FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to customizable high durability furniture and in particular to an adjustable clamp for securing items of furniture, such as a desk, table top or shelving, to wall surfaces that are out of true or in corners that are not square.
BACKGROUND
The structural components of high durability customizable furniture are manufactured from rigid materials, such as stainless steel or aluminum, according to architectural specifications. For reasonable manufacturing efficiency, many furniture items such as tables and other work surfaces are manufactured with straight sides and square edges. A strong support structure can be made for attaching the furniture item to a wall by projecting a horizontal I-beam from a wall surface, such as shown in FIG. 8, or from a free-standing structure. Although not illustrated, the nature of the means for securing the I-beam to the wall results in the beam projecting perpendicularly from the wall at the point of attachment. Corresponding attachment components on the furniture item are constructed to engage the I-beam perpendicularly such that the furniture is also secured perpendicularly to the I-beam and, thus, parallel to the wall. Therefore, it becomes critically important for the I-beam to project perpendicularly from the wall so that, when an item of furniture is attached to it, the furniture lines up in perfect parallel alignment with the wall.
In most existing construction, walls are not perfectly straight and corners are not perfectly square. Therefore, I-beams projecting from an particular attachment point on a wall may not be perfectly perpendicular to the wall. Even with perfectly straight walls, if walls which intersect to form a corner are not square, the I-beams which project from the adjoining walls will not be in perpendicular relation to each other. Misalignment problems such as these make it difficult or impossible to secure table surfaces with straight sides and square corners in optimal alignment with an adjacent support wall or to fit a table top in the optimal position in a corner that is out of square.
If, for example, an I-beam projects from a wall having a surface imperfection, the I-beam may project at an angle that is not perpendicular to the general plane of the entire wall. Therefore, if a square desk is attached to the wall using the I-beam system described above, the surface nearest the wall will not be in parallel alignment with the wall. Rather than being an insignificant problem, since people are keen observers of this type of aesthetic misalignment, the installation can be rejected.
In another example, in the case of a desk having a return, if the desk is to be attached to one wall in a corner using the I-beam system described above, and the return is to be attached in like fashion to the other wall, if the I-beams are not in perpendicular relation to each other, only the desk or the return can be attached, but not both because the desk and return will not align with each other.
In addition to the above-described misalignment situation, during installation of more than one high durability furniture item, it if desirable to have a mechanism that allows relatively fine adjustments between adjoining pieces to present an aesthetically pleasing setting.
While work around solutions can be developed to solve the above furniture installation problems, they are expensive and time consuming. Therefore, an improved attachment mechanism is needed which permits attachment of rigid straight-sided furniture items to walls which are not perfectly flat and in corners that are not square.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an item of furniture having a horizontal top surface, such as a portion of a table top, showing a clamp recess and two fastener holes;
FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view of the underside of the furniture item of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded elevational view of an adjustable furniture clamp according to the invention disposed below the furniture item shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A is an upper perspective view of the forked end of one of the attachment arms and an arm fastener;
FIG. 4 is an exploded lower perspective view of the furniture clamp and furniture item shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the clamp body of the furniture clamp secured to the underside of the furniture item by the arm fasteners, showing the furniture item and clamp body positioned on a support I-beam, and showing a clamp cam and clamp cam fastener in exploded position below the clamp body;
FIG. 6 is a lower perspective view of the furniture item, clamp body, arm fasteners, support I-beam, clamp cam and clamp cam fastener of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is an elevational view similar to FIG. 5 showing the clamp cam fastened in position to the underside of the clamp body with the clamp cam fastener; and
FIG. 8 is a lower perspective view of the furniture item, clamp body, arm fasteners, I-beam, clamp cam and clamp cam fastener assembled as shown in FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
An adjustable furniture attachment clamp according to the invention, referred to generally at 10 in FIG. 6, provides an improved mechanism for attaching furniture items to an adjoining wall. FIG. 1 shows a furniture item 12 having a flat top surface 14 and an underside 20. Although the adjustable furniture clamp described herein can be used for any furniture item having a horizontally disposed underside, such as a table, bookshelf, or storage cabinet, for the sake of clarity the furniture item 12 illustrated in the accompanying drawings is a table top. A clamp recess 16 and fastener holes 18 are provided on the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the adjustable furniture attachment clamp has a clamp body 22 having left and right shoulders 23L, 23R. An elevated horizontal top strut 24 extends between and connects shoulders 23L, 23R. Two forked arms 30 extend laterally from the clamp body 22. The top face 26 of the top strut 24 is in parallel planar alignment with and spaced above to the top surfaces 28 of arms 30 a distance no greater than the height H of the recess 16 as measured from the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 to the upper face 32 of the clamp recess 16. This allows the entire top strut 24 to fit within the clamp recess 16 when the arms 30 are positioned against the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 as shown in FIGS. 5-8. The top strut 24 also has two opposite side walls 34 spaced apart by a distance D1 less than the distance D2 between the two side edges 35 of the clamp recess 16, thereby providing room for some lateral play when the top strut 24 is positioned in the clamp recess 16. See, e.g., FIG. 6.
