Patent Application
20250057318
The invention relates generally to furniture, and more specifically to modular furniture.
Generally, furniture such as sofas are delivered to a user in a single piece, with all parts attached to the frame of the sofa. This can pose several problems, such as, for example, lack of selection or long delivery lead times due to specific desired configurations being only available through a custom order. Such custom orders may often not be eligible for returns or cancelations. Additionally, delivery of furniture may only be possible through certain select carriers which can be slow, expensive, offer poor tracking, and only able to deliver on appointment. Further problems with existing furniture options are that, when a piece of furniture is only available in a single piece, damage, even small amounts of damage, can ruin the entire piece of furniture. In addition to the above problems regarding custom orders, in most cases existing pieces of furniture can no longer be upgraded or modified to suit changing needs. For example, additional seats cannot be changed, and covers and colors cannot be changed. Large furniture can also be bulky and difficult to move, and users may at times be unable to move the furniture, and users can be forced to sell or discard the item.
In some existing furniture systems, covers made of leather for the sofa frame (i.e., for the seating area, backrest, armrest portions) are not removable from the sofa frame. This is because existing designs generally rely on the user to set the tension on the fabric, attaching the cover manually to the frame with closure such as Velcro. With Velcro, the cover cannot be spread over the entire frame with even tension, so the cover may be wrinkled. The system of using Velcro to secure and tension a cover onto a sofa frame can be suitable for certain fabric types, but may be unsuitable for leather, for example. Therefore, leather cover options are generally not removable from sofa frames, and generally are stapled to the sofa frame, making the customizability and modification options limited for the user.
Existing modular sofa designs having removable covers are generally based on the concept of “pods,” i.e., individual seat units with four feet, to which armrests and backrests are attached. They have a large number of feet, and all pieces must be touching the ground, providing limited design options. These generally also have a distinctive “sofa in a box” appearance due to the large number of feet. Existing modular sofa designs having fewer feet generally do not have removable covers, because the feet system prevents the users from removing the covers.
Existing modular sofa designs may be environmentally harmful because not every component that wears down over time is easily serviceable. At least one component of the suspension system (such as webbing, springs, and so on), foam, and upholstery of a piece of furniture is generally permanently adhered to the framework of the furniture, requiring work by professional upholsterers and the like in order for repairs or replacements to be done. Generally, it may be financially burdensome for a user to service a piece of furniture or replace or repair only a small portion of the furniture. Therefore, many users may discard the entire furniture unit, adding tons of perfectly functional metal or wood frames to landfills.
Therefore, there is a need for a solution to the above problems.
The aspects or the problems and the associated solutions presented in this section could be or could have been pursued; they are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches presented in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their presence in this section of the application.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.
In some embodiments, a system for modular furniture is provided, wherein numerous configurations of a furniture unit made up of modular pieces (“modules,” “modular pieces,” or “module pieces”) are possible using a limited number of modules. In some embodiments, the furniture unit is a sofa. In some embodiments, the limited number of modules can be held in stock for sale to a user, which can help to decrease lead times. Modules can ship in boxes, and can be shipped via any existing delivery service, such that delivery can be fast, and tracking can be provided to the user, which can also help to limit the risk of damage to the furniture units or modular pieces. In such embodiments, individual modules of a furniture unit can be replaced, such that the furniture units can be reconfigured, expanded, or changed as needed. The furniture units can also easily and efficiently be broken down into the modular pieces for ease of moving the furniture unit.
Provided herein are systems and methods for modular furniture, for assembling a furniture unit into a desired configuration, having a plurality of modules, wherein each one of the modules is configured to fit with any one of each of the other modules, having: a plurality of horizontal modules, each one of the horizontal modules comprising: a horizontal frame; and at least one horizontal frame mating plate; a plurality of vertical modules, each one of the vertical modules comprising: a vertical frame; and at least one vertical frame mating plate; wherein the horizontal frame mating plate and the vertical frame mating plate of each one of the horizontal modules and each one of the vertical modules are capable of connecting and securing to a second horizontal frame mating plate or a second vertical frame mating plate.
In some embodiments, a system for modular furniture is provided, wherein the furniture units made up of modular pieces can be used with covers. The covers can be constructed from any suitable material. In such embodiments, each upholstered modular piece can function similarly to a cushion, wherein the frame of the piece is fully wrapped by the cover, and the cover can be closed around the frame. The closure may be by using a zipper or any other suitable closure method. In such embodiments, the tension of the upholstery material of the cover may be provided by inner foam and batting.
In some embodiments, a system for modular furniture is provided, wherein furniture units are made up of modular pieces, and wherein the modular pieces comprise separate frames for horizontal support and vertical support. In some embodiments, the vertical support frames are attached on top of horizontal support frames via a coupling system, instead of resting directly on the ground or other surface. The coupling system provides a means for attaching the horizontal and vertical support frames together such that the number of feet can be reduced, and such that the vertical frames are fully upholstered. Therefore, the furniture unit, which can be a sofa, is provided with an appearance of a non-modular sofa. The coupling system can allow a user to easily customize the design of the sofa to suit different needs.
In some embodiments, the horizontal support frame of a module comprises a suspension system and feet for the furniture unit that the module builds. In some embodiments, the horizontal support frame is not upholstered, and the vertical support frame is provided having upholstery. In some embodiments, a coupling system is provided for the modular furniture system such that covers are removable and can be constructed from any material, such as leather.
In some embodiments, the system for modular furniture can be used to create both indoor and outdoor versions of a sofa, wherein the indoor version and the outdoor version are constructed from different materials according to the environment in which the furniture unit is to be used. For example, frames may be constructed from stainless steel, covers may be made of ultraviolet-resistant and water-resistant material, and marine-grade foam may be provided for outdoor use.
In some embodiments, the system for modular furniture comprises furniture units that can be fully serviced by the user. As an example, the modular furniture may comprise covers that are fully removable due to not being glued or stapled to the frame or foam of the furniture. The modular furniture may also be provided with dust covers or other covers that are not permanently attached to the frames of the furniture modules. The foam of the furniture modules may also be fully removable, due to not being glued or stapled to the frame or the covers. In some embodiments, the system for modular furniture is provided with a suspension system. In such embodiments, the suspension system comprises webbing held in place with hooks, or any other suitable attachment points, wherein the elements of the suspension system are easily replaceable using common or simple tools. In some embodiments, the furniture modules comprise fasteners such as bolts and nuts that can be replaced by a user using common or simple tools.
In some embodiments, the modules of the modular furniture systems provided herein comprise support frames constructed from mild steel. An advantage may be that the furniture unit built using the modules may be significantly lighter than another sofa of similar dimensions constructed from wood. The steel may also provide more compact dimensions of the modules for reducing shipping costs and emissions.
The above aspects or examples and advantages, as well as other aspects or examples and advantages, will become apparent from the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
For exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes, aspects, embodiments or examples of the invention are illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:
What follows is a description of various aspects, embodiments and/or examples in which the invention may be practiced. Reference will be made to the attached drawings, and the information included in the drawings is part of this detailed description. The aspects, embodiments and/or examples described herein are presented for exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes. It should be understood that structural and/or logical modifications could be made by someone of ordinary skills in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.
It should be understood that, for clarity of the drawings and of the specification, some or all details about some structural components or steps that are known in the art are not shown or described if they are not necessary for the invention to be understood by one of ordinary skills in the art.
In some embodiments, the horizontal modules are uncovered, as shown in
In some embodiments, the feet of the modular furniture systems provided herein are removable and customizable. The feet may be of various lengths, shapes, and material. Because the framework of the modular furniture systems provided herein generally are constructed from mild steel, which is stiffer than wood, the frames can be slimmer than those constructed of wood (such as, for example, approximately 1 inch thick) and can be positioned as high or low off of the ground as desired by a user.
In some embodiments, the brackets 107 at a left side and a right side of an armrest unit, as shown as an example in
Generally, for coupling together a vertical support frame and a horizontal support frame, the mating plates of each frame are used. In some embodiments, the system is provided with two mating plates with matching hole patterns, with a first mating plate on the vertical frame 112a and a second mating plate 112b on the horizontal frame. The mating plates may be welded to the frames. In some embodiments, on the vertical frame, a thread is attached to the mating plate and extends outwards. A spacer is attached on the bottom side of the plate to create a gap for the cover and the zipper of the upholstery of the modular furniture system. These spacers may rest against the horizontal frame mating plate. The threads go through the matching holes on the mating plate of the horizontal frame, such that a nut 120 can be installed to attach the two frames together. In some embodiments, the spacers are locknuts. In some embodiments, the spacers are regular nuts if threads are provided welded onto the plate or other pieces of the module.
In some embodiments, a bolt can be placed through each hole of the mating plates, bolted with a locknut, with the head of the bolt facing upwards, and the thread facing downwards. The locknuts may rest on the mating plate of the horizontal frame in order to leave a gap 881 for the zipper. In some embodiments, bolts or threads may be welded directly to the plate, such that regular nuts or spacers can be used to create the gap for the zipper. In some embodiments, the upholstery of the modular furniture system comprises holes for the nuts and threads to pass through.
It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. As used in this application, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.
The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.
Further, as used in this application, “plurality” means two or more. A “set” of items may include one or more of such items. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of,” respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases.
If present, use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. These terms are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used in this application, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.
Throughout this description, the aspects, embodiments or examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus or procedures disclosed. Although some of the examples may involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives.
Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one aspect, embodiment or example are not intended to be excluded from a similar role(s) in other aspects, embodiments or examples.
Aspects, embodiments or examples of the invention may be described as processes, which are usually depicted using a flowchart, a flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may depict the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. With regard to flowcharts, it should be understood that additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the described methods.
If means-plus-function limitations are recited in the claims, the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed in this application for performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scope any equivalent means, known now or later developed, for performing the recited function.
Claim limitations should be construed as means-plus-function limitations only if the claim recites the term “means” in association with a recited function.
If any presented, the claims directed to a method and/or process should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readily appreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Although aspects, embodiments and/or examples have been illustrated and described herein, someone of ordinary skills in the art will easily detect alternate of the same and/or equivalent variations, which may be capable of achieving the same results, and which may be substituted for the aspects, embodiments and/or examples illustrated and described herein, without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of this application is intended to cover such alternate aspects, embodiments and/or examples. Hence, the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. Further, each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into the specification.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/519,545, filed Aug. 14, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent that it is not conflicting with the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63519545 | Aug 2023 | US |
