EP1018313A1

EP1018313A1 - Upholstered furniture with seat which is reversible to obtain different degrees of springing

Info

Publication number: EP1018313A1
Application number: EP99830780A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco Pacini
Original assignee: Bardi Srl
Current assignee: Bardi Srl
Priority date: 1998-12-18
Filing date: 1999-12-16
Publication date: 2000-07-12
Also published as: ITFI980273A0; IT1305059B1; ITFI980273A1

Abstract

A couch or other piece of upholstered furniture, comprising a base (1) and a back (3), in which a frame (10T) can be reversed into two opposite configurations in a housing (7) in the base and has two opposite and different sprung surfaces (10A; 10B) for a seat cushion (9) placed on top of it.

Description

Different degrees of springing are frequently required in the seats of upholstered furniture such as couches, armchairs, divan-beds and similar; this necessitates the provision of different items, with the associated expense, tying up of capital, and provision of large amounts of space.
The object of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages at the points of production and distribution, and also to enable the end user to vary the springing in the domestic situation.
These and other objects and advantages will be made clear by the following text.
In an upholstered piece of furniture - such as a couch or an armchair - comprising a carcass with a base, a back and possibly arms, according to the invention said carcass is essentially made to have a housing to accommodate a removable frame, which can be reversed into two opposite configurations in its housing and which has two opposite and different sprung surfaces for the seat cushion. Thus one of the two sprung surfaces of the same frame may provide a limited elastic yieldingness and the opposite surface may provide a greater elastic yieldingness.
One of the two sprung surfaces may be made from slats and the other sprung surface may be made from sprung elements such as zigzag springs, helical springs, elastic straps, expanded synthetic resin, or others.
The invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the description and the attached drawing, which shows a non-restrictive practical embodiment of the invention. In the drawing,
Figs. 1 and 2 show schematically a vertical section through a piece of upholstered furniture according to the invention, in two configurations which can be provided with respect to the elastic yieldingness of the sprung surface for a seat cushion;
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show in vertical section and in views through IV-IV and V-V a first possible embodiment of a reversible frame;
Figs. 6 and 7, 8 and 9, and 10 and 11 show, respectively, in vertical section and in views through VII-VII in Fig. 6, IX-IX in Fig. 8 and XI-XI in Fig. 10, another three possible solutions in the form of a reversible frame.
According to the illustrations in the attached drawing, in Figs. 1 and 2 the numeral 1 indicates a principal carcass of the piece of furniture, with a base 1A and a part 1 B for a back 3, and for arms 5, if present. A housing 7, largely rectangular and open at the top next to the seat cushion 9, is characteristically formed in the base 1A. A frame, indicated in a general way by 10, can be accommodated in the housing 7, and can be reversed in such a way as to have either its surface 10A or its surface 10B, on which the seat cushion 9 is placed, facing upward. The two surfaces 10A and 10B differ from each other in their elastic yieldingness, and therefore by positioning the frame 10 in a configuration as shown in Fig. 1 or in the opposite configuration, in other words reversed as shown in Fig. 2, the sprung surface 10A or the sprung surface 10B is used respectively, thus imparting different effects of comfort to the seat cushion.
This possibility of adapting the frame 10 into one or other of the two positions can be made use of at the point of sale or at the production site, but can also be used directly in the domestic situation by the end user, by an operation which is relatively very simple and easy, since the frame with its sprung surfaces is not particularly heavy, since the frame may bear perimetrically on the whole length of the housing 7 and therefore no particular resistance to a bending stress is required for the frame.
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show a possible solution for the sprung frame 10. 10T indicates the frame itself, which is rectangular and can be made from wood or other material. The sprung surface 10B, particularly the more rigid one, can be made in a conventional way with slats 10D whose ends are inserted in or otherwise fixed to two opposite sides, generally the longer sides, of the frame 10T. The more yielding sprung surface 10A consists - in the solution shown in Figs. 3 to 5 - of a series of springs MG of the zigzag type made from piano wire steel or similar, of a known type. When the assembly shown in Figs. 3 to 5 is placed in the conditions shown in Fig. 3 within the housing 7, the more rigid surface 10B is made active, while when the frame 10 is reversed the surface 10A formed by the springs MG is placed in the active upper position, to provide a more yielding sprung surface.
In the variant embodiment in Figs. 6 and 7, the relatively more rigid surface 10B is shaped with the slats 10D as in the preceding solution, while the elastically more yielding surface 10A is made with helical springs MS, of a known type, usually having turns varying from the central area toward the periphery with a progressive increase in their radius of curvature.
In the further embodiment in Figs. 8 and 9, the surface 10B is again made with the slats 10D, while the elastically more yielding surface is made by using a thickness PE of an expanded resin, for example expanded polyurethane.
Figs. 10 and 11 show yet another solution for the reversible frame, in which the elastically more yielding surface 10A is made with elastic straps CE in two interlaced positions, this also being a solution known per se.
It is clear that, regardless of the solution for making the frame 10, it is possible and easy to reverse it from one configuration into the other to obtain the desired greater or lesser degree of yieldingness for the seat cushion 9. This adaptation can also be made directly in the domestic situation by the end user.
It is to be understood that the drawing shows only one example provided solely as a practical demonstration of the invention, this invention being variable in its forms and arrangements without departure from the scope of the guiding principle of the invention.

Claims

A piece of upholstered furniture, such as a couch or an armchair, comprising a carcass including a base, a back and possibly arms, characterized in that said carcass has a housing to accommodate a frame which can be reversed into two opposite configurations in its housing; and in that said frame has two opposite and different sprung surfaces for at least one seat cushion.
Upholstered furniture as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that one of the two sprung surfaces of said frame may provide a limited elastic yieldingness and the opposite surface may provide a greater elastic yieldingness.
Upholstered furniture as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that one of the two sprung surfaces is formed from slats and the other sprung surface is formed from sprung elements such as zigzag springs, helical springs, elastic straps, or expanded synthetic resin.
Upholstered furniture with a seat which is reversible to obtain different degrees of springing, the whole as described above and represented by way of example in the attached drawing.