Patent Application
20100050389
The present invention relates to furniture slide assemblies and a method of use, more specifically, furniture slide assemblies positioned between an object to be moved and over the flooring in which the object is to be moved.
In the moving industry, it is quite usual to face the situation of having to move large, heavy, and sometimes awkwardly shaped objects such as furniture within the confines of buildings. The movement of large objects and furniture are not limited to the venue of commercial buildings, but equally experienced in residential settings with interest in relocating furniture to achieve a new floor plan or moving the furniture or large objects to a new home. Other occurrences arise from office downsizing, team wiring upgrades, etc. that frequently mandate office reconfigurations requiring that the furniture be moved or rotated. Furniture is also frequently moved for example, in healthcare and educational facilities for cleaning. In these instances, as in the installation of modular carpet, it is desirable to move the furniture quickly, with the least possible effort and, preferably, after hours with a limited number of workers.
Office equipment is usually moved with a hand truck, four-wheel dolly, or the like and can take several individuals working together. The work is hard, labor expensive and injuries occur. Other furniture, such as workstations, computers, etc. are also difficult to move. The preferable method of moving the heavy objects is for professional movers to pick the object up and carry it by hand, but this is not always an economically feasible or a possible arrangement because of the lack or cost of labor.
One example embodiment of the present disclosure includes a furniture slide assembly for positioning the furniture slide between an object to be moved and the floor upon which the object is moved. The furniture slide comprises a main body having an inner portion and outer surface. The inner portion forms a concave surface for receiving the object to be moved and at least a portion of the outer surface is in contact with the floor when inserted between the floor and the object to be moved. The furniture slide further comprises an apex centrally located about the outer portion from which the inner portion and outer surface converge. A peripheral edge surrounds an outer perimeter of the main body and a thumb tab upwardly extends from the peripheral edge vertically that is extended from the floor for locating and manipulating the furniture slide assembly between the floor and the object to be moved.
Another example embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method of moving an object across a floor in a commercial or residential setting. The method comprises the steps of grasping a furniture slide assembly by a thumb tab with one hand of an operator contributing to the movement of an object across the floor and raising at least one edge, side, or leg of an object to be moved across of the floor. The method further comprises inserting the furniture slide assembly between the object to be moved and the flooring in which the object is to be moved and axially positioning the furniture slide assembly between the edge, side, or leg of the object to be moved such that the object is substantially centrally positioned over the furniture slide assembly. The method also comprises the step of lowering the at least one edge, side, or leg of an object to be moved across the floor onto the furniture slide assembly.
A further example embodiment of the present disclosure includes a furniture slide assembly for positioning between an object to be moved and the floor upon which the object is moved in a commercial or residential setting. The furniture slide assembly comprises a main body having an inner portion and outer surface. The inner portion forms a concave surface for receiving the object to be moved and the outer surface forms a corresponding convex surface having at least a portion in contact with the floor when inserted between the floor and the object to be moved. An apex is centrally located about the outer portion from which the inner portion and outer surface converge. A peripheral edge surrounds an outer perimeter of the main body. The furniture slide assembly further comprises a thumb tab having upper and lower surfaces having a plurality of curvilinear ribs for facilitating gripping by the mover during installation. The thumb tab upwardly extends from the peripheral edge and is vertically extended from the floor for locating and manipulating the furniture slide assembly between the floor and the object to be moved. The thumb tab further comprises an arcuate profile with the main body to provide strength to the construct of the thumb tab. An intermediate surface is located along the outer surface of the main body. The intermediate surface extends outwardly to the peripheral edge to form a substantially horizontal region. The centrally located apex of the outer surface diverges outwardly to the intermediate surface along the main body at an angle. The angle minimizes the friction between the furniture slide and floor during the movement of the object.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which the present invention relates upon consideration of the following description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the drawings unless otherwise noted and in which:
The present disclosure provides for furniture slide assemblies and a method of use, and more specifically, furniture slide assemblies at least partially positioned between an object to be moved and over the flooring in which the object is to be moved such that the object can be easily moved.
Conventional furniture supports that are placed under a leg of a chair or furniture to support the furniture in a stationary position are typically 1″ to 3″ in size. The construct of the exemplary embodiments of the furniture slide assemblies of the present disclosure are targeted toward moving large objects and in contrast are 5″ to 10″ in size. And as discussed below, the exemplary embodiment furniture slides have specially designed geometrical profiles that allow heavy furniture or large objects to more easily traverse numerous types of flooring surfaces, including carpet, tile, linoleum, laminate, hardwood, rugged surfaces, and the like.
