In the furniture industry, designers and manufacturers must settle on a design that is appealing to the consumer in terms of visual appearance, comfort, and price, yet is manufacturer-friendly. As economic conditions change, more furniture manufacturers are sending their work to areas overseas that have lower labor costs in order to maximize profits, even though that requires shipping their products back to the United States. One aspect of the manufacturing process in which cost savings can be obtained is through more cost-effective packaging and shipping. For example, these costs can be controlled by shipping furniture from the manufacturer in a semi-finished condition, such that parts of the furniture have been removed or disassembled for shipment. This allows a smaller or more compact shipping container to be used, thereby reducing wasted space. Not only is this semi-finished condition advantageous for shipping from the manufacturer's perspective, but it can be advantageous for consumers as well. For those consumers who do not take advantage of store delivery, having smaller and more compact containers allows for easier transportation of the product from the retail store.
With respect to chairs, and reclining chairs in particular, this semi-finished condition usually includes the chair backrest having been removed from the seat for shipment, so as to reduce the crate/carton size. However, since the manufacturing often occurs at a location other than that of final assembly, it is necessary to inspect the chairs as they come off of the assembly line prior to packaging and shipment, and later, final assembly. In other words, the chair backrest is typically installed on the chair frame to ensure the backrest and frame fit properly together. The backrest is then removed for shipping. Prior inspection assembly mechanisms were often difficult to use and time consuming, requiring bolting one part to another or snapping interlocking spring clip pieces together, then loosening the bolts or unsnapping the interlocked parts. An example of such a device is shown in FIG. 1. A bolted assembly mechanism 100 is shown including a portion of a back post 102. Back post 102 includes two bolts 104 and a through hole 106 for receiving locking bolt 108. Fixed to a base (not shown) is bracket 110. It is through bracket 110 that back post 102, and hence a backrest (not shown), is fixed to the base and the associated seat. To trial-fit the backrest to the base, back post 102 is positioned such that bolts 104 slide into slots 112 of bracket 110. Next, locking bolt 108 is placed through hole 106 in back post 102 and through a hole in bracket 110 where it is held in place by nut 114. Typically a backrest comprises two back posts 102 as part of the backrest framing. Therefore, this assembly process is then repeated for the other back post 102 and corresponding bracket 110. To disassemble the backrest from the base, the steps of the assembly process are reversed, such that nut 114 is loosened from each locking bolt 108, and the locking bolts 108 are removed from bracket 110 and back post 102. Finally, back post 102 is separated from the base by sliding back posts 102 in a direction such that bolts 104 disengage from slots 112 of bracket 110.
This assembly mechanism of the prior art is one of many that require a lengthy period of time assembling and disassembling. The method and apparatus described above also include the use of loose pieces (locking bolt 108 and nut 114) that can be lost or misplaced during the trial assembly and disassembly process. Therefore, it is desired to provide a mechanism providing quick and easy assembling and disassembling of the chair backrests to the base and seat without loose components.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds