1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to furniture and, in particular, concerns an efficient design for a wooden chair or bench that is adjustable and which may be disassembled for more efficient shipping and storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Furniture is a necessary accoutrement to every home. Many homes that have outdoor patio facilities will also have specially designed patio furniture positioned on the patio for the comfort of the residents. Typically, outdoor patio furniture is made of fairly robust material and is generally selected to be made from a material that will have a pleasing appearance. One common type of furniture that is used in patio applications, as well as for indoor use, is heavy-duty wood furniture. One type of wood furniture that is commonly used in patio applications is redwood furniture as it presents a generally pleasing, rustic appearance. However, any of a number of different types of wood materials may be used to form furniture.
As patio furniture is generally positioned outside and is exposed to the elements, the size of the members forming the furniture is often larger than the components that form indoor furniture. The larger size of the pieces of wood used to form the furniture makes the furniture more resistant to the effects of exposure to the elements. Unfortunately, the use of these larger elements typically results in the patio furniture being heavy and somewhat bulky. Moreover, the more robust construction techniques used to form patio furniture often results in the patio furniture being non-adjustable. With larger wooden members, it is often difficult to implement a degree of adjustability in the furniture. However, different people who sit on the patio furniture may desire a different configuration of the furniture.
For example, it is often desirable to be able to adjust the angle with which the seat portion of a chair or bench is positioned with respect to the ground. However, with most pieces of patio furniture that are made out of wood, it is difficult, if not impossible, to adjust the angle of the seat to accommodate the desires of different users.
A further difficulty that occurs in many types of wooden furniture is that the furniture is often bulky and difficult to ship or store. As fairly large wooden members are used and assembled into fairly rigid structures to give the pieces of furniture greater strength to resist exposure to the weather, these pieces of furniture oftentimes have to be shipped or stored in an assembled form. However, pieces of furniture that are shipped or stored in an assembled form are often quite bulky, which greatly increases the shipping or storage cost of the piece of furniture.
Moreover, even those pieces of furniture that are designed to be disassembled for shipment or storage are often very difficult to reassemble. A typical homeowner who purchases a disassembled piece of patio furniture must either spend a considerable amount of time figuring out how to assemble all of the components, which may require the use of specialized tools, or have the piece of furniture assembled for them.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is a continuing need for heavy-duty wooden furniture, such as furniture that is suitable for use as patio furniture, that is adjustable, able to be disassembled for shipping and easily reassembled.
The aforementioned needs are satisfied by the furniture assembly of the present invention, which in one embodiment comprises a first and second seat support member, and a first and second back support member that are attached by means of a lap joint to the first and second seat support members at a midpoint such that first and second ends of the seat support members extend behind the back support members. The furniture assembly also comprises a plurality of covering members that are mounted to an outer face of the first and second seat support members and the first and second back support members so as to extend therebetween to define the seat and back surface of the furniture assembly. In this aspect, the furniture assembly also includes a first and second front post that are respectively pivotally attached to the front ends of the first and second seat support members such that the seat support members may pivot with respect to the first and second front posts, and a first and second rear post that are attached to the extending ends of the first and second seat support members and are also attached to an outer surface of the first and second back support members.
In the preferred embodiment, the seat support members are attached to the back support member by a lap joint that defines a cut out and a ledge that results in the back support members resting on the seat support members and thereby being inhibited from falling downward. This results in an interconnection between the back supports and the seat supports that provide for a fixed angular relationship between the back support and the seat supports that locks to the backrest and inhibits unstable sideways stability. However, the side and seat support members have to be connected provisionally before the plurality of covering members are attached, the provisional attachment is removed following installation of the seat covering members which provide the sideways support. Moreover, the front and rear posts may be installed in an angular manner with respect to the ground to provide additional forward and backward stability.
