Glider furniture safety skirt

Abstract

A furniture skirt to attach beneath the seat surface of a glider furniture piece which carries safety barriers positioned to hinder access to area between moving and stationary parts of the glider furniture piece which may present a pinching safety hazard when the moving parts are in motion. The furniture skirt has side sections sized and shaped to hang adjacent side surfaces of the glider furniture piece which are oriented parallel with the gliding motion of the furniture piece. Inflexible plates are carried by the side sections of the skirt to obstruct insertion of objects, such as fingers, within the area between moving and stationary parts of the furniture to prevent injury.

Description

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to the field of furniture skirts, and more particularly to skirts for glider-type furniture such as glider rocking chairs.

Background Art

Traditional glider-type furniture designs generally comprise a stationary frame with a pivotally-mounted seating surface that glides back-and-forth over the frame. The most common kinds of glider-type furniture include glider chairs, footrests (ottomans or footstools) and benches, to name a few. FIG. 1 shows a traditional glider rocking chair design that is generally made up of stationary frame 10 with pivotally-mounted chair 12.

Gliding, back-and-forth motion of the glider furniture seat with respect to its stationary frame creates pinch point areas between the two where fingers, toes and similar small items may be caught therebetween if the areas are left exposed. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the lower portions of the chair of FIG. 1 which indicates two pinch point areas (14) of the several created between the stationary parts (16) of frame 10 and the moving parts (18) of chair 12 when chair 12 is put into back-and-forth motion as illustrated by the arrows (18a) in the figure. A substantial amount of shearing force can be generated by the moving parts (18) of chair 12 moving past the stationary parts (16) of frame 10 when an adult is seated in the chair and imparts a rocking motion to the chair.

This safety issue has been acknowledged and has resulted in design improvements in the past. For example, many glider rocking chair designs now include a brake which prevents the chair from moving when it is engaged. Another design improvement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,214 to Trent (hereby expressly incorporated by reference) which describes the safety issue and shows an alternative glider chair design that reduces the potential for injury by incorporating enclosed side panels. (See FIG. 5 of the '214 Patent and its accompanying written description starting at Column 5, Line 61.) However, most glider rocking chairs in use today are designed as shown in FIG. 1 with an open, rail-and-spindle design that rely solely upon the brake to improve safety of operation. None the less, people have been seriously injured by inadvertently placing their fingers in the pinch point areas while the brake is disengaged resulting in badly mutilated and/or severed fingers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a furniture skirt with a safety barrier which may be used to retrofit glider furniture to make it safer to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention involves furniture skirts to attach beneath the seat surface of a glider piece of furniture which carry safety barriers positioned to hinder access to area between moving and stationary parts of the glider furniture piece. The furniture skirt is pliable, with side sections sized and shaped to hang adjacent side surfaces of the glider furniture piece which are oriented parallel with the gliding motion of the piece. The side sections of the furniture skirt carry inflexible plates which obstruct insertion of objects within the area between the moving and stationary part of the glider furniture piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings of a preferred embodiment, which are intended to illustrate and not limit the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical, prior art glider rocking chair.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the lower portions of the chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows the chair of FIG. 1 with a loop-type fastener applied.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a glider rocking chair safety skirt according to the invention.

FIG. 5 show the skirt of FIG. 4 as it appears laid out flat, prior to installation on a chair.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the side panels of the skirt of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows detail of the skirt of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 installed on a chair like the one in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 shows the appearance of the skirt of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 after it is installed on a glider chair and footrest pair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A detailed description of a preferred embodiment is provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.

The present invention generally involves furniture skirts for retrofit installation around the seating surface of glider-type furniture which carry safety barriers to be positioned adjacent the furniture's pinch point areas to prevent (block) accidental insertion of fingers (appendages) in the areas. While this written description will describe in detail how to make and use a glider furniture safety skirt designed specifically for a glider rocking chair, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the skirt's design can be configured for use with other types of glider furniture, such as glider ottomans, glider footrests (footstools) and glider benches. For example, glider chairs are commonly sold as a set with a matching glider ottoman which allows a person seated in the glider chair to put their feet up on the glider ottoman without slowing the gliding motion of the chair. It is therefore contemplated a glider chair and ottoman safety skirt pair can be sold together in a unit as an accessory for a glider chair and ottoman set, as shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of a glider rocking chair safety skirt 20 according to the invention which may be installed on a glider rocking chair like the one shown in FIGS. 1-3 as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 7. Skirt 20 generally comprises front panel section 22, back panel sections 24, side panel sections 26 carrying safety barriers 28, and fasteners 30. The skirt is preferably generally made of fabric which is aesthetically pleasing in its intended application and functional in its use. A handful of large manufactures sell the majority of glider chairs which use a small number of generally neutral in color, easily cleanable fabrics to upholster the chair's seat cushion to appeal to the largest number of purchasers possible. Safety skirts according to the invention and made for use with these glider chairs can be made of fabric which matches the glider chair's seat cushion, for example.

