AU2013204236B2 - An article of furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

An article of furniture 10 includes a base 12 defining a volume 14 and having an open bottoml6. A closure member 18 is attached to the base 12 to close off the open bottom 16 of the base 12. A support arrangement 20 is mounted to the base 12 to support the base 12 in an elevated position relative to a substrate. The support arrangement 20 is arranged within the volume 14 of the base 12, protruding through the open bottom 16 of the base 12 and being hidden from view by the closure member 18. ii at r4 ii eq at eq

Description

1 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 KING FURNITURE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Title: An article offurniture The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- 2 Field [1] This disclosure relates, generally, to furniture and, more particularly, to an article of furniture having improved aesthetics. Background [2] With ever-increasing prices of properties, homes are becoming smaller resulting in storage space being at a premium. Articles of furniture take up a large amount of space and some articles of furniture, themselves, contain a great deal of empty space which could be used for storage purposes. [3] Articles of furniture exist which use the internal space of the articles of furniture for storage purposes. Generally, the base of each article of furniture is elevated quite substantially off the floor and the base is supported on feet. Such an arrangement may distract from the appearance of the furniture or an effect which a home owner is trying to achieve. Summary [4] In one aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an article of furniture which includes a base defining a volume and having an open bottom; a closure member attached to the base to close off the open bottom of the base; and a support arrangement mounted to the base to support the base in an elevated position relative to a substrate, the support arrangement being arranged within the volume of the base, protruding through the open bottom of the base and being hidden from view by the closure member. [5] The base may have an open top, the article of furniture including a lid for closing off the open top and allowing access to the volume of the base so that articles are able to be stored in the volume of the base. [6] The support arrangement may comprise a plurality of feet arranged in spaced relationship about an internal periphery of the base, each foot being arranged inwardly of the internal periphery of the base.