Since the rear posts are attached to both the ends of the seat support members and the back support members, a triangulated structure is thereby defined by the extended seat support members, the back support members and the rear posts, thereby providing additional support and stability for the furniture. Moreover, in this aspect, the extending ends of the seat support member and the upper ends of the rear post may be attached to the seat support members and the back support members, respectively, along a plurality of locations. This allows a seat and back portion of the furniture, as defined by the respective support members, to be pivoted with respect to the front posts such that the furniture may be assembled in one of a plurality of different orientations.
Hence, the furniture, when assembled, is sturdy but may be assembled into a plurality of different configurations to accommodate different users. In one particular embodiment, the furniture assembly also comprises a pair of arm supports that extend between the upper surface of both the front and rear posts which also results in the front posts being inhibited from pivoting, thereby restraining the front posts at a fixed position relative to the ground.
In another embodiment, the chair assembly has a horizontally extending back member that extends between the first and second seat support members at the rear of the first and second seat support members such that back surface members may be extended in a direction perpendicular to the ground to achieve a different aesthetic appearance. In yet another embodiment, the piece of furniture is elongate with a center support structure so as to define a bench. Hence, the piece of furniture of the present invention is sturdy, due to the triangulated structure, but may also be assembled in a plurality of different angular orientations to accommodate different users.
In another aspect, the piece of furniture may be readily disassembled for easy shipment or storage by removing the back support members from the seat support members such that the two resulting pieces are two planar pieces of the chair that may be stacked on top of each other. The front and rear posts may then be removed from the piece of furniture so as to be able to be stacked on the seat and back sections of the chair. Hence, the configuration of the piece of furniture of the present invention allows for more compact storage and shipment and easy assembly.
In still another embodiment, the furniture assembly may be configured to comprise a modular bench having at least four legs that may be configured to support the weight of one or more seated individuals. In addition, the modular bench may include an elongated seat section having a plurality of seat support members, wherein a first seat support member is distally spaced from a second seat support member. The modular bench may further include an elongated back section having a plurality of back support members, wherein a first back support member is attached to the first seat support member in a manner so as to form a first lap joint interconnection, and wherein a second back support member is attached to the second seat support member in a manner so as to form a second lap joint interconnection. In one aspect, the first and second lap joint interconnections result in a fixed angular orientation between the seat support members and the back support members so as to form the modular bench with enhanced strength and stability.
In yet another embodiment, the furniture assembly may be configured to comprise another embodiment of a modular bench having at least two front legs and at least two rear legs, wherein the modular bench may include an elongated seat section having a plurality of seat support members. A first seat support member may be attached to first front leg and a first rear leg and distally spaced from a second seat support member that is attached to a second front leg and a second rear leg. The modular bench may further include an elongated back section having a plurality of back support members, wherein a first back support member is attached to the first seat support member and the first rear leg in a manner so as to form a first triangulated interconnection. A second back support member may then be attached to the second seat support member and the second rear leg in a manner so as to form a second triangulated interconnection. In one aspect, the first and second triangulated interconnections may result in a fixed angular orientation between the seat support members and the back support members so as to form the modular bench with improved structural stability.
Furthermore, a method of assembling furniture is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the method of assembling furniture may comprise forming a seat and back section by temporarily attaching a first seat support member to a first back support member using temporary fasteners so as to form a first support component with a first lap joint interconnection and temporarily attaching a second seat support member to a second back support member using additional temporary fasteners so as to form a second support component with a second lap joint interconnection. The method may further comprise distally spacing the first support component from the second support component in a substantially parallel manner, attaching seat covering members to the upper portion of the first and second seat support members so as to form the seat section, attaching back covering members to the upper portion of the first and second back support members so as to form the back section, and removing the temporary fasteners including the additional temporary fasteners.
Additionally, the method may further comprise attaching at least four legs to the seat and back sections, wherein first and second front legs are attached to the front ends of the first and second seat support members. A first rear leg is attached to the rear end of the first seat support member and to the first back support member so as to form a first triangulated support structure, and a second rear leg is attached to the rear end of the second seat support member and to the second back support member so as to form a second triangulated support structure.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds