GB2151471A - Upholstered furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

An article of upholstered furniture, such as a chair, settee or bed, is constructed by forming a frame as an assembly comprising a pair of end members 11 and a plurality of spacer members (13), 14, 15 adapted to be loosely assembled with the end members without forming a rigid frame, and the frame 10 is rigidified by tensioning means 20 comprising resilient elements which draw the end members 11 onto the spacer elements (13), 14, 15. Preferably the tensioning means comprises a seat suspension with seat and back portions having central panels 21, 26 of non-extensible material bonded into resilient strips 31, 34. These strips carry panels 23, 28 secured to the lower and rear edges of members 11 and 22, 27 attached to upper edges of members 11. Separate tensioning elements may be employed. e.g. members 11 may be drawn on to the spacer elements by coiled springs. or lengths of rubber, or the spacer members may have resilient strips engaging members 11. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Upholstered furniture This invention concerns upholstered furniture of the kind comprising a frame portion formed from substantially rigid members and an upholstered or support portion on which a person may sit or lie, formed from flexible material.

Conventionally, such upholstered furniture comprises a rigid frame structure formed from a substantial number of pieces, traditionally made of wood, fitted together by means of rigid joints, whilst the support portion typically includes a number of springs and/or a cushion, with suitable padding and a fabric cover.

In some cases, a resilient foamed material may be used instead of springs.

However, the construction and assembly of such upholstered furniture requires skill and often craftsmanship, with the result that the product is on the one hand expensive, and on the other hand not suitable for supply in a knock-down form for self-assembly by the purchaser.

In such conventional constructions, the frame portion is necessarily an independently rigid structure which serves to carry the support portion and the load imposed thereon when it is in use. By contrast, the present invention provides such upholstered furniture wherein the frame portion is constructed as an inherently non-rigid assembly which is held in a substantially rigid condition by tensioning means.

More specifically, the frame portion may comprise a pair of end members and a plurality of spacer members loosely assembled therewith to maintain the end members in spaced relation, and the tensioning means may comprise one or more resilient elements which are maintained in a state of tension to draw said end members onto said spacer members and thereby rigidify the frame portion.

In addition to said end members, the frame portion may incorporate one or more intermediate members in spaced parallel relation thereto, and in this case the spacer members may extend between a respective end member and an adjacent intermediate member, and also between adjacent intermediate members as necessary.

One or more of the spacer members may comprise two elongate elements connected hingedly together in an over-centre manner so as to apply tension to the resilient elements as the elongate elements are brought into alignment and lock in position on continued movement over centre to maintain said resilient elements in a tensioned state.

In a preferred arrangement, the tensioning means is afforded by the support portion which may comprise a web of material, all or part of which is resiliently extensible, at least in one direction, such web being firmly attached to the end members at its margins.

More conveniently, in this case the web is a composite comprising at least two strips of a substantially non-extensible fabric joined together in side-by-side relation by means of a resiliently extensible strip. Preferably, the web comprises a central strip of said substantially non-extensible fabric having respective strips of said resiliently extensible material at opposed lateral edges thereof, each such resilient strip having two further, outermost strips of said substantially non-extensible material attached at their outermost edges, the last mentioned strips being attached to the end members at positions spaced apart transversely relative to the plane of the central strip.

The outermost strips are preferably arranged to extend over and around the edges of the end member to which they are attached. Additionally, such outermost strip may have a rigid member secured along at least part of its free edge, which rigid member is, in use, disposed in face-to-face engagement with the outermost lateral face of the end member to facilitate assembly of the spacer members with the end members. This is particularly appropriate where the web requires shaping to give a rounded contour which extends in a transverse direction between the two end members, for example at the upper edge of an upright chair back, or at the forward edge of a chair seat.Thus, for example, the upper outermost strip may have a rigid semicircular or D-shaped member secured to an end portion thereof so that such end portion is pre-shaped to fit over a simi larly shaped part of the end member.

The web may also incorporate suitable padding or foam material shaped as appropriate to give any desired contour to the upholstered part, and such padding may extend wholly or partially over the edge of the end members to which the web is attached. Alternaively, such padding or foam material may be provided as a separate component located on the web.

Instead of utilising the support portion to serve as the tensioning means for holding the frame in a rigid condition, it is alternatively possible to employ tensioning elements which are separate from the support portion. Thus the end members may be drawn onto the spacer members by means of coiled tension springs which may act between the end members or between the end members and the spacer members themselves. Instead of tension springs, strips of rubber or other similar material may be arranged to extend between the end members to draw them onto the spacer members, or between the end members and the spacer members to draw them together.