Once in position in the clamp recess 16, the clamp body 22 is loosely held in place by inserting arm fasteners 36 through fastener slots 38 in each of the arms 30 and partially tightening them in fastener holes 18 in the underside 20 of the furniture item 12. A measure of forward-to-back play in clamp body 22 is provided because the width W of the fastener slots 38 is larger than the width of the shanks 40 of each arm fastener 36. See FIG. 3A. Lateral play is provided because the fastener slot separation distance D3 between the innermost edges 42 of slots 38 is less than the arm fastener holes separation distance D4 between the shanks 40 of the arm fasteners 36 when the latter are resident in the arm fastener holes 18, as indicated in FIG. 3. Play is thus provided in two directions, forward-and-back, as indicated by arrows A in FIG. 4, and laterally, as indicated by arrows B in FIG. 4, to permit fine adjustments in the position of the clamp body 22 while held loosely in position against the underside 20 of the furniture item 12. In one embodiment of the invention lateral play of +/−¼ inch is available, but it will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that additional play may be designed into the parts as needed for a particular application. Additional adjustable clamps may be attached to the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 along clamp recess 16 as necessary.
Referring next to FIGS. 5 and 6, after attaching one or more clamp bodies 22 to the underside 20 of the furniture item 12, the assembled furniture item and attached clamp body are laid onto an I-beam 44, that may be extending horizontally from and rigidly affixed to an adjoining wall, until the lower face 46 of the beam pocket 56 of the clamp body 22 rests on the upper beam face 48 of the upper beam flanges 52 of the I-beam 44, and the rounded lateral edge 50 of the right upper beam flange 51 engages the incurved beam capturing surface 54 provided on the inner portion of the right shoulder 23R and which forms the right side of the beam pocket 56 of the clamp body 22. It can be seen that the concave beam capturing surface 54 extends below the outermost edge 58 (see FIG. 6) of the rounded lateral edge 50 of the right upper beam flange 51 so that, as the right upper beam flange 51 is pressed into the beam capturing surface 54, the beam capturing surface 54 cups and captures the right upper beam flange 51. It will be readily understood that, while the beam capturing surface 54 as illustrated has a concave shape, other shapes may be used that perform the function of capturing the right upper beam flange 51. For example, the right upper beam flange 51 and the beam capturing surface 54 could have coordinating square, oval, or hooked shapes.
Left shoulder 23L includes a sloped beam guide face 59 which guides the left upper beam flange 70 into the beam pocket 56 while the right upper beam flange 51 is engaged with the beam capturing surface 54.
When the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 is resting directly on the top surfaces 28 of the clamp body's arms 30, the downwardly oriented lower face 46 of the beam pocket 56 is in planar alignment with the underside 20 as can best be seen in FIG. 5. Therefore, when lower face 46 is resting on the upper beam face 48 of the I-beam 44, the upper beam face 48 is also in planar alignment with the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 which simplifies and facilitates measuring required for positioning the furniture item 12.
With continuing reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, clamp cam 60 is inserted into clamp cam receiving socket 62 in clamp body 22 and held in place by inserting clamp cam fastener 64 through clamp cam fastener bore 63 in clamp cam 60 and tightening clamp cam fastener 64 in clamp cam fastener hole 65. As the clamp cam 60 is inserted into clamp cam receiving socket 62, its cam binding face 66 is brought into contact with the lower portion 68 of the left upper beam flange 70 thereby pinning the upper beam flanges 52 between the clamp cam 60 and the beam capturing surface 54.
In a typical installation, the arm fasteners 36 and the clamp cam fastener 64 are loosely tightened just enough to hold the assembly together. The furniture item 12 is then put in the optimal position relative to the adjoining wall given whatever surface imperfections may be present. Adjustments in position of the furniture item are permitted because of the two directions of play in the clamp body 22 discussed above (and see again FIG. 4), and the ability to move the clamp 22 longitudinally along the I-beam 44. When the furniture item 12, such as a desk, is properly aligned with the wall or other furniture elements, such as a desk return, the arm fasteners 36 are tightened to secure the clamp body 22 to the underside 20 of the furniture item 12 at the desired orientation to the furniture item. It should be noted that this point, the furniture item, with the clamp body 22 attached to it, may be removed from the I-beam if desired and when it is replaced on the I-beam at a later time, the preadjusted clamp body or bodies 22 will automatically adjust the position of the furniture item to the wall. Finally, after the clamp body 22 is secured to the furniture item, the tightening of the clamp cam fastener 64 secures the I-beam 44 in the beam pocket 56 of the clamp body 22 by compression of the clamp cam 60 against the left upper flange 70 of the upper flanges 52 of the I-beam 44 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Although the furniture item is securely attached to the I-beam, it can very quickly be detached simply by loosening the clamp cam fastener 64 and lifting the furniture item 12 and attached clamp body 22 off of the I-beam 44.
An adjustable furniture attachment clamp according to the invention allows for adjustments in position of furniture items having horizontal undersides along a support beam, and permits rapid attachment and detachment of any such furniture item to a supporting I-beam. Adjustable furniture clamps may be used singly or in multiples depending on the size of the work surface to be deployed and the strength of the connection desired.
There have thus been described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of an adjustable furniture attachment clamp according to the invention. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
Patent Grant
8864087
