EP0412096A1 - Furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

The furniture described comprises a metal frame (10, 27, 45) comprising different frame elements (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26), boards (32, 39, 47, 31) intended to receive fastening elements being fixed to selected elements of the framework and a padding (35, 53/54, 76) being applied to the frame and fixed to the latter by fastening elements (42, 43) which engage in said boards. The combinations between the frame elements and the boards can be incorporated into the structure of the cabinet and / or into a cushion (44, 6) of the cabinet. Other pieces of furniture are described in which the back of the cushion (44, 62) of the piece of furniture and possibly also the lateral edges of the cushion of the piece of furniture are placed in recesses made in the seat structure and in which the springs for the seat are contained. only in the cushion. A corresponding complementary construction method is also described.

Description

FURNITURE This invention relates to an article of furniture which includes a frame, upholstery secured to the frame, and a cover material over the upholstery. The article of furniture can be a chair, settee, chesterfield, bed, bench or any other form of upholstered furniture.

Heretofore, articles of furniture have usually been made by providing a basic frame structure made from wood. A wooden frame has usually been made by providing a plurality of upright and horizontal frame members and uHlting them by means of conventional wood joints, such as mortice and tenon joints, cross-halving joints, comb joints or by using dowels or metal brackets. In most cases the various individual frame components are manufactured quickly and easily using woodworking machinery (this part of the process is quite efficient and is optimised) and then the parts have to be assembled, to a great degree by hand. The assembly of a wooden frame by hand is relatively expensive and it means that a wooden frame for an article of furniture has a certain minimum cost level which cost level cannot be reasonably reduced. Further the shape of a wooden frame is very severely constrained due to the fact that wooden frame members have, almost always, to be straight. If curved wooden frame members are to be constructed, it is necessary that wood be expensively bent, carved or laminated to produce a curved member with suitable strength all along its length. As such processes are necessarily expensive and costly chair designs are usually limited to the use of frame which are relatively square in most ways and the designs cannot very easily be changed.

For example, if in a particular construction it is desired that a rail be provided at a different level of the frame, or an uprioght be provided in a different position, this involves the changing of the -napes, sizes and joints of a number of interlocking pieces . This requires that separate specialised frame members be machined, interlocked and glued or otherwise fastened together. Because of the difficulties, the cost of modifying a wooden furniture frame is quite high. Modification is only usually adopted if a whole range of such a piece of furniture is to be made, that is to say when a large order for particular frames are required.

This use of a limited range of wooden frames also severely limits the method of construction involved in applying the upholstery and the covering material. Such constructions apply certain constrains to the upholstery process in that uphpolstery can only be applied to the positions where the rails are, and cannot be secured to additional rails even if so required for a particular design or modification.

This can lead to a significant waste of upholstery and finishing material over and above what is essential for the creation of a satisfactory piece of furniture.

Further, even using well seasoned hardwoods such as beech, wooden frames are susceptible to damage due to loading and, if cheaper woods are used, very often warping and/or splitting can occur. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved article of furniture.

The invention provides an article of furniture including a frame having a plurality of frame members of metal, selected ones of said frame members having attached thereto fastener receptive boards, upholstery being secured to the frame via said boards.

As used throughout, the term board is intended not to be limited solely to wood, although wood is a suitable material, but any material which is suitable to receive and grip fasteners such as nails, staples, screws and the like. The boards can be members separately secured to the frame members, or can be formed in situ with the frame members. Lengths of plywood, chipboard or the like are favoured for use as the boards. It is equally possible that pieces of plastics material, for example, high density foamed plastics material, or plastics material foamed on or cast in situ with the frame members can be used. The frame members can be of light metal suitable to form a support adequate for the purpose of the furniture. Tubular steel can be used, although tubular alloy or other metals could be used subject 5 to price considerations. Stainless steel can be useful in a very humid environment wherein rusting might be a problem. It is expected that in normal everyday use mild steel tubing will be quite satisfactory. Steel tubing can be from 10 - 25mm in

^■*^■- diameter, being of thickness from 4 to 2 mm. Instead of tubular steel or alloy, channel section metal, angle section metal or metal of any other convenient section could be used. Whilst the use of a solid metal bar is possible, it is not expected that such a

¹^ solid bar would have the desirable strength-to-weight characteristics as would a hollow tube or other metal profiled as described above.

Preferably, the frame members are secured together by welding. Alternatively, however, they ⁰ could be rivetted, bolted or otherwise secured together using fasteners or by brazing, soldering or by suitable strong adhesive.

Securement of the board to the frame members can be by nails, screws, bolts, rivets or comparable ⁵ fasteners. Adhesives could also be used in this connection. As an alternative, the boards and the associated rail members could be wrapped and soaked in a settable resin and such resin allowed to set around them, wrapping material being also set by the resin.

