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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention pertains to the construction of furniture from rigid
materials such as wood, plastics and metals. The construction described
herein can be utilized for virtually any type of furniture including
chairs, couches, chaise longues, desks, tables, hassocks, stools, bed
frames, bookcases and the like. It is an object of the present invention
to provide furniture pieces which can be readily mass produced and
assembled, easily transported, either in assembled or knocked down form,
and adapted for either assembled or kit distribution. Significantly, the
furniture constructed according to the present method displays a
characteristic and distinctive style which, in addition to enhancing the
use of individual pieces, also lends itself to the gathering of several
pieces in suite or ensemble arrangement.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the
following description and from the drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a furniture piece constructed according to
the present invention and suitable, for example, as a coffee table or,
with slightly modified proportions, a bed frame;
FIG. 2 is a top view of a corner portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the corner portion shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a top view of a corner portion of a furniture piece showing
spacing means alternative to those as shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a top view of a corner portion showing a combination of the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 4;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a chair constructed in accordance with
another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a top view of the chair shown in FIG. 8; and
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a chair constructed in accordance with a
further embodiment of the present invention.
Referring now to the figures in greater detail, there is shown in FIGS. 1,
2 and 3, a furniture piece comprising a plurality of units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
and 6. The number in the plurality is not critical and is matter of design
choice. Each unit is of a uniform thickness and, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3,
presents parallel side faces 7 and 8 for unit 6 and parallel side faces 9
and 10 for unit 5. Each of the units presents at least one shaped edge
surface, surface 11 for unit 6 and surface 12 for unit 5, etc. The edge
surface may be essentially planar or involve a plurality of planes and
curves, the critical aspect of the edge surfaces being that a composite of
portions of edge surfaces of all the units defines at least one functional
surface of a furniture piece when the units are arranged in a
predetermined spaced face-to-face relationship. Thus, for example, in the
embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the respective shaped upper edge surface of
the individual units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 when arranged in a predetermined
spaced face-to-face relationship define a functional surface corresponding
to the upper surface of a low table or a bed frame.
In order to maintain the individual units in the predetermined spaced
face-to-face relationship, there are provided a plurality of spacer means
13, 14 and 15. These may be of substantially any shape, including
circular, rectangular, hexagonal and the like. Interconnecting means 16
and 17 are provided to maintain the units in the spaced relationship.
Interconnecting means may be a simple rod, such as a dowel, passing
through the individual units and the spacing means, in which case the
units and the spacing means are provided with registered holes to admit
passage of the dowel, with the dowel being locked in position either by
friction, a suitable adhesive, or conventional fasteners such as nails or
screws. Alternatively, the interconnecting means can be a nut and bolt,
again passing through registered holes in the individual units and the
spacing means. It is not necessary that the interconnecting means pass
through the spacer means but generally this is desirable for esthetic
reasons. At least one of the spacer means is disposed between the opposed
faces of any two adjacent units but generally there will be more than one.
Two or more spacer means between opposed faces of any given two adjacent
units can be the same or different.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the spacer means may extend beyond the edge of
the units and indeed may be constituted by a second plurality of units
defining a second functional surface of the furniture piece. This is shown
in greater detail in connection with subsequent embodiments of the
invention but suffice it to note that such a second plurality of units 18,
19 and 20, in addition to defining a second furniture surface can also
function as the spacing means.
It is also possible as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 to have combinations of the
previous arrangements. Thus spacing means 21 and 22 perform only a spacing
function while spacing means 23 also performs a second function, such as
serving as a support for a further component of the furniture piece or as
a leg of the furniture piece.
There is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 a chair which utilizes a first and second
plurality of units, each defining separate and transverse functional
surfaces of the furniture piece. First plurality of units 31, 32, 33 and
34 and 35, as a composite, thus define the seat of the chair while the
second plurality of units 36, 37, 38 and 39 and 40, as a composite, define
a second functional surface, namely the back of the chair. With reference
to the first plurality of units, it will be noted that there are three
spacing means between any two opposing side faces, a first series of
annular sleeves 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 disposed between the open faces of
adjacent units 31 through 35 at one end of those units, a like series of
spacer units 46, 47, 48 and 49 disposed between the same opposed face of
the same units at the other end of those units, and, approximately in the
median of the units, the second plurality of units 36 through 40 which are
interposed between portions of the adjacent pairs of the units of the
first plurality. It is of course not necessary that the two pluralities of
units be contiguous only at their respective midpoints.
Interconnecting means 51, 52, 53 and 54 cooperating with the associated
spacing means maintain the units rigidly in a predetermined spaced
relationship. Interconnecting means 55 serves the same function with
respect to each individual plurality of units but can be designed to
permit hinge movement of one plurality relative to the other plurality for
folding (conventional stop means, not shown, would of course be present to
prevent collapse of the chair when unfolded).
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, units 61, 62, 63, and 65 constitute the
first plurality of units. Their composite defines the back of the chair.
Two end components 66 and 67 contribute to the functional surface defined
by the shaped edge surface of these units but are extended relative to the
units so as to form a pair of legs. Spacers 68, 69, etc. and
interconnecting means 70 are arranged in exactly the same fashion as
discussed above. A second plurality of units 71, 72 and 73 are interposed
between portions of adjacent pairs of the units of the first plurality.
These second units constitute spacer means and define a second functional
surface of the furniture piece, namely the seat of a chair. A third
plurality of units, 74, 75 and 76, defining a third furniture surface, the
front of the chair, are disposed at a point removed from the overlap of
the first and second plurality of units. The second plurality of units are
interposed between portions of opposed face surfaces of adjacent third
plurality units. The outermost members (of which only 74 is shown) of this
third plurality is extended, relative to the internal units, below the
lower edge of the outermost member 71 of the second plurality so as to
define a leg, analogous to the extension of outermost or end components 66
and 67 of the first plurality. In addition to interconnecting means 70,
interconnecting means 77 and 78 are also provided to maintain these
various pluralities of units in their respective spaced relationship.
It will be apparent that the foregoing method of construction is admirably
suited to mass production since the individual units of any given
plurality can be essentially interchanged. In such a case, the surface
defined will be uniform. It is also possible to progressively alter the
edge surface of each individual unit of a given plurality so that the
surface defined by the composite of such units is, for example, concave
(or convex) in the direction across the individual units. In such a case,
it is advantageous to index the individual units of a given plurality to
ensure the proper sequence of assembly.
It is also apparent that numerous modifications of this construction
technique can be employed in order to define and construct a variety of
furniture pieces. The specific embodiments described herein have thus been
presented solely for purposes of exemplification and numerous other
specific pieces can be constructed, utilizing the foregoing techniques and
combinations thereof, without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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