Furniture Slide

Abstract

A furniture slide which connects to a furniture leg of a piece of furniture having a plurality of legs, includes a furniture leg connecting surface configured to preferably be removably connected to the furniture leg of the furniture item and a base having a first portion extending from the furniture leg connecting surface and a second portion extending outwardly beyond and inwardly of a perimeter formed about of the furniture legs when the slide is connected thereto.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to furniture slides and to slides for one or more leg of a piece of furniture. More particularly, the invention relates to a slide designed for use when a person is sitting on the furniture item having legs, such as an office chair enabling easy movement of the chair a carpet.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Furniture slides are known. They serve to be secured to the leg of a piece of furniture to protect the end portion of the leg from damage as well as to protect a floor surface from damage by the furniture leg.

Some furniture rollers include a rotating mechanism so that the of the roller can on the floor surface at different angles of the furniture leg. The rotating mechanism compensates for slight variations in the lengths of the furniture legs as well as variations in the flatness of the floor surface as well as variations in the legs of the furniture.

One conventional furniture glide typically includes a roller or plastic surface for contact with the floor to allow the furniture to slide on a floor surface without undue scraping or scratching on that floor surface. While conventional furniture glide, such as a roller, distributes the bulk of the furniture, these typically are not suitable for carpet, particularly plash carpet. Care is typically required to avoid placing too much force on one side of the item, e.g., chair, as this tends to drive a leading edge of the glide(s) in a position down in the carpet precluding easy movement, particularly when a person sitting on a chair. Further, one's feet are typically used to scoot the chair when seated creating an issue with conventional configured glides.

Typical glide materials include steel, hard plastics such as nylon or polyethylene, or soft plastics which generally are chosen for certain applications be it tile, carpets, vinyl floor products, wood floors. Some pieces of furniture make it difficult for implementation of gliders, such as a chair on carpet because of the incompatibilities between the configuration of the chair and the carpet.

Accordingly, there remains a need to improve a slide for use when a person is seated on the furniture item, such as a chair. The instant invention attempts to overcome the deficiency in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object to improve a slide for a piece of furniture.

Another object is to improve a slide for use on a chair.

Still a further object is to improve a slide for use on carpet.

Accordingly, there is provided a furniture slide for use with a furniture leg which is disposed on a bottom of a piece of furniture, such as a chair. An embodiment of the slide includes a furniture leg connecting surface configured to preferably be removably secured to the furniture leg. A base having a first portion connected to the furniture leg connecting surface and a second portion extending extending outwardly beyond and inwardly of a perimeter of the furniture item when the slide is connected to the furniture item. The second end includes an elongated bottom surface for contact with the subsurface, such as carpet.

In the case of a chair, such as an office chair, these chairs typically have a number of legs, commonly four or five. Each leg is commonly equipped with a reinforced bearing surface, typically made of metal, which typically receives a rotatable bearing shaft of a roller bearing ball or other slide. In this case, the furniture leg connecting surface is received in the bearing surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a perpective view of an embodiment according to the disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a perpective view of another embodiment according to the disclosure;

FIG. 1C is a perpective view of yet another embodiment according to the disclosure;

FIG. 2A is cross-sectional view of a part of the invention illustrating position movement of the same; and

FIG. 2B is cross-sectional view of another part of the invention illustrating position movement of the same.

FIG. 3A shows cross section of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3B shows cross section of yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a part of FIG. 3A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, wherein like numerals identify like parts throughout the several figures, a furniture slide according to the present disclosure is generally numbered 10, 10′ designated. In an embodiment of FIG. 1A, 2A, 3A and 3B, the slide 10 includes a furniture leg connecting surface 12 configured to preferably be removably secured to a leg 14 of a chair 15, or other legged furniture item. The leg connecting surface 12 can be formed with a recess 50A and detent 50B to assist in snap fitting to conventional furniture leg receptacles or bearing surface 53 and can include a head 54.