In this case, the support portion may be loosely assembled with the frame portion, or secured by suitable fastening elements. Alternatively, the support portion may be constructed as previously described so as to be tensioned when assembled with the frame portion and thereby assist the tensioning means in ridigifying the frame.

The support Dortion and frame portion collectively may be enclosed in an outer cover, which may itself include suitable padding or foam material in addition to, or instead of, such material on the web of the support part.

The invention may be applied to the construction of chairs having a back, with or without one or two arms, or to the construction of a stool or footrest, or to the construction of a bed.

The invention wiil now be described by way of example, with reference to one specific embodiment of chair as illustrated in the ac corr:p1flying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a rear perspective view of a partly assembled chair; and Figure 2 shows a transverse section illustrating an intermediate support used in the construction of a settee.

Referring firstly to Fig. 1, the assembly shown therein comprises a frame 10 including end members 11 which are spaced apart by means of three rails 1 3 to 1 5 and a support portion in the form of a seat suspension 20 comprising a plurality of panels 21 to 30.

The frame members 11 to 1 5 do not themselves form a rigid frame structure, but are held together in a substantially rigid manner by means of the seat suspension 20.

The end members 11 may be formed as panels of wood, chipboard, plywood, metal, or plastic materials, or any combination of such materials. They may be substantially flat, or they may be curved in one or both dimensions. The rails 1 3 to 1 5 may be made of any similar materials having the necessary strength and rigidity. Each rail terminates in two or more spigots which are received within corresponding holes formed in the end members 11, in the manner of a mortice and tennon joint. However, it is particularly to be noted that such joints do not require to be made to close tolerances and assembled accurately so as to be rigid. By contrast. these joints may be relatively loose so as to facilitate assembly, and any appropriate form of male/ female fixing may be employed for this purpose.

Whilst the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 employs three such rails, it will be appreciated that this number may vary. Where appropriate, the rails may be of curved, rather than straight, form and may be in the form of solid, or hollow rods, or they may be in the form of boards or panels, as most appropriate for the particular design under construction.

It will be seen that the frame structure 10 is of particularly simple construction, especially when compared with the traditionally constructed frame normally utilised for an armchair of this general type.

The end members 11 are held in substantially rigid association with the rails 1 3 to 1 5 by means of the seat suspension 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the suspension comprises a seat portion formed from five flexible panels and a back portion formed similarly from five flexible panels In each case, the central panel 21, 26 is formed from a sub stantiaily non-extensible material, such as a woven polypropylene material. At its lateral margins it is bonded into respective resilient strips 31, 34 which may be made of a synthetic rubber, for example as described in British Patents 1.443,826 and 1,500,725 of Pirelli Limited At the laterally opposed edges of the central panel 21, 26, the respective strips 31, 34 each carry two further lateral panels 22, 23, or 27, 28.At least the uppermost lateral panels 22 and 27 are preferably made of a substantially non-extensible material similar to that of which the central panels 21 and 26 are made. These panels are secured at their otuer edges by any suitable means to the upper edges of the end members 11. For example, they may fold over the edges of the end members and be secured to the outer face of the end members by means of staples or the like.

The lowermost lateral panels 23 and 28 are similarly attached to the lower and rear edges of the end members 11, and may be made of either substantially non-extensible material, or resilient material.

The seat suspension 20 is so dimensioned that when secured to the end members 11 it is under tension, by virtue of the resilience of the strips 31, 34 to an extent sufficient to draw the end members firmly onto the rails 1 3 to 1 5 and thereby render the frame structure essentially rigid despite the relatively loose fit afforded by the connections between the rails and the end members.

For the purpose of tensioning the seat suspension 20, some or all of the rails 1 3 to 1 5 may comprise two separate pieces hingedly connected together in the mid-region of the rail in such a manner as to enable the pieces to adopt an over-centre relationship in which the rail is effectively rigid. In this case, the rail may initially be assembled with the end members 11 while it is in its "broken" condition.

The two pieces may then be straightened, thereby applying the necessary tension to the seat suspension 20 as the rail approaches its "centre" condition, and finally the pieces may be moved past centre into an over-centre condition in whicn they lock together so that the rail is then rigirl at least with respect to forces in the longitudinal direction. If necessary, the two pieces of each rail may then be fixedly connected together in that condition, for example by means of a rigid connection plate attached to both pieces across the hinge.

