AU755473C - Furniture foot - Google Patents

Description

FURNITURE FOOT

Technical area

This invention relates to the area of furniture and in particular

to improvements in feet that are found on many types of

furniture.

Background to the invention

On many types of flooring including tiles, floor boards, parquetry floors , cork floors and slate floors it is well known that existing furniture feet are prone to slide. This can result in scratching or scuffing of the floor and may also be unsafe for the furniture user as the furniture may slide from under them.

An aesthetic problem also arises with furniture items which are meant to be configured in a certain manner but in practice slide apart leaving gaps between them.

There exist a range of such feet which permit easy

manoeuvrability of furniture over such surfaces but none provide

the ability to maintain the furniture item in position once

located. Outline of the Invention

It is an object of this invention to provide a furniture foot

which maintains furniture in a required position and minimises

any damage to an underlying floor.

The invention is a foot device for use with furniture which

device includes a rigid portion having a body with a first face which contacts the furniture and a second face which is directed towards a floor with low slip material protruding from at least one recess in the second face.

Preferably the resilient material is located in an annular groove which is concentric with the mid point of the foot device body.

It is also preferred that where ease of furniture movement is

desired the second face is provided with a curved outer periphery and at least one recess through which means for connecting to the

furniture may pass.

It is further preferred that, where the foot device is required

to support in situ furniture legs or supports, a recess be provided in the first face to accommodate said legs or supports.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood we

shall describe by way of non limiting example two specific

embodiments thereof, in relation to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawing Figures

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 shows the components of a first embodiment of the

invention; Fig. 2 shows the components of Figure 1 assembled; Fig. 3 shows the above embodiment of the invention located on the furniture and angled for movement; Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the second face of a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the first face of the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

In a first embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2

the foot device 10 has a body member 11 made, preferably by

injection moulding, of a hard polypropylene plastic with a face

having a recess 14 into which a ring 20 of a low slip material such as Santoprene, which has

a high coefficient of friction when placed on a floor, can fit.

The arrangement is such that the ring protrudes from recess 14

so that when the furniture item is standing upright the ring 20

provides a good grip on the floor surface.

This face is also provided with a curved periphery 12 so that tilting the furniture item 40 as shown in Figure 3 causes the ring 20 to cease contacting the floor and the furniture item can slide on the curved periphery 12. The foot device is attached to the furniture item 40 by a screw 30 passing through an aperture 16 in recess 15.

The body shape may be of any shape or height desired although it is envisaged that it will most likely be circular or rectangular.

The ring material and body material likewise may be of any

desired material however it is envisaged that the body be made

of a hard plastic which has good dimensional stability and would

slide well over a floor while the ring which can be of a soft

material has good gripping qualities. Because the major portion

of the ring is in the recess 14 deformation of this is

restricted. In another embodiment of the invention 50 the foot device can

stand alone and be used to support existing furniture legs or

other devices such as castors fitted thereto. In the example

shown in Figures 4 and 5 a face 51 incorporating the grip ring

20 is provided to contact the floor while the opposing face 52

of the device is provided with an excised portion 60 capable of

holding a wheel device in situ when such a castor or the like is attached to a furniture item.

This arrangement permits a wheel mounted item of furniture to be held in a given position with the additional benefit of not marking the floor. It is envisaged that the shape of the excised portion 60 may be varied to fit any particular furniture mount or to directly receive a leg of a piece of furniture being supported by the device.

Whilst we have described herein two specific embodiments of the

invention it is envisaged that other embodiments of the invention

will exhibit any number of and any combination of the features

previously described and it is to be understood that variations

and modifications in this can be made without departing from the

spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (9)

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A foot device for use with furniture which device includes

a rigid portion having a body with a first face which

contacts the furniture and a second face which is directed

towards a floor with low slip material protruding from at

least one recess in the second face.

2. A foot device as claimed in claim 1 in which the low slip material is located in and supported by a groove in the foot device body.

3. A foot device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the groove is an annular groove concentric with the mid point of the foot device body.

4. A foot device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3

wherein when the furniture to which the device is fitted is

in a use position, the low slip material is in contact with

the floor and acts to prevent movement of the furniture

but, when the furniture is to be moved, on tilting of the

furniture the low slip material is moved from contact with

the floor and part of a periphery of the body contacts the floor and can permit the furniture to readily be moved

along the floor.

5. A foot device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the periphery

of the body adjacent the low slip material is curved to

permit ready movement along the floor.

6. A foot device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which means are provided whereby the first face can be fastened to an article of furniture.

7. A foot device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the fastening is by means of at least one fastening device passing through an aperture in the second face.

8. A foot device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the first face is provided with a recess adapted to

receive a mount for a furniture item.

9. A foot device substantially as hereinbefore described with

reference to the accompanying drawings.