GB2151475A - A base of an article of furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

A base (10) of an article of furniture e.g. an armchair, is formed of a moulded material such as polystyrene, and is provided with apertures (20) penetrating the base (10) so as to enable upholstery to be secured to the base (10) by securing means to be passed through the apertures. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A base for an article of furniture The present invention relates to a base of an article of furniture.

Conventionally, furniture such as armchairs and sofas have been manufactured by preparing a wooden frame which is subsequently sprung and upholstered. A relatively recent innovation has been the use of moulded materials to replace the traditional wooden frame.

The use of moulded materials is advantageous due to the reduction in cost not only of raw materials but, importantly, the labour required to construct a wooden framework. It will also be appreciated that use of moulded materials usually obviates the need for supportive webbing which is provided to span certain parts of conventional wooden framed furniture.

Furniture having a base formed of moulded material is sometimes finished by so called loose cover upholstery. When it is desired to use a more conventional form of upholstery, strategically placed strips of fibre board are secured, usually by adhesive, to the base with the upholstery being in turn secured, e.g.

stapled, to the fibre board. This is not, however, an entirely satisfactory solution and a number of inherent disadvantages are considered to have limited the potential widespread adoption of bases formed of moulded materials.

With a view to mitigating at least some of the disadvantages of the known constructions the present invention provides a base of an article of furniture, the base being formed of moulded material and having apertures penetrating the base so as to enable upholstery to be secured to the base by securing means to be passed through the apertures.

A disadvantage of the prior system of attaching upholstery to fibre board secured to a base of moulded material is that the attachment is relatively easily disrupted by stresses and strains applied to the upholstery. Furthermore, the attachment of the upholstery to the fibre board presents difficulties and disadvantages during manufacture. It is particularly difficult to use the conventional stapling appliances to attach upholstery to fibre board secured to a moulded material base.

The fibre board is necessarily placed close to the junctions of the various sections of the base, e.g. the back, seat and arms, and manipulation of the stapling appliance is difficult under these conditions. The result is products of inferior quality.

A further important disadvantage is encountered when it is desired to expand the range of designs using bases of moulded material.

While loose cover and some conventional designs may be implemented using bases of moulded material other designs require the use of welts to form attractive and/or practical forms of upholstary. The welts must be held under tension and the known and above described fibre board attachments are not sufficiently secure for such applications.

The present invention provides a furniture base having apertures through which upholstery securing means are to be passed. By passing the upholstery securing means through the apertures it is possible to draw tight the securing means before they are attached; whereas in the known arrangement the full strain of the upholstery attachment is absorbed by the direct attachment, usually stapling, to the fibre board. The present invention enables a superior final product to be manufactured since the final attachment, even if only by fibre board on the opposite side of the base, is more secure. Creative, or even conventional, designs requiring tensioned welts can, using the invention, be implemented with a base of moulded material. In addition the manufacturing process is greatly facilitated by providing ready access to the area of attaching the upholstery.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be further described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: Figure 1. is a side view of a moulded base of an armchair, and Figure 2. is a perspective view of the base of figure with an indication of the path of welts which may be used to secure the upholstery of the armchair.

The drawings show a moulded base 10 of an armchair. The base 10 will often be a unitary construction of expanded polystyrene.

The moulding of such bases has been known for some time. The seat of the base 10 has a central recess 1 2 in which a spring arrangement (not shown) is inserted. Conventionally, the upholstery of the armchair would be secured by stapling the material to fibre board secured with adhesive to the base, as indicated by the chain lines 1 4 in the drawings.

This is an unsatisfactory arrangement since the upholstery tends to pull directly on the staples in a direction directly opposite the securing force. This problem is readily envisaged if one considers the material covering an arm 1 6 of the armchair. The material is stapled to a strip of fibre board fastened along the underside external edge of the arm, is wrapped over the arm and is secured with the strip of fibre board 1 8 positioned along the inner base of the arm. Particularly in respect of attachment to the strip of fibre board 1 8, the material tends to pull directly upwards on the staples thus maximising the action tending to dislodge the staples from the fibre board.It will also be appreciated that difficulty is encountered in manipulating the stapling device in the area of the internal corners of the armchair which form junctions of the back, seat and arm.

The present invention provides holes 20 which extend through the seat of the base 10 as most clearly seen in figure 1 of the drawings. The holes 20 enable welts to be used to secure upholstery to the base 1 0. Examples of the paths of welts are indicated by the lines 22 shown in figure 2 of the drawings. The welts pass through the hole 20 and are suitably secured to the underside of the base 10. The welts may for example be secured to wooden caster blocks which are conventionally embedded in the underside of the base 10 for the attachment of casters. It will be appreciated that the welts pass through holes 20 and can be pulled tight against the edge of the hole on the underside of the base 10.

The reaction of the welts on the edge of the hole 20 on the underside of the base 10 can significantly reduce the strain placed upon the final attachment of the welts to the underside of the base.

The holes 20 may readily be formed by suitable projections on the moulds used to form the polystyrene base 10. They could of course be formed in a variety of alternative fashions and can readily be provided if certain parts of the furniture, such as the arms, are moulded separately and then secured to the back and seat.

Provision of the holes 20 enables a significant advantage in the mass production of furniture having bases of moulded material.

Ease of manufacture and improved quality of the final product, especially in mass manufacture, are enhanced by the facility of using welts in the described manner, as contrasted with the conventional attachment of the upholstery directly to fibre boards secured on the external surface of the base. In addition, and as previously described, the ability to use welts which can exert a reasonable force enables the range of designs which can be implemented with a moulded base to be greatly extended. The holes 20 may be provided in the base 10 as and where necessary in order to implement any particular style of final upholstery.

It is also considered that the present invention may further improve the final article of furniture in that the holes 20 may enable a certain amount, albeit small, of air circulation to the internal structure of the finished article, such circulation being excluded in the conventional use of a moulded base.

If it is desired to establish a relatively high tension in the welts retaining the upholstery, it would be possible to provide the holes 20 with an insert or lining so as to prevent the welts cutting into the material of the base.

Claims (5)

1. A base of an article of furniture, the base being formed of moulded material and having apertures penetrating the base so as to enable upholstery to be secured to the base by securing means to be passed through the apertures.

2. A base of an article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein a respective aperture is provided at each junction of the seat, arm and back of the article of furniture.

3. A base of an article of furniture as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the apertures are provided with inserts or lining which prevent the securing means cutting into the material of the base.

4. A base of an article of furniture as claimed in any preceeding claim, wherein the base has one or more caster blocks secured in or to the underside of the base

5. A base of an article of furniture substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.