GB2609205A

GB2609205A - Furniture glide

Info

Publication number: GB2609205A
Application number: GB2110532.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Markham Lee
Original assignee: Uhs Group Ltd
Current assignee: Uhs Group Ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-22
Filing date: 2021-07-22
Publication date: 2023-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2041-07-22
Also published as: GB2609205B; GB202110532D0

Abstract

A furniture glide comprising a foot 5 and an attachment portion (4, Figure 1b) for attaching the furniture glide to an item of furniture. The foot has a floor contact surface 7 and a drive engagement portion having a number of engagement surfaces formed by recesses 6 in or protrusions from a surface of the foot. The recesses or protrusions are arranged radially around the axis of rotation. The foot may have a radially outer surface in which the drive engagement portion is formed. The engagement surfaces maybe shaped for engagement with a tool (11, Figure 3c) when engaged making contact with at least a portion of at least three engagement surfaces. The majority of the engagement surface of each recess or protrusion may be curved. The tool may have engagement surfaces formed by protrusions (14, Figure 3c) or recesses shaped for complementary engagement with the engagement surfaces of the drive engagement portion of the furniture glide. A tool comprising a drive end and an engagement end is also disclosed as well as a kit comprising a furniture glide and a tool.

Description

Furniture Glide

Background

The purpose of a furniture glide or foot is to provide a floor contact surface which transmits the weight of the furniture to the floor without causing damage. It is preferable to provide a large floor contact surface so the impact on floor surfaces such as carpet, vinyl or laminate is minimised, particularly when moving the furniture.

Traditional screw-on furniture glides are two-piece: the glide and the screw that fastens it on.

The drawbacks of this design include the wear surface or floor contact surface being reduced as the fixing hole occupies some of the area which might otherwise be used as floor contact surface. This results in premature wear which may in turn result in the fixing itself comes in contact with the floor surface resulting in damage.

Traditional nail-on glides are one-piece. The drawback of this design is that they are hard to fit accurately as hammering the foot itself often results in the nail bending and the foot not being fitted centrally to the leg. The glide may then become loose and fall out.

Other previous designs include that of EP3369342 in which a furniture glide is made of three separate parts. This design has the advantage of no reduction in floor contact surface area but no provision is made for coupling a tool that might be used to install the glide.

BRPI1101031 is similarly formed from multiple separate parts and again is not suited to applying the high levels of torque that may be required if the fixing means is for example a self-tapping screw. The indentations in the outer surface of the main body 3 are suited for hand engagement, not for engagement with a tool.

DE102004050362 provides a threaded shaft 32 for adjusting the height of the glide foot 36 and no suitable surfaces which might permit the engagement of a tool with the foot 36 are provided.

KR200441045 provides an adjustable height appliance foot 40 but no surfaces by which a tool might be engaged are provided.

In EP2559356 the foot of the furniture glide is shaped such that pairs of parallel surfaces 16 may be engaged with a spanner. The size of the surfaces 16 and their distance from the axis of rotation of the foot permits a limited amount of torque to be applied by the spanner but high levels of torque will cause deformation and damage to radial portions 11 of the foot.

US563241 is similar to EP2559356 in that a tool E may be engaged on one side of the foot (here described as the head) h. Tool E may be engaged with one and only one of the notches i formed in the outer perimeter of the foot h. This arrangement experiences the same limitations as in EP2559356 in the amount of torque that may be applied.

In applications where a high torque must be applied to the furniture glide, such as when using a self-tapping screw, there is a requirement for an improved arrangement by which a tool engages with the foot of a furniture glide while allowing floor contact surface area to be maximised.

Summary of invention

The invention is defined by the associated claims.

Drawings Figures la to lc are various views of a threaded shaft, a component of a furniture glide.

Figures 2a to 2d are various views of a furniture glide comprising the threaded shaft of figures la to lc.

Figures 3a to 3d are various views of a tool for installing the furniture glide of figures 2a to 2d. Figures 4a to 4c are various views of the furniture glide of figures 2a to 2d and a tool of figures 3a to 3d aligned prior to engagement.

Figures 5a to 5d are various views of a furniture glide of figures 2a to 2d and a tool of figures 3a to 3d in an engaged position.

Figure 6 is a hidden line view of a furniture glide of figures 2a to 2d and a tool of figures 3a to 3d in an engaged position including detail view A.

Description

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in figures 1 to 6.

Figures la to lc show a shaft 1 for use in a furniture glide of the present invention. The shaft 1 has a head 2 and a threaded portion 4. In use the shaft 1 is co-moulded with a foot 5 as shown in figures 3a to 3d. The head 2 comprises keyways 3. The purpose of the keyways 3 is to ensure good rotational engagement between the shaft 1 and foot 5. The shape of the keyways 3 is semi-circular in the present embodiment but the head 2 may be shaped in any way suited to transmitting torque between the foot 5 and shaft 1, such as triangular. The shaft has an axis of rotation.

The thread on the threaded portion 4 as seen in figure lb is suitable for self-tapping into a wooden part of an item of furniture. Alternatively, the threaded portion 4 may be suited for engagement with a threaded hole in a fixture attached to an item of furniture.

In figures 2a to 2d the shaft 1 is shown combined with a foot 5 to form a furniture glide. The foot 5 is formed from a polymer material such as resin or nylon. The foot 5 may be formed from any suitable material. The foot 5 may be moulded around the head 2 of the shaft 1 to ensure good engagement. Alternatively, the foot 5 may be formed from two parts which trap the head between them before being joined together by suitable means such as bonding, threaded complementary engagement or securing by fasteners.

