U.S. patent application number 12/824469 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-21 for ready to assemble sofa and method for packaging same.
Invention is credited to Billy Joe Griggs, JR..
Application Number | 20100264715 12/824469 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42980445 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100264715 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Griggs, JR.; Billy Joe |
October 21, 2010 |
Ready to assemble sofa and method for packaging same
Abstract
A furniture system having a base frame, side pieces and a back
portion, that assembles quickly and disassembles into a
configuration that optimizes space when shipped.
Inventors: |
Griggs, JR.; Billy Joe;
(Pulaski, TN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROBERT M. SCHWARTZ, P.A.
P.O. BOX 221470
HOLLYWOOD
FL
33022
US
|
Family ID: |
42980445 |
Appl. No.: |
12/824469 |
Filed: |
June 28, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11580482 |
Oct 13, 2006 |
7744162 |
|
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12824469 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
297/440.1 ;
53/432; 53/473 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 4/02 20130101; A47C
4/028 20130101; A47C 17/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/440.1 ;
53/473; 53/432 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/00 20060101
A47C007/00; B65B 1/04 20060101 B65B001/04; B65B 31/02 20060101
B65B031/02 |
Claims
1. An upholstered furniture system comprising: (a) a first
assembled configuration for seating; (b) a second unassembled
configuration for storage and shipping, said upholstered furniture
system comprising: (i) a horizontal seat support frame, said frame
having opposing front and rear panels and opposing side panels,
said panels arranged fixedly and continuously to define a
rectangular storage cavity, said frame further comprising one or
more movable support members extending generally perpendicularly
between said front and rear panels and within said cavity, said
movable support members being swivel swing gates, wherein each
swing gate has opposing vertical sides that are parallel and
adjacent to an inner surface of each of said front and rear panels
and each swing gate further includes a bottom member extending
between each of said vertical sides, said swivel swing gates are
positioned within said cavity and extend in a perpendicular
orientation between each of said front and rear panels, said swing
gates are constructed and arranged with a swivel pin incorporated
therewith, said pin allowing said gate to swivel on said swivel
pin, and said gate is configured to pivot into vertical and
horizontal orientations relative to said frame; (ii) a back frame
member, having a plurality of male fasteners; (iii) left and right
arm members, each of said left and right arm members having female
fasteners; wherein said rear support panel comprises at least two
male fasteners for receiving said female fasteners from said seat
back frame; (iv). wherein said left and right side support frame
panels each comprise a pair of male fasteners for receiving said
female fasteners from a respective arm member; and wherein in said
second unassembled configuration said swing gate pivots into said
horizontal position relative to said frame, and said arm members
and a plurality of cushions to be used in said system are
positioned in said cavity.
2. The furniture system of claim 1, wherein said unassembled
configuration is substantially rectangular.
3. The furniture system of claim 2, wherein said rectangular
configuration is defined by horizontal planes corresponding to each
side of said horizontal seat support frame.
4. The furniture system of claim 1 wherein said arm portions
interconnect in a dissembled state such that said arm portions nest
within the boundary of said cavity in said horizontal seat support
frame.
5. A method of shipping Ready to Assemble (RTA) furniture
comprising the steps of: (a) providing RTA components of furniture
comprising: i) a horizontal seat support frame, said frame having
opposing front and rear panels and opposing left and right side
panels, said panels arranged fixedly and continuously to define a
rectangular storage cavity, said frame further comprising one or
more movable support members extending generally perpendicularly
between said front and rear panels and within said cavity, said
movable support members being swivel swing gates wherein each swing
gate has opposing vertical sides that are parallel and adjacent to
an inner surface of each of said front and rear panels and each
swing gate has bottom member extending between each of said
vertical sides, said swivel swing gates are positioned within said
cavity and extend generally in a perpendicular orientation between
each of said front and rear panels, said swing gates are
constructed and arranged with a swivel pin incorporated therewith,
said pin allowing said gate to swivel on said swivel pin, and said
gate pivots into vertical and horizontal orientations relative to
said frame; (ii) a back frame member, having a plurality of male
fasteners; (iii) left and right arm members, each of said left and
right arm members having female fasteners; wherein said rear
support panel comprises at least two male fasteners for receiving
said female fasteners from said seat back frame and further wherein
said left and right side support frame panels each comprise a pair
of male fasteners for receiving said female fasteners from a
respective arm member; (iv) cushions; (b) assembling said RTA
components such that they form a rectangular configuration, wherein
said rectangular configuration provides said left and right side
portions nest within the the rectangular storage cavity of said
horizontal seat support frame when said movable support members are
moved in a swivel motion about said pin, to a horizontal
orientation relative to said frame, to facilitate storage of said
RTA components in said horizontal seat support frame, and said back
portion nests on top of said frame; packaging the rectangular
configuration of the RTA components into a conventional shipping
container and substantially maximizing utilization of available
shipping space within said conventional shipping container.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein said cushions are vacuum packaged
to reduce volume of space needed for storage and shipping.
Description
INDEX TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/580,482, filed Oct. 13, 2006 which claims
benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/726,324 filed Oct.
13, 2005 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to ready-to-assemble
("RTA") furniture. More specifically, the present invention relates
to RTA sofas, RTA love seats, RTA chairs and similar articles of
RTA furniture that are configured for rapid assembly from a
partially assembled state to a fully assembled state after shipping
and storage stages.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This present invention, an article of RTA furniture,
includes a base assembly, a back assembly and left and right arm
assemblies that are constructed and arranged for minimizing
packaging volume in a partially assembled state and for rapid
assembly from said partially assembled state to a fully assembled
state with minimal effort and tools.
[0004] In one embodiment, the invention comprises an upholstered
furniture system comprising:
[0005] a first assembled configuration for seating;
[0006] a second unassembled configuration for storage and shipping,
comprising:
[0007] a horizontal seat support frame having front and rear
support frame members; wherein said rear support member comprises
at least two male fasteners for receiving complementary female
fasteners from a seat back frame;
[0008] left and right side support frame members, wherein said left
and right side support frame members each comprise at least 2
orifices for receiving two male fasteners for interacting with
complementary female fasteners from a respective arm member;
[0009] a back member, having male fasteners for assembling with
complementary female fasteners secured to said horizontal seat
support frame;
[0010] left and right arm members, each of said left and right arm
members having a female fastener for receiving male fasteners
attached to said horizontal seat support frame; and
[0011] wherein said horizontal seat support frame comprises a
cavity to contain, in said unassembled configuration, each of said
arm members to be used with said furniture system.
[0012] The cavity may, in one embodiment, further contain cushions
used in said assembled configuration.
[0013] In the furniture system of the present invention, said
unassembled configuration is substantially rectangular. Previous to
construct a furniture system as per the present invention were
unsuccessful because those attempts did not account for storage of
arm portions. The present invention provides that in said
unassembled state, arm portions nest within a cavity formed within
the border of said horizontal seat support frame.
[0014] Said arm portions may interconnect in a dissembled state
such that they nest within the boundary of said cavity in said
horizontal seat support frame.
[0015] Said back member is constructed and arranged to connect to
said horizontal seat support frame by a male-female connection.
[0016] In the furniture system each of said left and right arm
members attach to said horizontal seat support frame by interacting
with male connection of placed through said frame with orifices on
each of said left and right arm members and said left and right arm
members are secured with hand tightening nuts, such as wing nuts.
This assembly system provides a process that allows assembly
without the use of tools.
[0017] Also contemplated is a method of shipping Ready to Assemble
(RTA) furniture, comprising the steps of:
[0018] (a) providing RTA components of furniture comprising:
[0019] a horizontal seat support frame;
[0020] left and right side pieces;
[0021] a back frame;
[0022] cushions;
[0023] (b) assembling said RTA components such that they form a
rectangular configuration, wherein said rectangular configuration
provides said left and right side portions constructed and arranged
to nest within the underside of said horizontal seat support frame,
and said back portion nests on top of said frame; and
[0024] packaging said RTA furniture into a conventional shipping
container such that each unit forming said rectangular frame
efficiently utilizes the available shipping space within a
conventional shipping container.
[0025] In another embodiment the present invention is an
upholstered furniture system consisting of:
[0026] a first assembled configuration for seating;
[0027] a second unassembled configuration for storage and shipping,
comprising:
[0028] a horizontal seat support seat support frame having front
and rear support frame members; wherein said rear support member
comprises at least two male fasteners for receiving complementary
female fasteners from a seat back frame;
[0029] left and right side support frame members, wherein left and
right side support frame members each comprise a pair of male
fasteners for receiving complementary female fasteners from a
respective arm member;
[0030] a back member, having male fasteners for assembling with
complementary female fasteners secured to said horizontal seat
support frame;
[0031] left and right arm members, each of said left and right arm
members having an female fastener for receiving male fasteners
attached to said horizontal seat support frame; and
[0032] wherein said horizontal seat support frame comprises a
cavity to contain each of said arm members and cushions to be used
with said furniture system.
[0033] The cavity may, in one embodiment, further contain cushions
used in said assembled configuration. In the furniture system of
the present invention, said unassembled configuration is
substantially rectangular. Previous attempts at providing RTA
furniture and systems to maximize shipping space did not account
for storage of arm portions.
[0034] The present invention provides that in said unassembled
state, arm portions nest within a cavity formed within the border
of said horizontal seat support frame. Said arm portions may
interconnect in a dissembled state such that they nest within the
boundary of said cavity in said horizontal seat support frame.
[0035] Said back member is constructed and arranged to connect to
said horizontal seat support frame by a male-female connection.
