Patent Application
20220151389
The present invention is broadly concerned with footrest furniture and, more particularly, to such furniture having an insulated compartment or cooler provided therein.
A footrest is a piece of furniture used to elevate the feet while sitting. A footrest may be alternatively known as a foot stool, an ottoman, or a hassock. A footrest is generally used to provide comfort to a person seated, for example, in a chair or sofa. It is typically a short, wide article of furniture. The top may be padded and upholstered or covered with a material such as leather, fabric, plastic, or a laminate of such materials. A footrest allows the seated person to rest their feet upon it, supporting the legs at a mostly horizontal level or at a somewhat elevated level.
Footrests, of various forms, have been known for many years, and have evolved throughout history. The ottoman was first designed as sectional furniture that wrapped around walls of a room, before evolving into smaller versions that fit into the corner of a room or functioned as padded seats. Eventually, the ottoman became a piece of furniture for resting the feet or legs upon. Because footrests are often hollow, box-like structures, some have been adapted for placing articles inside them, such as magazines, books, or the like. Such footrests may have at least one side open for access to articles within the interior thereof or have a hinged panel.
The present invention provides embodiments of an improved footrest having an upper panel which can be releasably retained in a generally upstanding position and embodiments of a footrest having an insulated compartment therein.
An embodiment of the footrest includes a base structure configured for engaging a floor, the base having an upper base surface; an upper panel pivotally connected to the base structure to enable movement between a lower position in covering relation to the upper base surface and an upper position in which the upper panel is in substantially upstanding relation to the base structure; and a hinge mechanism pivotally connecting the upper panel to the base structure, the hinge mechanism being configured to releasably retain the upper panel in the upper position and to enable selective release of the hinge mechanism to pivot the upper panel to the lower position. The upper panel may having a pad or padding on an external or top surface thereof.
In embodiments of the footrest, the hinge mechanism includes: a base hinge bracket secured to the base structure; a panel hinge bracket secured to the upper panel; a pivot slot formed in only one of the base hinge bracket or the panel hinge bracket, the slot having a lock end and an opposite release end; a pivot member secured to the other of the panel hinge bracket or the base hinge bracket and extending through the pivot slot; and the panel hinge bracket cooperating with the base hinge bracket in such a manner that movement of the pivot member to the lock end of the slot prevents pivoting movement of the upper panel and movement of the pivot member to the release end of the slot enables pivoting movement of the upper panel.
More particularly, in an embodiment of the footrest of the present invention, the hinge mechanism includes: a pair of base hinge brackets secured to the base structure in laterally spaced and aligned relation; a pair of panel hinge brackets secured to the upper panel in laterally spaced and aligned relation; a respective pivot slot formed in each of the base hinge brackets, the pivot slots being mutually aligned and having lock ends and opposite release ends which are mutually aligned; a respective pivot member secured to each of the panel hinge brackets, the pivot members being aligned and extending through an associated base hinge bracket; and the panel hinge brackets cooperating with the base hinge brackets in such a manner that movement of the panel hinge brackets to engage the lock ends of the slots with the pivot members prevents pivoting movement of the upper panel and movement of the hinge brackets to engage the release ends of the slots with the pivot members enables pivoting movement of the upper panel. The footrest may include a spring secured to the base structure and to the upper panel, the spring resiliently urging the upper panel in such a direction as to engage the lock ends of the slots with the pivot members to thereby retain the upper panel in the upper position.
An embodiment of the footrest includes a thermally insulated compartment positioned within the base structure beneath the upper panel, the insulated compartment being configured to receive an article therein and to impede acclimation of the article to an ambient temperature external thereto. The insulated compartment may include: insulated walls joined to form an insulated container open on a top side and an insulated cover sized to removably cover the insulated container. The walls are preferably joined in such a manner that the insulated container is sealed to thereby contain liquids therein, such as water from melted ice. The footrest may include an access opening formed in an upper surface of the base structure to provide access to the insulated compartment; an access panel configured to be received in the access opening in covering relation to the insulated compartment. The access panel may include a handle to facilitate removing and replacing the access panel. The insulated compartment may be configured such that it is removable from the base structure of the footrest to enable emptying water from melted ice, for cleaning, or the like.
Various objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification, include exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure
Referring to the drawings in more detail, the reference number 1 generally designates an embodiment of a footrest apparatus according to the present invention and having an insulated compartment 3 (
Referring to
The upper panel 7 is hingedly connected to the base structure 5 by laterally spaced hinge mechanisms 26. Each hinge mechanism 26 includes a base hinge bracket 28 and an upper panel hinge bracket or panel hinge bracket 30. The base hinge brackets 28 are secured in laterally aligned relation to the upper wall 20 of the base structure 5 near the rear panel 14. Similarly, the panel hinge brackets 30 are secured to the upper panel 7 in laterally aligned relation. The panel hinge brackets 30 are pivotally connected to the respective base hinge brackets 28 by pivot members 32 (
Referring to
Preferably, the walls 38 are joined in such a manner that the compartment 3 is waterproof to enable the use of ice to cool the articles 35 if desired. The illustrated compartment 3 is accessible through the access opening 22 of the base structure 5. The access opening 22 may be closed by a removable access panel 42 which may be provided with a handle 44 to facilitate handling of the access panel 42. The insulated compartment 3 is preferably selectively removable from the base structure 5 to allow periodic cleaning of the interior of the compartment 3 or to empty water from melted ice within the compartment.
The legs or feet of a user may be rested on the upper panel 7 in the lower position shown in
Referring to
The illustrated panel hinge brackets 30 are elongated members which are U-shaped in cross section and include side webs 56 connected by an end web 57. Lower or rear ends 59 of the side webs 56 are enlarged and have pivot slots 61 formed therethrough. The lower web ends 59 of the panel hinge brackets 30 are spaced apart so that they engage outer surfaces of the webs 48 and 49 of the base hinge brackets 28. The panel hinge brackets 30 are pivotally connected to the base hinge brackets 28 by the pivot pins 32 passing through the slots 61 of the lower web ends 59 and through holes (not shown) formed through the webs 48 and 49. The illustrated pivot pins 32 have heads at opposite ends thereof.
The pivot slots 61 are positioned in a substantially horizontal orientation when the upper panel 7 is in the upward position shown in
The apparatus 1 may have a tension spring 70 connected between the upper panel 7 and the upper wall 20 of the base structure 5 which resiliently urges the upper panel 7 toward the locked position (
However, the hinge mechanisms 26 may form a space between an inner end of the upper panel 7 and the rear panel 14 which may provide a grip on a rear side of the base structure 5.
It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown.