3 [7] Each foot may be secured to the internal periphery of the base by a load-transferring element. The load-transferring element may be a substantially rigid element extending in a direction of application of a load to the foot. The load-transferring element may be a gusset-like plate which, in use, extends substantially vertically. [8] The base may be substantially polygonal defining a plurality of corners, a load transferring element being arranged at each comer to extend into the volume of the base with a foot being attached to an operatively inner edge of the load-transferring element. [9] The closure member may be a tray which is removably attached to the bottom of the base. [10] The closure member may be shaped to accommodate the support arrangement. More particularly, the tray may be dimpled with at least each dimple in which a foot is received being dimensioned to receive the foot snugly. Brief Description of Drawings [11] An embodiment of the disclosure is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: [12] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an article of furniture with a lid portion of the article of furniture in a closed configuration; [13] Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the article of furniture with the lid portion of the article of furniture in an open configuration; [14] Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a frame of the article of furniture; [15] Fig. 4 shows, on an enlarged scale, a detail of a part of the frame encircled by Circle 'A' in Fig. 3 of the drawings; [16] Fig. 5 shows a plan view of the frame; [17] Fig. 6 shows an end view of the frame; and 4 [18] Fig. 7 shows, on an enlarged scale, a detail of a part of the frame encircled by Circle 'B' in Fig. 6. Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiment [19] In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designates an embodiment of an article of furniture. The article of furniture, in the illustrated embodiment, is a one-seater chair. It will, however, be appreciated that the article of furniture could adopt other configurations, for example, two or three-seater sofas, armchairs, beds, ottomans, chaises, or the like. For ease of reference, the article of furniture will be referred to in this description as a chair 10. [20] The chair 10 includes a base 12 defining a volume 14 (Fig. 2) and having an open bottom 16. A closure member in the form of a tray 18 is attached to the base 12 and closes off the open bottom 16 of the base 12. [21] The chair 10 further includes a support arrangement 20 mounted to the base and arranged within the volume 14 of the base 12. The support arrangement 20 supports the base 12 in an elevated position relative to a substrate, such as a floor, on which the chair 10 stands by having a part of the support arrangement 20 protruding through the open bottom 16 of the base 12, as will be described in greater detail below. The support arrangement 20 is hidden, when viewed externally of the chair 10, by the tray 18. [22] The base 12 has an open top 22 which is closed off by a lid portion, or lid, 24. In the illustrated embodiment, the lid 24 is hingedly attached, via a pair of spaced hinges 26, to a back 28 of the chair 10. It is to be noted that one of the hinges 26 is omitted from Figs. 3 and 5 for clarity. [23] Raising the lid 24 provides access to the volume 14 defined by the base 12 to enable articles (not shown) to be stored within the chair 10 and to be hidden from view when the lid 24 is moved to its closed position as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. [24] As illustrated more clearly in Figs. 3-7 of the drawings, the chair 10 comprises a frame 29. The frame 29 is a metal frame which, in use, is covered by upholstery. The support arrangement 20 comprises a plurality of feet 30 arranged in spaced relationship within an internal perimeter of a base portion 32 of the frame 29. As illustrated, the frame 29 is polygonal, 5 more particularly, square or rectangular. In this embodiment, a foot 30 is arranged inwardly of each corner 34 of the frame 29. It will, however, be appreciated that the frame 29 need not be polygonal but could adopt other shapes such as, for example, circular or elliptical. In that case, the feet 30 are, conveniently, arranged at regularly spaced intervals about the internal perimeter of the base portion 32 of the frame 29. [25] Each foot 30 is secured to the internal periphery of the frame 29 by a load-transferring element in the form of a gusset plate 36 extending into the volume 14 of the base 12, one of the gusset plates 36 being shown most clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A post 38 is attached to an operatively inner edge of each gusset plate. The foot 30, which is in the form of a right-circular cylinder, is, in turn, attached to an operatively lower end of its associated post 38. Each gusset plate 36 extends substantially vertically, i.e. in a direction of a load applied to the chair 10 when a person sits on the chair 10. [26] When the load is imparted to the chair 10, the load is transferred to the feet 30 via the gusset plates 36. An advantage of this arrangement is that the gusset plates 36 occupy minimal space while facilitating load transfer. In addition, the provision of the gusset plates 36 ensures that the feet 30 are arranged well within the volume 16 of the base 12 allowing the tray 18 to be recessed relative to an outer periphery of the base 12, as shown most clearly in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings. This improves the aesthetics of the chair 10. Further, if the tray 18 is of a dark colour it imparts an appearance that the chair 10 is "floating" relative to the substrate. [27] The tray 18 is dimpled as shown, for example, at 40 in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Those dimples 40.1 (Fig. 7) at the comers of the tray 18 are larger than the remaining dimples 40 to accommodate the feet 30 snugly in their associated corner dimples 40.1. [28] In use, the tray 18 closes off the open bottom 16 of the base 12 providing a storage volume in which articles can be stored. Access to the volume 14 is obtained simply by raising the lid 24, on its hinges 26, relative to the base 12 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. With the lid 24 in its closed configuration, the volume 14 is hidden from view. Also, as described, the feet 30 are contained within the volume 14 and are hidden from view, thereby improving the aesthetics of the chair 10. [29] As indicated above, while the illustrated embodiment shows a single-seater chair 10, other configurations of the article of furniture include a two or three-seater sofa, a chaise, an 6 ottoman, a bed, or the like. In addition, the base 12 need not be polygonal but could be of circular, elliptical, or other shapes. [30] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, without departing from the broad general scope of the present disclosure. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (9)

1. An article of furniture which includes a base defining a volume and having an open bottom; a closure member attached to the base to close off the open bottom of the base; and a support arrangement mounted to the base to support the base in an elevated position relative to a substrate, the support arrangement being arranged within the volume of the base, protruding through the open bottom of the base and being hidden from view by the closure member.

2. The article of furniture of claim 1 in which the base has an open top, the article of furniture including a lid for closing off the open top and allowing access to the volume of the base so that articles are able to be stored in the volume of the base.

3. The article of furniture of claim 1 or claim 2 in which the support arrangement comprises a plurality of feet arranged in spaced relationship about an internal periphery of the base, each foot being arranged inwardly of the internal periphery of the base.

4. The article of furniture of claim 3 in which each foot is secured to the internal periphery of the base by a load-transferring element.

5. The article of furniture of claim 4 in which the load-transferring element is a substantially rigid element extending in a direction of application of a load to the foot.

6. The article of furniture of claim 4 or claim 5 in which the base is substantially polygonal defining a plurality of corners, a load-transferring element being arranged at each corner to extend into the volume of the base with a foot being attached to an operatively inner edge of its associated load-transferring element.

7. The article of furniture of any one of the preceding claims in which the closure member is a tray which is removably attached to the bottom of the base.

8. The article of furniture of any one of the preceding claims in which the closure member is shaped to accommodate the support arrangement. 8

9. An article of furniture substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.