Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02704412 2010-05-18
FURNITURE FOOT WITH BALL JOINT AND FELT PAD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to furniture and, more specifically, to
furniture
feet used to support items of furniture above a floor or other horizontal
surface.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Items of furniture are very often supported above the floor by a plurality of
support legs, with a foot attached at the lowermost end of each such support
leg. Typically, each
foot is made from a rubber, plastic or similar material designed to minimize
damage to the floor
and to minimize the propensity of the item of furniture to skid along the
floor.
Most such feet comprise a foot pad having a lower planar surface surrounded by
a
foot pad perimeter. To minimize damage caused to the floor and to minimize the
propensity of
the item of furniture to skid along the floor, it is important that the lower
foot pad surface be
disposed flat against the floor, rather than having only an edge disposed in
contact with the floor.
When an item of furniture is supported solely by the edge of the foot pad on
one of its support leg
feet, the pressure forces created against the floor along that edge can cause
damage to the floor.
Moreover, where an item of furniture is supported solely by an edge on one of
its feet, the lack of
surface contact between the floor and that foot pad allow the foot to be
easily skidded along the
floor.
Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet supporting the
furniture
are always disposed flat against the floor is not easily accomplished. This is
especially the case
where the furniture is to be placed on a floor with an uneven surface. Because
most floors are
not perfectly flat, even an absolutely level foot pad can cause damage by
contacting the non-level
portions of a floor.
Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet supporting the
furniture
are always disposed flat against the floor is also especially a problem where
the legs are
downwardly disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical, such as in many
tables and chairs.
In such items of furniture, manufacturers find it difficult to assure that the
foot pads on each of
the furniture legs rests flat against the floor, because in the manufacturing
process it is difficult to
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assure that the angle of the support legs does not vary from item to item.
Some furniture manufacturers have used foot pads having a ball joint. Such
foot
pads are generally successful in assuring that the foot pad rests flat against
the floor. However,
such foot pads have not been found to substantially decrease damage to a floor
caused by the
skidding of the furniture along the floor.
Other furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads with felt bottoms.
Such foot pads have been found to reduce damage to floors caused by skidding
of the furniture
along the floor, but do not address the problem of assuring that the foot pad
rests flat against the
floor. Also, many such furniture manufacturers attempt to attach felt to the
bottom of foot pads
using adhesives. Such attachment methods have been found to be prone to
failure.
A few furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads with felt bottoms
wherein the felt bottoms are co-molded to a molded "cup," which is then
installed over the foot
base. This method is also prone to failure in that the molded cup frequently
disengages from the
foot base. Also, the use of a molded cup necessarily increases the diameter of
the foot base,
which frequently interferes with the ability to stack the chair with identical
chairs.
The problems associated with trying to ensure that the foot pads of furniture
support feet are disposed flat against a floor is a considerable problem where
the item of furniture
is a chair having sled-type legs. Such sled legs have a downwardly directed
portion and a
laterally directed, lowermost portion. The downwardly directed portion is
attached to the
laterally directed, lowermost portion at an elbow. The laterally directed,
lowermost portion is
disposed horizontally proximate to a floor surface. Feet for each sled leg
usually comprises a
pair of feet, one attached at the elbow of the sled leg and one attached to
the terminal of the
laterally directed, lowermost portion. Typically, such sled legs are splayed
outwardly from the
seating surface towards the floor. Such disposition of the sled legs makes it
exceedingly difficult
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to provide feet for the sled legs which consistently are disposed flat against
the surface of the
floor.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved furniture leg foot which
minimizes
the above-described problems in the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a furniture foot
comprising (a)
a furniture foot connector; (b) a foot base having a molded portion; (c) a
ball joint connecting the
furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad co-molded with
the molded portion of
the foot base, such that the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.
DRAWINGS
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will
become better understood with reference to the following description, appended
claims and
accompanying drawings where:
Figure 1 is a prospective view of a chair having features of the invention;
Figure 2 is a side view of the chair illustrated in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a second prospective view of the chair illustrated in Figure 1;
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Figure 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a first furniture foot having
features
of the invention;
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a second furniture foot having
features
of the invention; and
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the furniture foot illustrated in Figure 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention
and
several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be
construed, however, as
limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled
in the art will
recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
The invention is a furniture foot 10 comprising a furniture foot connector 12,
a
foot base 14, a ball joint 16 connecting the furniture foot connector 12 to
the foot base 14 and a
felt pad 18 disposed on the foot base 14.