Preferably each board is so arranged in relation to its associated frame members that any major stress applied to it urges it towards the frame member so that such load is borne by the frame member, the board giving only stiffness and an achorage point. In such a condition, the board can be adequately secured to the frame member by means of loops of flexible material, for example off-cuts of cover material such as leather. If the final covering material does not produce sufficient off-cuts to produce the necessary loops, or it not too strong, it is possible that loops of webbing or comparable tough material can be used.

Each loop of material can be first secured by disposing it across a frame member and then stapleing it to a board loosely at positions on opposite sides of the frame member. Additional similar fastenings can be loosely made. Once the position of the board relative to the the frame member has been determined, additional fasteners can be driven into the material on that part thereof which extends between the frame member and the first fastener on each side thereof. This drives the fastener into the space between the original fastener and the frame member, thus tensioning the material and producing a particularly firm attachment. Such an attachment is quicker, simpler and much cheaper than using bolts, screws or comparable attachment, but it can be accomplished extremely simply. All upholsterers are experts with staple guns. Instead of staples of course, fasteners such as nails or the like could be used. Alternatively, the initial fastenings of the loops could be effected by loosely wrapping them around the frame member and the board and then adhering or otherwise fastening the loops to unite the two. This could be done during a pre-assembly stage, for example, before the frame members are incorporated in the frame. After the initial fastening has been effected by means such as nails, adhesion or the like, the aforesaid secondary fastening can be made to tension the material of the loops into the spaces between the frame members and the boards to form a firm union.

Desirably, the board is so positioned around the axis of the frame member that when in use forces applied to it tend to draw it towards the frame member.

To discourage boards from twisting about a frame member (this may be likely on some frame members made from circular or other non-rectangular section metal) an additional piece of material can be secured to the frame, as by welding, to produce a platform to discourage twisting of the board about the frame member. The invention also provides a method of making articles of furniture wherein each article includes a frame of metal overlaid by upholstery, characterised in that each frame if of a two-part construction, comprising a tub and a superstructure, in that the tub is of a form common to several different designs of article and in that the super- structure is chosen from a range of such super structures dependent on the design of the article to be manufactured and wherein each frame after construction from a tub and a superstructure has upholstery attached to boards secured to selected ones of said frame members and receiving upholstery fasteners.

The tub and the superstructure can be such that the eventual piece of furniture is as set forth above. A superstructure and a tub can be secured together by welding. The term "tub" is a trade term which means a base which includes ground engaging members, uprights and seat supporting frame members.

Each one of a range of super structures can include frame members defining a back and/or arms of the article.

The invention further provides a sitting article of furniture which includes a base and a cushion thereabove, the cushion including a frame which includes metal frame members to selective ones of which are secured fastener receptive boards, resilient seat supporting means attached to and supported by said frame and upholstery above said resilient supporting means.

The base can be an unsprung base, all spring c function being provided within the cushion. The resilient means can include springs and/or foam and/or other resilient material. Preferably, however, the resilient means includes webbing stretched across the frame, springing (of metal or of other form) disposed

•_]__Q above the webbing and upholstery above the springing. The base can include frame members which provide a rigid support for the cushion, the frame members can be frame members of a base tub of the piece of furniture. ₅ The invention also provides an article of sitting furniture having a metal frame, boards of fastener receptive material secured to the frame and comprising a base and a cushion above the base, characterised in that an upholstered back of the article of furniture 0 terminates above a recess dimensioned closely to receive a rear portion of the cushion.

The invention also provides an article of furniture having a metal frame, one or more boards secured to frame members for receiving fasteners, and upholstery overlying the frame, characterised in that the article of furniture has arms and each arm has an inwardly open recess adapted and dimensioned closely to receive a lateral portion of a cushion of the article, members of said frame providing slideways to receive and support said cushion.

The invention also provides an article of furniture which includes a metal frame and boards secured to selected frame members and made of fastener receptive material, the article of furniture having a backrest, a base and a cushion, the frame providing rails at the top of the base for supporting the cushion and an additional rail adjacent the top of the cushion, and the cushion itself containing a frame of metal adjacent its lower face, said frame having secured thereto fastener receiving boards, upholstery on said backrest extending to said additional rail level with the top of the cushion, upholstery on a front edge of the cushion terminating at a front transverse member of the frame within the cushion and upholstery on a front face of the base terminating at a said frame member at the top of said base. The further provides an article of furniture having a metal frame and fastener receiving boards secured to members of said frame, upholstery secured to said boards and a cover applied over said upholstery.

In a piece of furniture as set out aforesaid it is possible that the attachment of upholstery to one of said boards can impose thereupon a force tending to twist it about its associated frame member. When such force is significant it is advantageous to counteract such a force by disposing tension members between said board and other fixed structure of the frame to resist 5 twisting forces on said board. Such tension members can be lengths of webbing, cord or comparable material stapled to the board and passed around other frame members or attached to other webbing members within the upholstery structure. -^■- The invention^" still further provides an article of furniture comprising a metal frame and fastener receiving boards secured to one or more frame members, two sets of upholstery being attached to at least one of said boards at a cover joint, being concealed by ¹⁵ means of a strip of cover material, said strip of cover material being secured to said board by staples and being shaped and/or treated and/or applied in such a manner as to hide said staples.

