GB2217590A - An ottoman - Google Patents

Abstract

An Ottoman having at least two cushions (12, 14) fittable securably on the lid of the Ottoman and padded side members (16, 18) covering its side walls. The Ottoman is proportioned so that each cushion fits snugly into its interior, the lid thus being usable as an occasional table. Two trays fit secure on the lid, the cushions having a portion of reduced cross-section, which is fittable into a tray. <IMAGE>

Description

AN IMPROVED OTTOMAN The present invention relates to an improved Ottoman and in particular to an article of furniture which can be used as storage space, a seat and/or an occasional table.

Known types of trunk or bench which include a hollow box for storage do not lend themselves to being kept in a main living area of a house and cannot be easily adapted to match different styles of furniture.

It would be advantageous to be able to match the colour scheme or style of such an article of furniture, but so far this has not been possible, except by the use of box covers which would need to be removed to gain access to the interior of the article.

According to the present invention there is provided an article of furniture having a generally rectangular parallelepipedonal configuration and a recessed lid, and including at least two removable cushions, each of said at least two cushions at least partially fitting securably into the recess of said lid, said at least two cushions being storable in said article. The upper panel can conveniently be used as a working surface or small table when the cushions are removed.

Preferably, the article includes at least one tray fittable in the recess of said lid, said at least one tray being adapted to securably retain said at least two removable cushions when the cushions are fitted into the tray or trays. The tray can be used as a normal tray and fits snugly into the recess of the lid. Furthermore, the tray can be easily stored on the lid. There are advantageously two trays.

The side walls of the article are preferably padded.

Advantageously, the padding of said side walls is removable and involves removable upholstered side members. There may be two side members, each fitting over half of the covered area of the side walls, each member being securable by a tack, Velcro, or any such fastening.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood the following description is given, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the furniture article of the invention having all its cushions and side members secured to it; FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the invention with the cushions and side members removed; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the invention having two trays sitting in the recess of the lid; FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the article with its lid in an open position; FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of the article taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1; FIGURE 6 is a view of the base of the article; and FIGURES 7a and 7b are views of details of the side members of the invention.

In Figure 1 the furniture article 10 has a generally rectangular parallelepipedonal configuration. Two upper cushions 12, 14 fit securably into the top of the upper surface (not shown) of a lid of the article 10 as will be described below.

Two cushion-like side members 16, 18 fit around the side walls of the article 10 and are retained by tacks 20 which may be covered with the same material as the side members.

One edge 22 of the rim of the lid projects beyond the edge of the adjoining side wall 24 to provide gripping means for opening the lid 10.

There are four wheels 26 for enabling the article 10, which we shall now refer to as an Ottoman, to be easily moved.

Figure 2 shows the Ottoman 10 with the cushions 12, 14 and side members 16, 18 removed. The upper rim 22 of the lid defines an enclosed recess 28 which accommodates the cushions 12, 14 and/or trays 30 (not shown in Figures 1 and 2). The side walls 32, 34 are also recessed so that the side members 16, 18 may fit into the recesses. An alternative gripping means is shown in Figure 2 as a slot 36 in the upper rim 22.

Two trays 30 fitting snugly into the upper recess 28 of the lid are shown in Figure 3. The two cushions 12, 14 of Figure 1 fit inside these trays so that the trays can be easily stored and can serve to hold the cushions 12, 14 on the lid. The trays are preferably formed from plastic sheet by moulding.

In an alternative arrangement, the cushions may be securable directly to the lid, the trays 30 being stored inside the Ottoman 10 or used for other purposes.

In Figure 4 the lid is hinged to the rear side wall, as shown, by a piano hinge 36 and is shown partially open. A conventional locking stay 38 guides the opening of the lid and may retain it while in the open position. The cushions 12, 14 on the lid are a tight fit in the tray so as to remain on the lid whilst it is open at an angle of up to 0 80 Each cushion 12, 14 has a stepped shape having a part 13, 15 of smaller cross-section which is a tight fit into one of the trays 30. Each cushion is thus tightly secured to the lid of the Ottoman 10. A part 17, 19 of greater cross-section of each cushion fits over the rim 22 of the lid so that the cushions cover the whole of the upper surface of the lid.

In the cross-sectional view of the Ottoman 10 shown in Figure 5 the side members 18 extend as far as the protruding kickboard 40 and upper rim 42 of the side walls.

The side members 16, 18 may cover these projections in the same way as the cushions 12, 14 cover the lid rim as shown in Figures 1 and 5.

