CA2672372A1 - Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions - Google Patents

Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2672372A1
CA2672372A1 CA2672372A CA2672372A CA2672372A1 CA 2672372 A1 CA2672372 A1 CA 2672372A1 CA 2672372 A CA2672372 A CA 2672372A CA 2672372 A CA2672372 A CA 2672372A CA 2672372 A1 CA2672372 A1 CA 2672372A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
protector
leg
furniture leg
furniture
semi
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA2672372A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Pierre Desmarais
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA2672372A priority Critical patent/CA2672372A1/en
Publication of CA2672372A1 publication Critical patent/CA2672372A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47CCHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C7/00Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
    • A47C7/62Accessories for chairs
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47BTABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B91/00Feet for furniture in general
    • A47B91/12Leg supports, e.g. cup-shaped, also under castors
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47CCHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C7/00Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
    • A47C7/002Chair or stool bases

Landscapes

  • Legs For Furniture In General (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a furniture leg protector. The invention is an improvement over the prior art in that it has a plurality of flexible upper arms, which because of their elastomere composition, are self-adhesive and adapted to receive a leg of furniture of almost any shape and dimension and be secured by an elastic retaining collar or band. This overcomes previous problems with floor protectors which do not fit well around square furniture legs or some round legs of various dimensions. The invention also uses a method of installing the felt pad on the bottom of the floor protector by means of molding around the pad during the molding of the floor protector. This not only fixedly secures the pad to the rest of the floor protector in an integral matter; but also alleviates applying the pads to the floor protector by means of an adhesive, as a second step in the manufacturing process after molding.

Description

Title:
FURNITURE LEG FLOOR PROTECTOR ADAPTED TO FIT SQUARE OR ROUND
LEGS OF VARYING DIMENSIONS

Field of the Invention This invention relates to furniture leg floor protectors.
Background Furniture leg protectors have commonly been in use for many years. These are used to avoid damage, to for example, hardwood floors, when a chair or table is moved.
They also reduce noise in the classroom where children tend to move their chairs and desks around, often making an irritating noise.

Almost all furniture leg floor protectors suffer from two problems, which the present invention seeks to solve. Most present day floor protectors are injection molded out of plastic material. The product is rigid or semi-rigid including the upper sleeve with circular side walls. The upper sleeve is adapted to receive a leg of furniture, such as a chair or table. After the molding process, a pad is applied to the bottom thereof. The pad may be constructed of wool, felt, or some other suitable product. The pad can also be formed of a deformable resilient material, to stabilize the furniture to give a support surface. The pad is usually secured to the floor protector by mechanical bonding or adhesive bonding.

The addition of the pad is an extra step in the manufacturing process, which must sometimes be done by hand and thus is labor-intensive. Over time the adhesives tend to wear out by constant movement of the furniture leg, the pad finally becomes detached, and a new pad must be added. The other problem with rigid or semi-rigid protectors is that the upper sleeve, after significant use becomes somewhat enlarged and the protector tends to fall off the chair or table leg.

With regard to the second problem, the present inventor developed an intricate flexible upper sleeve to be rolled up and frictionally engage the chair leg and prevent the floor furniture leg protector from falling off the leg. This is described and claimed in the inventor's related published Canadian Patent Application No. 2,585,597.

Although the above-mentioned invention has been successfully installed in the vast majority of applications, the inventor has found in cases of round chair or table legs of irregular or large dimensions, as well as square or rectangular furniture legs, that these leg protectors were not satisfactory. Therefore, the inventor has set out herein a universal furniture leg floor protector, adapted to be effectively applied to any chair or table leg regardless of dimension or configuration.

Now therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a furniture leg protector wherein the felt pad is permanently affixed during molding and the protector is adapted to be secured to any chair or table leg regardless of configuration or dimension.
Summary of the Invention Therefore, this invention seeks to provide a furniture leg protector adapted for use with furniture legs of all configurations and dimensions; said protector comprising: a lower semi-rigid body of rubber-like elastomeric plastic material; a friction pad adapted to be permanently and integrally attached to a bottom of said semi-rigid body during a molding process; said protector also including a plurality of flexible upper flat arms integrally connected to said semi-rigid body during said molding process; said flexible upper flat arms being composed of the same rubber-like elastomeric plastic material as said semi-rigid body; said protector further comprising an elastic stretchable retaining band; said band adapted in operation to secure said flexible upper flat arms on the outer sides of said furniture leg upwardly from a bottom of said leg when said semi-rigid body and friction pad are correctly positioned on the bottom of said leg.

