U.S. patent application number 11/470480 was filed with the patent office on 2008-03-06 for furniture storage unit.
Invention is credited to Lori Greiner.
Application Number | 20080054770 11/470480 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39150513 |
Filed Date | 2008-03-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080054770 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Greiner; Lori |
March 6, 2008 |
FURNITURE STORAGE UNIT
Abstract
An ottoman used to organize and store articles in the interior,
the ottoman having an access panel to provide access to its
interior wherein the access panel is formed by a sidewall of the
ottoman. Located in the interior of the ottoman is a configurable
organizer system.
Inventors: |
Greiner; Lori; (Chicago,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY GROUP;FREDRIKSON & BYRON, P.A.
200 SOUTH SIXTH STREET, SUITE 4000
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402
US
|
Family ID: |
39150513 |
Appl. No.: |
11/470480 |
Filed: |
September 6, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/235.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 83/00 20130101;
A47B 88/975 20170101; A47B 88/994 20170101; A47C 7/62 20130101;
A47C 7/626 20180801; A47C 3/16 20130101; A47B 88/90 20170101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/235.2 |
International
Class: |
A47B 83/00 20060101
A47B083/00 |
Claims
1. A piece of furniture comprising: a base having a bottom and four
side walls, each side wall having a first end and a second end
wherein the first ends are coupled to the bottom and each side wall
extends upwardly from the bottom, an open top defined by the second
ends of at lest two of the four side walls, the base having an
interior region defined by interior surfaces of the four sides and
bottom and an exterior defined by exterior surfaces of the four
side walls; and a removable cover that fits in the open top of the
base, wherein one of the four side walls is an access side wall
that can be rotated from its upwardly position to a generally flat
position wherein the flat position it is generally parallel to the
bottom wherein the interior region of the base is exposed through
the access side wall.
2. The furniture of claim 1 further comprising rolling coasters
coupled to the bottom of the base so that the furniture can be
rolled along a surface.
3. The furniture of claim 1 wherein the removable cover has a first
side and a second side, wherein the first side has four side walls
coupled along a perimeter of the first side to form a tray.
4. The furniture of claim 3 wherein the second side of the
removable cover has a cushion secured thereto.
5. The furniture of claim 1 wherein exterior surfaces of the four
side walls are covered in leather.
6. The furniture of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of
storage elements located in the interior region of the base and
accessible from the access side wall.
7. The furniture of claim 6 wherein the storage elements comprise a
plurality of trays providing storage space.
8. The furniture of claim 7 wherein the trays can be pulled out
from the interior region of the base.
9. The furniture of claim 7 further comprising a plurality of
removable dividers that can be selectively positioned in the trays
to divide the storage space of the trays into distinct compartments
according to a user's needs.
10. A piece of furniture comprising: a base having a bottom and
four side walls, each side wall having a first end and a second end
wherein the first ends are coupled to the bottom and each side wall
extends upwardly from the bottom, a top defined by the second ends
of at least two of the four side walls, the base having an interior
region defined by interior surfaces of the four sides and bottom
and an exterior defined by exterior surfaces of the four side
walls; and wherein one of the four side walls is an access side
wall that can be rotated from its upwardly position to a generally
flat position wherein the flat position it is generally parallel to
the bottom wherein the interior region of the base is exposed
through the access side wall.
11. The furniture of claim 10 further comprising rolling coasters
coupled to the bottom of the base so that the furniture can be
rolled along a surface.
12. The furniture of claim 10 wherein the top is formed by a
removable cover.
13. The furniture of claim 12 wherein the removable cover has a
first side and a second side, wherein the first side has four side
walls coupled along a perimeter of the first side to form a
tray.
14. The furniture of claim 13 wherein the second side of the
removable cover has a cushion secured thereto.
15. The furniture of claim 10 wherein exterior surfaces of the four
side walls are covered in leather.
16. The furniture of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of
storage elements located in the interior region of the base and
accessible from the access side wall.
17. The furniture of claim 16 wherein the storage elements comprise
a plurality of trays providing storage space.
18. The furniture of claim 17 wherein the trays can be pulled out
from the interior region of the base.
19. The furniture of claim 17 further comprising a plurality of
removable dividers that can be selectively positioned in the trays
to divide the storage space of the trays into distinct compartments
according to a user's needs.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The embodiments of the invention are directed to a piece of
furniture that has multiple functionality, and more particularly,
the embodiments of the invention are directed to an ottoman that
has a removable top that can be used as a cushion or a tray as well
as at least one access wall that provides access to an interior of
the furniture for storage.
BACKGROUND
[0002] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art ottoman 10 that
has a base 12 and a removable top 14. The removable top 14 has a
first surface 16 which is shown in FIG. 1 on which is formed a
tray. The removable top 14 has a second surface 18 as shown in FIG.
2 opposite the first surface 16 on which is formed a cushion which
can be sat upon by a user or used to rest a user's feet. The
removable top 14 has two handles 20 formed by fabric loops which a
user uses to lift the removable top 14 off the base 12 and flip it
to either its first or second surface and replace it on the base.
