US20030167978A1

US20030167978A1 - Pseudo-tree shaped table

Info

Publication number: US20030167978A1
Application number: US10/095,418
Authority: US
Inventors: Jaimy Chuang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-03-11
Filing date: 2002-03-11
Publication date: 2003-09-11

Abstract

A pseudo-tree shaped table is composed of a tabletop and a leg part. The tabletop is made of the fiber reinforced plastics by way of a mold with an inner pattern imitating real annular rings. The tabletop provides a pattern and a color imitating real annular rings at the upper face thereof and an engaging recess at the bottom face. The leg part is made of the fiber reinforced plastics by way of a mold to form a trunk section. The tabletop provides a shape and a color thereof imitating a real trunk and has a projection end at the top thereof to engage with the engaging recess. The leg part further comprises four upper branches and four lower branches. The upper branches are attached to the upper portion of the trunk section with a respective upper end thereof extending upward to a common elevation and the lower branches are attached to the lower portion of the trunk section with a respective lower end thereof extending downward to another common elevation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of The Invention

The invention relates to a pseudo-tree shaped table, and particularly to a detachable table, which provides a tabletop thereof imitating annular rings of a tree and table legs thereof imitating the trunk with branches of a tree.

2. Description of Related Art

In order to protect the living organisms and their environment, furniture being made by way of a cut tree and being associated with an original figure and pattern of the tree is forbidden by the law so that tree shaped furniture is extremely expensive. Currently, furniture imitating a tree usually is made of wood or plastics with the tabletop thereof being glued with a thin plastic sheet printed with wood grains. However, it has never seen in the market that the leg part of the table is fabricated with a shape imitating the trunk with branches of a real tree.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a pseudo-tree shaped table, which is composed of a tabletop having a pattern of annular rings like a real tree and table legs being formed to imitate a trunk with branches of a real tree, so as to make the table be capable of offering an effect of visual sense that the table looks like a real tree.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pseudo-tree shaped table, in which the tabletop thereof is associated with the leg part by way of a projection engaging with a corresponding recess and parts of the leg part simply engage with each other by way of the sliding fit, so that the table can be easily detached quickly and occupy less space during being delivered or stored up.

In order to reach the preceding objects, a tabletop blank is formed by a mold carved with imitated annular rings and a material with proper rigidity such as the fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) is used so that the tabletop blank has a pattern of annular rings with a definite size. Then, the formed tabletop blank is treated with paint so that the color and the hue thereof look like real annular rings.

Further, the leg part of the present invention is made of a material with proper rigidity and by way of a mold so as to form a figure thereof imitating the real trunk with branches. Then, the outer surface thereof is treated with paint so as to provide a color and hue resembling the real trunk of a tree.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more fully understood by referencing to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which: [0009]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pseudo-tree shaped table according to the present invention; [0010]
FIG. 2 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating a tabletop and a leg part of the pseudo-tree shaped table shown in FIG. 1 in a state of being separated; [0011]
FIG. 3 is a disassembled perspective view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the leg part being detachable; [0012]
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the pseudo-tree shaped table shown in FIG. 1; and [0013]
FIG. 5 is a cross section along line A-A in FIG. 4.[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Firstly, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a pseudo-tree shaped table according to the present invention mainly comprises a [0015] tabletop 1 with a pattern imitating annular rings of a tree and a leg part 2 with a figure imitating a trunk with branches of a tree. The tabletop 1 is made of reinforced material such as Fiber Reinforced Plastics (FRP) and formed by way of plastic molding. For instance, the FRP is adhered to the inner surface of a mold carved with a pattern of annular rings. Then, more FRP together with strengthening steel wires are added to fill the mold gradually so as to form a tabletop blank with sufficient thickness. A recess piece 101 is embedded into the FRP during the FRP being filled in the mold such that a pattern 102 of annular rings can be formed on the tabletop blank after stripping. Finally, the tabletop blank is painted with a color resembling annular rings such that the pattern of annular rings thereof can provide a conspicuous tincture and the tabletop 1 is capable of offering an effect of visual sense for imitating real annular rings.
Referring to FIG. 3 in company with FIG. 2, the [0016] leg part 2 is made of, for instance, the FRP and by way of plastic molding too such that a figure thereof can imitate a real trunk with branches. The leg part 2 has a trunk section and there is an upper projection end 201 at the top of trunk section and the size of the projection end 201 is corresponding to the recess piece 101 so that the projection end 201 can fit with the recess piece 101. In addition, the leg part 2 contains four upper branches 202 a, 202 b, 202 c and 202 d and four lower branches 203 a, 203 b, 203 c and 203 d. The upper branches 202 a, 202 b, 202 c and 202 d at a respective end thereof extend upward to an elevation commonly to support the bottom of the tabletop 1 and the lower branches 203 a, 203 b, 203 c and 203 d at a respective end thereof extend downward to another elevation commonly to support the weight of the table itself. Referring to FIG. 5 in company with FIG. 3, it can be seen that two upper branches 202 c, 202 d and two lower branches 203 c, 203 d are arranged in a common vertical plane to detachably engage with the trunk section of the leg part 2 so as to reduce the space occupied by the table for being packed and delivered conveniently. The leg part 2 engaging with the branches 202 c, 202 d, 203 c and 203 d is performed with dovetail grooves 2022 c, 2021 c, 2032 c and 2031 c disposed on the trunk section of the leg part 2 so that the branches 202 c, 202 d, 203 c and 203 d can detachably slide-fit with the trunk section. Further, the trunk section of the leg part 2 with the upper and lower branches 202 a-202 d, 203 a-203 d is painted with the color resembling a real trunk so that the plastic molded trunk of the present invention can offer an effect of visual sense that a shape and tincture thereof imitate the bark of a real tree.
It is appreciated from the foregoing that the pseudo-tree shaped table of the present invention appears with original pattern and original characteristic atmosphere of a tree to enhance the value of a table and the advantage is not possible for the prior art to reach effectively. [0017]
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that modifications or variations may be easily made without departing from the spirit of this invention, which is defined by the appended claims. [0018]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A pseudo-tree shaped table comprising:

a tabletop with an upper face and a bottom face, being made of fiber reinforced plastic by way of a first mold with an inner pattern imitating real annular rings, providing a pattern and a color imitating the real annular rings at the upper face thereof, and providing an engaging recess at the bottom face; and

a leg part, being made of fiber reinforced plastics by way of a second mold to form a trunk section, providing a shape and a color thereof imitating a real trunk, and having a projection end at a top thereof to engage with the engaging recess;

wherein, the leg part further comprises

four upper branches, being attached to an upper portion of the trunk section, having a respective upper end extending upward to a first elevation commonly; and

four lower branches, being attached to a lower portion of the trunk section, having a respective lower end extending downward to a second elevation commonly.

2. The pseudo-tree shaped table as defined in claim 1, wherein two of the upper branches and two of the lower branches are disposed in a common plane and detachably attached to the trunk section by way of fitting with a dovetail groove.