The invention will be described further, by way

20 of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view illustrating the frame of a first preferred article of furniture of the invention;

25 Fig. 2 is a similar view of a slightly different frame;

Fig. 3 is a front view illustrating an article of furniture of the invention being constructed using one of the frames aforesaid;

Fig. 4 is a front view from above showing a basic frame of a cushion of the article of furniture in the course of construction and in position on the article of furniture;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the frame at a later stage;

Fig. 6 is a front view of the frame showing upholstery applied to an upper portion of the frame, a base and seat remaining un-upholstered;

Figs. 7 and 8 are schematic cross-sectional views of, respectively, a wooden framed article of furniture (prior art) and a metal framed article of furniture according to the invention;

Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary cross-sectional views illustrating the securement of a board to a frame member;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating a cushion of the invention and of the piece of furniture of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the need for an upholstery technique of the invention;

Fig. 13 is a series of drawings illustrating the said technique mentioned in Fig. 12;

Figs.14 and 15 are comparative views illustrating the advantages to be gained by combining the techniques illustrated in Fig. 13 with the metal frame feature; and

Figs. 16a_ and 16b are enlarged details illustrating attachment of a spring to wooden (prior art) and metal frame members.

Figs 1 and 2 illustrate two frames for two different types of chair. The frame of Fig. 1 is suitable for a highback chair and the frame of Fig. 2 is suitable for a lowback chair of the chesterfield type. Only one of the frames will be described in detail, because the construction thereof is comparable.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the frame 10 comprises a plurality of frame members of metal. The frame 10 has a U-shaped floor member 11 and a transverse floor member 12. At each free end of the transverse frame member 12 are upright frame members 13. There are three rear upright frame members 14. A front seat support member 15 interconnects front upright members 1 and is disposed directly above the front floor member 12. Two side seat support members 16 extend rearwardly from the member 15 and support a rear seat support member 17. Members 16 and 17 are supported by struts 18 from the rear upright members 14. Disposed generally above the members 15 and 16 is a generally U-shaped cushion rail member 19 which at the front is supported by struts 20 from members 13 and at its rear is supported by struts 21. Above and outwardly of the cushion rail member 19 is provided a further generally U-shaped lower superstructure member 22 which is supported by front and rear uprights 13 and 14. Above and outwardly of the lower superstructure member is an upper superstructure frame member 23, which again is U-shaped in general form. Member 23 is supported by ribs 24 from member 22. Front ribs 24a_ are extended to the front extremities of the cushion rail member 19 for strength. On its rear stretch the upper superstructure frame member 23 has a looped frame member 25 for design enhancement. Additional upright frame members 26 extend between members 12 and 15.

As has been mentioned above, the frame above described in relation to Fig. 2 is a frame of a chair of the chesterfield type. Now referring briefly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the base of the chair illustrated in Fig. 1 is identical to a base used in Fig. 2 up to the level of the frame member 22. Above the frame member 22 the frame 27 of Fig. 1 has front ribs 28 which are comparable to ribs 24a_ and of comparable length, but has three rear support ribs 29 of considerably increased length compared to the rear ribs 24 of Fig. 2. These rear ribs 29 support a higher upper superstructure frame member 29. The two frames of Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate an important aspect of an inventive furniture production method of the invention. As will be later described, the frames 10 and 27 will eventually be covered in accordance with other inventive features of the invention. However, in this condition, they serve to illustrate this particular invention most accurately. This particular feature of the preferred method of the invention ⁵ consists in making furniture in quantity to several different designs. When making wooden framed furniture, it is essential that a wooden frame for each design be kept in stock by the manufacturer. Some manufacturers do have in-house frame makers and

~^~ they can change their production relatively easily

(although at considerable cost and difficulty because of the problems of working with wooden frames) but many manufacturers use an external frame manufacturer who will not wish to change his production of even a

¹⁵ proportion of frames he makes to suit the particular manufacturer.

In carrying out the method of the invention, manufacture of a large number of items of furniture is effected by designing the furniture in such a way that the frame of each article consists of two parts, a "tub" (that is to say a seat support base) and a super- structure. As the bases of a very large number of types of different armchairs and of settee are essentially identical and box-like in nature, a

_?5 tub can be made which forms a suitable base for a very large range of products. In the present embodiment described a "tub" can be considered as being those frame members up to and including the lower superstructure member 22. Tubs in this form can be used to make a very large number of different types of chairs. It will be appreciated that the same principle applies to settees and other articles. As will be evident from Figs. 1 and 2, in order to obtain a chair of a radically different shape it is only necessary to attach a different superstructure which consists, in the particular example shown, of the upper superstructure frame members 23 or 29 and their associated ribs 24 or 28.

