FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates to furniture glides, and particularly to replaceable furniture glides used on the undersurfaces of articles of furniture to assist in moving furniture along a flooring surface and protecting the floor from scratching.
BACKGROUND
Furniture glides are used on the undersurfaces of furniture, particularly tables and chairs, to keep the furniture legs from scratching or wearing on floor surfaces. In prior art patents of this general type, arrangements are disclosed which include units which are removably attached to the feet of chairs and tables. As the ground engaging surface of the glide wears or becomes dirty through use, the entire unit must be replaced. After multiple replacements, the nail or screw securing the unit to the chair no longer holds with the desired force as the hole in which it is fastened becomes compromised.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure relates to a furniture glide with a replaceable ground engaging surface which includes a base component and a cup component which snap fit together. The base component is secured to a furniture leg or other undersurface with a fastener such as an annular brad or nail or screw. The cup component is attached to a ground engaging surface made of a non-scratch material such as, for example, felt or plastic. The ground engaging surface is positioned to lie between the cup component and the floor to prevent scratches or wear on the floor as the furniture rests or moves along the floor.
The snap fit arrangement is important because this configuration allows the base and cup to securely fasten together for operation, preventing unintended loosening or separation of the two parts, but also provides for disassembly of the two components when the glide member becomes worn and needs to be replaced. When the ground engaging surface becomes worn or dirty, the cup component can be removed from the base component, which remains attached to the furniture by unsnapping and disengaging the base component from the cup component by hand or with an instrument such as a knife or screwdriver. A replacement glide member is then snapped over the base component without the need to replace the entire assembly.
Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure and the advantages thereof will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair fitted with a furniture glide on the undersurface of each of its four legs.
FIG. 2A is a cutaway side view of one embodiment of the furniture glide assembly.
FIG. 2B is an enlarged cutaway side view of the furniture glide assembly, detailing the snap fit engagement of the annular flange of the base member and the recessed cavity of the cup member.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a furniture glide adapted to be coupled to a furniture leg showing the furniture leg, base member, annular brad fastener, cup member, and glide member.
FIG. 4A is a side view of the furniture glide assembly with a cutaway portion showing the snap fit engagement between the base member and the cup member.
FIG. 4B is an enlargement of the side view of the furniture glide assembly detailing the snap fit engagement of the base member and cup member.
FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the fastener is a screw.
FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing an assembled furniture glide of the embodiment of FIG. 5A.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate configuration of the furniture glide assembly in which the cup member is comprised of or coated in a ground engaging plastic material with a high degree of lubricity such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
FIG. 7A is perspective exploded view of another alternative configuration in which the cup member includes a radially extending lip for ease of removal from the base member.
FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the assembled unit shown in FIG. 7A.
FIG. 8 illustrates the separation of the cup component from the base component using a screwdriver.
FIG. 9 illustrates the separation of the cup component from the base component by hand, utilizing the radially extending tab.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
While the present disclosure may be susceptible to different embodiments, there is shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, embodiments with the understanding that the present description is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the disclosure and is not intended to limit the disclosure to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.
FIG. 1 depicts a replaceable furniture glide 10 coupled to the underside of four furniture legs 12. The furniture glide 10 includes a base member 14, shown in FIG. 2A, which is adapted to be secured to the furniture leg 12 with one or more fasteners 16 such as an annular brad 18. Attachment of the base member 14 to the bottom of the furniture leg 12 can be achieved by using a hammer if the fixture is an annular brad 18 or nail, as depicted in FIG. 2A, or with a screwdriver if the fastener 16 is a screw or other rotary fixation device, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.
The annular brad 18, depicted in FIG. 2A, may be formed to include a flange 36 extending radially from its base. Flange 36 anchors the annular brad 18 within the base member 14, to add stability and prevent dislodgment of the connection between the base member 14 and the furniture leg 12.
In an alternate configuration, the fastener 16 may be a screw, as depicted in FIG. 5A. In this configuration, the base member 14 includes a recessed inlet 23 and aperture 25 on its bottom wall 24. Recessed inlet 23 is configured to create a shelf of the same dimension as the head of the screw or nail fastener, countersinking the screw or nail fastener within the base member 14. Positioning the screw or nail fastener 16 within the base member 14 prevents interference between the base member 14 and the cup member 34 to allow the cup member 34 to rest flatly against the base member 14.
The base member 14 is preferably formed as a single piece of plastic or rubber. The base member includes a top wall 20, a sidewall 22, and a bottom wall 24, as shown in FIG. 2A. When assembled, the top wall 20 is located in proximity to the bottom surface of a furniture leg. The sidewall 22 includes an annular flange 26 that extends radially from its periphery. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, the annular flange 26 includes a planar sidewall 28 and a top wall 30 that is generally perpendicular to the sidewall 28. The annular flange 26 is receivable in a groove 44 formed in lower cup member 34.
