typically largest pictures servers. Cut
lines 40 are placed on the template 24 at common industry
dimensions. For pictures, these cut lines 40 are placed at
dimensions 36 inches and 42 inches in width and 60 inches, 72
inches, 84 inches, and 96 inches in length. Cut lines 40 can be
placed at any desired dimensions during the template manufacturing
process, and also can be added by the user. A weak adhesive 26,
shown in ghost lines along the side and top edges of the template
24, allows the template 24 to be adhered to the wall 28. A weak
adhesive such as found on Post-It.RTM. brand notepaper has been
found to be suitable. To use template 24, the user simply cuts the
template 14 to the desired size and places it on the wall 28 of the
room 10 at any desired location. The weak adhesive 26 releasably
adheres the picture template 24 to the wall 28 without damaging the
wall 28.
[0030] The templates 12 can be made from any suitable material,
such as paper (tissue, kraft, plain, bond, cardstock, etc.),
vellum, vinyl, sheet plastic, and the like. It has been found that
materials such as tissue paper and other flimsy materials do not
stand up to ordinary use in general, and to repetitive use in
particular, and can be considered as single use materials. It also
has been found that materials such as vellum, while giving an
aesthetically pleasing look, are relatively costly. It further has
been found that materials such as vinyl and other sheet plastics,
while very durable, do not fold into a small enough size to make an
acceptable sized kit and also are costly. Materials such as
kraft-type paper provide an acceptable strength allowing repetitive
use and reuse while at the same time fold down to acceptable sizes
to make an acceptable sized kit.
[0031] The templates 12 can be made of any desired size and shape
to represent any type of furniture, accessory, picture, or any
other item that can be placed or contained in a room 10. Further,
the templates 12 can have cut lines 40 placed at any desired
dimension. It has been found that templates 12 having the
dimensions and cut lines 40 shown in the FIGS. represent the
majority of the types of furniture, accessory, picture, and any
other item that can be placed or contained in a room 10 and these
are the preferred dimensions and cut line 40 placements.
[0032] Although furniture, accessories, pictures, and other items
that can be placed or contained in a room 10 have innumerable
shapes and styles, such as for example Williamsburg, Mission,
Contemporary, it would be unwieldy to have templates 12 showing all
of these shapes and styles. So, while templates 12 can be
manufactured with shaped or styled edges or with shapes and styles
printed on the templates 12, it has been found to be more
practicable to produce the templates 12 in a generic form as shown
in the FIGS.
System
[0033] The life size templates 12 of the present invention can be
provided in a system form comprising one template 12 representing
each category of furniture, accessory, and picture. For example, as
shown in FIG. 7, a kit 50 comprising two or more templates 12 can
be provided so that the user can arrange an entire room 10 without
having to resort to finding and/or purchasing several individual
templates 12. Similarly, as disclosed previously, each template 12
of the present invention is designed in a generic fashion to
represent a category of furniture and can be cut along pre-existing
cut lines to standard sizes in the industry.
[0034] The kit 50 shown in FIG. 7 represents a cardboard box having
dimensions approximately 20 inches long, 14 inches wide and 1.5
inches thick. It has been found that this size box is easy for the
user to carry, store, and otherwise deal with. It further has been
found that this size box allows the templates 12 to be folded a
minimum number of times yet still be small enough for the user to
deal with comfortably.
[0035] Each kit 50 can comprise different combinations of templates
12. For example purpose only, the kit 50 shown in FIG. 7 is a
dining room kit and comprises the templates shown in FIGS. 2
through 5, namely, templates for china cabinets and servers 14,
chairs 16, round and oblong dining tables 18, and rectangular
dining tables 20. Representations of these templates 14, 16, 18, 20
are reproduced on the front of the kit 50 for the user's
convenience. Other kits 50 can be made for other residential rooms,
such as the living room the kitchen, the family room, the bedroom,
the playroom, and the like. Further, other kits 50 can be made for
non-residential and commercial rooms, such as warehouses, offices,
stores, and the like, and would include templates for items such
as, but not limited to, machinery, appliances, desks, filing
cabinets, work stations, cubicles, and the like.
[0036] To use the system, the user simply obtains a kit 50 for each
room 10 the user desires to design and follows the method disclosed
below.
Method
[0037] The present invention also includes a method for using the
life size templates 12. When a person desires to design the
interior of a room 10, the person utilizes the kit 50 of templates
12 of the present invention. By using the kit 50 of templates 12,
the user can decide what sized furniture and accessories can fit in
the room 10 or can determine whether furniture and accessories
already owned by the user can fit in a room 10. Then, the user can
determine the best placement for the furniture, accessories and
other items in the room 10.
[0038] In use the user obtains a kit 50 for each room 10 the user
desires to design. The user removes the templates 12 from the kit
50, cuts the templates 12 to the proper (if the user already has
furniture to be placed in the room 10) and/or desired (if the user
is trying to decide if a certain item will fit in a room or if the
user is trying to decide what items to put in a room) size, and
places the templates 12 about the room 10. In this manner, the user
can design a room 10 and see how the furniture and other items will
look and fit in actual life size.
[0039] The templates 12 are made from a relatively sturdy material,
preferably kraft-type paper, and can be re-folded and re-stored in
the kit 50 box for re-use in re-designing the same room 10 or for
designing different rooms 10.
[0040] In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used
for brevity, clearness and understanding; but no unnecessary
limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of
the prior art, because such terms are used for descriptive purposes
and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the description
and illustration of the inventions is by way of example, and the
scope of the inventions is not limited to the exact details shown
or described.
[0041] Although the foregoing detailed description of the present
invention has been described by reference to an exemplary
embodiment, and the best mode contemplated for carrying out the
present invention has been shown and described, it will be
understood that certain changes, modification or variations may be
made in embodying the above invention, and in the construction
thereof, other than those specifically set forth herein, may be
achieved by those skilled in the art without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention, and that such changes,
modification or variations are to be considered as being within the
overall scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is
contemplated to cover the present invention and any and all
changes, modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall with
in the true spirit and scope of the underlying principles disclosed
and claimed herein. Consequently, the scope of the present
invention is intended to be limited only by the attached claims,
all matter contained in the above description and shown in the
accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not
in a limiting sense.
[0042] Having now described the features, discoveries and
principles of the invention, the manner in which the invention is
constructed and used, the characteristics of the construction, and
advantageous, new and useful results obtained; the new and useful
structures, devices, elements, arrangements, parts and
combinations, are set forth in the appended claims.
[0043] It is also to be understood that the following claims are
intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the
invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the
invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall
therebetween.
* * * * *