Thus, by designing the chairs to consist of a basic tub plus a superstructure, a large number of tubs can be held in stock, and production changed to a new design of chair simply by providing a new super structure and attaching it to the tub. In very large volume production this can be carried out on the premises of a specialist frame manufacturer, in which case the entire process could be automated on a welding line including, for example, automatic welding machines. In relatively small volume production a manufacturer could buy in manufactured tubs and then apply his own superstructure using in-house staff to weld them together. The necessary skill and expertise and time needed to bend and apply the necessary few pieces of tube which constitute the super structure is not significant in terms of cost and can be speedily and cheaply accomplished. This is in complete contra-distinction to the type of manufacture needed in relation to wooden parts, wherein the provision of a wooden frame comparable to the super structure shown in Fig. 1 would require some complicated wood working machinery to cut the _c joints, complicated curving of the wood and much skilled work to put the frame members together- It will be seen that certain of the frame members, for example frame members 11 and 22 are formed from double lengths of tube for a purpose which _Q will be later described. For similar purposes, an extra length of tube is secured to the tube 22 at the position illustrated at 33.

Fig. 3 illustrates a further important step in the method and article of furniture of the invention. ₅ Here, a frame 30 (which could be the frame of Fig. 1 or Fig.2) has had further actions carried out on it. It will be seen that fastener receiving boards have been attached to several of the frame members. In particular, boards in the form of armplates 31 cut _Q from cheap plywood say 13mm thick, have been secured to the ribs 24a_, the upright frame members 13 and possibly the ends of the front seat support member 16. The plates 31 are secured in a method later to be described. At 34 there is shown a lateral upper super structure board secured to frame member 23. In a similar fashion floorboards 32 of similar material have been secured to the undersides of the floor member 11. Floorboards 32 can be four in number extending generally one along each length of the rectangle defined by the floor members.

Now referring to boards 32 and 34 (and indeed boards 31) it will be noted that each of these boards is disposed on the sides of its respective frame member remote from the direction in which, in use, a tension force will arise. This is to ensure that the tension which is applied to the board by the later applied upholstery serves to urge the board into engagement with a respective frame member rather than to draw it away from it. In the case of the board 34, it will be appreciated that upholstery 35 (which in use is tensioned in the direction of arrow 36) would tend to tilt the board 34 about the member 23. In order to counteract this, a tension member in the form of a length of webbing 37 is stapled to the board 34 and is anchored to some other member within the arm in order to resist twisting of the board 34 about its support member.

Referring again briefly to the arm plates 31, it will be seen that each has a rectangular cut-out 38 for a purpose later to be described.

Now referring to Figs. 9 and 10, it will be described how a typical board 39 is secured to a frame 40. With the board 39 disposed alongside and generally symmetrically in relation to the frame member 40 a short length of strong flexible material 41 is laid across the frame member 40 and is stapled to the board 39 at 42. This fastening is repeated along the length of the frame member to generally locate the board 39. ^"The material 41 can be an off-cut from the outer cover of the article of furniture (of which quite a quantity will be available as scrap) and which is easily cut-up and used on the spot by the upholsterer. In the case that the material being used for the outer cover is of insufficient strength for this purpose, lengths of webbing or comparable material can be used. However, in the case of leather covers the strength of such material is quite adequate. In order to finally secure the two together after said initial stapling, additional staples 43 are driven into the material 41 between the frame member 40 and the staples 42. As is seen in Fig. 10, these additional staples 43 draw the material 41 tightly down towards the board 39 and increase the tension of the material. This gives a particularly firm hold of the frame member 40 with minimum cost and with minimum trouble. Of course, tacks fired from a nail or tack gun can be used instead of the staples 43. Other fastening methods are possible, but it is envisaged that staples are far the most convenient and simple in a hand manufacturing operation.

All the boards referred to in the specification are attached in a comparable manner. In the case of curved frame member, straight boards will normally be used in sections. However, where relatively gentle curves are used, flexible thin boards or curvable boards can be used.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 11, a 5 preferred cushion 41 according to the invention and forming part of a piece of furniture of the invention will be described.

The cushion 44 includes a frame 45 having four united frame members 46. Members 46 are secured to 0 boards 47 in a manner comparable to that illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 and not hereinafter described in detail. Length of webbing 48 in a conventional criss-cross pattern are fastened to form a framework extending inside the frame 45. Webbing 48 is secured 5 to the respective boards 47 at 49. Transverse lengths of webbing are shown at 50.

Disposed above the webbing 48, 50 and/or arranged on top of a canvas interlayer (not shown) is a spring arrangement 51 which is shown to contain coil springs o 52. Springing of any particular shape can be used. Over the springing 51 is arranged a canvas liner 53. Exterior to the canvas liner 53 is disposed a layer of resilient material such as foamed plastics material 54. A further layer of linen or the like can overlie the foam 54, over which can be disposed a cover 55 for example of leather. The cover 55, the foam 54 and the canvas 53 are all secured by stapling to the boards 47. A seat base cover is also secured to the board 47. In order to discourage the boards 47 from twisting about the axes of frame members 46, they can be interconnected by tension members such as extra lengths of webbing (not shown) .