General Description The furniture leg protector of the present invention is a one-piece plastic elastomer body with a felt pad preferable 100% wool embedded in the bottom of the body during the molding process. The protectors can take many shapes providing that there are sufficient flexible arms, also part of the integral molding process, to secure a chair leg. The pad can be round or rectangular. After molding, the pad must protrude slightly from the elastomeric body in order to have proper contact with the floor. The upper flexible arms are generally molded to be as thick as or thinner than the semi-rigid base; the latter must be rigid enough to support the furniture leg. The circular elastic retaining band can be of varying dimensions, depending upon the application.
Generally, the protector would be sold to the user with a plurality of retaining bands of different dimensions.
Brief Description of the Drawings The embodiments of the invention are described in conjunction with the following drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates varying side views of prior art furniture leg floor protectors;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the components of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a top perspective view of the invention with three flexible arms;
Figure 4 is a perspective side view of the invention shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a top perspective view of the invention with five flexible arms;
Figure 6 is a top perspective view of the invention with six flexible arms;

Figure 7 is a bottom perspective view of the invention in place on a round furniture leg;
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the invention in place on a round furniture leg;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the invention in the process of being installed on a square furniture leg, an application on a rectangular furniture leg is shown in dotted lines;
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the invention fully installed on a square furniture leg, dotted lines illustrate the invention applied to a rectangular furniture leg;

Figure 11 is a bottom perspective view of the invention shown in Figure 10, dotted lines illustrate the invention applied to a rectangular furniture leg; and Figure 12 is an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the mold and felt used to construct the invention are rectangular.

Detailed Description of the Invention Figure 1 illustrates side views of the prior art and in particular the invention shown in the inventor's related Canadian Patent Application No. 2,585,597.
Similar to the present invention, the felt 2 is fixedly secured, during the molding process, to the lower rigid body 3. In Figure 1, the upper portion of the furniture leg floor protector is rolled upwardly or pushed upwardly around the chair leg. This is very effective for the majority of chair legs. However, it is found to be less effective for round legs of unusual dimensions and configurations, or for square or rectangular legs, which are perpendicular to the floor or oblique, i.e. slanted upwardly.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the basic components of the present invention shown generally as 1. There is a pad 2 generally made of felt, which during the molding process is integrally connected to a semi rigid base 3 by means of an elastomeric rubber-like plastic material 3 injected around the pad during the molding process.
Also formed in the molding process and integrally connected to the base is a plurality of flexible flat arms 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d. The other components include clear plastic or rubber-like elastomeric stretchable bands for various furniture leg sizes; the smaller one shown as 5a, and the larger one is 5b. Any number of bands can be included as part of the invention, depending upon the dimensions and configuration of the chair or table leg to be protected.

Figure 3 is a top perspective view of a three-strap or flexible arm embodiment with the regular felt embedded into the injected plastic 3 with flexible arms 6a, 6b and 6c.
These arms are adapted to adhere to the sides of a round furniture leg, and then be secured by the rubber-like elastomeric stretchable band.

Figure 4 is a bottom perspective view of the three-strap or flexible arm model as shown in Figure 3. One notes the felt 2 is secured to the plastic elastomeric molded body 3 and arms 6a, 6b, and 6c are in the inoperative position.
Figure 5 is a five flat flexible arm embodiment having five flexible arms, namely 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, and 7e. The felt 2 and the semi-rigid plastic molded body 3 are similar.
The five flat flexible arm embodiment would be more effective for a larger and perhaps unusually configured round furniture leg.

Figure 6 illustrates a six flexible arm embodiment, having flexible arms integrally molded to the semi-rigid base 3. These arms are indicated as 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e, and 8f.
Figure 7 is a bottom perspective view of a three flexible arm embodiment of the present invention, as applied to a round table leg 9. One notes that the round furniture leg 9 and the bottom 9a with the felt 2 on the bottom, are secured by arms 6a, 6b, and 6c. A
clear elastic band 5a secures the flexible elastomeric arms to the furniture leg.