[0036] In the furniture system each of said left and right arm
members attach to said horizontal seat support frame by interacting
with a male connection placed through said frame with orifices on
each of said left and right arm members and said left and right arm
members are secured with wing nuts, or hand tightening nuts. Thus
assembly is without the use of tools.
[0037] The base assembly includes a base frame having a storage
cavity for receiving the left and right arm assemblies for storage
during shipment and storage of the article of furniture. Use of
movable supports transversing the storage cavity facilitates
storage of the arm assemblies when the supports are moved out of
the way and provides needed strength and rigidity when the supports
are moved into a support position during final assembly of the
article of RTA furniture. This novel feature of storing the arms in
the base cavity allows for a significant reduction of shipping
volume per unit of furniture, which in turn greatly reduces
shipping and handling costs. Conventionally, the RTA arms would be
shipped in a shipping box separate from the box housing the base
and back assemblies. In addition to the saving in reduction of
volume, handling costs and inventory losses are reduced because
shipping is consolidated to a single shipping box.
[0038] In one preferred embodiment, the base frame is a box frame
having a base front frame portion, a base rear frame portion, and
right frame portion and left frame portion. Upon final assembly,
one or more movable support members transverse the storage cavity
to provide structural support of the base assembly during use of
the article of furniture. In one preferred embodiment, the moveable
support members comprise swing gates. The base frame also includes
right and left base extensions for receiving the left and right arm
assemblies for rapid assembly of the RTA article of furniture. The
frame extensions each include a lower arm mounting assembly upon
which an upper arm mounting assembly of the respective arm assembly
is received. Fast operating fastener components premounted upon the
upper and lower arm mounting assemblies allow for rapid attachment
of the arm to the base frame extension. In one preferred
embodiment, wing-nut fastener assemblies are used. In another
preferred embodiment snap-in fasteners are used.
[0039] The base assembly also includes base cushions and a cushion
support, such as interwoven webbing or box springs. The base
assembly further includes upholstery covering portions of the base
frame. One advantage of this assembly is that the right and left
base extensions are not upholstered while the front, the outside,
the top and the inside portions of the arm assemblies are fully
upholstered. This provides a small vertical crevasse between the
upholstered arm and the upholstered front of the base assembly.
This is characteristic of conventionally manufactured furniture.
The arm fronts of prior art RTA furniture have only the upper
portion upholstered while the front face of the base assembly is
fully upholstered. This creates an elongated horizontal crevasse
along the front of each arm.
[0040] The base assembly further has a quick connecting bracket
either receiving or being received by the opposite gendered bracket
of the back assembly. The base cushions and the back cushions (if
detachable) are vacuum packed and stacked between the base assembly
(with the arms placed in the storage cavity) and the back assembly
in a minimal volume configuration. The RTA article is optionally
compressed further and placed in a storage container such as a
shipping box.
[0041] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
ready to assemble furniture system that assembles without the use
of tools.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0042] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the assembled (A) and
unassembled (B) configurations.
[0043] FIG. 2 shows perspective (A) and side views (B) of one
embodiment of the sofa packaged for shipping.
[0044] FIG. 3 shows close up views of the male-female connectors
(A) for the back frame and the connected arrangement (B) and the
disconnected arrangement (C) for the back frame portion of the sofa
to the frame.
[0045] FIG. 4 shows close up views (A) and (B) depicting the
attachment of the back and side portions to the frame.
[0046] FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment whereby side pieces
and cushions nest within a cavity on the underside of the frame for
shipping. The cushions are vacuum packaged to reduce volume of
space needed for storage and shipping.
[0047] FIG. 6 is a close up partial cross section showing
connection of a screw attaching into a t-nut set into a
sidepiece.
[0048] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the support frame with a
swivel swing gate in a vertical position relative to the frame.
[0049] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the support frame with a
swivel swing gate moved along directional arrow from a vertical
position relative to the frame.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 1A, is one embodiment of the fully
assembled RTA frame 5 and is shown including the base assembly
frame 40 and the left and right arm frames 20 connected to each
side portion 30 with a screw 60, and the back frame 10 joined to
rear portion of frame 50 by male connector 70 and female connector
80 in an assembled configuration. This RTA frame is typically
obscured by padding and upholstery when the RTA furniture is
manufactured. FIG. 1B shows a perspective view with each of the
aforementioned elements separated from their attached
configuration.
[0051] Referring now to FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of the
unassembled system. The front of the frame 40 side portion of frame
30, and, in the shown embodiment, cushions 90 are shown placed on
top of frame 40 for storage to substantially form a rectangular
configuration. Said rectangular configuration is defined as a
horizontal planes corresponding to each side of said horizontal
seat support frame. That is to say, component pieces do not extend
outward past the sidepieces of the horizontal seat support frame.