The seat suspension 20 may carry a shaped cushion which may be made of any suitable material, such as padding or resilient foamed plastics material, in this case defining a seat portion flanked by arm portions and a back portion flanked by wings.

However, to facilitate the shaping of the upper end of the seat back, the end portions of panels 22 carry capping pieces 25 which engage over the correspondingly shaped upper end portions 24 of the end members 11 in face-to-face contact with the outer faces thereof.

To complete the chair, an external cover (not shown) may be adapted to fit over the seat suspension 20 and the end members 11.

Instead of securing the pairs of lateral panels 22, 23 and 27, 28 at their free edges to the end members 11, it would alternatively be possible to join them together by means of an intermediate panel of non-extensible material to form a tube or sleeve in which the appropriate end member is received, so that in use, such intermediate panel would lie against the outer face of the end panel.

Where the chair does not require arms, for example for use in unit seating, the whole of the suspension may be formed as a tube or sleeve with upper and lower panels extending respectively between the upper and lower edges of the end members.

Whilst the seat suspension preferably consists of one single unit incorporating both seat and back portions, it would alternatively be possible in some cases to employ two separate suspensions, one for the seat and one for the back of the chair.

By omitting the raised back entirely, a foot stool could also be manufactured in a similar manner, and by extending the length of the end members as appropriate, it would be possible to construct a bed in a similar manner.

Some or all of the lateral panels 22, 23, 27, 28 could be replaced by webbing or by substantially rigid, non-extensible board. In some instances, at least the upper lateral panels 22, 23 could be replaced by rubber strips or springs to serve as the means for tensioning the frame 1 0.

A settee may be constructed in a generally similar manner, but as illustrated in Fig. 2, one or more intermediate supports may be provided at positions between the end members and in parallel relationship therewith. In Fig. 2, the same references are used as for corresponding parts shown in Fig. 1. At the division between adjacent seat places in such a settee, an L-shaped stretcher having an horizontal arm 29 and upright arm 32 extends in a plane parallel to the end members 11. In this case, rails 13, 14 and 15 are duplicated on either side of the stretcher so as to act between the stretcher and the respective end members. In the case of a three or four seater settee, similar stretchers may be provided at each set division, with sets of rails extending between them.

Alternatively, full length rails could extend between the two end members and be braced at the division between seat places by struts equivalent to the arms 29 and 32.

Above the stretcher arm 29, the seat suspension 20 incorporates an intermediate support assembly 35 comprising an upper member 36 which is semi-flexible, such as a strip of plywood, a lower rigid member 38 which engages the upper edge of the stretcher 29, and between the members 36 and 38 a resilient member 37, such as a block of foamed material. A similar support assembly may be provided, if desired, on the seat back in alignment with stretcher arm 32.

Instead of utilising the seat suspension 20 to serve as the tensioning means for holding the end members 11 and rails 1 3 to 1 5 in a rigid condition, it is alternatively possible to employ separate tensioning elements. Thus, for example, the end members may be drawn onto the spacer members by means of coiled tension springs which act between the end members. However, to reduce the required length of such springs, it is preferable for such tension springs to be arranged to act between the spacer members and the end members. Instead of utilising coiled springs, it would alternatively be possible to use lengths of resiliently extensible material such as rubber in a similar manner.However, more preferably, each of the spacer members 1 3 to 1 5 would be provided with transversely extending strips secured thereto at positions adjacent to, but spaced inwardly from, the end edges which engage the inner faces of the end members 11. Such strips could be made of a similar material to the resilient strips 31 which form part of the seat suspension previously described. The free edges of such strips would then be secured to the inner faces of the end members in any appropriate manner so as to place the strips in tension and draw the end member and spacer member together.

In a case where such separate tensioning means is provided, the seat suspension need not be tensioned between the end members 11, but could simply be assembled loosely with the frame, or secured thereto by suitable fastening means. However, a seat suspension 20 of the type previously described may be employed so as to provide additional tensioning for the frame members.

It will be appreciated that the construction described above is much simpler than the conventional framework used in the construction of upholstered chairs and the like, such framework being constructed rigidly and often requiring the use of a large number of differ ent members assembled together by means of rigid joints into a load bearing framework. By contrast, in accordance with the invention, an armchair can be constructed from two identi cal end members and cross rails. By the use of differently contoured cushions, the same framework can be used to provide a wide range of different styles of upholstered chair and of course the ranne of styles can further be extended by the use of a comparatively small number of different end members and rails.In this way, it is possible to produce chairs, as illustrated with arms and wings on both sides, or on one side for use as an end unit, or without arms for use as a centre unit which can be bolted to adjacent similar units or in some cases used as a separate chair. By simple modification of the shape of the end members, similar chairs can be formed without wings.

