US3036401A

US3036401A - Adjustable foot device

Info

Publication number: US3036401A
Application number: US35231A
Authority: US
Inventors: Forest G Stark
Original assignee: ART METAL
Current assignee: ART METAL
Priority date: 1960-06-10
Filing date: 1960-06-10
Publication date: 1962-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 1979-05-29

Description

y 29, 1962 F. "G. STARK ADJUSTABLE FOOT DEVICE Filed June 10, 1960 INVENTOR. FOREST 6. .SIZPK ATTORNEYS.

. 3,036,401 ADJUSTABLE F001 DEVICE Forest G. Stark, Jamestown, N.Y., assignor to Art Metal, Incorporated, Jamestown, N.Y. Filed June 10, 1960, Ser. No. 35,231 4 Claims. (Cl. 45139) This invention relates to adjustable foot members for furniture and more particularly to a vertically adjustable foot member which is positively held at the desired point of adjustment.

One object of the invention is to provide a vertically adjustable foot member for use at the bottom end of a leg for furniture which is adjustable in small increments and is positively held in desired point of adjustment.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved adjustable foot as aforesaid which will be main tained in proper alignment with the furniture leg as would be desired in the case of a square foot being used in conjunction with a square sectioned furniture leg.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable foot as aforesaid which automatically aligns itself with its associated leg in response to adjusting movement.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a furniture leg showing the adjustable foot of the invention in use therewith;

FIG. 2 is a sec ional view taken on line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an element of the combination of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 corresponds to FIG. 3 but with one element of the structure removed.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the new and improved adjustable foot of the invention is illustrated as mounted in a table leg which is square in section. A mounting plug 12 is dimensioned to complement the internal shape of the leg 10 and is inserted in the bottom thereof to be held in frictional engagement therewith. A peripheral flange 14 is provided on the bottom end of the mounting plug and acts as a stop when the plug is inserted into the leg as shown. A central threaded bore 16 extends from the bottom end of the plug into communication with a larger bore 18 which may extend throughout the rest of the length of the plug 14. The plug 12 is slotted at its upper end as indicated at 26, 2t and 22, 22, to hold therein a pair of

leaf springs

21, 23.

A foot pad 24 is carried on the end of a threaded shaft 26 which is designed for threaded engagement in the bore is of the mounting plug 12. The foot pad is shown to be square in shape and of substantially the same size as the cross-sectional size of the furniture leg. The threaded shaft 26 has an upward extending squared portion 28 which extends through part of the area of the large bore 18 and the mounting plug 12 and upward therebeyond. For reasons which will become apparent the flat wall sections of the squared portion 28 of shaft 26 are oriented at an angle of 45 degrees to the flat side wall surfaces of the foot pad 24. When the shaft 26 is threaded into the is a sectional view taken on line IIIIII of 3,036,401 Patented May 29, 1962 ice mounting plug 12 the square portion 28 extends upwardly to pass through the bore 18 and between the

leaf springs

21, 23 which are so relatively positioned as to forcefully bear against opposite sides of the portion 28 which extends between them (FIG. 3). The pressure exerted by the

springs

21, 23 is such as to prevent easy turning of the shaft 26 but is light enough so that it may be overridden by reasonable turning pressure applied to the bolt or shaft 26. Thus the shaft 26 may be rotated so as to move the pad 24 up or down as required and the shaft 26 will automatically be held at the desired position of adjustment by the pressure of the

springs

21, 23 against the squared portion 28.

As the respective retaining slots 20*, 20 and 22, 22 are orienting diagonally of the furniture leg the relative orientation of the squared portion 28 of the shaft 26 and the square foot portion 24 will result in the food pad 24 always being held in alignment with the square sectioned table leg thereby maintaining neatness of appearance such as would not be had if the pad were not aligned with the leg.

The adjustable foot arrangement of the invention also provides a positive click up or down adjustment in small (one-quarter turn) increments which will be readily felt as well as being audible.

Thus it will be apparent that the adjustable foot of the invention provides its attendant advantages in a structure which is very inexpensive to produce and with a combination of elements which will not be subject to disarrangement or break down and, although only one form of the adjustable foot of the invention has been shown and described, certain changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed. is:

1. An adjustable foot device for use with hollow furniture legs comprising, a mounting plug for insertion into the bottom end of a furniture leg, said plug having an axial bore therethrough having at least a portion thereof provided with threads, the upper end of said plug being slotted on opposite sides of said bore, leaf spring means mounted in said slotted end of said plug to extend across said bore, a shaft having a threaded portion and a squared portion, the threaded portion of said shaft being threaded into said threaded portion of said mounting plug and the squared portion extending into contact with said leaf spring means, and a foot member mounted on said shaft to lie below said plug.

2. An adjustable foot device for use with hollow furniture legs comprising, a mounting plug for insertion into the bottom end of a furniture leg, said plug having an axial bore therethrough having at least a portion thereof provided with threads, the upper end of said plug being slotted on opposite sides of said bore, a pair of opposed leaf spring means mounted in the slotted end of said plug to extend across said bore, a shaft having a threaded portion and a squared portion, the threaded portion of said shaft being threaded into said threaded portion of said mounting plug and the squared portion extending between said leaf spring means so as to be gripped thereby, and a foot member mounted on the lower end of said shaft to lie below said plug.

3. An adjustable foot device for use with hollow furniture legs comprising, a mounting plug for insertion into the bottom end of a furniture deg, said mounting plug having therein a threaded bore portion opening into a relatively larger bore portion at its upper end, the upper end of said plug being provided with slots on opposite sides of said larger bore portion, leaf spring means mounted in said slots to extend across said larger bore portion, a shaft having a threaded portion and a squared portion, the threaded portion of said shaft being threaded into the complementarily threaded portion of said mounting plug and the squared portion extending into said larger bore portion and contacting said leaf spring means, and a foot pad mounted on the lower end of said shaft to lie below said plug.

4. An adjustable foot, device for use with hollow furniture legs comprising, a mounting plug having an axially extending threaded bore, an axial counterbore and diametrically opposed slots at that end of the plug onto which said counterbore opens, a shaft having a threaded portion of a length greater than the depth of said threaded bore in the plug and engaged therein, said shaft having a fiatted end portion and a foot portion at its opposite end, a pair of leaf springs having their opposite ends received in said slots to extend across said counterbore and resiliently gripping against the flatted end portion of said shaft, said leaf springs being of a width to leave a gap therefrom to the bottom of said counterbore.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 545,776 Coleman Sept. 3, 1895 879,958 Gutridge et a1 Feb. 25, 1908 1,693,920 Hartman Dec. 4, 1928 2,557,200 Pujol June 19, 1951 2,890,545 Fiddler June 16, 1959