EP2071980A1

EP2071980A1 - Device for fixing an upholstery cover of a capitonné-style padded part of sofa, armchair, chair or other furniture component, and corresponding fixing method

Info

Publication number: EP2071980A1
Application number: EP08171538A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pierluigi Zabotto
Original assignee: Cassina SpA
Current assignee: Cassina SpA
Priority date: 2007-12-20
Filing date: 2008-12-12
Publication date: 2009-06-24
Also published as: ITTO20070920A1

Abstract

A fixing device (18) for fixing an upholstery cover onto a padding (16) of a capitoné-style padded part (10) of sofa, armchair, chair or other furniture component is disclosed, which comprises a female part (20) intended to be placed inside the padding (16) and a male part (22) forming a button-like retaining portion (28), wherein the male part (22) is configured to be mechanically snap-engaged with the female part (20) to fix the upholstery cover onto the padding. The female part (22) has an opening (24) delimited by a plurality of elastically deformable tabs (26) and the male part (22) has a nail-like configuration, with an upper end portion forming the button-like retaining portion (28) and with a shank (30) forming at its lower end an engagement portion (32) which can be snap-inserted into the opening (24) of the female part (20).

Description

The present invention refers in general to a capitonné-style padded part of sofa, armchair or chair, and more in particular to the fixing of an upholstery cover onto such a padded part.
As it is known, the capitonné-style manufacturing of padded parts of sofas, armchairs and chairs consists in fixing an upholstery cover, typically a leather cover, onto the padded part by means of a plurality of buttons placed at the intersection points of an imaginary mesh so as to create a plurality of recesses or dips which uniformly divide the surface of the padded part into a plurality of rectangular or rhombic portions. The padded part typically comprises an inner frame made up of tubes or other load-carrying elements of metal or wood, a padding which encloses the inner support structure and is usually made of foamed plastic material, for example polyurethane, and an outer upholstery cover which covers the padding. At present, the fixing buttons for fixing the upholstery cover onto the padding according to the capitonè style are applied by hand with the use of a thread or string which at the one end is fixed to the button and at the other end is threaded, usually with the use of a needle or another special tool, into the padding until it projects from the opposite side and can thus be locked herein by means of a knot. This fixing method involves several drawbacks, in particular the fact that it cannot ensure a uniform positioning of the buttons along the thickness of the padded part. The position of each button is in fact linked to the length of the thread which retains the button to the padding and thus depends on the user's skill to repetitively make the knots at the ends of the retaining threads. It is therefore unavoidable that the lengths of the retaining threads are different from one another, although with differences in the order of millimetres, and that the buttons do not then lie perfectly in a single plane, thereby negatively affecting the appearance of the capitonné-style finishing. A further drawback is due to the presence of the knots projecting from the surface of the padded part opposite the one onto which the buttons are applied. If that surface faces outwards, then it is necessary to conceal those knots, for example by covering them with further buttons, in order not to worsen the aesthetical appearance of the product. Moreover, the application of the buttons by means of threads or strings knotted at one end is rather time-consuming, as well as complicated and difficult to be automated.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device and a method for fixing an upholstery cover of a capitonné-style padded part of sofa, armchair or chair, which does not suffer from the drawbacks of the above-discussed prior art.
This and other objects are fully achieved according to a first aspect of the present invention by a device having the features set forth in the attached independent claim 1 and according to another aspect of the present invention by a method as defined in the attached independent claim 10.
In short, the invention is based on the idea of using a fixing device comprising a female part intended to be placed inside the padding and a male part forming a button-like retaining portion, wherein the male part can be engaged with the female part, preferably snap-engaged, to fix an upholstery cover onto the padding.
By virtue of the fact that female part of the fixing device can be precisely positioned inside the padding, a precise positioning of the various buttons carried by the male parts of the fixing device, both along the direction of the thickness of the padded part and in the plane perpendicular to that direction, can be ensured independently of the skill of the user assigned to engage the male parts with the female parts. Moreover, the fixing operation is made considerably easier and faster, as it suffices now to press the male part against the respective female part until they are snap-engaged.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, given purely by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view which shows in phantom a sitting portion of a capitonné-style sofa provided with devices for fixing the upholstery cover onto the padding according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale which shows a detail of the sitting portion of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the female part of a fixing device according to the present invention; and
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the female part of a fixing device according to Figure 1; and
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the male part of a fixing device according to Figure 1.