FIG. 5 shows skirt 20 laid out flat to disclose the details of its configuration with approximate dimensions for a skirt made in a box-pleat style design where the lower edge (32) of the skirt flares out slightly from its upper edge (34). A back-closure flap (36) (not shown in FIG. 4) may optionally be used in the skirt design.

The safety barriers used in the safety skirt of the invention can be made in different ways, with all of them having the common attribute of providing a semi-rigid to rigid (inflexible) surface that, when positioned adjacent glider furniture pinch point areas, prevents insertion of fingers and/or other appendages into the pinch point areas. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of safety barriers 28 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, which is a preferred embodiment that entails sewing a pocket (38) on the inside face of side panels 26 of skirt 20. A thin, semi-flexible sheet (or plate) of plastic (40) or other similar material can be inserted inside pocket 38, along with, optionally, interfacing or interlining type material which is used to reduce sound created by movement of sheet 40 within pocket 38 while the glider chair is in motion. A more simplified, but perhaps less desirable embodiment of the safety barrier generally involves gluing or otherwise affixing sheet 40 directly to the inside face of the side panels without the added time and expense involved in making pocket 38.

Skirt 20 is installed on chair 12 as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 7. First, strips (42) of one part of a hook-and-loop fastener pair (commonly sold under the registered trademark VELCRO®) are adhered around the edges of the chair's seating surface and along the lower rails (44) as shown in FIG. 3. Skirt 20 is then situated and positioned around the chair's seating surface and adjacent strips 42 so that fasteners 30 (the mating part of the hook-and-loop fastener pair) may be secured to strips 42 as shown in FIG. 7. Securing the bottom edge of pocket 38 to rails 44 helps to hold the safety barriers in place and reduces their movement while the glider chair is in motion.

FIG. 8 shows safety skirts made according to the invention may be configured to fit other types of glider furniture, such as ottomans like the one shown (46). In these other configurations, the safety barrier (48) can be sized and shaped to conform to the relative size and shape of the pinch point areas created by the piece of glider furniture.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of invention to the particular form(s) set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A protective skirt assembly for a gliding chair, the skirt assembly comprising: an ornamental main skirt engaging with a primary fastener section on an upper portion of an inner facing surface of the protective skirt assembly, the primary fastener section being configured for selective engagement with a first perimeter portion of the chair;a protective skirt carried by the ornamental main skirt and configured for being positioned between the ornamental main skirt and the chair;wherein the protective skirt further defines a secondary fastener section on a lower portion of an inner facing surface of the protective skirt,wherein the secondary fastener section is configured for selective engagement with a second perimeter portion of the chair,wherein the second perimeter portion of the chair is on a lower glider bar of the chair,wherein the second perimeter portion of the chair maintains a same position relative to the first perimeter portion of the chair when the chair is in a gliding operation,wherein the primary fastener section and the secondary fastener section secure the protective skirt to the first perimeter portion and the second perimeter portion.

2. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein a bottom portion of the ornamental main skirt is unattached.

3. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein the primary fastener section is a hook and loop fastener.

4. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein the protective skirt is a fabric.

5. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein the secondary fastener section is a hook and loop fastener.

6. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein selective engagement of the primary fastener section and the secondary fastener section pulls the protective skirt into a taut arrangement about the first perimeter portion and the second perimeter portion of the chair.

7. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein the first perimeter portion is vertically spaced-apart from the second perimeter portion.

8. The skirt assembly of claim 1, wherein the protective skirt is not attached to the ornamental main skirt at respective bottom portions of each of the protective skirt and the ornamental main skirt, thereby allowing relative movement of the respective bottom portions.