Figs. 7 and 8 are comparative figures between a prior art chair made using a wooden frame (Fig. 7) and a chair of the invention (Fig.8) . It will be appreciated how the advantages in saving of cover material is achieved by the construction of the invention and by the use of other features of the invention which will be described later. Referring however to Fig. 7 it will be seen that a prior known article of furniture (referred to hereinafter as a chair 55 although it will be appreciated that it could easily well be a settee) is constructed. The chair 55 has a frame made from pieces of wood. These pieces of wood have to be joined together. The lengths of wood generally have to be straight because of the grain. If curved frame members are to be used they are very expensive as to involve complicated bending and/or laminating. Frame members 56, 57, 58 and 59 are shown in Fig. 7. The chair 55 includes a base generally desginated 60, a back generally designated 61 and a cushion 62. The base 60 has springing 63 which gives the article its basic resilience. The cushion 62 merely consists of a block of foam over which is arranged upholstery material and then a covering material. The back 61 is covered, on its forward face, with upholstery extending right down to the frame member 57. In this construction the front upper edge of the base 60 has a lap of upholstery shown at 64 and the cushion 62 has a comparable lap 65. Further, the rear face of the cushion is upholstered as shown at 66. The rear of the cushion is upholstered at 66 because it is visible to persons looking down upon the article of furniture and if it was not covered it would be unsightly. The pin marks, of which one is illustrated at 67, are intended to designate equal lengths of upholstery

(that is to say padding plus cover) which is applied to the chair 55. The addition sum beneath the figure shows that there are 15 unit lengths of upholstery of the chair 55.

Referring now to the chair 68, it will be seen that the metal framework of the chair disposes frame members 18 and 19 adjacent the rear of the cushion and frame member 15 at the upper front of the base 69. Cushion 70 is comparable in all respects with cushion

44. The rear thereof is diposed in a recess beneath frame member 19 and so does not need to have the covered lap 66. Further the cushion 70 itself contains the frame as is described earlier, thus it does not need the lap 65, the front edge of the upholstery can be secured to the front rail of the cushion. As the cushion is essentially rendered captive by its disposition in the recess below frame 19, and as its sides can also be captive (see later) there is no need for the lap 64 at the base. Upholstery on the base is secured at its top to the frame member 15. On considering the pin marks on the upholstery in the chair 68 it will be seen that this amounts to eleven units as against the total of fifteen in the chair of

Fig. 7. This represents a saving of 20% in the material of the cover. As the cover material is usually a hard wearing expensive stain resistant or other cover such as leather, this is a very significant saving in the costs of a piece of furniture.

As will be further appreciated from the general consideration of the invention, it is the fact that it is possible to dispose the additional rail 19 which allows the recess beneath to be created. In the previous wooden frames, the addition of an extra rail on a construction would mean that further pieces of wood would have to be machined and cut carefully to fit each other, additional complicated joints would have to be formed between the various uprights and the cross pieces and costs would rise alarmingly. With the construction of the invention the additional frame member 19 can be formed very simply by bending the single length of steel and tubing and welding it onto the frame in very little time and at very little cost.

This versatility of the frame enables the further advantageous construction of the invention to be provided. According to this particular aspect of the invention, a chair is provided wherein the a loose cushion of the chair is arranged so that its two lateral and one rear edge are disposed within recesses of the chair, upholstery of the chair above the cushion being secured to frame members above the cushion. This allows rear and side members to be covered only in a lining material rather than in expensive cover material. Further, the cushion is maintained in position even in use and will withstand strong wear-and-tear without being crumpled and/or displaced. This particular construction is ideal for use with the cushion made in accordance with the invention, because it is rigidised by its internal frame and is not constructed so as to be reversable as are some cushions.

Referring briefly back to Fig. 7 and 8, it will be appreciated that the portion of the upholstery between the rear rail 58 (in Fig. 7) and the top of the cushion (at 19 in Fig. 8) is very often pleated and/or buttoned to give a pleasing effect to the upholstery. Because the length of upholstery on the rear of the chair is reduced, the amount of buttons to be used and the amount of buttoning time and energy expended in that manufacture is reduced, again by some

20%.

The construction shown in Fig. 8 also has the additional advantage in that spring 74 which usually extend from rail 58 to rail 67 and give the shape and resilience to the rear of the chair can be more easily secured and are shorter, thus reducing costs. As illustrated in Fig. 16a the ends of sinuous resilient springs have to be secured to wooden frame members by sheet metal clips 76 which are nailed to the wood. The ends of the sinuous spring members are then fastened into the clips and the clips 76 re-nailed to secure those ends. Over the years, it is not at all unusual for such fastenings to become loose due to the constant flexing load of the nails within the wood. This results in the furniture becoming saggy and floppy and cannot very easily be renewed without complete stripping the f rniture.

