U.S. patent application number 12/562807 was filed with the patent office on 2010-09-16 for furniture foot with ball joint and felt pad.
Invention is credited to Scott Fletcher, Peter Glass, Matt Hui, Robert Mills.
Application Number | 20100230562 12/562807 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42729913 |
Filed Date | 2010-09-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100230562 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fletcher; Scott ; et
al. |
September 16, 2010 |
FURNITURE FOOT WITH BALL JOINT AND FELT PAD
Abstract
A furniture foot comprises (a) a furniture foot connector; (b) a
foot base having a molded portion; (c) a ball joint connecting the
furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad
co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the
felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.
Inventors: |
Fletcher; Scott; (Redondo
Beach, CA) ; Mills; Robert; (Torrance, CA) ;
Glass; Peter; (Arroyo Grande, CA) ; Hui; Matt;
(Monterey Park, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SHELDON MAK ROSE & ANDERSON PC
100 Corson Street, Third Floor
PASADENA
CA
91103-3842
US
|
Family ID: |
42729913 |
Appl. No.: |
12/562807 |
Filed: |
September 18, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/188.9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 91/024 20130101;
A47B 91/12 20130101; A47C 3/023 20130101; A47C 7/002 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
248/188.9 |
International
Class: |
A47B 91/00 20060101
A47B091/00 |
Claims
1. A furniture foot comprising: (a) a furniture foot connector; (b)
a foot base having a molded portion; (c) a ball joint connecting
the furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad
co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the
felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.
2. The furniture foot of claim 1 wherein the felt pad is made from
an SAE grade F-1 felt, F-2 felt or F-3 felt.
3. The furniture foot of claim 1 wherein the felt pad protrudes
away from the foot base by a distance of between about 0.05 inches
and about 0.55 inches.
4. An item of furniture comprising: (a) a plurality of downwardly
directed support legs; and (b) a furniture foot attached to at
least one of the support legs; wherein the furniture foot comprises
(i) a furniture foot connector, (ii) a foot base having a molded
portion, (iii) a ball joint connecting the furniture foot connector
to the foot base, and (iv) a felt pad co-molded with the molded
portion of the foot base, such that the felt pad protrudes away
from the foot base.
5. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the felt pad is made
from an SAE grade F-1 felt, F-2 felt or F-3 felt.
6. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the felt pad protrudes
away from the foot base by a distance of between about 0.05 inches
and about 0.55 inches.
7. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the item of furniture
is a chair comprising a seating surface and a support structure for
supporting the seating surface at an elevated plane, the support
structure comprising a pair of sled legs, each having a downwardly
directed portion and a laterally directed, lowermost portion, the
downwardly directed portion being attached to the laterally
directed, lowermost portion at an elbow, each laterally directed,
lowermost portion terminating at a terminal end.
8. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the terminal end of
each laterally directed, lowermost portion is disposed forward of
the elbow.
9. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the felt pad is made
from an SAE grade F-1 felt, F-2 felt or F-3 felt.
10. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the felt pad protrudes
away from the foot base by a distance of between about 0.05 inches
and about 0.55 inches.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates generally to furniture and, more
specifically, to furniture feet used to support items of furniture
above a floor or other horizontal surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Items of furniture are very often supported above the floor
by a plurality of support legs, with a foot attached at the
lowermost end of each such support leg. Typically, each foot is
made from a rubber, plastic or similar material designed to
minimize damage to the floor and to minimize the propensity of the
item of furniture to skid along the floor.
[0003] Most such feet comprise a foot pad having a lower planar
surface surrounded by a foot pad perimeter. To minimize damage
caused to the floor and to minimize the propensity of the item of
furniture to skid along the floor, it is important that the lower
foot pad surface be disposed flat against the floor, rather than
having only an edge disposed in contact with the floor. When an
item of furniture is supported solely by the edge of the foot pad
on one of its support leg feet, the pressure forces created against
the floor along that edge can cause damage to the floor. Moreover,
where an item of furniture is supported solely by an edge on one of
its feet, the lack of surface contact between the floor and that
foot pad allow the foot to be easily skidded along the floor.