The invention will be described here below with reference to a sitting portion of a sofa, but it is obviously applicable to any other padded part of a sofa, as well as of an armchair, a chair or any other similar furniture component.
With reference first to Figures 1 and 2, a padded sitting portion of a sofa is generally indicated 10 and basically includes an inner frame 12 made up of tubes or other load-carrying elements 14 of metal, wood or other stiff material, a padding 16 which encloses the frame 12 and is made for example of foamed plastic material, such as polyurethane, and an outer upholstery cover (not shown) which covers the padding 16 and is preferably, though not necessarily, made of leather. A plurality of fixing devices 18, only some of which are illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, are provided to fix the upholstery cover onto the padding 16. Each fixing device 18 includes a female part 20 placed in a given position inside the padding 16 and a male part 22 which can be engaged from the outside with the female part 20 so as to retain the upholstery cover between said parts.
With reference also to Figures 3 and 4, the female part 20 has an opening 24 delimited by a plurality of elastically deformable tabs 26 in the shape of petals and the male part 22 has a nail-like configuration, with a button-like upper end portion 28 which can be seen from the outside in the mounted condition and with a shank 30 forming at the lower end thereof a conical engagement portion 32 which can be snap-inserted into the opening 24 of the female part 20. Both the female and male parts are advantageously made of plastic material.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the padded part 10 further includes an inner reinforcing structure made up of a plurality of belts 34 (only one of which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2), which extend perpendicular to each other and are secured to the load-carrying elements 14 of the frame 12, and the female parts 20 of the fixing devices 18 are arranged to be mounted onto the belts 34 of the reinforcing structure. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the body of the female part 20 is made up in this case of a first half 36 in which the opening 24 is provided, and of a second half 38 which is connected by means of a flexible tab 40 to the first half 36 and can be closed onto this latter to clamp a portion of belt 34, thereby firmly retaining the female part 20 onto the belt 34. More specifically, the second half 38 includes a rectangular plate element 42 and the first half 36 has a pair of notches 44 (only one of which can be seen in Figure 3) for receiving the portion of belt 34. Moreover, the second half 38 includes a plurality of studs 46 (in the illustrated example, four studs arranged at the vertices of the rectangular plate element 42) which can be inserted into respective holes 48 of the first half 36 to firmly connect the two halves 36 and 38 together. However, the two halves of the female element may clearly have a cross-section of any other shape different from the rectangular shape of the element illustrated in Figure 3.
The method for fixing the upholstery cover onto the padding 16 of the padded part 10 thus includes the steps of:

providing as many fixing devices 18 as the fixing points (buttons 28) provided on the padded part 10;
arranging the female parts 20 of the fixing devices 18 inside the padding 16 of the padded part 10;
making a hole 50 (Figure 2) in the padding 16 at the opening 24 of each female part 20;
arranging the upholstery cover around the padding 16;
inserting the male part 22 of each fixing device 18 into each hole 50 in the padding 16; and
engaging the male part 22 with the respective female part 20.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining unchanged, the embodiments and the details of construction may be widely varied with respect to those described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example.
For example, any other type of mechanical engagement between the male part and the female part of the fixing device may be provided instead of a snap-engagement. A releasable mechanical engagement between the male and female parts is preferable in order to make it possible to easily disassemble the fixing devices, for example when the upholstery cover has to be replaced.

Claims

Device (18) for fixing an upholstery cover onto a padding (16) of a capitonné-style padded part (10) of sofa, armchair, chair or other furniture component, the device comprising a female part (20) intended o be placed inside the padding (16) and a male part (22) forming a button-like retaining portion (28), wherein the male part (22) is configured to be mechanically engaged with the female part (20) to fix the upholstery cover onto the padding (10).
Device according to claim 1, wherein the male (22) and female (20) parts are configured to be releasably engaged.
Device according to claim 2, wherein the male (22) and female (20) parts are configured to be snap-engaged.
Device according to claim 3, wherein the female part (22) has an opening (24) delimited by a plurality of elastically deformable tabs (26) and wherein the male part (22) has a nail-like configuration, with an upper end portion forming said button-like retaining portion (28) and with a shank (30) forming at its lower end an engagement portion (32) which can be snap-inserted into the opening (24) of the female part (20).
Device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the female part (20) is made up of a first half (36) which is provided with engagement means (24) for engagement with the male part (22), and of a second half (38) which is connected by means of a flexible tab (40) to the first half (36) in such a manner that it can be closed onto this latter to clamp a portion of a belt (34) or of another similar flexible element provided inside the padding (16).
Device according to claim 5, wherein the second half (38) of the female part (20) includes a rectangular plate element (42) and the first half (36) of the female part (20) has a pair of notches (44) for receiving the portion of the belt (34) or of the other similar flexible element.
Device according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein one of the two halves (38) of the female part (20) includes a plurality of studs (46) which can be inserted into respective holes (48) of the other half (36) of the female part (20) to firmly connect the two halves (36, 38) together.
Capitonné-style padded part (10) for sofa, armchair, chair or other furniture component, comprising an inner frame (12), a padding (16) which encloses the frame (12), an outer upholstery cover which covers the padding (16), and a plurality of fixing devices (18) according to any of claims 1 to 7.
Padded part according to claim 8, further comprising an inner reinforcing structure formed by a plurality of belts (34) or other similar flexible elements secured to the frame (12), and a plurality of fixing devices (18) according to any of claims 5 to 7, the female parts (20) of which are mounted onto the reinforcing structure.
Method for fixing an upholstery cover onto an inner padding (16) of a capitoné-style padded part (10) of sofa, armchair, chair or other furniture component, comprising the steps of:
a) providing a plurality of fixing devices (18) according to any of claims 1 to 7;

b) placing the female parts (20) of the fixing devices (18) inside the padding (16);

c) arranging the upholstery cover around the padding (16); and

d) engaging the male part (22) of each fixing device (18) with the respective female part (20).