In the present invention, however, (see Fig.16b) a frame member 71 can have a short length of steel tube 72 welded thereto at 73. The length of tube 72 can be just slighly greater in diameter than the diameter of a spring 74. In this case end portion of the spring 74 is passed through the tube 72 and bent over at 75. It is now impossible to remove the spring 74 from the frame member 71. Unlike the clip 76, the fastening between the tube 72 and the frame member 71 is most unlikely to weaken or become detached in use.

As will be apparent from Figs. 5 and 6, the upholstering of the article of furniture of the invention proceeds in a generally conventional manner, except that instead of being secured by stapling directly to the frame members, stapling is effected into the boards which are attached to the frame members. Here a further advantage of the ease of use of the frame system of the invention is apparent. When constructing the frame, it can very easily be arranged for a frame member, together with an associated board to be arranged at any convenient position on the frame, in relation to the outside or the inside of the frame. This allows, very simple junctions to be created. For example, it has been described above how the cushion is disposed within a recess over its rear and lateral edges. This recess has just above it the frame member 19. Frame member 19 has, in use, (not shown) a board secured thereto. The lower end of arm and back upholstery within the chair can be secured directly to that board on frame member 19 to terminate just above the cushion. This does, however, leave, in theory, a ragged edge in the upholstery just above the cushion. Whilst it is very desirable to terminate the upholstery at this stage, and also very desirable at other parts of the frame (for example at the junction between the outer edge of the upper roll (Fig. 6) and the outer sheathing upholstery of the base) to form a decent junction between two sets of upholstery, it is necessary that a convenient and visually acceptable method is found for doing this. This is achieved in accordance with a further feature of the invention which is illustrated generally in Figs. 12 to 15. Fig

12, shows how there can be a junction between the rolled upholstery 76 and side sheathing upholstery 77 at the junction generally illustrated at 78. If such a junction is created in a prior wooden frame which is illustrated there, it is not very easy to cover that junction except in a very complicated manner of reverse stapleing and folding over of pieces concerned. When this sort of process is adopted it is necessary to use several pieces to cover the sides of a rectangular chair. It will be appreciated that the chair must be rectangular with a wooden frame, otherwise a very extremely costly curving process for wood has to be used. Therefore, in the prior art, construction such as illustrated generally at 78 are usually avoided and such backfolding techniques are usually adopted.

Fig. 14 also illustrates how a wooden framed tub (base) has to be back-stapled in order to avoid staples showing. If, at the rear positions illustrated at 79 are not back-stapled as shown, it is necessary that lines of studs or comparable joint hiding means is provided. Fig. 14 further shows how the edges of side pieces (usually mounted on plywodd boards) are staped to the armplates 31 at 81 and then arm facing boards 82 in the form of sheets of wood coated with leather wrapped around them are applied to the armplates 31 often by bolting or some other comparative complicated structure. Using this feature of the present invention, however, arm facing upholstery can be applied directly to the plates 31 and junctions thereof covered at the positions illustrated in arrows in Fig. 15.

Below the level of a seat, of course, the front upholstery panel 83 extends the full width of the chair. Fig. 15 also illustrates how a single length of cover material can be wrapped around the

__. _n curved metal frame and secured to the boards supported thereby. If required, the upper edge of such a panel

84 can be secured at a junction, such as junction 78, by back stapling so that it first extends upwardly with its inside facing outwards and then folded down

_ over the back staples to be secured at the base.

However, using the cover strip technique in accordance with a preferred feature of the invention, even the need for this can be eliminated. The length 84 can be stapled as illustrated at 85 in Fig. 12 and then

0 covered with a cover strip.

Various forms of cover strip are illustrated in

Fig. 13 and these will be described very briefly as follows .

The "double piping strip" 86 shown in Fig. I3a_

5 can be used in an internal corner joint 87 to hide a row of staples. Strip 86 includes two tubes 88 interconnected by a web 89. By stapling through the web 89 into the corner, the two tubes 88 are urged together into the configuration shown in 13a_ thus hiding the fastening staples.

Fig. 13b illustrates comparable cover strip which is formed by using a flattened tube 90 made from cover material. Tube 90 is arranged to cover a seam 91 by stapleing at 92. Tube 90 is then arranged in a helical form so that a portion of its outer face illustrated at 93, covers the staples 92. Each turn of the tube 93 is stapled. In a comparable form (not shown) two tubes identical to tube 90 are alternately overlapped and stapled to cover the seam. Fig. 13 illustrates a further possible way of covering a seam. In this method a seam 94 is covered by applying thereto a strip 95. The strip 95 is secured by stapes 96 at close spacing to have upwardly extending loops 97. After fastening loops 97 are depressed with a hammer to form flattened loops 98 (see Fig. 13c_) which hides the staples 96.