The component pieces also do not extend outward past each of the
front and back potions of the horizontal seat support frame.
Previous attempts at RTA furniture for storage were deficient in
that the arm portions extended outward from the frame when stored.
The extensions of the arm portions from the rectangular
configuration in which the configuration is defined by the shape of
the base alone has made shipping such systems less efficient than
those systems manufactured according to the current invention. Also
shown is FIG. 2B, a side view whereby arm portions 20 are placed in
a nesting arrangement in a cavity inside frame 40. Back portion 10
is placed on top of frame 40 and cushions 90 are on top of back
portion 10.
[0052] Referring now to FIG. 3A a detail of the embodiment, as is
shown in male connector 70, which was shown in FIG. 1 attached to
the rear portion of the frame interacts with female connector 80,
which was shown in FIG. 1 connected to back frame portion 10. The
interaction of the male-female 70 and 80 connection allows the back
portion to be secured to the frame. In a preferred embodiment, no
tools are required to effectuate the interaction and connection.
FIG. 3B shows a view of the male connector 70 and female connector
80 attaching along transverse portion of support frame 50 in their
interconnected state and FIG. 3C shows male connector 70 and female
connector 80 attaching along transverse portion of support frame 50
in their disconnected positions.
[0053] Referring now to FIG. 4A, is a cut away view of the upper
drawing shows side 20 that will receive mounting screw 60 through
an incorporated orifice. The lower drawing shows a close up view of
the attachment of side 20. In a preferred embodiment, a T-nut
(shown in FIG. 6 close-up) is permentantly attached to sidepiece 20
and the inner portion of T-nut creates a complementary threaded
orifice to receive the threads from screw 60. In this embodiment,
screws 60 have heads suitable for tightening by hand. Also shown in
FIG. 4A is support brace 35 which is on the interior of frame 40
and helps to support and stabilize the full assembled system. FIG.
4B further show receiver 65 whereby the shaft of screw 60 is
inserted into a central orifice in receiver 65 and the shaft
interconnects with T-nuts located within channel 75 incorporated
into sidepiece 20.
[0054] In an alternative embodiment of this invention shown in FIG.
5, the entire article of RTA furniture is in a stacked
configuration, with the interlocked arms 20 and cushions 90 stored
in the storage cavity. Cushions 90 may be placed in a vacuum sealed
bag to reduce the volume required and make them smaller to ship
because typically, cushions are foam or feather and contain a
significant volume of space occupied by air. Removing the air
reduces the volume required to store and ship cushions 90. In this
alternate embodiment, the back assembly, the back and seat cushions
and the arm assemblies may be vacuum packaged separately or in
combination.
[0055] Referring to FIG. 6, a T-nut 64 is mounted onto sidepiece 20
in channel 75 (previously shown). The t-nut 64 has inner
circumferal threaded portion 66 that forms a circular channel 68.
The inner circumferal threaded portion 66 interacts with the screw
threaded shaft 62 of screw 60 and serves to secure sidepiece 20
onto the aforementioned frame. Referring to FIGS. 7-8, support
brace 35 is a swivel swing gate that supports frame 50 in a
vertical orientation and pivots to a horizontal orientation
resulting in an unobstructed cavity within the sofa frame. FIGS.
7-8 show progressive steps of swivel swing gate moving from
vertical to horizontal orientations.
[0056] In assembling a preferred embodiment, the article of the
present invention, the components are separated and the frame is
placed in an upright position, e.g. positioned upright so as to
receive the component parts and be usable upon assembly. Back
portion 10 is connected to the back frame 50 using the male-female
connectors described. Then each sidepiece is connected to the frame
through use of hand screws interacting with T-nuts permanently
mounted into incorporated orifices into each of said side pieces.
An appropriate support may then be attached to the frame to hold
desired seat portions and/or cushions. The assembled system may now
receive any appropriate upholstery covering for the side and back
portions. As previously mentioned, the assembly of the present
invention may be assembled without the use of tools. Many RTA
products require numerous component parts, tools, and take a
significant amount of time and effort to assemble. The RTA system
of the present invention provides not only a cost savings in
shipping, but also a savings in labor for assembling. One the
article is unpacked from shipping configuration; it comprises 4
major components and assembles quickly. Attach the back with the
aforementioned male-female connectors, attach each of the
sidepieces and secure with hand screws, and the RTA assembly is
completed. Additionally, the manufacturing costs are reduced
because the majority of the system is assembled from 4 major
components.
[0057] Assembly of the system of the present invention on a
commercial scale is also economized because any assembly line
processes can be done quickly and without the use of tools.
[0058] While the invention has been described in its preferred form
or embodiment with some degree of particularity, it is understood
that this description has been given only by way of example and
that numerous changes in the details of construction, fabrication,
and use, including the combination and arrangement of parts, may be
made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention.
* * * * *