US2878509A - Furniture glide - Google Patents

Description

March 24, 1959 w. M. FISHER 2,878,509

FURNITURE GLIDE Filed May 7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 {67 f l H I /0 m" 7 22 'l m [:2 mm "IIIIIIII! 551m '1 WI k v Z0 Whiter M.Fisher March 24, 1959 w. M. FISHER 2,878,509

' FURNITURE GLIDE Filed May '7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 1 il j ulw H M INVENTOR Wler MiZ's/z 62" ATTORNEYS United States Patent FURNITURE GLIDE Walter M. Fisher, Sturgis, Mich., assignor to Sturgis Posture Chair Company, Sturgis, Mich., a corporation Application May 7, 1956, Serial No. 583,073

Claims. (Cl. 16-42) This invention relates to furniture legs and glides. More specifically, this invention relates to the lower end of a furniture leg to receive a glide and a cooperating furniture glide comprising a single piece of molded plastic adapted to be secured to the bottom of the furniture leg or the like in locking engagement so as to provide an effective leg and glide of pleasing appearance.

An object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive one piece glide which can be fixed securely to the bottom of the chair leg without the use of tools.

Another object of this invention is to provide a glide which when installed on the leg of a chair or the like presents a broad bearing surface which will not mar the floor and which presents a pleasing appearance, streamlined to fit the contours of the chair leg.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide novel means for attaching a glide-holding plate to the lower end of a tubular leg of furniture. This new means permits attachment without the use of screws or fasteners of any kind, but instead effects a secure attachment by the beading of a portion of the lower end of the leg over tongues on the glide-holding plate.

Many times since the development of furniture made from sheet steel attempts have been made to provide durable, yet inexpensive and easily-attached glides or end caps for the lower ends of tubular furniture legs. United States Patent 1,482,205 to C. R. Uhl shows such an attempt wherein a diaphragm is constructed across the opening in the bottom of the leg and a metal foot cap is subsequently bolted thereto. D. H. Chason in his US. Patent 1,930,223 similarly attaches his metal glide by the use of a rivet rather than a bolt. More recently, US. Patent 2,458,621 to R. E. Miller discloses another way of attaching a glide to a furniture leg by installing across the opening at the bottom of the tubular leg a plate having a central aperture with an inwardly inclined bushing- Inserted into this aperture in snap engagement is the glide assembly comprising a rubber body with a rubber conical head having an adjacent reduced neck portion which after the insertion, engages the bushing. To the lower end. of the rubber body is crimped a cup-shaped metallic glide.

3 My invention possesses the attributes of a glide which have been long desired. First, my glide can be attached to a chair leg without the use of tools of any kind. Also the use of supplemental attaching means such as bolts and rivets is not needed. Instead my glide is equipped with a plurality of studs which snap into aligned apertures in a plate across the opening in the leg. In my glide, the stress produced in moving the chair about is not borne only by one stud or by a plurality of studs but largely by the upwardly extending sides of my glide which engage the outside of the chair leg. This failure is not likely to occur because any stress is not concentrated on a small area. Another advantage of these upwardly extending sides is thatthey present a smooth flowing appearance not present in earlier glides of the snap installation type. Finally, because it is made 2,878,509 Patented Mar. 24, 1959 from a single piece of plastic, my glide is less expensive to make.

My invention is fully described in the following description, and while its broader aspect is capable of embodiment in numerous forms a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a bottom view of the glide;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the glide;

F Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of- Fig. 4 is a side view showing the glide attached to the tubular leg of a chair;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the glide in use, taken along the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the glide in the process of beingafiixed to a chair;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 7-7 of Fig. 5 showing the glide afiixed to a chair;

Fig. 8 is a plan view looking into the top of a modification of my glide;

Fig. 9 is a side view of the modification of my glide;

Fig. 10 is a side view of another modification of my glide especially adapted for use with legs which meet the floor at an angle;

Fig. 11 is a bottom plan view of the modification shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a bottom view of a modified plate attached to the lower end of a furniture leg;

Fig. 13 is a side view, partly sectional, of the modified plate assembly taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a side view of a modified form of tached to a furniture leg;

Fig. 16 is a side view of another modified form glide attached to a furniture leg;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modifiation of my glide showing a modified stud structure.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l and Fig. 2 show my glide 10 in the preferred form. It comprises an open glide I atbox-like member having a bottom 12 and four sides designated generally as 14. The corners of the box are preferably rounded to avoid any sharp contours which might mar the floor. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the outside surfaces of my glide taper inwardly toward the top as at 15 so my glide appears to blend more evenly with the lines of the furniture to which it is attached (see Fig. 4). From the upper side of the bottom 12 arise a plu rality of perpendicularly extending studs 16 which may be similar. In use, these studs effect the securing of the glide to a suitable plate mounted on the bottom of the furniture leg as will be described later.