Once the base member 14 has been attached to the furniture leg 12 with fastener 16, the base member 14 and cup member 34 are easily assembled by aligning the two pieces with respect to each other and applying pressure to the cup member 34 so that cup member 34 snaps over annular flange 26 of base member 14, as detailed in FIG. 2B.
Cup member 34, as shown in FIG. 2B, is configured to be removably coupled to the base member 14. As shown in FIG. 2A, the cup member 34 includes a top wall 38 formed to include a recess 32. Recess 32 is defined by an annular sidewall 40 formed to include a tapered surface 41 extending downward at an inward angle from the top wall 38, as shown in FIG. 2B. Tapered surface 41 of cup member 34 facilitates the assembly of the cup member 34 and base member 14 by expanding the sidewall 40 of cup member 34 to outwardly flex sidewall 40 over the annular flange 26 of the base member 14. Tapered surface 41 also provides a point of entry for a screwdriver or other implement to aid in the removal of the cup member 34 from the base member 14.
Cup member 34 includes a retainer 43, depicted in FIG. 2B, formed by the inward protrusion of the tapered surface 41 of the sidewall 40 of the cup member 34. Retainer 43 is necessary to secure the annular flange 26 in the groove 44 of the cup member 34, forming the secure snap fit arrangement. Retainer 43 has a second tapered surface 45, shown in FIG. 2B, which tapers into the groove 44 where the sidewall 40 connects to a bottom wall 42.
The groove 44 is dimensioned to accept the annular flange 26 of the base member 14 to secure the unit in an interconnected snap fit engagement, as depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B. This arrangement maintains the position between the base member 14 and the cup member 34 even though the furniture leg 12 may be moved, jostled, or otherwise repositioned. Second tapered surface 45 of the cup member 34 facilitates the removal of the annular flange 26 of the base member 14 from the groove 44 of the cup member.
The cup member 34 also includes a bottom surface that is provided with a ground engaging glide member 46, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Glide member 46 is preferably formed of felt or another scratch-resistant material such as plastic, including polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Any plastic with a high degree of lubricity to facilitate sliding of the furniture across a flooring surface will work for the intended purpose. The glide member 46 is positioned to lie between the cup member 34 and the floor to prevent scratching or wear on the floor as the furniture leg 12 rests or moves along the floor surface. The glide member shown in FIG. 4A includes a top surface 48 lying in proximity to the bottom wall 42 of the cup component 34 and a bottom surface 50 adapted to engage the floor.
When the glide member 46 becomes worn or dirty, the cup member 34 can be pried from the base member 14, which stays fixed to the bottom of the furniture leg 12, as shown, for example, in FIG. 8. This can be accomplished by use of a screwdriver, knife or other implement to pry apart and separate the cup member 34 from the base member 14, unsnapping the flange 26 on the periphery of the base member 14 from the groove 44 in the cup member 34. The screwdriver can also be wedged between the leg of the chair and the cup member 34 to effectuate its removal. A replacement cup member with a new glide member can then be snapped into place.
In an alternative configuration, depicted in FIG. 7A, the cup member 34 may include a radially extending tab 52 extending from the periphery of the cup member 34. Radially extending tab 52 facilitates removal of the cup member 34 from the base member 14 when the glide member 46 becomes worn, as depicted in FIG. 9. The base member 14 and cup member 34 can more easily be separated by applying pressure to the radially extending tab 52 and pulling the base member 14 and cup member 34 apart. The radially extending tab 52 also forms a pry point to allow removal of the cup member 34 with the screwdriver or other implement when attached to the furniture surface.
In an alternate configuration, as depicted in FIG. 6, the entire cup member 54 can be formed of or coated in non-scratch material, such as a plastic with a high degree of lubricity, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). In this configuration, the removable cup member 54 is not provided with an additional glide member because the entire cup member 54 is formed to provide a non-scratch barrier between the furniture leg 12 and the floor.
In this alternate configuration, the entire non-scratch or non-scratch coated cup member 54 can be unsnapped from the base member 14 and replaced if it becomes dirty, worn, or in the case of the coated cup member, loses its non-scratch coating.
While embodiments have been illustrated and described in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustrations and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only illustrative embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected. The description and figures are intended as illustrations of embodiments of the disclosure, and are not intended to be construed as having or implying limitation of the disclosure to those embodiments.
There are a plurality of advantages of the present disclosure arising from various features set forth in the description. It will be noted that alternative embodiments of the disclosure may not include all of the features described yet still benefit from at least some of the advantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations of the disclosure and associated methods, without undue experimentation, that incorporate one or more of the features of the disclosure and fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims.
Patent Application
20120047688
