Patent Application
20100213749
The invention relates to articles of furniture, such as chairs and methods of attaching furniture components.
Chair components are often attached together by fastening mechanisms. Some fastening mechanisms, such as screws or bolts, often include portions that are visible to a seated user or a potential customer. For example, the head of a screw or bolt may be positioned along an outer portion of a frame member of a chair that can be seen by a user or potential customer. Such visible elements may detract from the aesthetic effect provided by a chair or article of furniture
Some chair components may be attached together by overmolding one component onto another component. Such molding may occur using injection molding mechanisms and require separate shots, or molding steps for molding the first component and then molding the second component onto the first component. Alternatively, a structure may be purchased from a supplier and a component may subsequently be overmolded onto that structure. The use of such overmolding often requires significant expense in the purchasing of one or more molds. Further, overmolding may only be utilized for certain components that meet particular structural requirements or that are only accessible at a select few steps in a chair manufacturing process, which may limit assembly options and increase the costs of manufacturing an article of furniture, such as a chair.
A new method of attaching furniture components is needed. Preferably, the new method provides design flexibility, assembly processing design flexibility, and permits components to be attached without the attachment negatively impacting the aesthetic effect provided by the furniture assembled in accordance with that method.
A method of attaching furniture components, such as chair components is provided. One method includes positioning a back skin adjacent to a back frame, folding side portions of the back skin over the back frame, positioning a cross member between the folded over side portions of the back skin, positioning stakes formed in the cross member or projecting from the cross member through holes formed in the folded over side portions of the back skin, and heating the stakes to bond portions of the cross member to portions of the back skin. The back skin and cross member are preferably comprised of polymeric material.
Embodiments of the method may also include positioning projections formed in the cross member into openings formed in the back frame for attaching portions of the cross member to the back frame. The projections may then be heated to attach the cross member to the back frame.
The heating of the projections may be provided by infrared light energy or infrared radiation. The heating of the stakes may also be provided by infrared light energy or infrared radiation.
The back skin may define apertures that are longitudinally elongated. Of course, the back skin may also not include holes or apertures, may be have a mesh structure, or may include holes or apertures of other shapes or configurations. For instance, the back skin may alternatively have uniform holes or have holes of different configurations, such as square holes and elliptical holes. As another example, the holes in the back skin may be elongated laterally.
Another method for attaching furniture components includes providing a first furniture component comprised of polymeric material, positioning a second furniture component adjacent to the first furniture component, positioning stakes attached to the second furniture component through holes formed in the first furniture component, and heating the stakes to bond portions of the second furniture component to portions of the first furniture component.
The second furniture component may also be comprised of polymeric material. The polymeric material of the second furniture component may be the same material as the material of the first furniture component or may be a material that is different than the material of the first furniture component. The first furniture component may be comprised of material that is harder than the material of the second furniture component. The material of the first furniture component and the material of the second furniture component are preferably materials such as plastics or elastomeric materials.
The first furniture component may be a unitary structure or may be formed by attaching a plurality of structures together. The second component may also be a unitary structure or may be formed by attaching a plurality of structures together.
It should be understood that the first furniture component may be comprised of a polymeric material and have a durometer measurement of not greater than 40 and the second furniture component may also be comprised of a polymeric material that have a durometer measurement of not greater than 40. The first furniture component may be a back frame component, a seat frame component, an arm pad component, an arm pad support component, a back skin component, a seat skin component, an arm pad covering component, or other structural components used in chairs or other furniture. The second furniture component may be a back frame component, a seat frame component, an arm pad component, an arm pad support component, a back skin component, a seat skin component, an arm pad covering component, or other structural components used in chairs or other furniture.
A chair is also provided. The chair may include a base, a frame connected to the base, a skin adjacent to the frame and a first member attached to a portion of the frame by insertion of a first set of projections within apertures formed in the frame and then heating the first set of projections via infrared energy to bond the first member to the frame. The infrared energy may be, for example, infrared radiation or infrared light energy.
The first member may be a component of the frame for a chair component such as a seat frame or back frame. The first member may alternatively be another component.
It should be appreciated that the base may have numerous different configurations. For instance, the base may include a seat supported on a pedestal or may include a tilt mechanism positioned between a seat and a pedestal.