[0004] Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet
supporting the furniture are always disposed flat against the floor
is not easily accomplished. This is especially the case where the
furniture is to be placed on a floor with an uneven surface.
Because most floors are not perfectly flat, even an absolutely
level foot pad can cause damage by contacting the non-level
portions of a floor.
[0005] Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet
supporting the furniture are always disposed flat against the floor
is also especially a problem where the legs are downwardly disposed
at an angle with respect to the vertical, such as in many tables
and chairs. In such items of furniture, manufacturers find it
difficult to assure that the foot pads on each of the furniture
legs rests flat against the floor, because in the manufacturing
process it is difficult to assure that the angle of the support
legs does not vary from item to item.
[0006] Some furniture manufacturers have used foot pads having a
ball joint. Such foot pads are generally successful in assuring
that the foot pad rests flat against the floor. However, such foot
pads have not been found to substantially decrease damage to a
floor caused by the skidding of the furniture along the floor.
[0007] Other furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads
with felt bottoms. Such foot pads have been found to reduce damage
to floors caused by skidding of the furniture along the floor, but
do not address the problem of assuring that the foot pad rests flat
against the floor. Also, many such furniture manufacturers attempt
to attach felt to the bottom of foot pads using adhesives. Such
attachment methods have been found to be prone to failure.
[0008] A few furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads
with felt bottoms wherein the felt bottoms are co-molded to a
molded "cup," which is then installed over the foot base. This
method is also prone to failure in that the molded cup frequently
disengages from the foot base. Also, the use of a molded cup
necessarily increases the diameter of the foot base, which
frequently interferes with the ability to stack the chair with
identical chairs.
[0009] The problems associated with trying to ensure that the foot
pads of furniture support feet are disposed flat against a floor is
a considerable problem where the item of furniture is a chair
having sled-type legs. Such sled legs have a downwardly directed
portion and a laterally directed, lowermost portion. The downwardly
directed portion is attached to the laterally directed, lowermost
portion at an elbow. The laterally directed, lowermost portion is
disposed horizontally proximate to a floor surface. Feet for each
sled leg usually comprises a pair of feet, one attached at the
elbow of the sled leg and one attached to the terminal of the
laterally directed, lowermost portion. Typically, such sled legs
are splayed outwardly from the seating surface towards the floor.
Such disposition of the sled legs makes it exceedingly difficult to
provide feet for the sled legs which consistently are disposed flat
against the surface of the floor.
[0010] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved furniture leg
foot which minimizes the above-described problems in the prior
art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a
furniture foot comprising (a) a furniture foot connector; (b) a
foot base having a molded portion; (c) a ball joint connecting the
furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad
co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the
felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.
DRAWINGS
[0012] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the
present invention will become better understood with reference to
the following description, appended claims and accompanying
drawings where:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a prospective view of a chair having features of
the invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a side view of the chair illustrated in FIG.
1;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a second prospective view of the chair illustrated
in FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a first
furniture foot having features of the invention;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a second furniture
foot having features of the invention; and
[0018] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the furniture foot
illustrated in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment
of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This
discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the
invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in
the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
[0020] The invention is a furniture foot 10 comprising a furniture
foot connector 12, a foot base 14, a ball joint 16 connecting the
furniture foot connector 12 to the foot base 14 and a felt pad 18
disposed on the foot base 14.
[0021] FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a chair 22 having furniture feet 10 of
the invention. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate three different embodiments of
a furniture foot 10 of the invention.
[0022] The furniture foot connector 12 is typically made from a
metal and is adapted to connect to a leg of an item of
furniture.
[0023] The foot base 14 includes a molded portion 20 which is
typically a plastic material, such as nylon. Other materials, such
as polypropylene and polyethylene, can also be used to form the
molded portion.
