Edge Bandings For Articles Of Furniture

Abstract

As a preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, a pair of outstanding longitudinal projections or parallel flanges are arranged along the concave rearward face of an elongated banding strip of a deformable material, with one of these flanges being centrally located in relation to the width of the strip and the other of these flanges being located parallel and adjacent to one edge thereof. An article of furniture, such as a chair or table, having a horizontal planar member with an exposed upright edge is prepared for mounting of this elongated strip by cutting an elongated groove along the exposed edge that is parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the member and sized for receiving the central flange of the banding strip. The elongated strip is then flattened along the exposed grooved edge with its central flange being pressed into the groove and its marginal flange overlapping the underside of the planar member. Once the banding strip is in position, fasteners are driven upwardly at spaced intervals through the marginal flange of the strip into the lower portion of the furniture member and to a depth sufficient to fully penetrate the centrally located flange in the groove and enter the upper portion of the furniture member.

Description

In the manufacture of furniture, many articles are fabricated from materials having exposed edges that must be either covered with a decorative trim or finished in some attractive manner. For example, the exposed planar surfaces of chair seats or tabletops formed from typical laminated members of plywood or plastic can, of course, be attractively finished in a suitable manner to provide a marketable article of furniture. However, the laminated layers or cores exposed along the edge surfaces of such laminated members simply cannot be economically finished so as to present an attractive appearance.

Accordingly, it is customary to cover these unattractive exposed edges with decorative strips of plastic, metal or wood which are either adhesively bonded along the edges or secured thereto by fasteners. Typical of the edge-banding strips used heretofore are so-called "T-moldings" which generally are comprised of an elongated strip having a decorative outer face and a single longitudinal projection or flange centrally located along its inner face. To mount such banding strips, grooves are cut along the exposed edge surfaces of the furniture member parallel to and approximately midway between its upper and lower planar surfaces. These T-molding strips are then laid along the exposed edges with their laterally projecting flanges being received by the elongated grooves. Once a strip is in position, a plurality of nails or staples are driven at spaced intervals into the underside of the furniture member with the upper end of each fastener penetrating the flange within the slot to secure the banding strip to the furniture member. Although this technique satisfactorily covers such exposed edges, it has been found that these banding strips will ultimately be pulled away from the upper corners of these exposed edge surfaces to leave an unsightly gap between the upper surface of the furniture member and the inner face of the decorative strip.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide articles of furniture having their exposed unattractive edge surfaces covered by new and improved edge-banding strips arranged in such a manner as to provide a decorative appearance as well as to remain securely mounted thereon.

This and other objects of the present invention are attained by providing new and improved molding strips of a deformable or resilient plastic material and having a longitudinal medial flange and a longitudinal marginal flange along their rearward faces and decorative forward faces. A longitudinal groove is cut along those exposed edge surfaces of an article of furniture that are to be covered and a molding strip is laid therealong with its rearward face being flattened against the edge surface to press the medial flange into the groove and its marginal flange overlapping the adjacent intersecting surface of the furniture member. To securely mount the strips, fasteners are driven through the marginal flanges and into the furniture member in such a manner as to fully penetrate the medial flanges and reenter the furniture member on the opposite side of the grooves cut therein.

The novel features of the present invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by way of the following description of an exemplary article of furniture arranged in accordance with the principles of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view of a new and improved article of furniture having its exposed edge surfaces covered with an edge-banding strip and arranged in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 in FIG. 1 for illustrating the placement of the edge-molding strip before it is secured in position; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 in FIG. 1 and depicting the elongated strip after it has been secured to the article of furniture.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an article of furniture, such as a chair or a table 10, is partially depicted as including a horizontal planar member, such as the seat of the chair or the tabletop 11, that is supported at a convenient elevation in the usual fashion by a plurality of legs as at 12. As depicted, the tabletop 11 has an exposed edge surface 13 which has been previously prepared by cutting an elongated groove 14 around the perimeter of the edge surface, with this groove being located approximately midway between and parallel to the upper and the lower planar surfaces 15 and 16 of the top. A decorative strip 17 of a deformable resilient plastic material, such as a vinyl, butyrate, or other extrudible plastics, and arranged in accordance with the principles of the present invention has been mounted along the exposed edge surface 13.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, in its preferred embodiment, the edge-banding strip 17 has a generally flat, elongated body 18 having its forward or outer face 19 formed in a desired decorative configuration and its rearward or inner face formed into a slight concavity as at 20. The width of the deformable strip 17 is selected so as to be at least as great as the thickness of the tabletop 11. A first longitudinal flange 21 is integrally formed along the banding strip 17 and projects rearwardly from about the midpoint of its concave inner face 20. A second integrally formed, longitudinal flange 22 is arranged along the lower edge of the rearward face 20 of the strip 17 in such a manner that the distance between the upper face 23 of this marginal flange and the upper unflanged edge 24 of the banding strip is about equal to the overall thickness of the tabletop 11. In this manner, the medial flange 21 of the banding strip 17 may be readily inserted into the previously cut peripheral groove 14 along the edge surface 13 with the upper face 23 of the lower marginal flange 22 overlapping the underside 16 of the tabletop 11. It will be recognized, of course, that although the spacing between the flanges 21 and 22 as well as the height of body 18 above the flange face 23 must be coordinated in relation to the thickness of the tabletop 11, the lower portion 25 of the strip body can be extended if desired to give the visual impression of a greater thickness to the tabletop as well as to provide a decorative effect.