In some embodiments, the first member may include a second set of projections and the skin may be attached to the first member by an application of infrared energy to the second set of projections to bond the skin to the first member. The second set of projections may be inserted through holes defined in the skin prior to the application of the infrared energy applied to the second set of projections to bond the skin to the first member.
Preferably, the frame is comprised of a material that is harder than the skin. The first member may be comprised of a material that is harder than the skin, softer than the skin, or having the same hardness as the skin.
Preferably, the first member is a cross member. It is contemplated that the first member may alternatively be configured for positioning between a frame element and a skin element for connecting the frame element to the skin element.
Other details, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description of certain present preferred embodiments thereof and certain present preferred methods of practicing the same proceeds.
Present preferred embodiments of furniture, such as chairs and present preferred methods of furniture component attachment are shown in the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The back frame 5 preferably has a “FIG. 8” configuration defined by an upper first hoop attached to a lower second hoop by a central post. The back frame 5 is preferably composed of plastic or an elastomeric material. A back skin 6 is attached to the back frame 5. The back skin is preferably an elastomeric sheet of material with holes formed therein. Preferably, the holes in of the back skin are elongated longitudinally. A lumbar support may also be attached to the back frame 5. The back skin 6 has a first side 10 and a second side 12 opposite the first side 10. The first side 10 and second side 12 extend from the top of the back skin to the bottom of the back skin. The back 3 also includes a bow tie 8 attached to the back frame. The bow tie 8 may be a cross member that can provide a desired aesthetic effect to the back 3 of the chair 1.
A second present preferred chair 31 is shown in
Preferably, the bow tie and back skin are composed of an elastomeric material, such as Hytrel® material made by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Of course, the back skin and bow time may also be composed of other elastomeric materials or other materials.
As may be appreciated from
The bow tie 60 includes a first end 65 and a second end opposite the first end. The bow tie 60 also has a top 67 and a bottom 68. Stakes 61 are positioned along each end. The bow tie 60 also includes projections 63 along the top and bottom of the bow tie that are sized to interlock with recesses formed in he back frame to attach the top and bottom of the bow tie 60 to the back frame.
The stakes 61 of the bow tie 60 are sized and configured to pass through holes in the connector portion 51 of the folded portions 46 and 48 of the back skin, as may be appreciated from
For example, the back skin and bow tie may both be positioned on the back frame. Then, the ends of the bow tie may have their stakes 61 positioned through the holes of the connector portion of the back skin's folded portions, as may be appreciated from
Preferably, the frame element is harder than the skin element. For instance, a comparison of durometer measurements may be used to show that the frame element is harder than the skin element. As another example, a hardness test may show that the frame element is harder than the skin element.
It should be understood that the skin element may be a back cover, a back skin, a mesh back support, a seat skin, a seat cover, or other structure that provides a surface for supporting a portion of a seated user's body. The frame element may be a component of a frame such as a seat frame, back frame, armrest support structure or may be a component of some other structure that provides at least some support to the skin element it is attached to.
It should be understood that the use of the stakes and openings, or projections and openings in corresponding components as discussed above can permit an aesthetically desirable attachment of soft portions of elastomeric components. Therefore, a chair design may utilize soft or very flexible elastomeric components without requiring harder plastic or metal components to help attach elastomeric components together. Such design flexibility permits more design options to be considered and can permit more aesthetically desirable chair designs to be efficiently manufactured. The soft elastomeric components may include back skin or back frame components, seat skin or seat frame components, or other seat or chair components. It should be appreciated that components may be considered “soft” if those component have a durometer measurement of at or below a durometer value of 40, or a durometer value of not greater than 40.
Of course, components being attached as described above may be composed of other materials as well, such as, for example, plastic. Further the use of heating via infrared radiation or infrared light energy may permit the attachment of such components to occur at many different steps in an assembly process, which may provide assembly design flexibility that permits improved costs savings for manufacturing furniture components or furniture, such as chairs.
While certain present certain present preferred chairs and methods of attaching chair components have been discussed and illustrated herein, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/155,298, filed on Feb. 25, 2009. The entirety of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/155,298 is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61155298 | Feb 2009 | US |