In the preferred embodiment, my furniture glide is molded in a single molding operation from a plastic material. It is formed with means built in to hold it in position on the bottom of a chair leg. This inexpensive molding operation produces a product that has the desired deformed with an inward taper as at 18 approaching its' upper end. Below the taper and immediately above the bottom'12 there is formed on each stud a reduced portion or neck 20. This neck 20 is necessarily of lesser diameter than the widest portion of the tapered area 18 for reasons that will presently appear. There may be between the-:43

reduced portion 20 and the tapered portion 18 a vertical cylinder as at 22 which serves to strengthen the lower-"end 1 of the tapered portion. An annular shoulder 24 is thus.

formed between the cylindrical portion 22 and the reduced portion 20. To make the studs more radially compressible for reasons which will presently appear, each stud may be formed with a tapered axial bore as at 26 in the stud shown in cross-section of Fig. 3. The bore 26 extends downwardly to about the depth of the side wall 14.

In use, the glide cooperates with a plate as at 30 which is fastened to the bottom of the tubular chair leg 32 (see Figs. 5, 6 and 7). The plate 30 has apertures 34 which are suitably arranged to receive or be mated by the studs on the glide. Also the plate 30 may have a central aperture as at 36 to aid in removing the glide from the leg and also to reduce the amount of metal and weight of the chair.

Obviously, the plate 30 may be attached to the bottom of a furniture leg by welding or other conventional attaching means. However, in a preferred attachment, the plate is held in position by crimping a portion of the leg sides into specially formed deflected areas on the sides of the plate. More specifically, the improved plate 40 (see Fig. 12) is formed with deflected tongues 42 on each side intermediate the corners and spaced from the stud-receiving apertures 44. These deflected tongues 42 comprise simply a bent area in the plate between two slits as at 46 and 46'. The slitting and the deflecting may be done in one stamping operation. In the preferred form, the slits extend about A; to A of an inch inward from the margin of the plate 40, and deflection of each tongue amounts to from 30 to 45 degrees from the plane of the plate and can be especially effective if the tongue 42 terminates in a portion which is more or less parallel to the plate itself.

The attachment of the plate 40 to the chair is effected simply. As with the plate 30, the dimensions of the modified plate 40 are the same as the outside dimensions of the lower end of the tubular furniture leg. Thus, the plate 40 can be made to abut the mouth or opening of the furniture leg in an even fit with no edges of the plate overhanging or extending beyond the sides of the furniture leg. The deflected tongues 42 extend up within the tubular leg and their ends are adjacent the inside surface of the lower end of the leg. With the plate 40 thus in place, the lower edges of the tubular leg adjacent the tongues 42 are peened or otherwise bent over a at 48 to abut the underside of the end of the tongues 42. This peening is accomplished on each side of the'leg adjacent the deflected tongues 42. In this manner, the plate 40 is retained in abutting relation to the bottom of the leg.

The manner in which the glide is attached to the plate is shown clearly in Figs. 6 and 7. As Fig. 6 shows, the aperture 34 is of a diameter slightly greater than the reduced portion 20 of the cooperating stud l6 and slightly less than the widest portion of the tapered area 18 and the vertical cylindrical strengthening portion 22. The first operation in fastening the glide 10 to the chair 3?. is performed by aligning the receiving apertures in the plate over the mating studs as is shown in Fig. 6. The leg 32 is then pressed downwardly so that the plate is forced over the stud. In so doing, the stud is radially compressed until the apertured plate reaches the reduced portion 20. At this point the cylindrical area 22 snaps to its normal size above the plate 30 and the glide is held securely, its removal or displacement being prevented by the abutment of the upper surface of the plate against the annular shoulder 24 of the stud.

With the underside of the plate 30 abutting the upper side of the bottom 12, the sides 14 of the glide reach upwardly along the tubular sides of the chair legs. Preferably, the sides of the glide engage the sides of the legs in a close-fitting engagement so that the glide appears to be integral with the leg and the sides 14 also impart additional security to the glide, preventing lateral movement of the glide along the plate 30.

Fig. 8 shows a modified glide 50 in which the studs 52 are formed without the axial bore as in the glide shown in Fig. 3. In this modification, the entire glide is formed from a single blank of semi-rigid plastic as is the glide in Fig. 3. A side view of the modification is shown in Fig. 9 wherein the studs 52 project up beyond the box-like sides of the glide. As shown in Fig. 15, the modified glide appears the same as my preferred form does when applied to a chair leg.