When the removable cover 14 is removed from the base 12, an
interior volume 22 is exposed as shown in FIG. 3 which can be used
by the user to store items such as throws or pillows, for
example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] FIGS. 1-3 are perspective views of a prior art piece of
furniture.
[0004] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture
according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0005] FIG. 5 shows an access wall in its open state where it has
pivoted from the position shown in FIG. 4 to that shown in FIG. 5
so that it is generally parallel with the bottom.
[0006] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a furniture where the
interior region has a first type of organizational system.
[0007] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a furniture where the
interior region has a second type of organizational system.
[0008] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a furniture according to
another embodiment of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a furniture according to
another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The following detailed description should be read with
reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different
drawings are numbered identically. The drawings depict selected
embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the
invention. It will be understood that embodiments shown in drawings
and described above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are
not intended to limit scope of the invention as defined in the
claims that follow.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture 100
according to an embodiment of the invention. The piece of furniture
has a base 112 that includes a bottom (not shown) and four side
walls 122 extending upwardly from the bottom. Each side wall 122
has a first end 124 and a second end 126. The first ends 124 of the
side walls are coupled to the bottom. An open top is formed by the
second ends of at least two of the side walls. The base has an
interior region (130, see FIG. 5) defined by interior surfaces of
the bottom and the four side walls and an exterior formed by the
exterior surfaces of the four side walls and bottom. A removable
cover 114 is provided in the open top of the base. The removable
cover 114 has a first surface 116 (which is shown in FIG. 4) and a
second surface 118 (as shown in FIG. 5). Located on the first
surface is a tray and on the second surface is a cushion.
[0012] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, one side wall forms
an access wall 128 and its second end forms a free end and its
first end is pivotally coupled to the bottom. FIG. 4 shows the
access wall 128 in its closed state where it extends generally
upwardly for the bottom. FIG. 5 shows the access wall 128 in its
open state where it has pivoted from the position shown in FIG. 4
to that shown in FIG. 5 so that it is now generally parallel with
the bottom. The access wall 128 is provided with some type of pull
132 so that the user can rotate the access wall from its closed
position to its open position. The pull 132 can be a swatch of
fabric as shown in FIG. 4 or it can be a drawer type pull, for
example. In an embodiment, the access wall is secured in its
upright position by a friction fit with the adjacent side walls and
a top wall 134. The access wall may be held in place by other
structures as will be described hereinafter. While the access wall
is shown as being hinged 131 at the bottom, it may alternatively be
hinged at its top or at its left or right side. In addition, more
than one or all of the side walls may be access walls to allow
access to the interior of the furniture.
[0013] The interior region 130 of the base 112 shown in FIG. 5 is
shown empty. In the embodiments as will be described hereinafter,
the interior region will be occupied by storage organizational
systems. These organizational systems can be built into the
interior region and non-removable, or they may be removable so that
a user can change the configuration of the storage system depending
upon the user's needs.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a furniture where the
interior region has a first type 140 of organizational system. In
this embodiment, the organizational system includes a plurality of
shelves 142 where each shelf has a slot 144 configured to hold a
DVD or CD or other type of media. The user can thus conveniently
store these items out of view and yet have easy access to them. The
shelves are held in place by pegs located in holes formed along the
interior surfaces of side walls as is well known and they may be
repositioned in the interior region by moving the pegs location to
a new hole as is well known.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a furniture where the
interior region has a second type 146 of organizational system. In
this embodiment, pull-out shelves 148 are built into the interior
region. The shelves may have removable dividers 150 that partition
the shelves into appropriate configurations depending on what the
user wants to store in the tray. Short dividers can be installed so
that individual items such as DVDs or CDs, for example, can be
stored between a pair of dividers. They can also be removed so that
larger items such as books or magazines or remote controllers can
be stored on a tray as seen in the back half of the top tray.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a furniture according to
another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a
different type of closure 160 is provided to hold the access wall
in its upright position. The second end of the access wall and the
top wall may be provided with a magnetic latch system,
hook-and-loop fasteners (i.e., Velcro), snaps, etc., to secure the
access wall in its upright position. The closure system may be
spring loaded as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the
art so that the access door is biased to its closed state. A
lanyard 162 is optionally provided and it can be provided in any of
the embodiments described herein.
[0017] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a furniture according to
another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, two access
side walls 128, 128.sup.2 are provided so that the interior region
of the base can be accessed from opposite sides of the base. In
this embodiment, the interior region may be divided in half by a
middle wall 170. Alternatively, the middle wall may be absent. In
the portion of the interior region visible in FIG. 9 a shelf 172 is
provided. A user can store books, for example in this portion of
the interior region. Alternatively, any of the types of storage
organizers as described herein may be provided instead. The
opposite portion of the interior region, not visible in FIG. 9, can
hold any of the types of storage organizers described herein as
well.
[0018] On another embodiment (not shown) the cover (114 in FIG. 1)
is not removable from the base. The interior storage region is
accessed through at least one side wall.
[0019] While preferred embodiments have been described in detail,
it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are
possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention.
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