This use of fastening cover strips in combination with the frame of the present invention allows the easy provision of upholstery fastening rails on a frame to be used to best effect so as to allow different areas of upholstery to be united without the need for complicated and time consuming overlapping or back stapling and allows straight forward seams to be made which are easily covered. This aspect of the invention is significant in reducing the cost of furniture made using the frame structure of the invention.

Of course, many variations can be made to this particular system also.

Although the frame member has been described as being made from tubular mild steel of circular section welded together (to go back and mention that somewhere) it is, of course, possible for the various frame members to be made from material other than this. For example, tubing of any convenient cross-section can be used such as oval, or rectangular including square. Instead of tubing, angle-sections, tee-section or channel-section members can be used. Bending of tubular sections is relatively simple, but in mass production it could be that channel-section or tee-section or angle-sections or combinations thereof are more convenient for other purposes .

Instead of fastening the frame sections together by welding, they can be fastened by riveting, resistance welding, spot welding or the like.

Ordinary fasteners such as rivets, nuts and bolts, or self-tapping screws can be used in certain circumstances. In an automatic process such fastening systems may well be as cheap as or more accurate than welding. Instead of mild steel, stainless steel or other alloys can be used. Instead of steel, composite and laminated materials can be used. However, it is anticipated that mild steel will be the favourite subject on account of its low cost and ease of use.

Although it is described that the boards 39 are secured to the frame members 40 during manufacture, that is to say, after the frame has been constructed. In a mass produced system, when appropriate, some or all of the boarded frame members could be so produced, prior to assembly. This, could in some circumstances, save costs. For example a continuous length of metal could be fed to a work station, have a comparable length of board 39 secured to it, and then be cut off, end portions of the frame member then being exposed by the cutting of the board or the like to produce end members suitable for welding or securement to other frame members. This could also be suitable for use with some other "board" options discussed later.

The boards 39 have been described as being made of plywood. This is a suitable material as it is relatively cheap, easy to work with, and readily accepts fasteners such as staples, in such a way as to give them a firm anchorage. However, other materials can be used. For example, many wood,particle or fibre boards can be used. In cases where fire resistance is at a premium, wood can be dispensed with and foamed boards of reinforced cementitious materials or boards with reinforced or compressed rockwool appropriately adhered together can be used. Instead of the boards being separate members secured to the frame members 10, thev can be formed in situ, for example from rigid polyurethane or other foam, sprayed or otherwise coated onto the frame members to form a fastener receiving member secured thereto. Many other variations are possible on this theme.

In the specification spring means in the upholstery have been described as being compression coil springs. Instead of such an arrangement any convenient compressive spring means can be used. For example, any convoluted metal spring or of zig-zag or of other construction can be used. Instead of metal, comparably springing materials such as rubber treated fibre or the like can be used. Springs made of plastics or other material can also be used in place of the metal springs.

Although foamed plastics material has been described as the outer resilient material of the furniture, it will be appreciated that any convenient material can be used. For example, instead of foamed plastics material, kapok, fibre or rubber foam can be used. In the event that a completely fireproof piece of furniture is required, fibreglass padding or comparable non-inflammable material such as rockwool or other similar material can be used.

Many other variations can be made to the invention within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

• CLAIMS

1. An article of furniture including a frame having a plurality of frame members characterised in that said frame members are of metal and in that selected one of said frame mebers have attached thereto fastener-receptive boards as herein defined and in that upholstery is secured to said boards.

2. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the boards are members separately secured to the frame members.

3. An article of furniture as claimed in clain 1, wherein the boards are formed _in situ with the frame members.

4. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the boards are of material selected from: plywood, chipboard or particle board, plastics material, foamed material, material cast into engagement with the frame members and penetrable cementitious material.

5. An article of furniture as claimed in claims 1 to 4, wherein the frame members are of material selected from the group consisting of: tubular steel, tubular alloy or other metals, stainless steel, mild steel, channel section metal, angle section metal, an extruded metal section, solid metal bar and composite metal members.

6. An article of furniture as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the frame members are secured together by a method selected from welding; fastenings;rivets, bolts, brazing, soldering, adhesive.

7. An article of furniture as claimed in any preceding claim wherein securement of the board (s) to the frame members is by means selected from nails, screws, bolts, rivets, other fasteners, adhesives, wrapping and soaking in a settable resin.

8. An article of furniture as claimed in any preceding claim, each board is so arranged in relation to associated frame members that upholstery stress applied to it urges it towards the frame member.

9. An article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein the board is secured to the frame member by means of loops of flexible material fastened to the frame.

10. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 9, wherein the material is cover material.

11. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein each loop of material can be first secured by disposing it across a frame member and then fastening it to a board loosely at positions on opposite sides of the frame member.

12. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 11, wherein additional similar fastenings are loosely made.

13. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein additional fasteners are provided on that part thereof which extends between the frame member and the first fastener on each side thereof to tension the material.

14. An article of furniture as claimed in claims 1 to 6, wherein initial fastening is effected by loosely wrapping loops of flexible material around the frame member and the board and securing the loops to unite the two.

15. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 14 wherein adhesive is used.

16. An article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 7 to 15 and carried out at a preframe-assembly stage.

17. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 16 wherein the board is attached before the member is incorporated in the frame.

18. An article of furniture as claimed in claims 14 to 17 wherein after the initial fastening has been effected secondary fastening is made to tension the material of the loops into the spaces between the frame members and the boards.

19. An article as claimed in any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the board is so positioned relative to the frame member that when in use, forces applied to it tend to draw it towards the frame member.

20. An article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 1 to 19 wherein to discourage boards from twisting about a frame member an additional piece is secured to the frame to produce a platform.

21. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 20, wherein the piece is a piece of frame material .

22. A method of making an articles of furniture wherein each article includes a frame of metal overlaid by upholstery characterised in that each frame is of two-part construction, comprising a tub and a superstructure, in that the tub is of a form common to several different designs of article and in that the superstructure is chosen from a range of such superstructures dependent on the design of the article to be manufactured and wherein each frame after construction from a tub and a superstructure has boards attached to selected ones of said frame members for receiving upholstery fasteners.

23. A method as claimd in claim 22 wherein the tub and the superstructure are such that the eventual piece of furniture is as claimed in any of claims 1 to 21.

24. A method as claimed in claim 21 or 22 wherein the superstructure and tub are secured together by welding.

25. A method as claimed in any of claims 22 to 24 wherein each one of a range of superstructures includes frame members defining a back and/or arms of an article of furniture.

26. A sitting article of furniture which includes a base and a cushion thereabove, the cushion including a frame which includes metal frame members to selected ones of which are secured fastener receptive boards, resilient seat supporting means attached to and supported by said frame, and upholstery above said resilient supporting means.

27. A sitting article of furniture as claimed in claim 26 where the resilient seat supporting means is a spring means.

28. A sitting article of furniture as claimed in claim 26 or 27 wherein the base is an unsprung base, all spring function being provided with the cushion.

29. A sitting article of furniture as claimed in claim 28 wherein the resilient means is selected from the group consisting of springs, foam and other resilient material.

30. A sitting article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 26 to 29, wherein the resilient means includes webbing stretched across the frame, springing disposed above the webbing and upholstery above the springing.

31► A sitting article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 26 to 30 wherein the base includes frame members which provide a rigid support for the cushion.

32. A sitting article of furniture as- claimed in claim 31 wherein the frame members are frame members of a base tub of the piece of furniture.

33. An article of sitting furniture having a metal frame, boards of fastener receptive material secured to the frame, and comprising a base and a cushion above the base, characterised in that an upholstered back υf the article of furniture terminates above a recess dimensioned closely to receive a rear portion of the cushion.

34. An article of furniture having a metal frame, one or more boards secured to selected ones of frame members of said frame for receiving fasteners, and upholstery overlying the frame, characterised in that the article of furniture has arms and each arm has an inwardly operw*recess adapted and dimensioned closely to reveive a lateral portion of a cushion of the article, members of said frame providing slideways to receive and support said cushion.

35. An article of furniture which includes a metal frame and boards, secured to selected frame members, made of fastener receptive material, the article of furniture having a backrest, a base and a cushion, the frame providing rails at the top of the base for supporting the cushion and an additional rail adjacent the top of a rear edge of the cushion, and the cushion itself containing a frame of metal adjacent its lower face, said frame having secured thereto fastener receiving boards, upholstery on said backrest extending to said additional rail level with the top of said rear edge of said cushion, upholstery on a front edge of the cushion terminating at a front transverse member of the frame within the cushion and upholstery on a front . face of the base terminating at a said frame member at the top of said base.

36. An article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 1 to 35, wherein the attachment of upholstery to one of said boards tends to impose thereupon a force tending to twist it about its associate frame member, and to counteract such a force there are disposed one or more tension members between said board and other fixed structure of the frame to resist said twisting forces on said board.

37. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 36 wherein such tension members are selected from lengths of webbing, cord and comparable tensile material.

38. An article of furniture including a frame having frame members made of metal, fastener resceptive boards being secured to selected ones of said frame members and upholstery secured to said boards, characterised in that said upholstery is arranged in different sections which meet at exposed seams extending along boards attached to frame members, and in that a cover strip is applied to conceal said seam.

39. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 38 wherein the coverstrip is secured to said board by fastener.

40. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 39 wherein the fastener are staples.

41. An article of furniture as claimed in any of claims 38 to 40 wherein the coverstrip is so constructed as to have its fasteners concealed by its own structure.

42. A method of making an article of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

43. An article of furniture made by the method of claim 42.

44. An article of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.