An additional modification is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. This modified glide is especially designed for furniture with legs which meet the floor at an angle, for instance, the rear legs of an ordinary four-legged otficc chair. This modification is formed in exactly the same manner as the more conventional glide except that its bottom has a built-up area at one side and, hence, the actual bearing surface 62 is inclined with respect to the plane of the bottom of the chair leg (see Fig. 16). As shown in Figs. 10 and 16, the sides of the glide may be rounded as at 64 to curve down and meet the bearing surface artistically.

Fig. 17 shows a modified version of my preferred stud as used in the glide shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In this modified version the reduced area or neck portion 54 is not as pronounced as in the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 6. Also, the conical portion 56 is tapered concavely and the axial bore is absent.

Thus, I have invented a new and improved chair glide which combines low cost of production with ease of installation, a simple, secure attachments, and a pleasing appearance. I have also devised a furniture leg structure including a base plate, said plate being simply and economically attached to said leg and said plate suitably apertured to receive in locking engagement my improved chair glide. My invention presents to the industry a structure combining the features which have been so long desired.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A hollow tubular furniture leg of substantially square cross section and comprising four connected sidewalls,

the lower end of the leg being closed by a plate the margins of the upper surface of which abut the lower edges of the four walls of the leg, each side edge of said plate being formed with a pair of inwardly directed slits, the area between each pair of slits being upwardly inclined to form a tongue, the outer edge of each of said tongues being inside said leg and adjacent the inside surface of one of said walls, a portion of the lower edge of each of said walls being peened inwardly so that its inner surface abuts the lower surface of the adjacent tongue whereby said plate is locked in position across the lower end of the leg, said plate having at least one aperture therethrough, said plate and the lower end of the walls of said leg being covered by a resilient furniture glide comprising an open box shaped member having a bottom and upwardly extending sidewalls, said bottom being provided with at least one upwardly extending stud, said stud extending up through said aperture, the upper surface of said bottom abutting the lower surface of said plate and the inside surfaces of the sidewalls of said glide resiliently hugging the lower ends of the walls of said leg.

2. A hollow tubular furniture leg as described in claim 1, wherein said stud has a tapered portion at the upper end thereof, said tapered portion tapering inwardly approaching the upper end, said stud being formed with a reduced neck portion in the area between said bottom and said tapered portion, said aperture being of lesser diameter than the widest part of the tapered portion of the stud extending through it, and said aperture being of greater diameter than the reduced neck portion of the stud extending through it, whereby said stud lockingly engages said plate.

3. In combination, a furniture leg and glide, said leg having a continuous side surface thereabout and a ,bot' tom piece at the lower end thereof, said bottom piece having upper and lower surfaces, and said bottom piece having an aperture therein; said glide comprising an open box-shaped member having a bottom wall and side walls extending upwardly on all sides of said bottom wall, said bottom wall being provided with at least one upwardly extending resilient stud which has a tapered portion at its upper end, said tapered portion tapering inwardly approaching the upper end, said stud being formed with a neck portion reduced inwardly in all directions in the area between said bottom and said tapered portion, and forming an annular shoulder between said neck and said tapered portion, the aperture in said leg bottom piece being of greater dimension in corresponding directions than said neck and of lesser dimension in corresponding directions than the widest portion of said tapered portion adjacent said neck, said glide being applied to the lower end of said furniture leg, with the stud extending upwardly through the aperture in the leg bottom piece, said shoulder engaging the upper surface of said leg bottom piece about said aperture and said side walls resiliently hugging the continuous side surface of the furniture leg.

4. The combination as described in claim 3 wherein the inside surfaces of said sidewalls rise vertically from said bottom and the outside surfaces of said sidewalls incline inwardly and upwardly, whereby said sidewalls taper in thickness, thinning; as their upper edges are approached.

5. The combination as described in claim 3 in which a portion of the lower surface of the bottom of said glide is inclined with respect to the upper surface of the bottom of said glide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,603,876 Shapard Oct. 19, 1926 1,827,972 Darnell Oct. 20, 1931 1,915,249 Jorgensen June 20, 1933 2,110,005 Rees Mar. 1, 1938 2,194,653 Gell Mar. 26, 1940 2,458,621 Miller Jan. 11, 1949 2,690,212 Jakeway Sept. 28, 1954 2,744,283 Reineman May 8, 1956

Images