Figures 1-3 illustrate a chair 22 having furniture feet 10 of the invention.
Figures
4-6 illustrate three different embodiments of a furniture foot 10 of the
invention.
The furniture foot connector 12 is typically made from a metal and is adapted
to
connect to a leg of an item of furniture.
The foot base 14 includes a molded portion 20 which is typically a plastic
material, such as nylon. Other materials, such as polypropylene and
polyethylene, can also be
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used to form the molded portion.
The ball joint 16 is a typical ball joint 16 connector used in prior art
furniture feet.
The felt pad 18 is co-molded with the molded portion 20 of the foot base 14
such
that the felt pad 18 protrudes away from the foot base 14. Typically, the felt
pad 18 protrudes
away from the foot base 14 by a distance of between about 0.05 inches and
about 0.55 inches.
It has been found that co-molding of the felt pad 18 with the molded portion
20 is
important to ensuring the reliable bonding of the felt pad 18 to the foot base
14. Co-molding of
the felt pad 18 with the molded portion 20 of the foot base 14 has been found
to be a far more
reliable means of connecting the felt pad 18 to the molded portion 20 than
prior art efforts to
adhere the felt pad 18 to the foot base 14 using adhesives. Because of the
dissimilarities of the
felt pad 18 and the molded portion 20, attempts to adhere the felt pad 18 to
the molded portion
20 using adhesives leads to frequent delamination of the felt pad 18 from the
molded portion 20.
It is important that the felt be of a heavy and wear-resistant grade.
Preferably, the
felt is an SAE grade F-1 felt, an F-2 felt or an F-3 felt.
As illustrated in Figures 1-3, the furniture foot 10 of the invention is
particularly
advantageously used in a chair 22, such as illustrated in Figures 1-3. The
chair 22 comprises a
seating surface 24 and a support structure 26 for supporting the seating
surface 24 at an elevated
plane. The support structure 26 comprises a pair of sled legs 28 each having a
downwardly
directed portion 30 and a laterally directed, lowermost portion 32. The
downwardly directed
portion 30 is attached to the laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 at an
elbow 34. Each
laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 terminates at a terminal end 36. In
the embodiments
illustrated in Figures 1-3, the terminal end 36 of each laterally directed,
lowermost portion 32 is
disposed forward of the elbow 34.
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Attached to the chair 22 are four furniture feet 10. A first chair foot is
attached to
the terminal end 36 of each laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 of each
sled leg 28. A
second furniture foot 10 is attached to the elbow 34 of each sled leg 28.
The furniture foot 10 attached to the terminal end 36 of each laterally
directed
lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 is illustrated in detail in Figure 4.
In the embodiment
illustrated in Figure 4, the furniture foot connector 12 is provided by a
threaded stem 38 which is
attached to an assembly nut 40 and a threaded insert 42 disposed within a
plastic front glide
housing 44. The front glide housing 44 is attached by press-fit over the
laterally directed,
lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 using a retention spring 46 and a
screw 48.
The second furniture foot 10 attached to the elbow 34 of each sled leg 28 is
illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. In this embodiment, the furniture foot
connector 12 is provided by
a cylindrical cup 50 secured to a cylinder 52 on a metal bracket 54. The metal
bracket 54 is
typically welded to the elbow 34 of a sled leg 28 and is covered by a plastic
rear glide housing
56.
Although the furniture feet 10 of the invention have been described as being
adapted to support a chair 22 having sled legs 28, those of ordinary skill in
the art will recognize
that the furniture feet 10 of the invention can otherwise be adapted to
support other items of
furniture and other styles of chairs having downwardly directed legs which
terminate at a
terminal end. In all such cases, the furniture feet 10 of the invention allow
the foot base 14 to be
maintained flat against a floor or other flat surface upon which the item of
furniture is disposed.
For example, a chair foot 10 of the invention constructed for supporting
furniture
having three or more generally vertical cylindrical legs is easily provided by
adapting the
furniture foot 10 illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. In such adaptation, the
cylindrical cup 50 is sized
and dimensioned to snugly fit over the distal end of a cylindrical furniture
leg.
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The invention provides an effective and inexpensive method of assuring that
the
foot pads of furniture leg feet automatically become disposed flat against a
floor or other flat
surface, thereby minimizing damage to the floor or surface and thereby
minimizing the tendency
of the item of furniture to skid along the floor or surface.
Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous
structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing
from the scope and
fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove.
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