If necessary, apertures can be formed in the appropriate panels of the seat support, for the passage of the rails, and whilst castors or gliders could be fitted at the lower edges of the end members, it would also be possible to shape the bottom edges of the end members so as to enable them to rest directly on the floor.

Instead of enclosing the whole chair in an outer, loose cover, it would alternatively be possible to finish the outer faces of the end members 11 in an appropriate manner or to face them with decorative panels. A similar decorative panel could be attached to the rail 1 3 at the forward edge of the seat, or alternatively a cushion could be extended downwardly over the rail 1 3. The cushion would then be covered with a suitable material which may be formed as a separate cover, or an integrally formed surface layer. The open back and underside of the chair may be covered by any suitable fabric, which, if made frcm a non-extensible material, will exert accidental displacement of the end members from the spacer members, for example if the chair is dragged sideways across the floor.For a similar purpose a strap or web of non-extensible material could be secured between the opposed end members.

The essential feature of the invention is that tension obtained from the seat suspension and/or separate tensioning means, draws the end members onto the rails and thereby makes the frame effectively rigid, despite the absence of rigid joints. This is preferably achieved by the use, in combination, of nonextensible material, for example panels 21 and 22 and resilient elements, such as strips 31, the materials used being so chosen that the seat suspension is preferably extensible only in one dimension, namely cross-wise relative to the end members. Alternatively, sepa rate or additional tensioning members, such as springs, may be used as previously described.

Furniture in accordance with the invention can utilise parts manufactured to relaxed tolerances as compared with traditional frame components, can be assembled using less skilled labour, and can afford a wide range of designs based on a limited number of different parts. thereby making the manufacturing process iess expensive.

Additionally. such furniture is suitable for sale as a kit of parts for self-assembly by a purchaser.

Claims (14)

1. An article of upholstered furniture comprising a frame portion formed from substantially rigid members and a support portion on which a person may sit or lie, characterised in that the frame portion is constructed as an inherently non-rigid assembly including a pair of end members and a plurality of spacer members adapted to be loosely assembled therewith to maintain the end members in spaced relation without forming a rigid frame, and tensioning means which comprises one or more resilient elements which are maintained in a state of tension to draw said end members onto said spacer members and thereby hold the frame portion as a whole in a rigid condition.

2. An article according to Claim 1 wherein the frame portion incorporates one or more intermediate members in spaced parallel relation to said end members.

3. An article according to Claim 2 wherein respective sets of spacer members extend from a respective end member to an intermediate member and one or more further sets of spacer members extend between intermediate members when there is more than one such intermediate member.

4. An article according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said tensioning means is afforded by said support portion.

5. An article according to Claim 4 wherein said support portion comprises a web of material, all or part of which is resiliently extensi ble, at least in one direction, such web being firmly attached to the end members at its margins.

6. An article according to Claim 5 wherein said web is a composite comprising at least two panels of substantially non-extensible fab ric joined together in side-by-side relation by means of a resiliently extensible strip.

7. An article according to Claim 6 wherein said composite web comprises a central panel of said substantially non-extensible fabric hav ing respective strips of said resiliently extensi ble material at opposed lateral edges thereof, each such resilient strip having two further, outer panels of said substantially non-extensi ble material attached at their outermost edges, the outer panels engaging the end members at positions spaced apart transversely relative to the plane of the central panel.

8. An article according to Claim 7 wherein said outer panels have marginal portions which extend over and around edges of the end members and are attached thereto.

9. An article according to Claim 7 wherein said outer panels are joined together by means of an intermediate panel to form a tube or sleeve in which the corresponding end member is received.

10. An article according to any one of Claims 4 to 9 wherein the web supports a cushion of padding or foam material shaped to give a desired contour to the support portion.

11. An article according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein said tensioning means comprise a plurality of tensioning elements which are separate from and additional to said support portion.

1 2. An article according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the end members are of generally L-shape and the article has a generally upright back portion and a generally horizontal portion.

1 3. An article of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.

14. An article of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings.

1 5. Any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein and/or shown in the accompanying drawings.