A number of recesses 6 in the foot 5 form engagement surfaces. These engagement surfaces together form a drive engagement portion. These engagement surfaces are shaped for engagement with complementary engagement surfaces 14 in a complementary tool and permit rotational driving of the furniture glide for attachment to an item of furniture.

It may be seen in figure 2a that the recesses 6 have a small draft angle, in this case 2°. The draft of the recesses 6 permits release of the foot 5 from an injection mould. The draft angle used will depend on the moulding process. The draft angle also permits alignment and secure engagement with the engagement surfaces of a complementary tool 11 as the engagement surfaces have matching draft angles.

The recesses 6 forming the engagement surfaces are arranged radially about the axis of rotation of the shaft 1. The recesses 6 are formed in a radially outer surface of the foot 5. The recesses 6 are located between the threaded portion 4 of the shaft 1 and a floor contact surface 7.

The foot 5 comprises a floor contact surface 7. The floor contact surface 7 occupies a portion of the foot 5 radially inward from the recesses 6 forming the engagement surfaces. As can be seen in figure 2b, the floor contact surface is slightly convex. The floor contact surface may alternately be flat. The floor contact surface 7 is continuous and uninterrupted by fixings or drive surfaces. The floor contact surface 7 is therefore relatively large compared to conventional glides. Distributing the weight of the item of furniture to which the glide is attached over a larger surface area has the advantage of reducing pressure and therefore the likelihood of causing denting, scratching or damage to floor surfaces. A soft material such as felt may be bonded onto the floor contact surface 7 to further reduce the likelihood of damage.

S

The threaded shaft 1 is an attachment portion of the furniture glide. The foot S is a floor contact portion of a furniture glide. The engagement surfaces formed by the recesses 6 together form a drive engagement portion.

Figures 3a to 3d show a tool 11 suitable for rotationally driving the previously described embodiment of the furniture glide. The tool 11 comprises a drive shaft 12. The drive shaft 12 is suitable for engaging with a driver such as a screwdriver, spanner or socket head. In the present embodiment the drive shaft 12 is a 6mm hexagonal shaft but may be of any suitable kind such as a X" square drive. The drive shaft provides the drive means for rotational driving of the tool.

The drive means may alternately be a drive socket.

The tool has an engagement end into which a recess 13 is formed. The engagement end is located at an end of the tool opposite to the end provided with the drive shaft 12. The drive shaft defines a rotational axis for the tool. The recess 13 is shaped to form protrusions 14 extending radially inward from the inner wall of the recess 13. The protrusions 14 provide engagement surfaces shaped for secure and complementary engagement with the engagement surfaces formed by the recesses 6 in the furniture glide. As can be seen in figure 3c particularly, the protrusions 14 have a draft angle. As noted above, this draft angle is the same as the draft angle of the recesses 6 in the furniture glide. In addition to providing complementary engagement, this draft angle permits release of the tool when formed such as by a casting process.

Figures 4 to 6 show the alignment and engagement of the furniture glide and tool 11. When engaged, the tool may be used to rotationally drive the furniture glide so the threaded portion 4 is caused to engage with a wooden portion of the furniture to which the glide is to be attached permitting the glide to be secured in place. In detail A of figure 6 it can be seen that the protrusion 14 and recess 6 fit closely together. This close fit is due to the matching shape and draft angle. The close fit permits rotational driving forces to be applied with minimal risk of damage to the soft material of the foot 5.

In the embodiment described the engaging surfaces of the furniture glide are formed by recesses 6 while the engaging surfaces of the tool are formed by protrusions. It is equally possible that the engaging surface of the furniture glide are formed by protrusions while the engaging surfaces of the tool are formed by recesses i.e. further recesses in the inner wall defining the central recess 13. A recess is a concavity. A protrusion is a convexity. A recess does not include a flat surface.

There is no restriction in the inventive concept of the exact shape of the recesses 6 and protrusions 14. They may be formed from any combination of flat or curved surfaces. The recesses may be formed by three flat engagement surfaces requiring a triangular prism protrusion in the tool for engagement.

The engagement surfaces forming the drive engagement portion of the furniture glide are located radially outward from the floor contact surface and may take any form suitable for permitting rotational driving engagement with a compatible driving tool. Curved engagement surfaces have the advantage of providing easier alignment when the furniture glide and tool are engaged. Curved engagement surfaces also have the advantage of avoiding stress concentrations in the material forming the foot thereby reducing the likelihood of cracking when high rotational driving forces are applied.

The furniture glide and tool are complementary, compatible and discreet components within the inventive concept.

All obvious variations of the inventive concept are within the scope of the claims whether explicitly stated or not.

Claims

Furniture Glide Claims 1 A screw-on furniture glide comprising: a shaft, with a threaded portion and a head; and a foot, with a floor engagement surface and a drive engagement portion; wherein: the foot encases the head of the shaft in such a way that the foot cannot be rotated with respect to the head of the shaft, and the threaded portion extends from a portion of the foot which is opposite to the floor engagement surface; the floor engagement surface is continuous and uninterrupted; and the drive engagement portion comprises recesses or protrusions arranged radially about the foot between the floor engagement surface and the threaded portion of the shaft.
2. A screw-on furniture glide according to claim 1, wherein the C\I threaded portion of the shaft is a self-tapping threaded portion.
A screw-on furniture glide according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein CO 15 the drive engagement portion comprises recesses arranged radially about the foot between the floor engagement surface and the threaded portion of the shaft.
4. A screw-on furniture glide according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the drive engagement portion comprises protrusions arranged radially about the foot between the floor engagement surface and the threaded portion of the shaft.
5. A drive tool comprising a drive shaft and a foot engagement portion configured to complimentarily engage with the drive engagement portion of a screw-on furniture glide according to any preceding claim.