[0024] The ball joint 16 is a typical ball joint 16 connector used
in prior art furniture feet.
[0025] The felt pad 18 is co-molded with the molded portion 20 of
the foot base 14 such that the felt pad 18 protrudes away from the
foot base 14. Typically, the felt pad 18 protrudes away from the
foot base 14 by a distance of between about 0.05 inches and about
0.55 inches.
[0026] It has been found that co-molding of the felt pad 18 with
the molded portion 20 is important to ensuring the reliable bonding
of the felt pad 18 to the foot base 14. Co-molding of the felt pad
18 with the molded portion 20 of the foot base 14 has been found to
be a far more reliable means of connecting the felt pad 18 to the
molded portion 20 than prior art efforts to adhere the felt pad 18
to the foot base 14 using adhesives. Because of the dissimilarities
of the felt pad 18 and the molded portion 20, attempts to adhere
the felt pad 18 to the molded portion 20 using adhesives leads to
frequent delamination of the felt pad 18 from the molded portion
20.
[0027] It is important that the felt be of a heavy and
wear-resistant grade. Preferably, the felt is an SAE grade F-1
felt, an F-2 felt or an F-3 felt.
[0028] As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the furniture foot 10 of the
invention is particularly advantageously used in a chair 22, such
as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. The chair 22 comprises a seating
surface 24 and a support structure 26 for supporting the seating
surface 24 at an elevated plane. The support structure 26 comprises
a pair of sled legs 28 each having a downwardly directed portion 30
and a laterally directed, lowermost portion 32. The downwardly
directed portion 30 is attached to the laterally directed,
lowermost portion 32 at an elbow 34. Each laterally directed,
lowermost portion 32 terminates at a terminal end 36. In the
embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the terminal end 36 of each
laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 is disposed forward of the
elbow 34.
[0029] Attached to the chair 22 are four furniture feet 10. A first
chair foot is attached to the terminal end 36 of each laterally
directed, lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28. A second
furniture foot 10 is attached to the elbow 34 of each sled leg
28.
[0030] The furniture foot 10 attached to the terminal end 36 of
each laterally directed lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 is
illustrated in detail in FIG. 4. In the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 4, the furniture foot connector 12 is provided by a threaded
stem 38 which is attached to an assembly nut 40 and a threaded
insert 42 disposed within a plastic front glide housing 44. The
front glide housing 44 is attached by press-fit over the laterally
directed, lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 using a
retention spring 46 and a screw 48.
[0031] The second furniture foot 10 attached to the elbow 34 of
each sled leg 28 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this
embodiment, the furniture foot connector 12 is provided by a
cylindrical cup 50 secured to a cylinder 52 on a metal bracket 54.
The metal bracket 54 is typically welded to the elbow 34 of a sled
leg 28 and is covered by a plastic rear glide housing 56.
[0032] Although the furniture feet 10 of the invention have been
described as being adapted to support a chair 22 having sled legs
28, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the
furniture feet 10 of the invention can otherwise be adapted to
support other items of furniture and other styles of chairs having
downwardly directed legs which terminate at a terminal end. In all
such cases, the furniture feet 10 of the invention allow the foot
base 14 to be maintained flat against a floor or other flat surface
upon which the item of furniture is disposed.
[0033] For example, a chair foot 10 of the invention constructed
for supporting furniture having three or more generally vertical
cylindrical legs is easily provided by adapting the furniture foot
10 illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. In such adaptation, the
cylindrical cup 50 is sized and dimensioned to snugly fit over the
distal end of a cylindrical furniture leg.
[0034] The invention provides an effective and inexpensive method
of assuring that the foot pads of furniture leg feet automatically
become disposed flat against a floor or other flat surface, thereby
minimizing damage to the floor or surface and thereby minimizing
the tendency of the item of furniture to skid along the floor or
surface.
[0035] Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent
that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be
resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of
the instant invention as set forth hereinabove.
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