Figure 8 is a side perspective view of a round furniture leg 9 with the felt 2 on the bottom and the flexible flat arms 6a and 6c (6b being hidden in this view) secured upwardly on the furniture leg 9 by a clear elastomeric band 5b.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the clear band 5b being placed on the arms 4a, 4b, and 4c (4d being hidden in view) being pushed upwardly and securing the felt 2 in base 3 underneath on a square chair leg. The clear band in operation is pressed upwards to hold all of the flexible arms. Dotted lines show the possibility of application on a rectangular leg.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the 5b elastic band fully installed on a square furniture leg such that the visible arms 4a and 4b are totally secured along the sides of the square chair leg and the felt 2 is positioned immediately under the leg.
Dotted lines show a rectangular leg.
Figure 11 is a bottom view of a square chair leg 10 with a bottom 10a, having flexible arms 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d duly attached to the sides of the leg of a desk or chair by the clear rubber band 5b. Dotted lines show a rectangular leg.

Figure 12 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention, wherein the felt 11 is rectangular and the plastic rubber-like elastomeric molded base 12 encompasses the felt 11, integrally molded to the base 12 are arms 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d. The embodiment shown in Figure 12 is particularly useful with rectangular chair or table legs.

Claims (8)

1. A furniture leg protector adapted for use with furniture legs of all configurations and dimensions; said protector comprising: a lower semi-rigid body of rubber-like elastomeric molded plastic material; a friction pad adapted to be permanently and integrally attached to a bottom of said semi-rigid body during a molding process; said protector also including a plurality of flexible upper flat arms integrally connected to said semi-rigid body during the said molding process; said flexible upper flat arms being composed of the same rubber-like elastomeric plastic material as said semi-rigid body;
said protector further comprising an elastic stretchable retaining band; said band adapted in operation to secure said flexible upper flat arms on outer sides of said furniture leg upwardly from a bottom of said leg when said semi-rigid body and pad are correctly positioned on the bottom of said leg.
2. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said friction pad is a wool felt.
3. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 2 wherein said felt and said lower semi-rigid body are round.
4. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 2 wherein said felt and said lower semi-rigid body are rectangular.
5. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 1 comprising three of said flexible flat arms.
6. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 1 comprising four of said flexible flat arms; said floor protector being particularly useful to protect a square leg of a chair or table.
7. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 1 comprising five of said flexible flat arms.
8. A furniture leg protector as claimed in Claim 1 comprising six of said flexible arms.
CA2672372A 2009-07-23 2009-07-23 Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions Abandoned CA2672372A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2672372A CA2672372A1 (en) 2009-07-23 2009-07-23 Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2672372A CA2672372A1 (en) 2009-07-23 2009-07-23 Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2672372A1 true CA2672372A1 (en) 2011-01-23

Family

ID=43513990

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2672372A Abandoned CA2672372A1 (en) 2009-07-23 2009-07-23 Furniture leg floor protector adapted to fit square or round legs of varying dimensions

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2672372A1 (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2988276A1 (en) * 2012-03-21 2013-09-27 Gergonne Sas Protection shoe for leg of e.g. chair to e.g. protect parquet floor against stripes, has strip comprising face covered with adhesive and arranged to be stuck on peripheral leg zone when face is folded back on leg to maintain shoe on leg
US11700941B2 (en) 2018-02-05 2023-07-18 3M Innovative Properties Company Resizable furniture pads
USD996201S1 (en) 2021-02-22 2023-08-22 3M Innovative Properties Company Furniture pad for floor protection

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2988276A1 (en) * 2012-03-21 2013-09-27 Gergonne Sas Protection shoe for leg of e.g. chair to e.g. protect parquet floor against stripes, has strip comprising face covered with adhesive and arranged to be stuck on peripheral leg zone when face is folded back on leg to maintain shoe on leg
US11700941B2 (en) 2018-02-05 2023-07-18 3M Innovative Properties Company Resizable furniture pads
USD996201S1 (en) 2021-02-22 2023-08-22 3M Innovative Properties Company Furniture pad for floor protection

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Date Code Title Description
FZDE Dead

Effective date: 20140723