An alternative set of wheels 26' is illustrated in Figure 6 showing the base of the Ottoman 10. The wheels 26' are held in brackets 27 which are fixed to the side walls and provide strengthening supports for the Ottoman 10.

Figures 7a and 7b show details of one of the side members 16, 18, the internal structure of the upper cushions being similar. The side member has a hard base 50, preferably of hardboard formed in three sections joined by a flexible strip 51. The base 50 is covered by a foam pad 52.

Each side member 16, 18 has three panels defining a U-shape. The main panel covers one of the side walls 32 while each of the smaller panels covers half of one of the side walls 34. A covering 54, preferably of fire retardant material, covers the whole of the outer surface of the foam pad and wraps round to be, preferably removably, secured to the edge of the hard base 50 as shown in Figure 7b. Each member 16, 18 is secured releasably to the Ottoman by means of tacks 20 whose shanks pass between the two members 16, 18 and into their respective side wall. There may be fixing means in each side wall 34 to receive a tack 20 to prevent serious damage to the side walls 34 on repeated insertion of the tacks. The fixing means may be of any known form.

The hard base 50 of each cushion 12, 14 is preferably formed so that each cushion may be either securable to the lid in a tray 30, or be directly securable to the lid. This may be achieved by having a rim of foam around the hard base 50 of each cushion, this rim of foam providing sprung securing means.

To change the colour scheme and/or pattern of the Ottoman, the side members 16, 18 will be removed and replaced by alternative side members upholstered in a different fabric.

In an alternative arrangement, the covers of the side members 16, 18 are removable, so only the covers need to be changed to change the colour scheme of the Ottoman 10.

The covering on each upper cushion 12, 14 encloses the whole of the cushion and is secured to itself by means of a zip fastener, Velcro or a similar fastener.

The Ottoman 10 is preferably dimensioned so that the cushions 12, 14 fit snugly inside it by rotating them horizontally through 900.

This enables the cushions to be easily stored by having the dimensions of the lid in proportion with the dimensions of the inside of the Ottoman 10. In this embodiment, the width w of each cushion 12, 14 is equivalent to half of the exterior length L and this value is no more than, and preferably just less than, the interior width of the Ottoman 10. Each cushion 12, 14 has a length 1 preferably considerably less than the interior length of the Ottoman 10, so it will fit into the interior leaving a space to facilitate grasping each cushion to lift it out.

In an alternative arrangement, there may be three cushions each having a width w equal to a third of the exterior length L of the Ottoman 10, this width w being just less than the interior width of the Ottoman 10 to provide a snug fit.

In this way the Ottoman 10 may have any number of cushions as long as the interior width of the Ottoman 10 is equivalent to the portion of the length L of the Ottoman 10 taken up by each cushion.

Preferably, the Ottoman 10 has an outer width W of about 52 cm, an outer length L of about 89 cm and an outer height H of about 56.5 cm and interior dimensions of 45 cm by 82 cm by 43.5 cm respectively. The two cushions are preferably 10 cm deep and shaped to fit the dimensions of the lid. These dimensions may be scaled up or down, as desired.

Claims (12)

1. An article of furniture having a generally rectangular parallelepipedonal configuration and a recessed lid, and including at least two removable cushions, each of said at least two cushions at least partially fitting securably into the recess of said lid, said at least two cushions being storable in said article.

2. An article according to claim 1, wherein said at least two cushions fit over the entire upper surface of said lid.

3. An article according to claim 1 or 2, including at least one tray fittable in the recess of said lid, said at least one tray being adapted to securably retain said at least two removable cushions when the cushions are fitted into the tray or trays.

4. An article according to claim 1, 2 or 3, including padded side members to fit over the side walls.

5. An article according to claim 4, wherein the padding of said side walls is removable and includes removable padded side members.

6. An article according to claim 5, wherein there are two of the removable side members, each fitting over half of the combined area of said side walls which is coverable by said padding.

7. An article according to claim 5 or 6, wherein each side member is securable to said side walls by means of tacks fixable on the side walls.

8. An article according to any preceding claim wherein each said cushion includes a stiff portion, securable in a said recess.

9. An article according to any preceding claim, wherein each said cushion or side member includes a removable covering.

10. An article according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the lid has a hinged edge and an opposite edge which protrudes beyond the side wall which it contacts.

11. An article according to any preceding claim having an outer width of substantially 52 units, an outer length of substantially 89 units, and interior dimensions of 45 units by 82 units respectively.

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