US2941314A

US2941314A - Room planner

Info

Publication number: US2941314A
Application number: US663209A
Authority: US
Inventors: Orin J Schwieger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-06-03
Filing date: 1957-06-03
Publication date: 1960-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 1977-06-21

Description

ilnited States Fatent C i ROOM PLANNER Orin J. Schwieger, 77 Ogden St., Denver, Colo.

Filed June 3, 1957, Ser. No. 663,209

1 Claim. (Cl. 3553) home, this may mean laborious rearrangement of the furniture already present only to find that the new plan is worse than the old and that everything mustbe moved back again. Even more of a problem, however, is that of selecting furniture for the home from a display in a large showroom where it has been carefully placed and accented to present the best appearance. Most'people assume that the same decor will prevail in the homethat was found in. the showroom; but, as is too often the: case, the furniture chosen does not fit properly in the room nor does it look well with the other pieces. This unfortunate circumstance frequently results in the furniture being returned to the store with the resultant expense connected with such a transaction.

Many decorators and furniture salesmen, when faced with this problem, have found that it is best to suggest the proper furniture arrangements after seeing the customers home and becoming acquainted with any peculiarities associated therewith. Even in this situation, however, the customer may dislike the decorators choices when he or she sees them in the home. As a result various decorators aids have been developed to assist the decorator or salesman in showing the customer a number of possible choices and a variety of room arrangements prior to making the final selections.

These prior art devices, however, have a number of disadvantages and limitations that render them unsatisfactory for the purpose intended. Many of them are quite complicated to use and too expensive for the average home owner. Others become easily disarranged and do not present an accurate representation of the furnished room. Still others are bulky and inconvenient.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a decorators aid that produces an accurate representation of a furnished room.

A second object is to provide a room planner which includes a number of miniature furniture models of different types and styles that can be shifted and set upon a room plan to simulate a full-scale furniture arrangement.

Another object is the provision of miniature three-dimensional furniture models scaled to indicate the actual finished appearance of a room when placed on a plan thereof.

An additional object is to provide magnetic scale models of furniture designs and a display device for the models which cooperates therewith to produce a small, compact, portable, versatile, accurate and easily rearranged room decorating plan.

Further objects are to provide a room planner that is Patented June 21, 1960 colorful, simple, inexpensive, lightweight and decorative in appearance.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out specifically hereinafter in connection with the description of the drawing that follows, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the room planner of the present invention showing it open, a room plan and furniture arrangement on one side thereof, and other furniture models stored on the other side;

Figure Qis a section taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3- is a section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4' is a fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 of Figure 1 showing the detachable hinge .construction to an enlarged scale;

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of the hinge; and,

Figure 6 is an exploded view to an enlarged scale showing one of the furniture models in elevation and top and bottom plan.

Referring now to the drawing, the room planner of the present invention, indicated in a general way 'by numeral 10, will be seen to include a box 12 comprising two

sections

14 and 16 detachably connected to one another by hinges 18. Section 14 of the box-has a bot- 1 tom 20,

sidewalls

22 and 24, endwalls 26 and a ferrous metal plate 28 over the top. One part 30 of a twopart hasp is attached to sidewall 22; whereas, one part 32 of conventional twopart separable hinge 18 is at. tached to opposite ends of sidewall 24. Section 16 also includes a bottom 34,

sidewalls

36 and 38, endwalls 40, and a partial ferrous metal plate 42. Plate 42 is supported on strips 44 in spaced relation to the bottom and adjacent one endwall 40 to provide a pocket 46 sized to receive a plurality of sheets 48 having grids 50 imprinted thereon. Endwall 36 is provided with the other part 52 of the two-part hinge 18 which forms the means by which

sections

14 and 16 are detachably connected to one another. The other part 54 of the hasp is attached to sidewall 38 of section 16 in position to cooperate with element 30 thereof and hold the box closed. Moldings 56 are positioned on top of plate 42 to provide a finished appearance along the edges thereof.

The partial plate 42 is spaced below the rim or upper edge of section 16 a distance at least equal to the height of furniture models 58 which include small permanent magnets 60 that form a base and provide the means by which said models are attached to

plates

42 and 28. The grid 50 is laid cit to a definite scale such as, for example, a quarter inch to the foot so that the user can lay out a plan 62 of a specific room in the home thereon, as shown in Figure 1. The models 58 are cut to the same. scale as the grids and shapedto represent common furniture designs. Although the different types and styles of furniture may vary an inch or two in overall dimensions, it is well known that most manufacturers maintain a relatively uniform size relationregardless of style; therefore, the models provide an accurate scale representation of full-sized furniture when placed on the room plan that has been laid out on the grid of sheet 48. The models represent all the common furniture designs including chairs, sofas, end tables, lamp tables, coffee tables, dining room suites, bedroom furnishings, etc., and are stored on partial plate 42 of section 16 to which they are magnetically attached. The sheet 48 on which niture can be changed and rearranged at will on the plan until the desired eifect' is achieved; whereupon, fullsized tpieces :nf ifurtniture may'the selected :for the room with full confidence that they will fit and pnoyidea sdecorative appearance.

It is important to :note that the magnetic models will remain in any'desired :position within :thejplanhecanse of the demons metal plate underneath. Thus, :there is .no problem of the models shitting or falling gotrf .the plan as-in the prior art device. Also, thethree-dimensional appearance provided by the models presents .a more accurate .representatim of the @IIOQHI and furnishings therein than can be achieved with models that lie in substantially ,the same plane as the :sheet on which they are placed as is true with the conventional room planners. Further, ,the pocket in section 16 beneath ,par-

tial plate 42 affords .a convenient place onwhich to store extra sheets and a ruler whiletthe plate provides a place to store the models when not in use. Finally, thedetachableconnection between

sections

14 and 16 allows sec tion 14 to .he removed along with the plan and models thereon so that they can be easily carried andcornpared from .difierent locations with the actual room :being decorated. The boX, when closed and locked by hasp 30, forms a handy, compact and decorative carrying case within which the models are firmly attached to one of the plates and the sheets are securely held the pocket.

Y Having ,thus described the several useful and novel features ofthe room planner of ,thepresent invention, it will be seen that the many objects for which it was designed have been achieved. Although the invention has been described in connection with the single specific form thereof. shown in the accomp ny ng drawi g I realize that certain changes and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art within the broad teaching hereof; hence, it is my intention that the scope of protection afforded hereby shall be limited only insofar as said limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A room planner, comprising: a box having a bottom, sidewalls, endwalls anda lid, tone-part of a two-part separable hinge element attached to one of the sidewalls with the other part attached to the lid to provide means for detachably connecting said lid to the box, a first metal plate attached between the sidewalls in spaced relation to the bottom, lid and one endwall -to-forrn a. pocket, at least one planning sheet within the pocket on which is printed a. grid scaled to assist in laying out a room plan, a second metal plate of a size sufficient to receive a planning sheet in its entirety attached to the underside of the lid when closed in spaced ,face-towface relation to the first plate, and a plurality of models representing pieces of furniture sized to the samescale as .thegrid, each model having .a permanent magnet attached thereto for attaching said models on the first plate for storage and for arranging and attaching said models to a room: plan drawn on a planning sheet laid ,upjon thesecond plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,127,047 Pinney Aug. .16, 1938 2,254,498 Schart ,Sept. ,2, 1941 2,317,124 Adams Apr. 20, 1943 2,489,779 Horton et al. Nov. ,29, 1949 2,528,211 Civkin et.a1. Oct. '31, 19