In addition to the size and specially designed geometrical profiles, the construct of the exemplary embodiments of the furniture slide assemblies of the present disclosure include thumb tabs that allow a person to easily manipulate the slide during installation between the object and the floor. The manipulation ability provided by the thumb tabs allow the person to conveniently position the furniture slide in the desired orientation for moving the object or furniture and further reduces the risk of pinching the hand or fingers during insertion.
Referring to the figures, and in particular
As illustrated in
Illustrated in
Referring now to
The thumb tab 22 further forms an upwardly extending arcuate profile 38 with a lower portion 40 of the main body 32, allowing a contoured fit with the operator's finger 26 or thumb 24 during installation (illustrated in
The lower portion 40 of the main body 32 annularly forms the bottom outer surface 36 of the round furniture slide assembly 16 and conically converges from an intermediate surface 46 to a center apex 48 of the main body through an angle (“α”). The intermediate surface 46 extends radially outward to an outer periphery 49, forming a relatively horizontal region 50. The conically converging section of the lower portion 40 and relatively horizontal region 50 allows for reduced frictional contact between the round furniture slide assembly 16 and surface of the floor 18. The round furniture slide assembly 16 further comprises an annular outer ridge 52 that acts as a retainer, keeping the slide assembly from moving off the object 14 during installation.
In the illustrated example embodiment of
The round furniture slide assembly 16 can be made from any polymeric materials such as plastic and polyvinyl chloride (“PCV”), elastomeric materials such as molded rubber, ethylene vinyl acetate (“EVA”) foam, and the like without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. The round furniture/slide assembly further has a substantially uniform thickness (“t”) of approximately three (3) mm or one-eighth of one-inch thick material. In the illustrated embodiment of
Referring now to
The lower portion 140 of the main body 132 ovalarly forms the bottom outer surface 136 of the oval furniture slide assembly 160 and pyramidally converges from an intermediate surface 146 to a center apex 148 of the main body through an angle (“β”). The pyramidally converging to the center apex 148 forms four sides 150 along the lower portion 140. The intermediate surface 146 extends radially outward to an outer periphery 152, forming a relatively horizontal region 154. The pyramidally converging section of the lower portion 140 and relatively horizontal region 154 allows for reduced frictional contact between the round furniture slide assembly 16 and surface of the floor 18. Although not shown, in an alternative embodiment, the oval furniture slide 160 comprises an outer ridge circumscribing the outer periphery and extending upward that acts as a retainer, keeping the slide assembly from moving off the object 14 during installation.
In the illustrated example embodiment of
The oval furniture slide assembly 160 can be made from any polymeric materials such as plastic, PVC, elastomeric materials such as molded rubber, EVA foam, and the like without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. The oval furniture slide assembly 160 further has a substantially uniform thickness (“t”) of approximately three (3) mm or one-eighth of one-inch thick material. In the illustrated embodiment of
Referring now to
The thumb tab 222 further forms an upwardly extending arcuate profile 238 with a lower portion 240 of the main body 232, allowing a contoured fit with the operator's finger 26 or thumb 24 during installation (illustrated in
The lower portion 240 of the main body 232 forms the bottom outer surface 236 of the rectangular furniture slide assembly 260 and pyramidally converges from an intermediate surface 246 to a center apex 248 of the main body through an angle (“δ”). A wedge surface 258 is formed between first and second planes 262, 264, respectively in sectional end view of
The pyramidally converging to the center apex 248 forms four sides 250 along the lower portion 240. The intermediate surface 246 extends radially outward to an outer periphery 252, forming a relatively horizontal region 254. The pyramidally converging lower portion 240 and relatively horizontal region 254, and wedge surface 258 allows for reduced frictional contact between the rectangular furniture slide assembly 260 and surface of the floor 18. The rectangular furniture slide assembly 260 further comprises an annular outer ridge 256 that acts as a retainer to keep the slide assembly from moving off the object 14 during installation.
In the illustrated example embodiment of
The rectangular furniture slide assembly 260 can be made from any polymeric materials such as plastic, PVC, elastomeric materials such as molded rubber, EVA foam, and the like without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. The square furniture slide assembly further has a substantially uniform thickness (“t”) of approximately three (3) mm or one-eighth of one-inch thick material. In the illustrated embodiment of
What have been described above are examples of the present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the present invention but one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the present invention are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