It will be appreciated from FIG. 2 that when the resilient banding strip 17 is first positioned along the edge surface 13, the concavity 20 will leave the base of the centrally located medial flange 21 slightly spaced away from the edge surface of the tabletop 11. Then, as best seen in FIG. 3, by pressing the strip 17 inwardly against the edge surface 13, the resilience of the strip will firmly urge the upper edge 24 of the strip against the upper edge of the tabletop 11. Then, a plurality of suitable fasteners 26 (such as nails, screws, or staples) are driven upwardly at spaced intervals through the lower flange 22 and on into the tabletop 11 in such a manner as to intersect and penetrate the medial flange 21 within the groove 14.

It will also be noted from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the upper and lower surfaces of the medial flange 21 are formed with one or more truncated or wedgelike projections, as at 27 and 28. In this manner, as the medial flange 21 is inserted into the groove 14, these wedgelike projections 27 and 28 will be partially compressed between the upper and lower walls of the groove. Thus, although the medial flange 21 can be readily inserted into the groove 14, the resiliency of the plastic material will be effective to bias these wedge-shaped projections 27 and 28 tightly against the opposed walls of the groove so as to further secure the banding strip 17 in position around the exposed edges 13 of the tabletop 11.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that once the decorative strip 17 is secured in the fashion illustrated in FIG. 3, the resiliency of the body 18 will be effective for maintaining the upper edge 24 of the strip firmly pressed around the upper peripheral edge or corner of the tabletop 11. Similarly, by virtue of the wedge-shaped projections 27 and 28 as well as the fastening members 26 passing through both of the flanges 21 and 22, the decorative strip 17 will be firmly secured along the exposed edge surfaces 13 of the tabletop 11.

Claims

I claim:

1. An article of furniture including: a member having upper and lower generally horizontal surfaces spaced from one another and terminating at a vertical edge surface having a horizontal groove therein extending along said edge surface between and parallel to said upper and lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled to said member; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposed horizontally along said edge surface, said elongated strip having an attractive forward face and a normally concave rearward face with first and second paralleled flanges projecting rearwardly therefrom along the length of said strip, said first flange partially overlapping said lower surface, said second flange being between the upper and lower edges of said strip and disposed within said horizontal groove; and a plurality of fasteners at spaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of said fasteners being driven upwardly through said first flange into said lower surface and on through said second flange within said horizontal groove for maintaining said rearward face flattened against said edge surface and resiliently urging said upper strip edge rearwardly against the upper portion of said edge surface.

2. The article of furniture of claim 1 further including: at least one wedge-shaped outstanding projection extending along said second flange and sized and adapted for snugly retaining said second flange within said horizontal groove.

3. A table including: a tabletop having upper and lower spaced surfaces generally parallel to one another and bounded by peripheral edge surfaces respectively having an outwardly facing groove therein extending around said tabletop midway between and parallel to said upper and lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled to said tabletop; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposed around said peripheral edge surfaces, said elongated strip having an attractive outer face and normally concave inner face with first and second paralleled flanges projecting inwardly therefrom along the length of said strip, said first flange being extended across and overlapping the contiguous portions of said lower table surface, said second flange being between the upper and lower edges of said strip and snugly fitted within said outwardly facing grooves; and a plurality of fasteners at spaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of said fasteners being driven through said first flange into said contiguous portions of said lower table surface and on through said second flange within said outwardly facing grooves for maintaining said inner face flattened against said peripheral edge surfaces to resiliently urge said upper strip edge inwardly against the upper portions of said peripheral edge surfaces.

4. The table of claim 3 further including: at least one wedge-shaped outstanding projection extending along said second flange and sized and adapted for snugly retaining said second flange within said outwardly facing grooves.

5. A chair including: a seat having upper and lower spaced surfaces generally parallel to one another and bounded by peripheral edge surfaces respectively having an outwardly facing groove therein extending around said chair midway between and parallel to said upper and lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled to said chair seat; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposed around said peripheral edge surfaces, said elongated strip having an attractive outer face and normally concave inner face with first and second paralleled flanges projecting inwardly therefrom along the length of said strip, said first flange being extended across and overlapping the contiguous portions of said lower seat surface, said second flange being between the upper and lower edges of said strip and snugly fitted within said outwardly facing grooves; and a plurality of fasteners at spaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of said fasteners being driven through said first flange into said contiguous portions of said lower seat surface and on through said second flange within said outwardly facing grooves for maintaining said inner face flattened against said peripheral edge surfaces to resiliently urge said upper strip edge inwardly against the upper portion of said peripheral edge surfaces.

6. The chair of claim 5 further including: at least one wedge-shaped outstanding projection extending along said second flange and sized and adapted for snugly retaining said second flange within said outwardly facing grooves.