A base 16 has a first portion 18 including a slotted surface 19 which receives an oblonghead 54 of the furniture leg connecting surface 12 which can be inserted intot the slotted surface 19 and rotated to a secured position. A second portion 20 extends outwardly beyond and inwardly of a perimeter 17 formed about of the chair legs 14 when the slide 10 is connected to the chair 15. As seen in FIG. 3A, the second portion 20 can comprise an elongated bottom surface which here is a continuous convex surface for contact with a subsurface 24, such as carpet. The convex surface of portion 20 should preferably be of a slope incline such that when there is a shift of weight on the chair 15, for example, these surfaces 20 work in a complementary manner to permit ease of movement on surfaces such as carpet. Unlike conventional glides, e.g., rollers, these slides 10 are of a sufficient diameter each of which collectively provide a significant surface are to support the chair 15 and person sitting on the same in a manner to diminish the formation of indentations which would otherwise be formed by rollers or the leg 14 itself when placed on carpet 24 which tend to form indentations and thus present a difficulty in moving the chair 15. To this end, the diameter of the slide 10 can preferably be at least about 5 inches ini length and has an angle Δ a of between 5 and 40 degrees relative to surface 24 at its edge. The leg connecting surface 12 can include a post or other suitable rigid member to be received within an axial bore 19 within the leg 14.

FIG. 3B shows another exemplary configuration. Here the base 16 can include a felt portion 21, which is useful on floors such as hard wood. In this case, it is contemplated that the surface 20 need not be arcuate as the felt portion 21 may be suitably applied and useful in a flat surface for wood or other hard floor surfaces.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1B and 2B, there is provided a slide 10′ which is configured to receive the legs 14. A lip 11 of slide 10′ serves to retain the legs 14. Similarly in concept, the slide 10′ has a portion 20′ which is convex and thus readily enables the movement of the chair 15 on carpet 24. It is invensioned that other geometric configurations can be made in order to carry out the concept of the instant invention. For example, FIG. 1C depicts a version wherein dashed portions 30′ representing indented sections of the base 16′ to accommodate one's feet while maintaining the function of the invention. In this embodiment, the base 16′ has a diameter larger than a span between the legs 14 has indented sections on either side of the legs 14.

It will be appreciated that variations, derivates and modifications of the above-described and other features and functions may be desirable and may be combined in many different systems or applications. These various currently alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements, which will be made later by those skilled in the art, which should also be covered by the following claims.

Claims

1. A furniture slide which connects to a furniture leg of a piece of furniture having a plurality of legs, which includes: a furniture leg connecting surface configured to preferably be removably connected to the furniture leg of the furniture item; anda base having a first portion extending from said furniture leg connecting surface and a second portion extending outwardly beyond and inwardly of a perimeter formed about of the furniture legs when said slide is connected thereto.

2. The furniture slide of claim 1, wherein said second portion includes an elongated continuous convex bottom surface for contact with a subsurface.

3. The furniture slide of claim 2, which includes a plurality of said slides, wherein one of said slides connects to one of the legs, and wherein said convex bottom surface has a slope incline such that when there is a shift of weight on the piece of furniture, said convex bottom surfaces work in a complementary manner to permit ease of movement thereof on said subsurface.

4. The furniture slide of claim 3, wherein the furniture item is a chair and said subsurface includes carpet.

5. The furniture slide of claim 4, wherein said slides collectively provide a sufficient diameter and surface area to support the chair and a person sitting thereon in a manner to diminish the formation of indentations on the carpet.

6. The furniture slide of claim 5, wherein said diameter of said slide 10 is at least be 5 inches and has an angle of between 5 and 40 degrees relative to said subsurface.

7. The furniture slide of claim 1, wherein said leg connecting surface includes a rigid member having a detent surface to be received within an axial bore within the leg and a head for connection to said base.

8. The furniture slide of claim 7, wherein said base has a slotted surface for receiving said head.

9. The furniture slide of claim 1, wherein said furniture leg connecting surface is configured with a lip to retain the legs.

10. The furniture slide of claim 1, wherein said base diameter is larger than a span between the legs has indented sections on either side of the legs.